Light truly gives people a sense of security.
Even if this sense of security is sometimes false, it's enough that people believe it.
It was noon.
Rebecca went to the school and picked up Martin, a very sensible and cute little boy, though his dark circles were severe, indicating he hadn't slept well.
Martin saw the man next to his sis and quietly asked,
"Is this your new boyfriend?"
Rebecca smiled and explained, "No, Martin, he's an exorcist I hired specifically to deal with that evil monster."
Martin didn't know what an evil spirit was; calling it a monster was easier for him to understand.
"Really, sis?!"
"Really."
"Can I talk to the Exorcist, sir?"
Martin looked timidly at his sis, then glanced at John.
Rebecca looked at John, and a slight smile appeared on his calm face.
"Of course, your name is Martin, right? I heard about you from your sis; you're a very brave child."
John wasn't good at dealing with children and disliked unruly ones, but he had a very good impression of well-behaved children who didn't cause trouble.
Martin was a little embarrassed by the praise.
"I'm not as brave as my sis says; I still get scared when I see that black monster."
"Hmm, then can you tell me about the first time you met that monster…?"
Rebecca watched the two chatting, and her spirits, for the first time in a long while, relaxed.
She hadn't seen her brother so happy in a long time.
In Martin's eyes, an exorcist was an existence comparable to God; he knew calling his mother or sis was useless, as they couldn't stop the monster from approaching.
Over time, Martin was on the verge of becoming autistic.
Now, seeing the only glimmer of hope in the darkness, how could he not be happy?
Even a passing teacher was surprised; Martin was notoriously quiet at school, and today he had become a chatterbox.
If it weren't her class today, she would have wondered if it was a different child.
Rebecca had to remind him at this point.
"Alright, Martin, we should go home, or Mom will worry."
The moment Martin heard they were going home, he instinctively leaned closer to John, a sign of his lack of security.
He looked up at John, as if gaining courage, and said firmly,
"Home."
…
Rebecca's family lived in a community in the center of the town.
Before their father's accident, he owned a factory, and the family was quite wealthy, but with the pillar of the family gone and the evil spirit's harassment, their financial situation rapidly deteriorated.
The family of three moved from the center to the outskirts, but the evil spirit still followed them like a shadow.
When Rebecca arrived home with John and her brother,
her mother, Sophie, was sitting in the center of the yard, basking in the sun.
She also disliked being alone in the house.
Rebecca briefly introduced her mother to John.
"Mom, this is the exorcist I hired."
Sophie glanced at John without much reaction, continuing to sunbathe.
Rebecca apologized, "The doctor said Mom is a bit schizophrenic right now; she's not usually like this."
John said, "It's alright, first take me inside to have a look."
Martin volunteered to show John around the house.
He was now like Jerry who found his cousin to back him up, strutting proudly.
After John fused with the Undying Body, he no longer needed to constantly waste a phantom card to maintain secrecy, and his courage had grown considerably.
Just as he was about to follow Martin through the door, John paused, his gaze falling on the shadows behind the door.
He sensed a powerful, undisguised malice.
It seemed the evil spirit did not welcome him.
John stepping through this door was equivalent to stepping into the other party's territory; if he left now, there might still be room for maneuver.
Martin looked back at John curiously.
"What's wrong, Exorcist, sir?"
"Nothing."
John stepped through the main door and entered the living room.
The items inside were placed haphazardly, possibly due to just moving, but it was still cozy.
Martin took John to see his room.
There were many flashlights and candles inside.
According to his sis Rebecca's account, her brother only dared to sleep while holding a flashlight.
John casually glanced at the phantom card.
"Traces of the evil spirit Diana detected."
Oh? This evil spirit even has a name, Diana?
After touring the room and examining it thoroughly, there was basically nothing abnormal.
So he returned to the living room.
Rebecca, fearing that John would just leave, quickly explained,
"She only appears at night."
John glanced at the sky and saw that there was still some time until night, so he asked,
"Rebecca, do you know a woman named Diana?"
"Diana?"
Rebecca tried hard to recall anyone associated with that name, touching her head, she said uncertainly,
"I seem to have heard Mom mention that name; it was in the mental hospital, I think…"
Another mental hospital.
John now realized that those who could enter mental hospitals were not simple characters.
Rebecca stood up and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go ask."
Rebecca walked directly to the yard and spoke with Sophie.
Soon, after just a few words, the mother and daughter started arguing, an irreconcilable kind.
John's enhanced hearing allowed him to hear clearly.
Sophie, as the mother, said that Diana was a friend she met in the mental hospital, and she would make Diana accept Rebecca and Martin.
This statement instantly made Rebecca collapse; that black monster knew her and her brother?
She originally thought her mother didn't know about this, but she did and even indulged it. Didn't you ever think Diana would harm me and my brother?!
Rebecca furiously denounced Diana's actions in front of Sophie.
It was very melodramatic.
John deduced one possibility: there was indeed a woman named Diana in the mental hospital.
Sophie and Diana were friends, but Diana had already died.
The current Diana was just an evil spirit wearing a human name.
In many Western legends, evil spirits can disguise themselves as humans.
Annabelle was a demon disguised as the soul of the carpenter's daughter.
In Dead Silence, it was even more exaggerated; Mary Shaw directly hollowed out a person's internal organs and used their skin to fake the existence of the male protagonist's father.
Everything had clues.
Things would become clear by night.
"Ding."
His phone vibrated.
John took it out and saw it was a message from Jennifer.
"My dear, all the equipment you bought has arrived. I put it all in the storage room without opening it, but what's that camera for? Are you planning to film… (blushes)"
John's mouth twitched; he had no intention of filming an adult film.
The camera was intended for filming videotapes, and the rest were playback devices.
John had gained the ability to spread curses last time, and although he couldn't use it for now, he couldn't have too many life-saving methods.
Curse Propagation: One of Terrifier's abilities.
John had drawn this last time, but without the professional equipment, he hadn't had a chance to film the videotape.
This curse was quite good.
As long as the video was playing, he could leave supernatural or dangerous places through the curse; the videotape acted like a marked point, just like Sadako could crawl out of the TV playing her videotape.
It's just that Terrifier's curse propagation wasn't that strong.
It could also be affected by external interference, leading to propagation failure.
…