Chapter 46: Diana: The Evil Spirit in Disguise
Light truly gives people a sense of security.
Even if this sense of security is sometimes false, it's enough that people believe it.
It was noon.
Rebecca went to the school and picked up Martin, a very sensible and cute little boy, though his dark circles were severe, indicating he hadn't slept well.
Martin saw the man next to his sister and quietly asked,
"Is this your new boyfriend?"
Rebecca smiled and explained, "No, Martin, he's a demonologist I hired specifically to deal with that evil entity."
Little Martin didn't know what a demon was; calling it a monster was easier for him to understand.
"Really, Sister?!"
"Really."
"Can I talk to the demonologist, sir?"
Little Martin looked timidly at his sister, then glanced at Danny.
Rebecca looked at Danny, and a slight smile appeared on his calm face.
"Of course, your name is Martin, right? I heard about you from your sister; you're a very brave kid."
Danny wasn't particularly good at dealing with children and disliked bratty ones, but he had a very good impression of well-behaved children who didn't cause trouble.
Little Martin was a little embarrassed by the praise.
"I'm not as brave as my sister says; I still get scared when I see that dark thing."
"Well, can you tell me about the first time you met that thing...?"
Rebecca watched the two chatting, and her spirits, for the first time in a long while, relaxed.
She hadn't seen her brother so happy in a long time.
In Martin's eyes, a demonologist was an existence comparable to a superhero; he knew calling his mother or sister was useless, as they couldn't stop the entity from approaching.
Over time, Martin was on the verge of becoming withdrawn.
Now, seeing the only glimmer of hope in the darkness, how could he not be happy?
Even a passing teacher was surprised; Martin was notoriously quiet at school, and today he had become talkative.
If it weren't her class today, she would have wondered if it was a different child.
Rebecca had to remind him at this point.
"Alright, Martin, we should go home, or Mom will worry."
The moment little Martin heard they were going home, he instinctively leaned closer to Danny, a sign of his lack of security.
He looked up at Danny, as if gaining courage, and said firmly,
"Home."
…
Rebecca's family lived in a neighborhood in the center of the town.
Before their father's accident, he owned a small business, and the family was quite comfortable, but with the loss of their father and Diana's harassment, their financial situation rapidly deteriorated.
The family of three moved from a nicer area to a more modest home, but Diana still followed them like a shadow.
When Rebecca arrived home with Danny and her brother,
her mother, Sophie, was sitting in the center of the yard, basking in the sun.
She also couldn't stand being alone in the house.
Rebecca briefly introduced her mother to Danny.
"Mom, this is the demonologist I hired."
Sophie glanced at Danny without much reaction, continuing to sunbathe.
Rebecca apologized, "The doctor said Mom has severe depression and anxiety right now; she's not usually like this."
Danny said, "It's alright, first take me inside to have a look."
Little Martin volunteered to show Danny around the house.
He was now like a kid who found backup, strutting proudly.
After Danny fused with the Wendigo's regenerative abilities, he no longer needed to constantly waste resources to maintain protection, and his courage had grown considerably.
Just as he was about to follow little Martin through the door, Danny paused, his gaze falling on the shadows behind the door.
He sensed a powerful, undisguised malice.
It seemed Diana did not welcome him.
Danny stepping through this door was equivalent to stepping into the entity's territory; if he left now, there might still be room for maneuver.
Little Martin looked back at Danny curiously.
"What's wrong, sir?"
"Nothing."
Danny stepped through the main door and entered the living room.
The items inside were placed haphazardly, possibly due to recently moving, but it was still lived-in.
Little Martin took Danny to see his room.
There were many flashlights and candles inside.
According to his sister Rebecca's account, her brother only dared to sleep while holding a flashlight.
Danny casually assessed the situation with his supernatural senses.
"Traces of the entity Diana detected."
Oh? This entity even has a name, Diana?
After touring the room and examining it thoroughly, there was basically nothing abnormal during daylight.
So he returned to the living room.
Rebecca, fearing that Danny would just leave, quickly explained,
"She only appears at night, when it's dark."
Danny glanced at the sky and saw that there was still some time until night, so he asked,
"Rebecca, do you know a woman named Diana?"
"Diana?"
Rebecca tried hard to recall anyone associated with that name, touching her head, she said uncertainly,
"I seem to have heard Mom mention that name; it was at the psychiatric hospital, I think…"
Another psychiatric hospital.
Danny now realized that those who ended up in psychiatric hospitals often had encountered something genuinely supernatural.
Rebecca stood up and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go ask."
Rebecca walked directly to the yard and spoke with Sophie.
Soon, after just a few words, the mother and daughter started arguing, a heated exchange.
Danny's enhanced hearing allowed him to hear clearly.
Sophie, as the mother, said that Diana was a friend she met in the psychiatric hospital, and she would make Diana accept Rebecca and Martin.
This statement instantly made Rebecca break down; that dark entity knew her and her brother?
She originally thought her mother didn't know about this, but she did and even seemed to protect Diana. Didn't you ever think Diana would harm me and my brother?!
Rebecca furiously confronted her mother about Diana's actions in front of Sophie.
It was very dramatic.
Danny deduced one possibility: there was indeed a woman named Diana at the psychiatric hospital.
Sophie and Diana were friends—Diana had suffered from a rare condition called xeroderma pigmentosum that made her extremely sensitive to light. After experimental treatment went catastrophically wrong, she became something else entirely.
The current Diana was an entity that could only exist in darkness, sustained by her attachment to Sophie.
In many supernatural cases, entities can disguise themselves or take on identities.
Annabelle was a demon disguised as the soul of the dollmaker's daughter.
In Dead Silence, it was even more extreme; Mary Shaw directly used a person's body as a puppet.
Everything had clues.
Things would become clear by night.
"Buzz."
His phone vibrated.
Danny took it out and saw it was a message from Jennifer.
"Baby, all the equipment you ordered has arrived. I put it all in the storage room without opening it, but what's that camera for? Are you planning to film... (blushes)"
Danny's mouth twitched; he had no intention of filming anything like that.
The camera was intended for creating cursed videotapes, and the rest were playback devices.
Danny had gained a curse propagation ability last time, and although he couldn't fully utilize it yet, you could never have too many contingency plans.
Curse Propagation: One of the abilities he'd absorbed from a previous encounter.
Danny had acquired this ability, but without the professional equipment, he hadn't had a chance to create the videotape.
This curse was quite useful.
As long as the video was playing, he could escape from supernatural or dangerous situations through the curse; the videotape acted like an anchor point, similar to how Samara could emerge through TVs playing her cursed tape in The Ring.
It's just that his version of curse propagation wasn't quite that powerful.
It could also be disrupted by external interference, leading to propagation failure.
…
Author's Note ✍️
Chapter Goals:
500 Power Stones unlock a chapter
10 Reviews unlock a chapter
20+ advanced chapters on P*treon – Soulforger