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The demon had seemed to ponder it over for a moment, then smiled.“Keep it.”

“What—”

“Keep the ring close and call for me whenever you need help, and I’ll come to you,”his form had dissolved into a mist of black cloud, leaving behind a faint echo of his words.“I’ll come to you…”

Bycall for me whenever you need help, Evan was guessing the demon meant while dealing with a spirit, which made sense. If his presence could shake up the malicious energiesspread miles across the Dark Woods and draw them to the Greene Mansion, then surely he could keep a spirit or two from possessing Evan.

He was strong, Evan had to give him that.

Cool. Nice. Only a small hiccup.

How was he supposed tocall him?

The demon had not mentioned his name, a magical word, or a cursed spell. If Evan tried to summon the demon by all the names he’d come up with for him, the demon would probably crawl right back into a mirror.

Evan twisted the ring on his finger. “I found a replacement.”

Aaron stared at the red crystal, then glanced up at Evan. “I thought that ring was one of a kind, passed down from your mother’s ancestors. Where’d you find another one?”

“My basement.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, standing and grabbing his suit blazer. “You know, if you have a box full of antique heirlooms in your basement, you can always tell me,” Aaron fished out his car keys. “You sure the new ring works? You…won’t get possessed, right?”

“Well…” Evan opened his front door, and a wave of thunderstorm rolled above. “Guess we’ll find out.”

The house Evan was meant to inspect stood at the edge of the more modest part of Emberlyn. People who wished to enjoy the aesthetically pleasing visuals of nature while avoiding interacting with chatty neighbors often chose to reside in these areas that hosted houses a little removed from the town's center.

Dying remnants of the overgrown forest encircled the cluster of homes, giving the place the air of an abandoned ghost town.But the sunset visible from the mountain valleys beyond was nothing short of scenic.

As soon as Evan entered the last house in the row of residences, a gust of dark energy assaulted his face, the temperature dropping like a pin. Evan buried his hands in his coat pocket as the tiny hair at his nape spiked in attention.

The old lady with grey-sprinkled dark hair, who’d opened the door for them, lifted her dull eyes to Evan. She tried to smile, but the way it was forced made her eyeballs bulge, the dark rings nested under those cloudy eyes deepening.

When she closed the door, three scratch lines at the back of the wood instantly drew the two men’s attention. It looked like an animal had clawed the door from the inside, but the size of the said claw was small. Could be a pet dog.

Or a possessed human.

The old lady turned, her shoulders slumped and back slightly bowed, “Thank you so much for coming.”

There was so much strain in her voice. It seemed like she would collapse at any moment if she breathed another word. But no matter how much Evan studied her aura, other than sheer distress, there was no trace of malicious energy on her.

She wasn’t the one possessed.

“Please, Mrs. Simone, don’t mention it,” Aaron said, taking her wrinkle-ridden hand in both of his and giving it a solid shake. Evan could visibly see the bones in the lady’s arm rattling with the force of that handshake.

As Aaron let go of her hand—while it was still attached to her body—a loudthudresonated from inside the house somewhere.

Everyone stilled.

Moments later, a putrid stench followed the sound.

Aaron cleared his throat thrice, discreetly pushing his nose into his fist as he smiled at Mrs. Simone. He could handle atwisted corpse coming back to life, then charging at him, but not disgusting odors.

The whole house was doused in darkness, windows locked, blinds drawn. Ventilation slots were taped closed as if for extra safety. Even though it was broad daylight outside, not a ray of sun could enter this house. And there was no better place for evil to fester than darkness.

Evan’s face twisted in distaste.

As if sensing his thoughts, Mrs. Simone stepped beside Evan and explained in a stuttering tone, “Four days back…my d-daughter came back from school and shut herself in her room. She didn’t eat or talk,” her shoulders hunched lower. “The next day, I—I heard a scream. When I opened the door, she was…wailing in a corner. Her arms and legs had fresh burns, but there was no fire. I didn’t…didn’t know what happened.”