The shadow in the convex mirror was enormous, easily more than six feet tall, and completely black from head to toe.
Quinn Harris couldn’t make out a face, clothing, or even clear limbs, yet the humanoid outline looming directly behind her was unmistakable.
Her heart nearly stopped as she spun around, expecting something to be standing within arm’s reach.
Instead, the hospital corridor was empty except for an ordinary nurse walking past several yards away.
Quinn immediately looked back at the mirror.
The shadow was gone.
If this had happened two days earlier, she would have blamed exhaustion or stress.
After Courtney’s death, Evan’s body in the stairwell, the impossible Countdown timer, and everything Darius Kane had predicted, she knew better than to dismiss it so easily.
Whatever she’d seen had almost certainly been Ozhin.
“Quinn!” The sharp call made her flinch again.
Her head nurse had already walked farther down the hallway and was staring back impatiently.
“What are you doing?
We need you in the OR.” “Sorry.
I’m coming.” Quinn drew a long breath and lightly patted both cheeks before following.
Stay calm.
Just make it until noon.
She couldn’t afford to let fear destroy her concentration while she was working with patients.
If she made a careless mistake because she was distracted by a demon, someone innocent could end up getting hurt.
The next few hours passed in a blur of anxiety and hospital work.
Every reflection made Quinn tense, every unexpected sound caused her heart to jump, and she occasionally caught herself checking the time even though she already knew exactly how much remained.
By lunchtime, police had finished their preliminary investigation into Evan’s death and were treating his fall in the stairwell as an accident.
Nobody else seemed to realize that a supernatural entity had been standing beside him when he died.
Quinn didn’t even bother changing out of her scrubs when her lunch break arrived.
She left the hospital and crossed the street to the restaurant where she’d agreed to meet Darius.
After scanning the room, she spotted him sitting near the back with his phone in one hand and a drink on the table.
She hurried over, dropped into the chair opposite him, and immediately asked, “Darius, what’s the plan?” Darius put down his phone.
“I know you’re in a hurry, but breathe first.
We can talk while we eat.” “I’m not hungry.” “You should still eat something.” “I’ll eat after you tell me how we’re staying alive.” Darius studied her tense expression and decided not to argue.
“Fine.
The basic plan is actually simple.
We stop trying to outsmart the timer and focus on preventing Ozhin from reaching you until it expires.” Quinn frowned.
“That’s it?” “In theory.” Darius lowered his voice and leaned closer across the table.
Every loophole used in the original sequence had serious weaknesses.
Hacking the app merely changed the displayed timer temporarily, while manipulating death itself had only produced a temporary victory before Countdown returned as version 2.0.
If Horror Town expected Quinn to truly escape the curse, Darius didn’t want to gamble everything on exploiting the same loophole again.
Fortunately, the movie had demonstrated one important fact.
Ozhin could be physically warded off.
Father John had eventually created a protective circle using salt mixed with glue, turning the floor into a supernatural barrier.
When Ozhin appeared, the demon couldn’t simply walk through it.
That meant its power wasn’t absolute.
More importantly, Father John’s theory established the actual weakness behind the curse.
Ozhin existed to make sure the timer’s prediction came true, so if a marked person survived even one second beyond the stated time, the prediction became false.
The demon’s entire supernatural contract would be broken.
Darius tapped the table.
“So instead of hacking your phone or trying to fake your death, we’re going to build the strongest protection we can and wait.” “Wait for what?” “Your countdown to hit zero.” Quinn stared at him.
Darius continued calmly.
“If Ozhin can’t reach you when the clock expires, you survive past the predicted time.
Even one second should technically be enough to prove the countdown wrong.” “Should?” “I’m not going to lie and call it guaranteed when it isn’t.” Quinn pressed her lips together.
The plan sounded frighteningly simple for something involving a demon, but Darius had at least given her something concrete.
“So we just stand inside a circle of salt until my timer runs out?” “A properly prepared ward, not just a random circle from the kitchen.” Darius paused.
“And there’s another problem.” “Of course there is.” “Ozhin doesn’t have to physically cross the barrier if it can convince you to leave.” Quinn’s expression changed.
Darius explained that Ozhin could create frighteningly realistic hallucinations and imitate people connected to its victims.
In the original events, it had appeared as Courtney to Evan, as Matt’s dead younger brother, and as Quinn and Jordan’s deceased mother.
Its greatest weapon wasn’t brute force but manipulation, especially once the victim was desperate enough to react emotionally.
“If we’re inside the ward and you see your mother begging you to come outside, you stay where you are,” Darius said.
“If Jordan screams outside, you don’t move unless I confirm she’s actually there.
If you see me leave the circle and tell you it’s safe, assume I’m not me.” Quinn swallowed.
“That thing can do all of that?” “Yes.” “And how am I supposed to know what’s real?” “You probably won’t.” That answer wasn’t comforting.
Darius met her eyes.
“That’s why, when the time comes, you follow the plan no matter what you see.
Panic is exactly what Ozhin needs.” Quinn remained quiet for several seconds before nodding firmly.
“Okay.” “You’re sure?” “I don’t exactly have a better option.” Darius nodded.
“Good.
Then we spend the rest of today preparing.” They spent nearly an hour discussing the details.
Quinn would finish her hospital shift normally rather than suddenly disappearing and drawing unnecessary attention.
Darius would spend the afternoon gathering every protective item he could reasonably find, then meet her outside the hospital after work.
From that point forward, he would temporarily stay at Quinn’s home so she wouldn’t have to face Ozhin alone.
Once everything was settled, Quinn stood.
“I’ll see you tonight.” “Call immediately if anything happens before then.” “I will.” She returned to the hospital, while Darius headed in the opposite direction with a list of supplies in mind.
His first stop was a nearby church.
The building was spacious and quiet, with high ceilings that made even soft footsteps echo faintly through the sanctuary.
Since it was the middle of a weekday, only a handful of people were scattered among the pews, most sitting silently or praying.
Darius chose an empty seat and remained there for several minutes, partly because he needed to think and partly because the calm atmosphere was surprisingly relaxing after everything that had happened.
Eventually, he approached one of the church staff and asked about obtaining a small cross.
It turned out to be much easier than expected.
Small devotional crosses were available without any complicated requirements.
Darius took two—one for Quinn and another for Jordan.
The salt ward was the only protection he knew had definitely stopped Ozhin in the movie, but he saw no reason to reject additional precautions.
He looked toward the priest nearby.
“Father, honest question.
Do you believe something like this would actually protect someone from a demon?” The priest smiled gently.
“Faith isn’t a weapon you carry simply because you’re frightened.
But yes, I believe there are things in this world that faith can help us face.” Darius nodded.
“Fair enough.
Thank you.” Before entering Horror Town, Darius hadn’t been particularly religious.
That still hadn’t changed much, but his attitude toward supernatural beliefs had certainly become more respectful.
After personally fighting an immortal clown and now dealing with a genuine demon attached to a cursed app, dismissing every religious tradition as nonsense would be arrogant.
If demons were objectively real in this universe, then sacred objects deserved at least some consideration.
Darius left the church with both crosses stored carefully in his pocket.
He already had access to ordinary salt, and getting glue for the warding circle would be simple enough.
Still, he wasn’t satisfied.
When your opponent was an actual demon, bringing too many possible defenses sounded much better than discovering too late that you were missing something useful.
“What else?” He mentally ran through traditional Western supernatural defenses.
Holy water.
Crucifixes.
Salt.
Certain stories mentioned silver, though that was more commonly associated with werewolves or other specific creatures.
Garlic belonged more to vampire folklore and probably wasn’t going to impress Ozhin.
Darius didn’t want to start carrying random ingredients simply because Hollywood had used them against completely unrelated monsters.
Then another thought occurred to him.
Different cultures described ghosts and demons differently, but many supernatural stories shared the same basic concepts—barriers, symbols, rituals, objects carrying belief, and methods designed to ward off hostile entities.
There was no guarantee that something from one tradition would affect a creature from another, but Horror Town had already taught Darius not to dismiss possibilities just because they sounded strange.
If an item was cheap and harmless to test, there was little downside in bringing it.
He stopped outside a small neighborhood store.
“Worth a shot.” Inside, Darius moved through the aisles and picked up additional household supplies.
He grabbed a roll of heavy plastic wrap first, then added a box of chocolates after remembering some absurd improvised ghost-fighting tricks he’d once seen in an old paranormal comedy.
Neither item had anything to do with Countdown canon, and Darius wasn’t pretending they were sacred artifacts.
They were simply speculative backups inspired by the kind of ridiculous supernatural logic that sometimes worked inside movie worlds.
At this point, he was willing to experiment.
Crosses in his pocket.
Salt and glue still to obtain.
Plastic wrap.
Chocolate.
Darius looked down at the collection in his basket and couldn’t help shaking his head.
If someone had shown him this shopping list two weeks earlier and claimed it was equipment for fighting a demon, he would have laughed in their face.
Now he was genuinely considering whether he needed two boxes of chocolate instead of one.
“Better too much than not enough.” He headed toward the register.
Tonight was preparation.
Soon, the real battle against Ozhin would begin.
(End of Chapter) [Reader Event Active]