A week had passed, and they still hadn't encountered any kind of supernatural killer or anything that could grant Liam abilities, so they had no choice but to travel across the country, hoping to find something.
At the moment, they were in Santa Monica. Edward had lent them a car before they left. It was an ordinary night, and Liam and Carrie were driving through the city of Santa Monica while trying to scan the entire area with their senses to see if they could find anything supernatural. The city lights reflected across the windshield, creating intermittent flashes over their faces, while the engine hummed steadily in the background, constant and monotonous.
"Liam, stop. I'm feeling something similar to what I felt when I tried to contain that demon that was with that killer clown," Carrie suddenly said, lifting her head from the book in her hands. On its cover, the title Peter Atkins – Molecular Quantum Mechanics could be read. She partially closed it, leaving a finger between the pages. Her expression shifted from academic focus to immediate alertness, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked around.
"Well done, Carrie. I was starting to feel like this was a waste of time," Liam said as he searched for a good place to park the car, slowing down and observing the surroundings more carefully, one hand steady on the steering wheel.
"Mmm, so my confrontation with the last demon actually helped," Carrie said happily, a small smile of satisfaction forming on her face, pride reflected in the way she straightened slightly in her seat.
Liam nodded at that. It was very useful that she could now sense demons within her range. His gesture was brief but confident, clearly showing his agreement as his gaze continued to sweep the street.
With that, both of them got out of the car and walked toward what looked like a normal family house from the outside, with a simple garden and dim lights turned on. But as they got closer, they both heard screams. The atmosphere instantly became heavy, and their bodies tensed instinctively.
"AHHH"
[DING]
[NEW MISSION AVAILABLE]
[KILL OR FORCE THE DEMON TO RETURN TO HELL]
When Liam saw this, he formed a small smile, the corner of his mouth tilting slightly. This meant an extra reward—and that it was tied to some story from his previous life. His eyes shone with a hint of dangerous anticipation.
"Carrie, open that door," Liam said seriously, his voice firm and unwavering as he fixed his gaze on the entrance.
"On it," Carrie said, and she opened the door—locked from the inside—using telekinesis. She extended her hand slightly, fingers spread, focusing, and the lock gave way with a sharp sound.
They rushed inside and ran up the stairs without wasting time, heading toward where the scream had come from. Their footsteps echoed loudly on the wood as the air seemed to grow colder with every step. There, they saw a blonde girl, about twenty years old, standing in front of the bed of a middle-aged couple who were already dead. They were too late. The bodies lay motionless, their expressions frozen in terror.
[Annabelle Higgins / The Ram]
Race: Demon
Title: Our Lord, the Ram
[Abilities]
[Manifestation]: When it has a body, it can transform into its demonic form to manifest part of its true power on the land of the living.
[Minor Telekinesis (Strengthened in demonic form)]: Can push light objects, open doors, and knock things over. In its demonic form, it can send a human flying with enough force to kill.
[Possession]: Can possess beings with weak will and intense fear toward it.
[Minor Teleportation]: Can teleport once every 5 minutes within a 50-meter radius.
[Intangible]: Cannot be touched by normal means. (Only usable without a body)
[Invisible]: Can become invisible to those it does not wish to be seen by. (Only usable without a body)
[Faith]: Its abilities grow stronger the more people worship it.
As Liam saw this, he was about to take a moment to think, his mind rapidly evaluating options and dangers, but the demon in front of them immediately began using Manifestation the moment it saw them, abruptly stopping his thoughts and forcing him to react.
"Carrie, destroy its body quickly or force the demon out of its body," Liam said through telepathy as fast as he could, urgency clear in his mental tone.
But it was too late. Somehow, the demon sensed the danger they posed, and with a single glance, it used its telekinesis lethally on Liam, its eyes shining with violent intent.
Liam felt an incredible force snap his neck violently into a position it should never have been able to move into. His muscles strained to their limit, and for a moment all he could think about was the horrific pain that shot through his body like an electric shock.
"No! Liam! AHHH!" Liam could hear Carrie's desperate scream, her voice breaking with fear.
Liam stayed in shock for a few seconds before reacting. "Calm down, Carrie, I'm alive. Remember I got immortality last time," Liam said through telepathy. The next second, his hands moved—trembling slightly—as they grabbed his head and twisted it, forcing his vision back into the correct position with a harsh but determined motion.
Liam couldn't help but think that if he hadn't obtained his last two abilities, he would be dead right now. This taught him that you can never let your guard down against any supernatural being. In reality, not all of them play around like in the movies, spending time scaring their victims before killing them. His expression hardened with that realization.
As Liam turned his head back with his hands, he could see Carrie holding the demon, its body burning, rigid and convulsing as it screamed with clear hatred. Its features were distorted as it tried to break free and use its telekinesis on Carrie, but without success. The air around them seemed to vibrate with contained force. When it saw Liam still alive, surprise flashed in its eyes for a brief fraction of a second, before it slowly smiled in a twisted way and tried to use telekinesis on him again.
But it was useless. Carrie, somehow unconsciously, was now able to stop its telekinesis before it could touch him again. Her expression was one of absolute concentration, brow furrowed and hatred burning in her eyes.
Liam could see an invisible force violently colliding against a shield surrounding him—a distorted barrier in the air that rippled and vibrated, likely created by Carrie's telekinesis.
Seeing that it was failing, the demon, hatred clearly reflected in its gaze, abandoned the body in an attempt to escape. A dark, translucent form—unclear, with unstable, twisted contours that barely held the demon's shape—burst out of the body like thick smoke before Liam and Carrie lost sight of it.
"It wants to escape," Liam said, clenching his fists and staring at the spot where it had last been. Now only the body remained—still alive, but without the soul of the twenty-year-old girl.
"This time, no demon is escaping me," Carrie said as she closed her eyes and concentrated, taking a deep breath, as if ignoring everything else around her.
A moment later, she pointed toward what seemed to be the neighboring house. Her arm extended firmly, fingers rigid, and in that same instant the demon reappeared inside that house. It looked like it was about to enter a doll, its form stretching desperately toward it.
"GRAHHHRRGH"A horrible scream came from the demon as it tried to move and escape Carrie's telekinesis, the sound tearing through the air like something unnatural.
"Come here," Carrie said with a smile—a dangerous mix of satisfaction and determination—as she dragged the demon toward them at incredible speed, distorting its form even more along the way.
"Good job," Liam said, happiness clearly audible in his voice, his tone relaxing slightly as he saw it under control.
He moved toward the immobilized demon, and a dagger with a bright green glow appeared in his right hand, the light reflecting in his eyes. Without hesitation, he slashed toward the demon's neck, provoking a scream of pain—a guttural sound that didn't seem human.
"ARGHHRG"
Liam frowned at this, his expression hardening as he realized his dagger had passed straight through the demon's neck. It seemed to hurt it—its form shuddered violently—but it didn't kill it as he had expected.
"Carrie, try to hurt it," Liam said seriously, turning his head toward her.
"With pleasure," Carrie said, staring at the demon with hatred, her eyes glowing with dangerous intensity.
Liam watched as Carrie crushed and separated parts of the demon's form, stretching and compressing it like an amorphous mass. But this time, it seemed she couldn't cause real damage the way his dagger had.
Clearly angry, Carrie suddenly got an idea. An object flew up from the lower floor. It was a cross. Using telekinesis, Carrie wielded the cross as a weapon, holding it firmly in the air and slamming it into the demon again and again with force.
"GRAHHG"
The demon seemed to take damage from that, its form twisting violently. This made Carrie grin widely as she continued striking it relentlessly with the cross, each impact accompanied by a vibration in the air.
Seeing this, Liam shook his head, regretting that Carrie couldn't truly harm bodiless beings, but still happy that she could now contain them. He joined in as well, and together they damaged the demon, coordinating their attacks.
As the minutes passed, the demon seemed to lose its shape, becoming more transparent, as if its existence in this plane was slowly weakening. Then something changed. The demon stopped struggling and stared at them with a gaze full of pure hatred, motionless and silent.
"I will not forget you. I will make you suffer when I return. I will devour the souls of your loved ones and drag you to hell with me," the demon said in a voice that conveyed no doubt—only certainty—deep and resonant, making the air grow heavier.
With that, the ground beneath it ignited in flames and seemed to open unnaturally, the fire forming an irregular circle.
Seeing this, Liam and Carrie backed away from the hole that seemed to lead to hell, partially shielding their faces from the heat. From it came screams that would send chills down anyone's spine.
From the hole emerged a massive hand, covered in glowing cracks, which effortlessly broke Carrie's control over the demon and dragged it down to hell, where it belonged. Moments later, the hole closed, leaving behind a scorched mark on the ground.
[DING]
[MISSION COMPLETED]
[CLAIM YOUR REWARD]
[ABILITY OBTAINED]
Liam and Carrie stood there for a moment longer, staring silently at the spot where the demonic hand and the demon had vanished. Shocked by what they had just witnessed, they had literally seen an entrance to hell—and a massive demonic arm emerge from it.
"Let's go back," Liam said as he walked toward the stairs, visibly exhausted.
"Liam, how is your neck?" Carrie asked worriedly, noticing that his neck still showed clear signs of being broken.
"Don't worry, I won't die. We just need to find a way to heal this, or I'll be dealing with this pain for months," Liam said as he touched his neck thoughtfully, making a slight grimace.
"I'm sorry for not stopping its power before it did that to you," Carrie said, blaming herself, tears welling in her eyes, her voice trembling.
"Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known what powers that demon had, and it attacked with the intent to kill immediately. I think it sensed we would be dangerous and attacked decisively the moment it saw us," Liam said calmly, trying to reassure her.
Carrie could only accept that as she walked beside Liam toward the car, her head lowered, discreetly wiping away her tears.
Inside the car, Liam accepted the mission reward and looked at his two new abilities, carefully reading the information.
[ENTITY DEVOURING SYSTEM]
Host: Liam
Age: 15 years
[SKILLS]
OBSERVATION [LVL 1]
PROTECTION OF MEMORIES [LVL MAX]
PSYCHIC SENSITIVITY [LVL 1]
TELEPATHY [LVL 1]
DREAM DOMINION [LVL 1]
[ABNORMAL RESISTANCE] [LVL 1]
[MINOR IMMORTALITY] [LVL 1]
[FAITH] [LVL 1]
[MANIFESTATION] [LVL 1]
[SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION 28%]
[MISSIONS]
[GUIDE]
Liam chose Faith to see what it did.
[FAITH] [LVL 1]: The user receives a double boost to their abilities when 1,000 people worship them.
Liam smiled at this ability. He could already see how useful it would be in the future, and if he leveled it up, he didn't know just how strong it could make him. It seemed he would have to become known in the future to gain followers who could place their faith in him.
Liam looked at the other ability, but a moment later he shook his head when he saw that he couldn't use it because he wasn't a demon. Without hesitation, he destroyed it to obtain fragments to improve other abilities.
[OBTAINED 5 ABILITY FRAGMENTS]
It seemed that this time, his luck of obtaining only useful abilities had run out.
That day, after seeing Annabelle's demon, Liam learned that there weren't only supernatural killers in this world. It seemed he also couldn't rule out encountering demons and ghosts straight out of movies.
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AUTOR NOTE: I had trouble making this chapter; I don't know if you'll like encountering enemies from horror movies while traveling. I'm open to suggestions.