The bathroom was dead silent.
Aside from Mike, who was senseless and raving, everyone else was sleeping peacefully.
Dan Lee had never felt fear so acutely, not even back in the cavern.
Sometimes, the unknown could instill far greater terror.
When Dan Lee shook them awake, they were all utterly bewildered.
Sam had the strongest reaction.
“Holy shit!
Didn’t I already go home and eat my mom’s home cooking?” Jessie said in disbelief, “If that was a dream, it was way too real.
I’ve never had a dream that vivid before…” Jennifer didn’t say what her dream was, but her face was flushed red, and the way she looked at Dan Lee was practically dripping with affection—it was obvious what kind of dream she’d had.
“Dan Lee, what do we do now?” Jessie remembered how the door had slammed shut when they went out in the dream.
What if this time was the same?
Were they dreaming, or had they truly woken up?
Dan Lee wouldn’t be affected this time, so he wanted to see what kind of creature it actually was.
“It’s simple.
Open the door and walk out.
I’ll bring up the rear.” Jennifer whispered, “It’s not safe for you alone.
How about letting Sam cover the rear?” Sam: “?” *Am I not a human being?* Sam desperately wanted to curse.
Dan Lee shook his head.
“No need.
Sam just needs to carry Mike.
Actually, I’m an exorcist from the Church.
You don’t need to worry.” This time, Dan Lee walked at the very back.
As soon as everyone stepped out, the bathroom door slammed shut violently.
Everything was identical, with the sole difference being that Jessie didn’t scream.
Jessie walked in front and tried the front door, only to find it locked from the inside.
The windows also seemed sealed tight, impossible to open no matter what.
Dan Lee observed the surroundings and said, “Looks like something doesn’t want us to leave.” As if to validate his words, ceramics in the living room and kitchen began crashing to the floor without warning, making sharp, shattering noises.
Jennifer, Sam, and Jessie all shrank behind Dan Lee.
Dan Lee had lost patience with these petty tricks.
Turning around, he kicked the front door straight off its hinges, sending it flying out into the yard.
Instantaneously, wind and rain surged inside.
Sam’s eyes went wide.
*Oh my God, is he even human?* Jennifer and the others now truly believed Dan Lee was a Church exorcist.
Kicking a heavy door clean off its frame—was he even human?
Dan Lee spoke calmly, “You guys go ahead.
I’ll take a look down here.” Not wanting to burden Dan Lee, the group ran out into the storm.
As they left, they couldn’t help but glance back.
That single glance nearly scared them to death.
At the top of the stairs, a pitch-black head with a pair of stark white pupils seemed to be staring fixatedly at them.
That eerie sight instantly doubled their pace.
The moment they escaped, the door Dan Lee had kicked away flew back undamaged, fitting seamlessly over the doorway like a coffin lid sealing a coffin.
Paranormal phenomena inside the house intensified.
The second floor was the most violent.
Sounds of smashing furniture mixed with harsh static noises, sounding like an old, neglected TV displaying snow.
At the top of the stairs, that black head slowly peeked out again, its face featureless.
Anyone else would have been scared to tears.
Dan Lee wasn’t overly terrified, but his Sanity points were taking a heavy hit.
He didn’t know how to describe this thing.
It didn’t quite look like a demon; it was jet-black all over, with only the white dots of its eyes exceptionally vivid within the pitch-black sockets.
It fixed its stare on Dan Lee and slowly crawled along the ceiling toward him.
Dan Lee suspected the raven-haired girl had likely been devoured by this creature.
He suddenly felt Jennifer was remarkably lucky.
To have lived until now with such a ghost lurking in her house…
Though it was also possible the seance game had summoned it.
Seeing it crawl closer and closer, Dan Lee stopped pretending.
He chose to fully transform into the Evil Spirit Wendigo, activating Stage Two Terrorization.
His entire body began to expand, and crimson bone spurs tore through his skin, bursting out from his flesh.
In the blink of an eye, all trace of a human disappeared from the cabin.
Replaced by two terrifying monsters locked in a standoff.
If possible, Dan Lee didn’t want to turn into the Evil Spirit Wendigo either.
The main reason was that he had too few containment items available.
If he didn’t fuse, innocent people would easily become collateral damage—and by innocent, he meant himself.
Although he still had a Mutant in hand, he didn’t think that thing could handle the creature before him; self-preservation alone would be tough for it.
On the ceiling, the Slender Man froze for a moment, as if not expecting a perfectly normal human to suddenly turn into an evil spirit.
It seemed to be contemplating whether to continue.
Meanwhile, Dan Lee had completed his transformation.
The bone spurs on both elbows extended along his forearms into crimson bone blades.
Gathering power on the spot, he leaped into the air, slashing out in a cross motion.
The Slender Man let out a bizarre shriek.
Instead of dodging, it pounced toward Dan Lee in midair.
The bone blades sliced into the Slender Man’s body.
It lacked expected resistance, feeling abnormally smooth, yet slicing it completely apart proved extremely difficult.
The Slender Man’s razor claws struck the bone spurs all over Dan Lee’s body.
Rows of bone spurs acted like steel needles hitting an iron wall; pain drove Dan Lee’s bone spurs to sprout once more.
The two collided in midair and slammed heavily onto the ground, shattering the living room floorboards.
The Slender Man opened its gaping black mouth, emitting a hollow, terrifying sound.
With such a monstrous thing pressing down on him, one could imagine the psychological shadow cast over Dan Lee.
From an outside perspective, the slender, black monster pounced atop the bone-spurred creature, its dark shadow slowly enveloping it as if about to devour the beast whole.
…
In the rainy night, Sam and the girls who had escaped felt lingering fear; even from far away, they could hear the massive commotion inside.
After Jennifer calmed down, she realized Dan Lee hadn’t lied to her.
The series of events today had shattered her worldview.
No wonder Dan Lee kept suggesting coming over to check out her house…
Jennifer had thought he just lusted after her body, never expecting he truly wanted to save her.
Beside herself with emotion, she wanted to go back for Dan Lee, even if there were ghosts in the house.
Sam took a look at the crazed Mike and turned on the car radio.
Jessie was fiddling with her phone, trying to get a signal.
Probably due to the storm, there was still zero signal.
If she weren’t so scared, she would have gotten out of the car right now and smashed the damn phone!
“Bzz…
bzz bzz…” The old radio let out a harsh static noise.
Sam impatiently slapped the radio.
The static vanished, tuning into a local emergency channel.
A steady male voice came through the radio, speaking in standard American English.
“This is the Clam Shell Town Police Emergency Broadcast Channel.
Repeating, this is the Clam Shell Town Police Emergency Broadcast Channel.” “Please be advised: a homicide occurred in the suburban area around midnight today.
The victims are one male and two females.
Residents are advised to lock their doors and windows, secure personal belongings, and if suspicious persons or abnormal situations are spotted in the area…
repeating the above notice…” The static grew louder, until finally only harsh buzzing remained.
Hearing this, Jessie realized—wasn’t that Brad and the others who had driven away?
The count, genders, time, and location all matched perfectly.
Sam was a bit slow on the uptake, but once he realized, his face washed over with the relief of a survivor.
If he had left with Brad, the body count might have increased by a few more.
If nothing else, Sam hadn’t originally believed in God or Jesus, but now he truly had to.
*Click.* Jennifer suddenly pulled open the car door and ran out into the rain.
Seeing this, Jessie rolled down the window and shouted loudly, “Hey, Jennifer, where are you going?” “I’m going back for Dan Lee!” Jennifer’s figure slowly vanished into the rainy night.
Jessie didn’t dare go back for Dan Lee.
She was afraid, which was only human.
Jennifer dared to go because her affection had crossed into obsessive love—a result of her upbringing.