The door swung open. The empty dimly lit hallway appeared in front of Mater and Selina's eyes.
The black cat walked in without hesitation. Its tail stood straight, waving with its motion.
"Wait for me, Mr. Mater!"
Selina followed closely.
Mater's eyes switched to dark red. The Chaos Eyes activated. All the Chaos appeared in his eyes like mist in the night.
"This place is reeked with Negative Chaos." Mater meowed.
Negative Chaos was a form of Chaos. It was fueled by negative emotions and states of mind. Negative Chaos was more unpredictable than the pure Chaos Mater used.
They soon found themselves in the living room of the house. It was an old house with classic design. Thick wooden floorwork and wall. Textured curtains and a piece of carpet on the floor.
"It seemed normal to me." Selina said.
Mater had a different opinion. He came to the wall where a piece of wallpaper was peeled off. Mater clawed on the wallpaper, tearing up a piece.
"Oh? What is that thing?"
Selina squatted down beside Mater. Under the wallpaper, there were writings. Dark red writings.
"Step aside, Mr. Mater. Let me tear it off."
Selina grabbed the corner and peeled off a large chunk of the wallpaper. The writings were revealed completely.
"KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL"
The words 'Kill' filled the inner wall.
Selina caressed the wall. It felt rough and ancient. The letters seemed like it spurred from within the wall, not someone writing on it.
"Is this David's handwriting?"
Selina took out her phone. The diary was destroyed but she had taken pictures of the content inside. There was a page that was filled with the word 'Kill' similar to this wall.
Selina placed the photo in front of Mater.
"Look at this. David's handwriting is more reserved and in a line. These letters on the wall are more mechanical but arranged chaotically. Doesn't seem like they belong to the same person."
Mater looked at Selina and meowed. "Excellent detective work, Selina. I agree."
"If these writings weren't made by David then who did it?" Selina mumbled.
The two looked around in the living room more but none could be found. Mater stood at the hallway and meowed, signaling Selina to check up on a different room.
The kitchen didn't have anything either. The only rooms left were the bedroom on the second floor and the basements.
Mater climbed on the handrail of the stair and meowed.
"Let's go to the bedroom then." Selina said.
They climbed up the stairs.
Suddenly, Mater's hair stood up and he hissed at the second floor. Selina halted her steps also.
She stared at the empty second floor but nothing was there.
"What wrong, Mr. Mater? Is… something up there?"
Mater meowed. He climbed on her shoulder and dug into her backpack. The cat grabbed the Dark Grimoire with its mouth.
Selina took the book out. "What about this book?"
Mater reached his paw down from her shoulder and touched on the book. The two red crystals lit up and the book snapped open. It opened the page of the Chain of Shadow spell.
Mater meowed and pointed to the second floor again.
"I hope you are right about this, Mr. Mater…"
Selina carefully continued climbing the stairs. Mater's eyes stayed red. He darted around to make sure he could spot any being jumping out at them.
The two of them reached the second floor safely.
Suddenly, the door to the master bedroom swung open. A shadow rushed out and charged at Selina.
"Meow!"
Chains shot out from the darkness of the second-floor hallway. They wrapped around the shadow and held it close.
Selina screamed and stumbled backward. But she quickly realized there was nothing to worry about. Those chains appeared out of nowhere and stopped the shadow.
Her puzzled look stayed at the chains and then at the page in the book. The painting of the chain was shining intensely.
"This?! This is a spellbook!" Selina gasped.
Mater meowed to snap her back to reality. The chain only worked for twelve seconds, they did not have all the time in the world.
"Oh, right!"
Selina turned on the flashlight of her phone and shined it to the shadow.
The shadow was revealed. It was a pale man in ragged clothing. He had all kinds of writings on him. Symbols that were indecipherable.
"What even are you?" Selina mumbled.
The strange man growled. His eyes were a color of white grey, not a natural that humans should have.
"You need to step back, girl." Mater meowed.
12 seconds ended. The chains disappeared, freeing the strange man.
"Eek!" Selina turned her back and ran downstairs.
The man roared like a beast and chased after Selina.
"Hmm… What affected him? There are signs of Chaos in him but not from him." Mater meowed.
Selina ran to the hallway and out the door. Unfortunately, the door didn't budge.
"Come on! Come on!"
"It's useless, girl. Someone tampered with it." Mater meowed. He could see that the door was also manipulated by Chaos.
The strange man had reached the ground floor. Selina looked around and ran back into the living room.
The living room had an ancient fireplace and next to it was a metal fire poker. Selina dropped the Dark Grimoire on the ground and held the fire poker with her two hands.
Mater jumped down from her shoulder and landed on the middle of the two pages of the Dark Grimoire.
"Whatever you did before, you have to do it again, Mr. Mater! Or else we're fucked!" Selina said.
"Relax, girl. Tis nothing but a man." Mater meowed.
The strange man stumbled through the hallway and entered the living room. He's drooling non-stop like a rabid dog.
Selina clenched the fire poker tighter.
"Get ready." Mater meowed.
The strange man rushed at Selina.
Aeliz City Police Department. Dt. Baltimore's Office.
"What? Are you sure it is not the result of an NCE?" Alister screamed into the phone.
"You're not sure? What is even the point of you then?"
Alister slammed the phone down.
Cole knocked on the door outside.
"Come in!" Alister said. "What is it?"
Cole laid a stack of documents on Alister's table. "The suicide of David Rendell. DSI confirmed that it might be related to an NCE and would like us to take a look."
"Why don't they look into it themselves?"
"Eh… They said that they believe what happened yesterday is linked to an NCE so they are busy investigating that."
Alister pouted. "Lazy bastards. They just want to use us. But at least they aren't stupid like those ISP."
ISP, Institute of Supernatural Phenomenon. It was the biggest institution in the country that researched Supernatural Events. While the DSI investigated and maintained order toward Supernatural Entities, ISP's core value was to study and experiment.
Alister grabbed his coat. "You come with me. And call that new recruit Carpenter as well."
"Yes, sir!"
"Remember to load up."