"Come over and help."
Hearing Ed's voice, Drew, brimming with excitement, quickly moved to Ed's side, picking up a backpack and following him into the house.
"Father, Drew has always wanted to visit the Pluto Church," Rowling commented with a smile, watching the two men.
"I think he sees you as a life idol."
"A life idol?"
Father York, watching Ed and Drew, shifted his gaze to Theodore's family waiting at the door.
"I'm not suited to be anyone's idol. Of course, I'd welcome him to my church, and I'd be more than happy if he could offer his support."
Rowling, as if she already knew the answer, just smiled and said, "I'll get Ed to give him some time off."
"I'll be waiting," Father York said indifferently, turning his attention to the house enveloped in a strange atmosphere. "Now, the most important thing is to find out what's wrong with this house."
Hearing this, Rowling handed over a file she had been holding. "Father, this is the data and evidence we collected after our investigation."
Father York casually took the file and opened it, pulling out the first document.
"This house, about a year before Theodore's family moved in, was the scene of a massacre," Rowling said, looking at the priest engrossed in the document. "A man named Ronnie Defoe brutally killed his entire family at 10 pm, then committed suicide in the hallway with a gunshot..."
Father York's expression remained calm, just looking at a photo in the file, depicting a bloody footprint-filled corridor from the crime scene. "So, this is why Theodore's family always hears footsteps at 10 pm?"
Rowling nodded. "I think that's about right."
Father York flipped to the next page indifferently. He was just following the rules to confirm the situation of the house, to avoid any gossip reaching the church elders.
Now that the initial catalyst and medium had been confirmed, the next step was to ascertain the nature of the disturbances.
Father York stopped at the interview page and read on. The summary was as follows:
Initially, Theodore's family only heard footsteps at 10 pm, which eventually evolved into increasingly closer footsteps, until they felt as if they were right in front of them, followed by deafening gunshots.
This was quite frightening. They couldn't see anything, yet they heard footsteps approaching, step by step...
And just when the footsteps seemed to reach them, there was a loud bang. This would be too much for anyone, especially those with weak hearts.
Father York glanced at Theodore's family. Their faces were sickly pale, with red eyes, haggard and weak...
He continued reading.
After the gunshots started, the situation grew stranger. At 10 pm, the footsteps continued, and Theodore's family decided to hide in their rooms. But the locked door's handle started moving as if being twisted, followed by knocking that lasted for fifteen minutes before stopping.
When they dared to come out in the daytime, they saw a line of blurry footprints in the corridor, stretching to the door, as if something had stood there at 10 pm, twisting the doorknob...
"Tsk, it's getting more intense." Father York muttered, looking at the photos attached to the file, which showed a blood-red footprint in the corridor.
However, these photos and interviews alone weren't enough for church authorization, as all these could be fabricated by ordinary people.
According to protocol, mental illness had to be ruled out first.
As all three members of Theodore's family were affected, and their experiences were consistent, mental illness could probably be ruled out.
Father York continued reading, knowing that evidence of supernatural occurrences should be next.
The first was a photo, still of the corridor, empty with no one in sight. However, on a mirror hanging on the wall, there was a strange image of a man with half of his skull missing, his flesh blurred.
Seeing this photo, Father York silently put it away and closed the file, handing it back to Rowling, who was waiting.
Rowling took it, "Father, the evil spirit haunting Theodore's family is probably Ronnie Defoe, who committed suicide."
"I think so too."
Father York looked towards Ed and Drew, who had come out and were talking to Theodore's family.
"Let's start the exorcism tonight."
"Alright."
Rowling nodded. She looked at Ed, her beloved husband, remembering past events, and pursed her lips, hesitating before speaking.
"Father!"
Father York was about to go over when he stopped abruptly, turning to Rowling, who looked worried and hesitant.
"Yes, Rowling? What's wrong?"
Rowling took a deep breath, as if making a decision. "When I tried to sense the presence of the evil spirit, I saw something during a séance."
Father York looked at Rowling, noting the increasingly ominous aura about her, but remained calm.
"What exactly did you sense?"
"I entered Ronnie Defoe's perspective and heard voices, tempting him to kill whatever was in front of him, his family..."
Rowling's eyes showed rare fear. "I tried to identify the source of the voice and was pulled into a place where I saw a nun. She showed me a vision of Ed being killed!"
"A nun?"
Father York's heart stirred. Was the source of Rowling's ominous aura something resembling a nun?
"Yes!" Rowling took another deep breath, suppressing the fear that resurfaced with her memories.
"I think it's a presence warning or targeting something. Maybe Ronnie Defoe was under its control that night, leading him to kill his family and commit suicide..."
With Father York there, Rowling couldn't hold back her thoughts anymore and spoke at length.
Unbeknownst to her, she was trembling, seemingly engulfed in fear.
"...Her eyes and lips were all black, her skin pale, emanating ominousness, death, terror..."
"When I saw Her, I felt I was so close to hell..."
Rowling, speaking more and more fearfully, suddenly realized she had fallen into that terrifying scenario again, with a buzzing noise in her ears like an electric current...
Just then, a gentle voice rang out, pulling her back to reality and dispelling all her fear.
"Rowling!"
Rowling turned towards the voice, and there stood the comforting figure of Father York, smiling at her.
"Let's exorcise the evil spirit from this house first, and we can talk in detail later."
"..."
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