In a dark room, a figure held an old recorder in their hand and pressed the button to play the recorded content on it, which seemed to be specially recorded for someone else to listen to.
"Mrs. Patricia, could you repeat what you just said?"
"Yes, but please... Please don't tell anyone, especially not my husband. And my daughter!"
"I understand, so... can we begin now?"
"It all started with a phone call, which, by the way, was from my sister, three nights ago... She was in a strange state. Her teeth were chattering, and she seemed to be going through a terrible time. I asked her if she felt unwell, and she didn't respond; she just kept repeating a dream she had recently."
"A dream?"
"Yes, it was a dream... She said that lately, she often dreamed that she would wake up at night and then leave the bed and walk through the attic where she lived. Sometimes she would go down the stairs and stop at the basement door. After seeing her, she wasn't the same, and when she smiled, she ended up committing suicide in front of my eyes by stabbing herself in the throat with a fork."
"The worst part is that she did it with a smile; even as she stabbed herself in the throat, she never stopped smiling as if she were possessed by some kind of demon."
"So, why do you think you need help?"
"Whatever problem she had, I think she passed it on to me. I see and hear things; she looked at me in the mirror, smiling, and as the days go by, this problem is increasing. Everything is very real, so real, so real that... Nothing seemed like a dream; I do things I've never done in my life."
"I'm seeing things that no one else sees—those kinds of things my sister swore she saw and no one paid attention to."
"So, have you come to see me because you think you need help?"
"You're not paying attention to me!"
"Well, you said."
Click!
Turning off the recorder in their hand, the figure in the darkness fell silent while thinking about what to do.
Anton was sitting in the dark with his eyes closed. On the table, there was a copy of the daily newspaper announcing a scandal that had occurred at a gas station where a woman ended her life in front of a man who was just buying gasoline.
"Shocking news: Patricia Milton, a 47-year-old woman, brutally committed suicide in front of a passerby who was just buying gasoline. Surveillance cameras captured how this woman ended her life with a smile on her face, which shocked everyone who saw the video. "
Anton's eyes jumped to the information below the newspaper; there was an image of a woman who had taken her life, so with that information, he got complete details about that woman and her sister.
She was a woman who had come to the church a few days ago.
Anton wasn't here because he was training the recruits under his command during his free time when there were no missions involved.
During all this time, Anton wasn't in the habit of reading newspapers, but the police brought it to him about an hour ago.
From the clues, they knew that this woman had attended the church many times, so they were interested in knowing what she was doing there to find out if there was a cause besides suicide.
When Anton realized that this woman had come to the church where he was active and didn't receive help from anyone, he got a little annoyed, so he requested all the information related to her.
After two police officers, a man and a woman, finished taking notes, they left the recorders at Anton's request.
When the policewoman wanted to refuse, her partner accepted without any problem, so she was really upset because she didn't understand why a priest would want those recordings.
After rising politely and saying goodbye, Anton investigated and realized that possibly the death of that woman was related to a dark entity and not suicide.
The crisp sound of the keyboard occasionally sounded, and everything proceeded normally and in order.
Anton glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen, got up, walked to the studio door, first closed the outer glass door, then the inner door, and then locked it.
After doing this, he took the time to prepare a cup of coffee.
Holding the cup of coffee, he walked back to the sofa.
"She committed suicide with a smile." Anton murmured as he became more intrigued.
He knew he needed to investigate, and in these types of cases, it's better to do it in person to get the job done quickly. Still, before moving, he needed to do research and find out if this was related to a case he should intervene in.
It had been a long time since he had participated in dangerous missions; in fact, he felt as if somehow the demons were avoiding him, as if they didn't want to face him now.
"Call Alexander and tell him to pick me up in a few hours. If it's a new case, I'll investigate on my own accord. There's no need for a team to move; what you all should do now is train." Anton ended the call, imagining how his subordinates were training, so that was better than anything else.