Page 12

A sharp breath rattled his lungs as he crashed to the floor, blood rushing to his head and out of the wound on his shoulder. The steady flow was completely disrupted, and light slowly faded from his skin and eyes.

Once again doused in darkness, Evan clutched the bottle of Del water in his pocket and stood up, focusing his ears towards the direction of the giggles and thud sounds.

“Show yourself!” he commanded, struggling to gather spiritual energy in his palm. The primary regulator while using spiritual energy was a focused mind. Something that, right now, was in complete disarray inside Evan.

“Can’t save anyone…” A hoarse giggle vibrated across the floor, sounding more beastly than human. “Couldn’t save Mercy… Wouldn’t save anyone… Coward, coward. Coward!”

“Shut up!” Evan growled, panting as the sinister energy weighed on his chest, restricting his breathing. At the rear end of his conscience, something was desperately trying to push forward through the haze and disoriented thoughts.

Call to me…

Invisible claws tightened around his throat. Evan’s legs wobbled, crashing to one knee on the floor as he clutched his throat.

Cackles and footsteps echoed from all around him, debris cascading like snow onto the floor.

Call to me…

His face turned red from lack of air, angry bloodshot eyes flickering to the front. The same squelching sound stirred the thick air in the room, a metallic stench following close behind before—

Evan froze.

A giant, slit-pupil eyeball the size of a wardrobe cabinet peeled open in front of him, looming over Evan by several feet. The top of the eyeball grazed the high ceiling.

What…the…fuck…

The giant eyeball, glowing with an eerie purple light, squinted at Evan choking on thin air. Then its pupils dilated, pleased by the sight.

The walls shuddered with its growl, pieces of the ceiling raining over Evan. Chunks of wall tore off, aiming straight at him. Before he could prepare, one piece struck him across the temple.

Pain exploded. The world spun. Darkness and purple flares danced in his unfocused vision.

Blood trickled down his temple as he raised his head again, and...

What had struck him was not debris but a claw. Similar to the claw of the girl but several times bigger. Big enough to grab three men in his fist at once. From the end of its smallest nail dripped Evan’s blood.

At that moment, as his blood dropped onto the dusty floor, Evan’s head went completely blank, his body still. An alien force pressed down on his lids, and his head dropped forward, limp.

When his eyes opened again, Evan was floating in a void of white light. Alone. Abandoned. The stifling dark energy was gone.

Am I…dead?

He touched his temple, then his shoulder. His injuries were still there, still fresh, but where was he? How had he ended up here?

“You have to call him…”

Evan’s head snapped in the direction of the voice.

“What the…” He blinked at the white-clad youth floating before him, snapping his eyes up and at the newcomer.

Dark hair—slightly lighter and longer than Evan’s own—fluttered gently across his nape. His skin a shade darker than Evan’s. A pair of brown eyes stared at him, gentle and warm.

Evan was looking at…himself. A young Evan. Perhaps seventeen or eighteen.

It was him, but it wasn’t him .

First, he never wore white. He didn’t like that color. Second, the dude had such a kind expression on his face that Evan couldn’t physically bring himself to replicate it.

No, it definitely wasn’t him.

“Who are you?” Evan tried to float forward, but he remained several feet away from the youth. “Why do you look like me?”

The youth smiled. “You have to call him…or you won’t survive.”

“Call whom?” Evan frowned. “What are you saying, and what is this place?”

“You are inside your core of spiritual energy,” the youth replied in an unhurried tone.

Evan blinked at his surroundings. All this light…was his core of energy? He didn’t know why he’d imagined his core—though full of spiritual energy—would be hollow. Evan had thought the core he’d developed would resemble him. Dull and empty on the inside. But this place was overflowing with light. So unlike…him.

“You will not last against those you’re trying to fight in your current state. You have to call him,” the youth urged, although there were no signs of urgency in his face. “You must call him for help. Hurry…”

Upon hearing the word help , something clicked in Evan’s head. Yeah, there was one person who’d promised to help him whenever he called him.

That damned demon.

“I…” Evan trailed off, frowning. “I don’t know his name.”

“Yes, you do,” the youth smiled.

“No, I don’t. ”

“Call his name.”

Evan was about to snap in irritation when the youth’s figure flickered. The light started dimming. Fading.

His heart lurched to a stop.

No, no, no. My core.

He cursed and shut his eyes, clutching his head as he racked his brain for a clue.

Name. Name. Name. His name.

What the fuck is his name?

The image of the scratched door, creeping shadows, and the clawed walls of the girl’s bedroom flashed across Evan’s conscience. The foreign words scribbled in blood…and the few English letters that had stood out. Like a broken video record playing one piece of footage over and over through his mind, it focused on three letters.

Big and bold.

And so, so bloody.

NE X

INCEND E RE

AM N IS

Evan’s eyes cracked open.

He was back in the wrecked, dark room. And that huge claw was coming straight at his abdomen. The intention was quite obvious: to rip his core out.

Compelled by the words of that youth and something deep inside his being that was trying to force its way out of his mouth, Evan parted his chapped lips.

A sharp exhale. A faint whisper.

“Xen…”

A whisper of that name was no less than a curse in itself. Its effect was instant, something both terrifying and mesmerizing to behold.

The huge claw froze mid-air towards Evan. A sudden rise in temperature assaulted the dense energy in the room. If the air had been stifling earlier, now it was suffocating.

Threatening.

A flash of red lightning, swift and deadly, sliced past the claw, severing it clean in half.

With a gasp, Evan sucked in a lungful of air. The invisible fist that had enclosed his lungs had finally opened, allowing him to breathe again. Huffing and coughing, he stumbled back to his feet and stepped away from the claw and the black, gooey blood oozing from the still-twitching limb.

Evan slumped against the nearest wall, blood dripping down his temple and into his eyes.

The huge glowing eyeball frantically spun in circles, shedding faint light over the bloody mess on the floor. It squinted, pupils contracting and dilating, in agony over losing a limb as it tried to sight the culprit.

In the darkness, right above the eyeball, a pair of scarlet eyes flashed. Like a predator creeping up on its prey.

Still panting in a corner, Evan frowned at the demon, wanting to curse him out of habit but unable to form words.

One of the scarlet eyes closed, as if winking at Evan.

“Missed me?”

Not a second later, chaos erupted.

Pieces of furniture went flying across the room and crashed against the walls. Huge chunks of rubble rained around Evan, and he locked his arms around his head, trying to shrink into a corner.

The dummy ring warmed on his finger before something engulfed Evan in a huge, warm embrace. He tried to see what it was but could barely open his eyes amidst the falling debris and exploding dust. Every time something flew in his direction, the invisible force pulled him out of harm’s way and settled him aside like a precious porcelain vase.

Roars and growls emanated from the two colliding forces, glares of red and purple flashing through the dark.

And then, a deafening boom shook the whole house.

Evan grunted, cupping his ears.

A sudden burst of light assaulted the dark room. After coughing through dust and cement, when Evan managed to open his eyes, the overgrown shrubs of the forest that had been surrounding the house greeted him.

Evan’s jaws unhinged.

The opposite half of the room had been blasted away.

Stranded in between the rubble and grass was a frail, trembling body of the girl in a tattered white school uniform. Her right hand had stretched and elongated inhumanly into a huge claw, which had been severed by the demon. Her other hand had grown into that huge eyeball, which was now nailed to the wall with a piece of iron rod. The eyeball twitched, bleeding out black gooey blood.

Evan’s stomach turned, his meager breakfast threatening to paint the floor. In all his years as an exorcist, he’d never witnessed anything more horrifying.

But the scene became more disturbing when the smell of burnt flesh wafted into Evan’s nostrils. The flesh on the girl’s bare back was sizzling as the sunlight now openly hit her skin.

Evan’s eyes widened. “It’s still alive inside her body.”

“It’s a demon.”

Evan flinched as a voice rumbled from behind. He spun around to find a red-clad figure leaning against the broken door, arms folded across his broad chest, a smile plastered on his lips. The demon— Xen? —looked utterly pleased for whatever reason and not like he’d just nailed a huge eyeball to the wall.

“A demon?” Evan narrowed his eyes.

Xen shrugged a shoulder. “It’s a low level. We could probably absorb it.”

“You mean I could probably exorcise it?”

What absorb ? What we ?

Xen simply smiled in response.

In almost a decade of exorcising spirits, Evan hadn’t encountered a single demon in town. And now he’d come across two in a span of a few days. Never mind that the one claiming to be on his side seemed to pose more danger than this “low-level” creature.

A muffled groan stirred from the hunched figure of the girl, her flesh burning through to reveal a hint of bones.

Evan rushed forward but halted midway toward her. He glanced down and frowned when he noticed his fake ring was missing. And even if it was there, it wasn’t Crimson Eye. He couldn’t touch her.

But “he” can .

A voice spoke in Evan’s head, sounding too much like the youth he’d seen inside his core.

Evan threw a wary glance over his shoulder as he kneeled near the girl’s withering body, silently urging Xen closer.

Xen was looking straight at him, boot tapping a rhythm against the cracked floor. After throwing a few more discreet glances, Evan finally exploded.

“Are you just gonna stand there and stare?” He barked. “I could use some help here!”

Grinning like he’d just won a silent bet with himself, Xen strolled forward and crouched behind Evan. “Go on, absorb it.”

Not even trying to correct him about his choice of words this time, Evan turned to the girl and, with much effort, focused on his core of spiritual energy. As soon as it opened, a hand came to rest over Evan’s shoulder and he felt an alien surge of energy flowing into his body. Stabilizing his own flow.

He hurried to touch the girl’s head, almost slapping her in the process. As soon as he touched her, the girl cried out. The eyeball nailed to the wall started writhing and growling. Black blood spurted from its wound, and the purple light slowly drained from it, flowing down the girl’s body, and up into Evan’s arm.

Evan had never exorcised a demon before, so he wasn’t ready for the sudden charge of demonic energy that flowed into his body and slightly staggered. But the strong hand on his shoulder steadied him, absorbing the overflowing demonic energy that couldn’t be absorbed by Evan’s core.

Oh, so this is what he meant by “we” and “absorb.”

When all of the demon’s light had been drained, it turned into a ball of black smoke before scattering away in the wind.

The girl’s arms slowly shrunk to their usual size and shape, and the burning of her skin ceased. She swayed, then tumbled forward, and Evan caught her limp body. After feeling her pulse, he let out a breath and collapsed back himself.

Annoyingly, he couldn’t feel the comforting dust and rubble beneath his back. Instead, he felt Xen’s boulder of a chest. Slumping against the warm headrest, Evan caught his breath, unaware of the small smile flashing his way.

Evan pressed a hand to the girl’s shoulder, supplying spiritual energy into her body to heal the burns.

After a moment, he spoke in an exhausted tone. “You were late.”

“Was I?” Xen mused. “I came as soon as you called my name.”

Evan scowled. He was certain Xen had been lurking close by, watching Evan get wrecked until he was forced to call him for help. He just felt like that kind of character.

Despite this mental impression, when Xen lightly brushed his shoulder and said, “You did good.”

Evan froze.

It was the first time someone had said that to him, someone who wasn’t paying him or someone who wasn’t Aaron. Getting acknowledged for your labor could be so rewarding, but also absolutely mortifying to someone unused to it.

Evan brushed off the warm hand. “Get lost.”

The air in the room slowly cleared of the demon’s residual energy. It was only then that they heard Aaron’s shouts from the other side of the closed door.

Bang! “Evan?” Bang! “Are you still alive?” Bang!

With much effort, Evan picked the girl up and headed towards the door, which was rattling with Aaron’s kicks but not breaking. Weird, since the demon who’d pulled the stunt was dead, so should be its magic.

Another force was keeping the exit sealed.

Slowly, Evan turned to Xen, who was staring at the girl in Evan’s arms with a frigid look.

“Open the door."

Xen’s focus shifted to him. His gaze softened. With a smirk, he crooked a finger, pulling the invisible thread of his dark magic.

Evan waited for the door to drop like earlier, but instead, a foot jammed right through the wood.

Not just a foot, a whole freaking leg.

When the magic over the door had suddenly lifted, Aaron didn’t have time to adjust the strength of his kick, and his leg had gone through the door.

He stumbled forward on one leg, the other stuck in the unhinged door. After struggling for a while and hopping on one leg, he jumped and hung from the doorframe and used his other foot to shove the doorframe off his leg.

Throughout the entire commotion, Evan had waited patiently, holding the girl. And as soon as he saw the entrance clear, he strode out. Behind him, Aaron and Mrs. Simone were gaping at the room—or, precisely, the missing half of it.

Laying the girl on the couch, Evan felt for her pulse again and found it steady. But to his surprise, when he flipped her around, the burns on her back had vanished. Not even a scar remained behind.

His brows furrowed. Had he supplied her with that much spiritual energy?

“What happened? Is she alright?” Aaron and Mrs. Simone rushed in after Evan. The mother carefully brushed greasy strands of hair from the girl’s face, and upon realizing she was back to normal, she cried out, engulfing her daughter in a tight embrace.

A little confused and very short of air, Evan went on and ripped open the windows, then tore off the obstructions over the ventilations. Light and fresh air streamed into the house. The place was actually pretty decent if the clawed wallpapers and destructed bedroom half were excluded. It could probably be considered a happy home.

When Evan turned around, the girl’s eyes fluttered open and her mother’s teary eyes turned to him, brimming with gratitude.

A small portion of his restlessness vanished. Then he noticed the absence of a fifth presence, and that restlessness slammed back into him with double intensity.

Evan walked past the couch and back towards the bedroom. But other than a few birds flying in through the gaping hole in the room, there was no red-clad figure with long hair standing with his arms folded across his chest.

A frown crawled up his face. “Where is he?”

“I’m right here,” Aaron appeared, peeking over Evan’s shoulder. “Is anyone else supposed to be here?”

Evan considered telling Aaron about Xen, but then he would have to tell him why a demon would fight another demon to help an exorcist. Then he would have to reveal his blood bond, and Evan was not ready to deal with the consequences that would follow.

Aaron prodded. “What’s wrong?”

“The girl was possessed by a demon.”

“ Another one?” Aaron glanced at Evan and paused. “Wait, why is there blood on your face? Were you injured?”

“Yeah, I—” Evan touched his temple, but other than almost dried blood and grime, he couldn’t find any gashes. Quickly, he checked his shoulder through the tear in his clothes, but as expected, there was only slightly reddened skin.

He hadn’t had time to heal his injuries. Was it…? Evan quirked a brow, then dismissed the thought.

No way. Why would that demon heal not one, but two humans? Demons never raised a finger if it did not benefit or amuse them in any way. The only reason Xen was helping Evan right now was because he needed his help to find that relic. This miraculous healing must be the aftereffect of absorbing that demon’s demonic energy.

Spiritual energy could be transformed into demonic inside a demon’s body. Similarly, demonic energy could be made pure by the overwhelming amount of spiritual energy in a core. Maybe the demon’s energy flowing through the girl and Evan was used to heal their wounds that the demon had inflicted.

Perhaps.

“What happened in here?” Aaron looked at what was remaining of the room, then quirked a brow. “Did you do this?”

“I...well, you could say that.”

It was done by someone for Evan, so it was the same thing.

“You know we’ll have to pay for this, right?” Aaron side-eyed his friend.

But Evan was just reassured that he had made it out alive from yet another exorcism while successfully completing it. His body, which usually went into a temporary coma after every exorcism, was still standing, very much awake, even though he’d just dealt with a freaking demon. Pay or no pay, this was a huge accomplishment in his life with zero certificates on the wall.

Evan spun around with a shrug. “Who cares? I saved someone’s life.”

Aaron blinked at his back, then chuckled, shaking his head. He knew for a fact that tomorrow, after waking up and finding his fridge empty, Evan would curse himself for not taking any payment.

The two reentered the living room just as Mrs. Simone disappeared behind a door. The girl sat slumped against the couch with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Dust and grime were smudged across her face, her cheeks sunken. She looked barely over fifteen, but she’d already faced a horror that would leave grown men wetting their pants.

Having a sister himself, Evan felt an intense urge to console her, even though he wasn’t the best at it. So, he threw a glance at Aaron, who gave the I got it nod.

Aaron sat down beside the girl who peeked at him from the corner of her hazy eyes. “Hey,”

Silence.

“What’s your name?”

The girl lowered her head. “Aliza…”

“You’re one brave young woman, Aliza,” Aaron sighed dramatically. “If it was me in there, I would have pissed myself.”

Evan rolled his eyes as his friend echoed his thought.

Aliza blinked, then stuffed her face in the shawl. A little giggle burst out, and the two men simultaneously sighed in relief.

Mrs. Simone reentered the living room, cradling an envelope in her hand. She walked to Evan, smiling, eyes still bloodshot as she took his hands. In the daylight, with her daughter now safe, the color had returned to the woman’s face, and her smile wasn’t terrifying anymore.

She squeezed the envelope into Evan’s hands. “It’s not much, but it’s all I can give you,” realizing it was money, Evan tried to refuse it, but she gripped his hands with both of hers. “You risked your life to save my daughter. This is the least I can do to repay you. Please. Take it.”

Aaron had become Evan’s manager quite early in his profession as an exorcist, so Evan had never received payment straight from a client. He didn't have to. At least not in a dusty envelope whose flap was a bit tattered, as if chewed by a rat.

In such awkward moments, Evan couldn’t tell whether to act on his impulse and withdraw his hand or try being considerate of the woman’s gratitude and accept the envelope. So naturally, he turned to the man whom he could trust with such decisions.

After a brief pause, Aaron nodded at Evan. Reluctantly, Evan’s fingers curled around the envelope. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you ,” Mrs. Simone hugged Evan, and he went still, hands hanging limp at his sides.

Aaron pointed at Evan and said to Aliza, “You see, he isn’t a hugger, but he also doesn’t know how to say no. Look at him. That’s the reason you need to learn to speak for yourself.”

The girl buried her smile into her shawl while Evan gave Aaron the I’ll kill you eyes.

Awkwardly standing frozen in an unrequited embrace, there wasn’t much he could do. As he casually looked around, a mirror hanging on the wall across from him gave him pause. Evan’s eyes locked on his own disheveled reflection, sweaty hair and torn coat, a woman sobbing in his chest. Then his eyes landed on the faint shadow hovering behind him, faint but present. Always watching.

If he were the Evan from a few weeks ago, he would have been startled, but as he stared into those crimson eyes shining in the shadow’s face, he realized that this would be a regular occurrence in his life from now on.

And what’s worse, Evan didn’t seem to mind it as much as he should have.