Night.
Unable to sleep while lying at home, Quinn suddenly thought of Hector, the boy living next door.
Hector was young and handsome, and there was an indescribable feeling between them.
She took out her phone and exchanged messages with him. Hector's gentle and humorous attitude brought a rare smile to Quinn's usually gloomy face.
Quinn raised her hand and lightly knocked on the wall.
Soon, the same knocking sound came from next door.
Knock. Knock.
This way of communicating gave Quinn a strange sense of tacit understanding.
Unable to resist, she knocked again, and once more, the neighboring room answered.
Quinn's smile widened as she typed on her phone.
"Did my knocking wake you up?"
"No, I'm not home right now. I'm staying at my grandma's."
The message instantly froze Quinn's smile.
The faintly romantic atmosphere disappeared as cold fear swept through her body.
If Hector wasn't home...
Then who was knocking back?
A chill climbed up Quinn's spine.
She glanced around.
Her bedroom, a place she'd lived in for years, suddenly felt incredibly unfamiliar.
Something seemed to be moving within the darkness.
The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. She quickly grabbed her laptop and started a video call with her best friend, Maggie.
"Hey! How are things at home?"
Maggie's energetic voice immediately added some life to the deathly silent room.
The familiar face and voice finally calmed Quinn a little.
"I can't do anything. It's so boring."
"I think you're lucky. At least you get time to rest. Prom's coming up and everyone's stressing over ridiculous dresses..."
"And that damn dance partner issue too. I still haven't figured it out. I almost wish a car would've hit me and broken my legs too."
Maggie immediately started complaining about graduation season.
"Okay, forget that. What about your college acceptance letter?"
"Let's not talk about that. Tell me about you instead... how are things between you and your dad?"
"He hasn't gone to work lately. I overheard him talking with his boss on the phone. He can't really leave because he's taking care of me..."
"That's terrible... wait, who's that behind you? Is that your brother Alex?"
Maggie's expression suddenly changed.
Quinn looked behind her.
Nothing.
"What are you talking about?"
"Alex... he's standing—"
Suddenly the video froze.
"Maggie?"
Quinn called out anxiously, but there was no response.
A cold wind suddenly brushed past.
Instinctively, she looked toward the window that should've been tightly shut.
Beneath the curtains stood a dark figure.
It was staring directly at her.
Heavy breathing echoed through the room.
It was exactly the same sound she had heard in that dark space after the car accident.
Quinn trembled violently.
Instinctively she shrank backward as the figure slowly approached.
Fear caused her heart to race wildly, adrenaline flooding through her body.
But just as it reached the bedside—
The dark figure suddenly sank into the floor and disappeared.
Only muddy black footprints remained, stretching toward the bed before vanishing beneath it.
As if possessed, Quinn slowly leaned down and looked under the bed.
Nothing.
That's right.
After mentally preparing herself, Quinn didn't see any horrifying ghost face.
Was it all just a hallucination?
Her tense nerves subconsciously relaxed.
But in the next second—
The bed beneath her suddenly lifted into the air!
Quinn and the blankets were thrown violently onto the floor!
She landed face-first.
A sharp pain shot through her neck.
She had clearly injured it.
Now with both her legs and neck injured, Quinn couldn't move at all.
Terrified, she could only cry and scream helplessly as muddy footprints wandered throughout the room.
The curtains closed.
The faint streetlights outside disappeared.
The bedroom door shut.
The living room light vanished too.
Then—
The figure slowly walked toward Quinn.
Now the laptop lying on the floor was the only source of light left.
Through her tears and messy hair, Quinn could barely make out a horrifying silhouette above her.
It slowly bent down toward her body.
She screamed.
She cried.
She desperately twisted her body.
But none of it stopped the thing.
As despair filled her heart—
Warmth suddenly spread from her chest.
Golden light erupted outward!
Like a divine spear, it pierced toward the ghostly figure!
The figure's hand was instantly penetrated.
But it quickly twisted its head and narrowly dodged the attack.
Intense pain caused it to release a muffled howl.
As the golden light spread upward—
The evil spirit actually tore off its own arm!
The golden light tried to continue chasing it.
But suddenly, a pitch-black space opened beside the masked ghost and blocked the attack.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the evil spirit fled instantly.
Its severed arm evaporated like water falling onto burning steel.
"QUINN!!"
Sean had just returned home and heard his daughter's terrified screams.
The paper bags in his hands dropped to the floor.
He rushed toward the bedroom!
Bursting through the door, he found Quinn collapsed on the ground, crying miserably.
He quickly turned her over—
Only to see pieces of yellow paper falling from her chest.
————
"Dad... Mr. Jamie... I did something stupid."
Lying on the sofa with a memory foam neck brace around her neck, Quinn confessed quietly.
"I thought I could contact Mom again..."
"But instead... I attracted something else."
"Mr. Jamie... you and Ms. Ellis were right."
"That wasn't my mother..."
"It was... an evil spirit..."
"Don't say anymore."
Sean shook his head.
Looking at his battered and exhausted daughter, guilt filled his eyes.
He had failed to protect her.
He was an incompetent father.
"Jamie... thank you for the talisman."
Sean turned toward him.
He had already learned the truth.
Nobody expected the talisman they had ignored before would save Quinn's life at the critical moment.
"Without it... I don't even dare imagine what would've happened."
"Do you have more? I'll pay any amount!"
Sean wasn't short on money.
Compared to his daughter's life, money meant nothing.
Jamie lowered his head.
"I'm sorry... I can't help with that."
"Actually... I got those talismans from an exorcist."
"He asked me to handle something."
"But I messed it up."
The evil spirit's reappearance already proved the talisman had failed.
He had stood guard outside Room 514 all day without noticing anything.
Only after entering did he discover the talisman had already been contaminated.
"So it's that exorcist you mentioned before?"
Sean suddenly remembered Jamie's earlier words.
"That's right."
"Dad, I think we should do something."
Alex spoke up.
Despite being young, the precocious child had already contacted the most popular ghost-hunting duo online.
"You're right."
Sean nodded.
He would invite the master Jamie mentioned, as well as the medium Ellis.
They had to eliminate the evil spirit.
Only Jamie remained silent.
This matter originally had nothing to do with him.
But he involved himself and failed Lucien's task.
He had no face left to ask Lucien for help again.
He had to bear the consequences himself.
So Jamie politely refused Sean's request.
The group stayed together until the evening.
Then the doorbell rang.
Sean opened the door.
Outside stood three people.
A young man wearing glasses.
A chubby man eating cake while carrying equipment.
And an elderly blonde woman.
"I'm Ellis, the medium who met with your daughter before."
"Tucker."
"Specs."
The three entered.
Sean was about to explain things—
But Ellis interrupted him.
"I already know the details."
"The important thing now is Quinn."
After a brief explanation, Sean learned Alex had already sent the information online.
"Then let's begin."
"Also, keep the child away. Contact with these things can affect him."
Following Ellis's suggestion, Alex returned to his room.
"Before we begin, we need some preparation."
Tucker proudly displayed his equipment.
Professional cameras.
Monitoring devices.
The complete package.
After attaching a camera to Quinn and setting up surveillance around the house, Sean helped Quinn back into bed.
Everyone gathered in the living room.
Glasses looked curiously at Jamie.
"And this guy?"
"Jamie is different from us."
"He's just an ordinary person."
Sean immediately interrupted.
"Don't say that. If you hadn't gotten Master Lucien's talisman, Quinn would've already—"
Ellis suddenly froze.
"Lucien?"
"Do you know that young exorcist from the antique shop?"
Jamie and Ellis stared at one another in surprise.
After understanding everything, Jamie sighed.
"As expected..."
"Lucien didn't want to come."
"Why?"
Everyone looked puzzled.
Ellis explained slowly:
"You don't understand Eastern concepts of fate and karma."
"To put it simply..."
"Quinn brought much of this onto herself."
"Both Jamie and I warned her."
"But she ignored us."
"In a sense... this could be considered seeking death."
"It isn't strange for Lucien to react that way."
Sean lowered his head.
"It's my fault..."
"If I had paid more attention..."
Meanwhile Tucker and Glasses exchanged looks.
Neither truly believed in evil spirits.
To them, Master Lucien sounded like another fraud creating mystery.
Ellis however had a different focus.
"Can I see the talisman?"
"No problem."
Jamie unfolded the damaged talisman.
The ink had spread across it like black stains.
Ellis accepted it.
The instant she touched it—
Her eyes widened.
"This talisman originally contained terrifying energy!"
"I've never seen a spiritual item this powerful!"
"Was this really made by Lucien?!"
"Absolutely."
Jamie answered without hesitation.
Ellis suddenly realized—
She had greatly underestimated that young Eastern wizard.
"Lucien asked me to use this talisman to destroy the oxygen-mask evil spirit..."
"But..."
Jamie sighed.
"It's okay."
Ellis comforted him.
"We still have a chance."
"Let's destroy it together."
Suddenly—
All the lights went out.
Everyone froze instantly.
At that moment Tucker sat upright.
"Quinn moved!"
Everyone rushed toward the monitor.
On screen—
Quinn, who shouldn't even be able to walk, had gotten out of bed.
The group immediately rushed toward the room.
They pushed open the bedroom door.
Darkness.
Silence.
No one.
Sean and Tucker suddenly discovered the camera had somehow appeared inside the closet.
Then—
Quinn suddenly appeared behind them!
Bang!
Her cast-covered legs instantly sent Tucker and Glasses flying.
She grabbed a pipe wrench and smashed Sean and Jamie to the ground.
Then she swung toward Ellis.
Ellis dodged in time.
But her shoulder was struck, leaving her unable to move.
Possessed Quinn was no longer human.
She violently tore away the cast on her legs.
Picked up a box cutter.
And slowly walked toward Jamie.
Her expression twisted with hatred.
"You bastard..."
"You think you can kill me?!"
"DIE!!"
She lunged forward.
The blade flashed coldly—
But suddenly—
The cutter flew from her hand!
The possessed Quinn froze.
Jamie seized the opportunity and tackled her to the ground.
Everyone immediately rushed forward and restrained her.