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Thud. Thud. Thud.

Evan’s eyes snapped in the direction of the noise. It sounded like footsteps. Unsynchronized and unstable, but still footsteps. As if a fully grown adult was learning to walk for the first time. Such behavior was usually seen if the spirit of a buff man possessed a petite young boy, as the soul tried to get accustomed to the new body.

Mrs. Simone gulped heavily, “S-She would scream if light even grazed her body. So I—I…”

Blocked every source of light in the house. Evan nodded to himself as Aaron placed a hand on the lady’s trembling shoulder.

Thud. Thud.

The reason the girl was scared of sunlight could only be because of the burns. The sun was God’s greatest gift to humanity, and what God cherished, evil despised. Hence, some malicious spirits were scared of sunlight. But if this girl was possessed by an evil spirit, Evan had to be especially careful. Hecouldn’t saunter into the devil’s den like he used to because a particular pain in the ass had destroyed his protection ring.

Evan furrowed his brows.Should I call him?

The Doctrine of Blackwood Exorcists. Rule 13: “Summoning of spirits or unholy entities for personal gain or aid during exorcisms or otherwise is forbidden.”

Evan’s pride inflated dangerously in his chest as if in warning. Never in his career as an exorcist had Evan asked for anyone’s help during an exorcism. In fact, he threw everyone out of the room just to be sure no one would get in his way…or worse, die on his watch.

I don’t need his help.

This could just be another one of those boring exorcisms where the spirit would be too weak to possess Evan—an exorcist with incredible spiritual powers.

More importantly, what if Evan summoned him and someone saw that damned demon? With Aaron’s occasional quick wit, he might discover who the stranger was after Evan’s botched-up storytelling attempt this morning.

And that stranger wouldn’t take long to snap Aaron’s neck if his identity was discovered.

Tsk, I should have come alone.

Evan fished out a black talisman thread and handed it to Aaron, who tied it securely around Mrs. Simone’s frail wrist. In a reassuring voice, he said, “Everything will be fine.”

Evan didn’t confirm nor deny that statement.

As the trio walked deeper into the house, the same claw marks marred several walls, slicing clean through wallpaper and concrete alike. Some places had dried blood smudged across. Shadows seemed to dance in every corner, creeping, reaching forward. Watching. And the closer Evan got to the girl’s room, the stronger the putrid smell grew.

Twisting the dummy ring on his finger, Evan halted in front of a closed door. Mrs. Simone didn’t have to point out the room.

A normal human eye wouldn’t catch anything unusual with the door, but what Evan saw was thick clouds of black smoke wafting from the crack under the door, through the keyhole and small punctures across the wood. Malicious energy spilled from them like black ink, coiled around Evan’s feet, and crawled up his legs. When it touched his skin, it hissed, shrinking away.

Evan’s ears flexed, picking up the faint sound of squelching flesh, then a whiff of blood. More rotting smell.

“Open this door,” Evan forced out the words through the heaviness gripping his lungs. The energy was strong. “Open it, now,” When Mrs. Simone simply fumbled with her pockets for the key, Evan’s patience snapped. “Aaron!”

Aaron nodded and smiled at the lady. “Forgive my unruliness.” Then turned and kicked down the door.

It was more like a forceful push of his foot—barely a fraction of his strength—and the wood cracked.

A faint gasp left Mrs. Simone’s lips as the door crashed flat into the room. When her wide eyes shifted to the man beside her, Aaron was still smiling at her with his salesman face. “We can deduct the damages from the fees.”

“Stay here,” Evan motioned to Aaron to take care of the lady, and he readily steered the woman away from the entrance.

Okay, Evan, you know the drill.

Don’t die.

Relaxing his shoulders and demeanor, Evan stepped into the room and was greeted by pitch darkness and the same putrid stench. His senses shifted into extra-alert mode, ears straining towards the faintest shuffle and rustle.

In the past, with Crimson Eye on his finger, Evan was fearless in any haunted space. Most of the spirits could sense the presence of the powerful ring on Evan and would shrink awayfrom him. Even if some brave-but-foolish ghost tried to attack him, it would combust and dissipate as soon as it touched Evan. It was not the same asexorcisingspirits because these destroyed spirits would never have a chance to be reborn again and would simply perish forever.

That was how powerful Crimson Eye was.