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“Fuck!” Evan fell back on his ass, the flashlight tumbling to the floor once again.

Click. Click.

The flashlight flicked on and off, blinking glares over the men who’d stood tall and alive a few seconds ago. The same men who were now just a pile of bones on the floor with a thin, wrinkled layer of skin over their skeletons.

Click. Click.

All life, along with blood and flesh, had been sucked from their bodies. Their eyeballs and their arms below the elbow were missing too.

With a finalclick, the flashlight died.

Breathing raggedly, Evan scooted back, all senses strained to the point of agony.

A light whipped past his periphery, and his eyes snapped in the direction, squinting into the darkness.

It was strange. He was not the kind to be afraid of the dark, but this particular darkness seemed to physically threaten him. His fingers flexed, blue light flickering between them—

Whoosh!

A flare of red light rushed past Evan’s side, swirling around him before disappearing a few feet away. Like eyelids peeling open, a pair of glowing scarlet eyes lit up in the pitch black. Evan sucked in a sharp breath.

It escaped. The thing from the mirror…it escaped. And it was staring right at him.

Wait...I have my ring.Slowly trying to gain back his stability, Evan reassured himself.It can’t possess me as long as I have my ring.

Despite his reflexive urge to divert his eyes, Evan held the scarlet gaze, struggling to stand up. Every part of his body ached, bruised and otherwise, especially his heart.

With a shaky breath, Evan straightened. He’d personally confirmed that this exorcism was beyond his abilities, so he’d come prepared.

Plan B. Time for Plan B.

What the fuck was Plan B?

Blue sparks flickered unsteadily between his fingers, as if his spiritual energy was struggling to heed his command. Just as he conjured a small ball of energy in his palm to shoot an attack at the thing, a warm gust of wind wrapped around Evan. Invisible claws strangled his body in an iron fist, and the ball of spiritual energy faded away.

Evan’s limbs turned rigid, and a heaviness unlike anything he’d ever felt descended on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

He collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, his entire body trembling against the restraint on his lungs. A faint blue spark flickered in his eyes but didn’t last.

That thing was trying to suck the spiritual energy from his body.

Due to the turmoil of emotions he’d gone through in a span of only a handful of minutes, his spiritual core had been partially exposed, reflexively trying to form a whole-body barrier over Evan. And although it had happened suddenly and without Evan’s command, that thing had sensed his core opening and was already draining the energy from his body.

The ring scalded his finger. Burning through the skin. But he couldn’t move.

Click. Click.

The flashlight flickered on momentarily, and a movement up ahead caught his attention.

In the blinking light, Evan watched in absolute horror as a ball of black smoke swirled into the air, floating above the shattered mirror. That was where glowing eyes had been.

Red sparks crackled like lightning amidst the storming black cloud. The hundreds of mirrors around reflected that red shimmering smoke, making it seem as though it was everywhere.

And then, the shapeless cloud started growing, taking form, the force of its energy making Evan choke.

A giant silhouette materialized from the smoke, long hair blowing in a wind that had no way of entering a room without windows. Two protrusions sprouted amidst the mass of hair, curving away from the glowing red eyes like horns. The lower half of its body was still a ball of smoke.

The sight knocked out whatever air was left in Evan’s lungs. It was disturbing yet mesmerizing. Something he probably shouldn’t have seen but would never regret witnessing.