"Mr. Ed, can I ask you a question?" Drew gave a puzzled look to Mr. Ed, who was standing beside him as the taillights of Anton's speeding truck faded into the distance.
Ed, embracing his wife, looked away and asked, "What's your question?"
"What's the name of the church where we can find that priest? I plan to go there someday to pray."
"Church? I'm not entirely sure, but it's somewhere a few hours from here."
…
Ben Nevis Mountains.
Late at night, a short-haired girl got out of the car at a stop. The girl walked through the dark streets calmly, listening to music on her headphones. Through experience, she knew nothing bad would happen to her since she had walked home alone since childhood.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
At that moment, her phone started vibrating. Taking her phone, the girl pressed the answer button and spoke, "Hello, Mom!"
"What? I'm almost home."
"You don't have to worry. No one will kidnap me in this civilization-forgotten place."
"Don't go out, Mom; it's cold."
"Well."
"Your daughter will come back safe and sound; not even a dog dares to pee on me."
After hanging up the call, just before pressing the button to resume playing music, she heard a distant scream.
"Ahhhh!"
Lucy stopped abruptly, her previously bright smile fading as sudden fear enveloped her. Walking in short steps, she slowly removed her right earbud.
Taking off the headphones, Lucy vigilantly looked around, finding nothing suspicious in the tall trees and sturdy bushes that could alert her to danger. As fear built up in her emotions, her suspicions and vigilance became more unsettling. She knew something was wrong and needed to get out of there quickly.
But as she lingered in the same spot for some time, just when she thought it was nothing, she heard branches being stepped on behind her.
Crack!
Lucy quickly turned her gaze backward in search of the source of the sound, but there was no one, and she was alone in the dark place. Because there were no people around and considering the late hour of the night, she slowly felt more overwhelmed.
Turning her gaze forward slowly, she vaguely felt a presence approaching her rapidly. With the fear of being attacked and the intensity of her emotions, Lucy instinctively stumbled backward, her bag, phone, and headphones falling into the dry branches.
Amid tears, Lucy could see, with less clarity, who it was. Lucy was a woman without shoes; from her clothes, she quickly knew she was in trouble.
"Help me, please; I need help!"
While the woman pleaded for help through tears, she soon discovered a figure hiding in the darkness behind the girl. Seeing the fleeing figure, she had no chance to cry; her expression turned from confusion to extreme terror.
Lucy, on the ground, looked confused as the woman turned in all directions, searching for her attacker. In panic and fear, the woman ran off, leaving Lucy on the ground. Looking in all directions, she didn't know what to do.
"Please, don't hurt me."
"Let go of me!"
Lucy quickly searched for her cellphone among the leaves. When she finally found her cellphone, a huge shadow slowly approached from the front.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lucy's desperate movements stopped; her gaze looked up in bewilderment, about to be hit by a hand holding a hammer.
Lucy fell unconscious due to the strong blow. With no one else around, a huge hand grabbed her right foot and began dragging her towards the dense trees.
...
That same night, Anton had returned late at night, and dawn could break at any moment. Although he had invited Rafael to stay and rest, he refused and preferred to drive home for a better rest.
Anton walked slowly toward his solitary house, filled with thoughts about the strange anomalies and all the sensations he had experienced. As he approached the bed, he thought about a few more things before falling asleep.
A shower wouldn't hurt, but now all he wanted was to rest and forget for a while that he was very alone in his gigantic house, which was actually a huge warehouse he had turned into a greenhouse.
…
Early the next morning, the first thing Anton did upon waking up was to take a long shower.
"Analysis message: [Multiple missions detected in the last three days; your excellent performance and motivation have been recorded in your progress as an exorcist!]"
Anton, who was listening to an email with empty words, walked to the kitchen. He wanted to make himself something good to eat and not have much activity today. As an exorcist, his mental peace was important, so he preferred to rest a bit after practically performing two exorcisms on the same day.
But things didn't go exactly as he wanted, so just after finishing lunch, he received a call directly from the Light Association.
"A series of inexplicable murders and disappearances?" Anton walked to the kitchen while leaving the dirty dishes.
"It's a rather strange case that has been developing near your location. [The data will be sent to your assistant, and you should act accordingly immediately.]"
After finishing the call, Anton walked to his room, where there was a black backpack under his bed and a telescopic poster where he stored a Remington Model 700 rifle to hunt physical entities much more dangerous than non-corporeal ones.
As he prepared, he walked to the kitchen and directly took a cross-pronged dagger in case it was a werewolf. Nowadays, there are countless corporeal monsters that can be summoned, so he had to be careful.
"Whatever has to be, will be." Anton murmured as he looked at his trees, as lively as he had left them before leaving.
Leaving the house, Anton saw Rafael waiting for him, and both soon set out to the scene.