Mater jumped into Selina's arms and she caught him.
"Woah. Are you happy to see me?" Selina smiled.
Out of nowhere, Mater slapped Selina with his fluffy paw, causing the goth girl to freeze in place.
"What was that for?" Selina mumbled.
The black cat then rubbed his head on Selina's cheek. His soft fur and purring melted her heart instantly.
"Okay. Okay. I can't stay mad at you." Selina rubbed Mater's head gently with her fingers.
Mater meowed loudly and stared at Selina. "But I am mad at you."
Selina sweated. She might not be able to understand cat language, but she knew exactly why Mater was staring at her.
"I'm sorry..." Selina's voice was as low as insects.
"ACPD! Anyone there?" A voice came from the entrance of the cave.
Beams of flashlight reached into the darkness of the place.
"Authority? Shit. I forgot Selina called the police." Mater meowed then jumped off Selina's arms.
"Can't let those hounds see the Dark Grimoire. They will confiscate it for sure."
Mater swallowed his regret and used up a big amount of Chaos. Chaos could warp reality and influence the physical world. However, this direct method used up much more chaos than Warlock spells and power.
Mater still had the three Chaos Stones that he had acquired from the first green wraith. He used up all the power in one stone. Its dissipated into nothingness inside his body and became a large amount of Chaos.
Mater opened his mouth wide. Chaos Magic flooded out and wrapped around the Dark Grimoire. It quickly shrunk into the size of a bean.
"What... What am I even looking at right now?" Selina's jaw dropped.
The dark red Chaos Magic pulled the Dark Grimoire into Mater's mouth. He swallowed it entirely and stored it inside his stomach. Chaos wrapped around the book, making sure it wouldn't be digested by the stomach acid or that its power would go out of control.
"You there! Hands up!" Alister spotted Selina and pointed his gun at her.
Selina immediately raised her hands. "Don't shoot! I'm the one who was calling you!"
"She's right." Mater meowed. He jumped onto Selina's shoulder.
"A black cat?" Cole raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"What happened to the man upstairs?" Alister didn't drop his gun.
"Please lower your gun. My name is Selina Isles. I am a paranormal investigator and I was hired by Mary Rendell, sister of David Rendell.
When I got here, I spotted the strange man holding himself in the bedroom. He tried to attack me so I hit him with the fire poker and called you guys!"
Cole whispered to Alister's ear. "David Rendell does have a sister named Mary. She's probably telling the truth."
Alister nodded. He thought the same. There was no sign of breaking in on the front door. The door was opened with a key. However, he still needed to verify.
"Do you have the key to the house?" Alister said.
"Yes, sir! Mary gave it to me this morning. Please allow me to take it out." Selina said.
"Go on."
Selina took out the keys that Mary gave her and showed Alister. The detective lowered his gun.
"Keep your gun pointed at her. Use silver bullets." He secretly whispered to Cole.
"Yes, sir!" He whispered back.
"Show me the keys." Alister approached Selina and took the keys from her.
When their hands touched, Selina could feel some kind of cold metallic object touching her hand. She looked down with a puzzled look and saw the Alister was holding some type of silver pendant. It was a cross with a loop at the top.
"The Ankh?" Selina blurted out.
"Oh? You know this symbol?" Alister was impressed.
"Yeah. I read about it before. The symbol represents Reincarnation of the Dead, right?"
"That's right." Alister smiled and nodded. After seeing Selina touch the Ankh, all of Alister's suspicions went out the window.
"You can lower your gun, Cole." Alister said.
"Roger that, detective."
"What were you doing in this cave, Miss Isles?" Alister asked.
Selina looked at Mater for consultation. When she saw the black cat nodding, she continued.
Selina knew she couldn't tell the police everything. The Ward of Protection on her chest. The uniqueness of Mater and that bloodwraith. But she could tell them all the rest.
Alister noticed the little exchange between Selina and Mater. "That cat... Could it be..."
"It is better if I show you, detective." Selina said.
"Alright. Lead the way."
The three humans and the black cat delved deeper in the cave. They arrived at the ritual sight from before. The blood pool was emptied and most of the bones disappeared.
Dried blood stuck to the sides of the pool and some small bones were still presented.
Alister squatted down and touched the edge of the pool with his fingers. "Demonic Ritual... Someone tried to create a hostile NCE."
"Have you seen anything weird, Miss Isles?" Alister said.
Selina hadn't had the chance to see anything. She was only there when Mater and the bloodwraith ran to the entrance. So in a way, she was telling the truth.
"I haven't seen much. But there were mumblings."
"Mumblings? What kind of mumblings?"
"It is hard to describe. Sometimes the mumblings were close to my ears. Sometimes it was far away.
I heard a woman repeating the word 'Kill' over and over again."
Alister's expression hardened. "It is a hostile NCE for sure."
"Miss Isles. Thank you for your cooperation. We will be taking over from here.
However, we do need to take your testimony at the station later. You wouldn't mind coming to the station?"
"Not at all, officer. But I do have one question."
"Yes?"
"Miss Rendell... I mean Mary. She asks me to investigate the death of her brother. I know for sure that it isn't suicide. And I know that an NCE caused this."
"Careful what you're implying, Miss Isles." Alister raised his voice.
"I'm not implying, officer. I am saying, directly, that an NCE killed David. And Mary deserves to know the truth. That is why she hired me in the beginning.
I know the truth, officer. I've seen enough. And I am obliged to tell my client the truth."
Alister took a deep breath. If his daughter was alive, she probably would be similar to Selina right now. For some reason, he saw her in Selina.
"If you cross this line, you can never turn back. Do you understand, Miss Isles?"