When Felix heard his words, the old man—who was actually an envoy of The Healing Church—waved his hand as if saying this was just his job and said: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
"Well, it will take me a bit to make the preparations, so in the meantime you can go cook something to eat, I'm hungry." As protocol, there were countless ways to keep people away from cursed places or keep them busy while investigating a case.
Priest Luis, who had arrived in this community, had his own way of lightening the tension of families who had been dealing with the supernatural for a long time.
His request was simple—actually ridiculous—but it would give him time to identify the problem in this place and also notify headquarters so they could send an exorcist.
Felix was taken aback. He told his daughter-in-law to hurry and cook and pretended to help. He called his son into the kitchen and asked him about the background of the priest he had brought home.
"It's like I told you. I went to look for the Shaman, but that man noticed something strange in my body and started asking questions related to our problems. Then your old acquaintance decided to leave this job to that priest."
"Father, this old man is a Christian priest… Could he be an impostor?"
Felix did not answer but instead asked, "Does he want money?"
"We never talked about money. How could I refuse if that old man only said that the people his church saves give certain offerings?"
"If he manages to save your son, we could give him a few thousand dollars." Felix, although not entirely convinced, had no choice but to trust the words of the Shaman who sent that priest to their home.
Nowadays, especially for a rural family, those thousands of dollars they were willing to donate was a very large sum.
But if it meant saving his grandson, he would not hesitate to pay five thousand, even if it cost him his life savings. The problem was that if it was a scam, he would not only lose money but also time—and his grandson's health worsened day by day.
With conflicted feelings, Felix returned to the patio, prepared two cups of tea, and sat in front of Luis the priest. They drank a cup of coffee and talked while Felix tried to find out more about the old man's background.
However, he paid no attention at all, limiting himself to saying his name and that he was only an agent of the church who dedicated himself to searching for problems in society.
He didn't want to say anything more.
This made Felix even more suspicious, but now that things had reached this point, he had no choice but to try everything.
After the food was prepared, Luis stood up and without a word walked toward the room where the child lay bedridden.
Upon entering the back room, Luis glanced at the child in the bed from afar. Seeing his bloodshot eyes and dark complexion, and combining this with Felix's previous account, he understood the problem.
He stepped forward and covered the child's head with one large hand, using the power of his faith to gauge the magnitude of the problem.
However, the moment his hand touched the child's forehead, it burst into flames. The flames covered his hand and an intense pain shot through Luis's body, who immediately staggered back.
"Bring water, now." Felix panicked, his trembling body reacting only moments later.
Luis, on the other hand, extended his hand and shouted in horror: "No one enters the room. Stay in the doorway."
"Grandpa…" The child, without anyone noticing, sat up in his bed and looked at his grandfather with tearful eyes.
Felix trembled, about to take a step forward, when suddenly he was stopped by the cold words of Priest Luis: "That is not your grandson, step back now."
"Your hand…" Felix, pulled out of a daze, looked at Luis's burned hand, which he had already wrapped with a silver rosary and extinguished the flames with holy water.
Without a trace of fear, Luis placed silver crosses throughout the room and, without any compassion for the child's screams, left and shut the door.
"Priest, what do we do?"
"I will request help. Do not approach the door. Did you hear me? If for any reason you do, you'll give the demon a chance to possess your body." Luis staggered toward the exit and made an urgent call: "This is Agent Luis, Class One priest, requesting immediate assistance for a severe case of bodily possession. I do not have the abilities required to expel the cursed spirit—the child burned my hand just by touching him."
"Zz… Understood, remain in your position. An exorcist priest will arrive in less than an hour."
"Yes…"
…
On the highway near the Indian Reservation, a black truck sped at full speed while orchestral music played inside.
"Are you sure you don't want some classic rock?" Jonathan was beginning to regret choosing to return to the church while driving. He thought that driving for long hours would ease his mental burden, but he didn't consider he'd be traveling with a girl who loved writing.
"No, that style of music wouldn't stimulate my brain to think of better things to write while you drive."
Jonathan was about to recommend another style of music when suddenly his cellphone rang. His expression turned a little somber. "Looks like our way back home won't be completely peaceful."
Wednesday looked up, and when she saw Jonathan turning off the music, she knew something important was about to begin.
And without waiting long, when Jonathan took the call, the voice of the church's field operator contacted him. "Exorcist Priest Jonathan Belmont, you are urgently requested at a location near your current position. A field agent's life is in danger."