Three days passed in a flash.
On this day, John received an email.
The reason was that several students at the school had gone missing, and their parents had already reported it to the police.
If any student saw these missing classmates, please report it to the school immediately or contact their parents or the police station.
John glanced at the names and realized he didn't know them, guessing that a few more unlucky individuals had encountered something or suffered some misfortune.
In this free country,
it wasn't just horror incidents that caused deaths; there were also various gang fights, kidnappings, extreme sports…
All sorts of death-defying activities; if you can think of it, it can be done.
Noon.
The Warren couple chose the brightest time of day to visit John.
When they first saw John's residence, they exchanged glances, and a few more conjectures arose in their minds: not lacking money meant that generally no one would dare to bully him.
At most, it would be a lack of parental love in childhood or something similar.
Ninety-nine percent of children from wealthy families generally live very happy lives.
"Ding-dong."
One minute later.
The door opened wide.
John welcomed the Warren couple with a smile, leading them inside to tour his home.
Lorraine's first glance caught sight of the little girl hanging out in the yard, and she couldn't help but ask, "Is this your daughter?"
Her question wasn't without reason; many Asians here have children early.
John put his hands on his hips and said helplessly.
"That's my neighbor's child. She likes to play at my house, and her father knows about it. She's not a brat, so I welcome her. That puppet is hers."
Lorraine smiled gently upon hearing this, thinking that if he was so friendly to a neighbor's child, there wouldn't be much problem in other aspects either.
"You've done very well."
"Thank you for the compliment."
John led them into the house. This time, he didn't serve Pepsi but instead offered two cups of tea.
Ed watched John fluidly prepare the tea and couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Is this the ancient tea ceremony from China ? I didn't expect you to know even this."
John knew from this remark that the couple had definitely done some research on him, which was normal.
"I'm just an amateur; I just brew it casually when I'm bored. Be careful, it's a bit hot."
Ed took the teacup, blew on it, and took a shallow sip. He found the taste a bit strange and didn't particularly like it, but that didn't stop him from praising John's skill.
This is called social etiquette.
This kind of thing also exists here, it's just that ordinary people generally don't come into contact with it.
Plus, there are still a large number of muscular, brainless black people, so many people take it for granted that there is no social etiquette here.
In fact, it exists everywhere.
After a brief tasting, the three got down to business.
Lorraine clasped her hands together on the table.
"Can you explain your ability in detail?"
John knew this part was coming, so he was already prepared.
"I don't know how to describe it, but if I want them to do things for me, I must put them in some kind of restricted state. Then I can contain them and make requests."
John didn't elaborate much afterwards; he couldn't explain it in detail anyway.
Lorraine nodded and continued to ask.
"So, you need demons that are sealed or restricted, but do they really help you without any cost?"
John had considered this question carefully. If there was no cost, it would be too heaven-defying, so...
"Some require it, some don't. Whether they are willing or not mainly depends on my will; they cannot force a transaction with me."
Ed recorded notes on the side.
Lorraine continued to ask.
"So, you are in control of this transaction, which is good. How do you avoid being affected?"
Of the people who have come into contact with such entities, only a very small number of survivors are still living normal lives; most have ended up in mental hospitals.
This is also why so many American horror stories mention various types of asylums.
Because when people come into contact with these things too much, they really do get affected, and mental breakdown is quite normal.
John asked, puzzled.
"Affected? Is there? I've never felt it. I usually seal them in cards."
Lorraine exclaimed in surprise, "Cards?"
John: "Yes."
Lorraine was silent for a moment, clearly having never heard of such a thing.
"Can you show me?"
Ed's pen paused in his notes; he was very interested in this as well.
"Of course." John slowly walked to a drawer in the living room, then pulled out a deck of Texas poker cards, and then, under the expectant gaze of the couple, told them that this was what sealed the demons.
Just kidding, how could he possibly take out the phantom card? It was good enough to disguise it with ordinary poker cards.
Besides, even if he did take it out, others wouldn't be able to see it. Otherwise, why would it be called "phantom card"?
Lorraine took the poker cards and examined them carefully. John didn't seem to be lying, so perhaps there really was something inside that sealed demons.
Ed also picked up a few cards and looked at them.
But no matter how he looked, they were no different from ordinary poker cards.
John didn't keep them in suspense. He took the poker cards and explained.
"In front of others, this is indeed an ordinary deck of poker cards, but in my hand, it is the club that can seal demons."
The Club Four in John's hand gently flipped, and when it turned back, the pattern on the card face had unknowingly transformed into the image of a black and white clown.
The Warren couple: "(⊙o⊙)"
They could guarantee that they had been staring at the card the entire time, so there was no possibility of a card switch. This could simply be called magic.
Lorraine made a request.
"May I see this card?"
John, holding the card between his fingers, raised an eyebrow: "Of course."
Lorraine took the card and looked at the lifelike black and white clown on the pattern, which also had its name.
"Terrifier."
She truly felt an evil presence emanating from this card.
An ordinary Texas poker card could actually seal evil, which was even more convenient than priests and crosses.
Unlike Ed and him, they could only place the sealed demons and evil spirits in the storage room.
"What happens if you release it?"
John said, "Nothing will happen. Terrifier belongs to the kind that doesn't require a price."
After speaking, John made another joke.
"Maybe it's a masochist, who knows."
It was dark humor, but the Warren couple didn't laugh. Instead, they asked John if the clown could hear, and if it could, it was best not to say such things, as it was very likely to provoke the clown.
They were thinking for John's sake.
Having experienced a lot, they all knew that once these kinds of things were provoked, they would become very frantic.
John glanced at Art the Clown, who was smiling on the card face, and nodded, acknowledging Lorraine's advice.
"Then am I qualified to become an exorcist for the church?"
"Of course, but the premise is that we still need to ask a few psychological questions. This is something the church must evaluate. Ed and I both think you're fine, but the necessary procedures still need to be followed."
Lorraine smiled brightly, feeling that it was basically a sure thing. Although she could communicate with spirits, she didn't have direct means to deal with demons, nor did Ed.
Often, when encountering supernatural events, they could only investigate first, then report to the church to send someone over.
But if there was a powerful and trustworthy exorcist nearby, then safety and all other aspects would be guaranteed.
Therefore, Lorraine had high expectations for John. Even if the church didn't approve, she would use her connections to get John through.
After all the assessments were completed.
John finally took out Mary Shaw's puppet. It was time to deal with this thing.