Chapter 10: Preparations Before the Exorcism
Gideon Black pulled his travel bag out of the car.
When he looked up again, the shadowy figures were gone.
He squinted slightly, guessing they had hidden themselves.
In broad daylight, and these spirits are roaming freely?
Is there no law in the spirit world?
Going into the house in a situation like this felt like walking straight into a trap.
At that thought, the ground beneath his feet felt far safer than whatever lay inside.
While they were on the road earlier, he had gotten Renai to explain the situation in more detail. Combined with his memories of the original plot, Gideon pieced things together:
The Lambert family had five members, and their son, Dalton, possessed the ability of astral projection.
Each night, his soul would leave his body and wander near the house.
But the world of spirits was very different from reality.
It was a realm without time or boundaries—filled with wandering souls, and even malevolent entities.
People referred to that space as The Further.
When Dalton's soul wandered, his body would be left in a hollow, vacant state.
To the dead, it was a perfect vessel.
If a spirit managed to possess it, it could return to the land of the living.
However, possession wasn't easy. Only when the connection between the original soul and body weakened enough could a spirit seize the chance.
That was why Renai's family had become haunted. Moving house had done nothing to stop it.
Based on the current timeline, Gideon calculated that in the original story, the Red-Faced Demon had already imprisoned Dalton's soul.
If he remembered correctly, a spiritual medium was supposed to appear soon and help the family retrieve Dalton's soul—though at the cost of their own life.
That medium hadn't stepped in yet.
Maybe I can save them, Gideon thought. He was more than willing to do a good deed, especially now that he had entered the service of the Lord.
Just then, Renai came out with a tray of tea.
She'd never seen an exorcism before. Watching Gideon unpack his gear, she assumed the ritual had already begun, and her nerves grew taut.
"Where's Dalton?" Gideon asked.
"In the bedroom," she replied.
"Please bring him out here."
Renai nodded, puzzled, but still hoping Gideon might be able to help her son.
A few moments later...
"He's not asleep," Gideon said. "And he didn't pass out from falling down the stairs."
Using his Ethereal Sight ability, Gideon had already examined the boy's condition. Just like in the original story—his soul had left his body.
"Astral... projection?" Renai looked completely lost.
Gideon explained in simple, straightforward terms.
Tears welled up in Renai's eyes.
After months of torment, she had finally learned the truth.
Gideon pulled out a Bible used for exorcisms. "Dalton's body hasn't been possessed yet. Place this on him."
This particular Bible had belonged to an old priest and had been specially prepared for this case.
In terms of divine power, it ranked just below the one Gideon used daily in the church, and the miniature Bible he carried with him.
Renai accepted it carefully.
She had already witnessed Gideon's abilities, and now that hope of saving her son had appeared, she could barely contain her excitement.
After placing the Bible on her son, she went to call Josh's mother to share the good news.
The woman had been living with her recently but happened to be out that day.
Meanwhile, Gideon surveyed his surroundings.
This was a typical North American suburban neighborhood.
Wide streets, low fences, neatly trimmed lawns.
The air was full of quiet, middle-class comfort.
But...
Such an open area, with zero protection?
Any random ghost could just waltz in!
Gideon's sense of danger spiked.
He immediately got to work, pulling tools from his travel bag.
Dustin eagerly followed behind.
Gideon started by circling the house once.
Behind the main house was a lake, separating the property from the opposite shore.
Most would call the view beautiful.
But to Gideon, it was a dead end—no chance of escape if things went wrong.
The sides of the house were too close to the neighbors to be used as escape routes.
Only the main road out front provided a way to flee.
"Such poor security awareness!" Gideon muttered.
His own church had eight exits—both above and underground.
In an emergency, he could be out in under three minutes.
"Forget it. It's not my house. I'll just make do."
He took out a bell and set up a spirit-trapping formation two meters from the house.
Then one at ten meters.
And another at twenty meters.
Once done, he buried holy icons between each of the three formations, giving special attention to the main escape route—just in case.
With that, a third of the exorcism prep was complete.
"Huff... Huff..."
Dustin panted heavily. He had followed Gideon through all the setup and was now drenched in sweat.
"So this... this is what an exorcism is like...?"
He thought it was finally over.
But then he saw Gideon heading toward the next building...
Ding-dong.
Mary opened her front door and looked puzzled at the boy standing outside.
Behind him, on the street, stood a man dressed like a priest.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked.
Dustin fidgeted awkwardly, gripping the cross in his hand. "Um... ma'am, have you experienced anything... strange lately?"
After a short and rather awkward exchange, Dustin returned, looking thoroughly dejected.
"I thought the haunting was in Renai's house—why'd you go knocking on the neighbor's door?" he demanded, throwing the cross back to Gideon with a huff. He was clearly frustrated.
Exorcisms are not fun at all!
Gideon didn't reply. He simply moved on to the next house.
---
Half an hour later, the two had visited every neighbor within a 30-meter radius.
Only then did Gideon finally confirm that no one else had been possessed.
This wasn't him being overly cautious.
Renai's home was practically a haunted hotspot. If something had slipped out and jumped into another person nearby?
That kind of inside-outside coordination could spell disaster for their whole operation.
That's why Gideon had Dustin knock on the doors while he observed from a distance.
It wasn't cowardice—it was strategy.
He was the only trained professional here. If something actually dangerous showed up, he had to be the one in control.
Of course, he hadn't sent Dustin out completely defenseless.
The kid had a year's worth of holy water tucked in his pockets, and Gideon had even given him his own personal cross to carry.
Still, after all that running around, Dustin was thoroughly regretting coming along.
He'd imagined exorcism as holding up a cross and bravely banishing evil spirits in a blaze of holy glory.
But so far, all he'd done was manual labor.
---
Just then, Renai came out again and invited them in for dinner. Josh had called earlier to say he'd be home a little late.
But Gideon shook his head again.
"No rush. We've only just finished the initial external preparations."
As he spoke, he pulled out another bundle of holy items and handed them to Renai, instructing her to place them throughout the house.
At the doors, windows, under beds, behind doors, inside closets...
Those were all classic hiding spots for spirits.
Why didn't Gideon do it himself?
Well...
Obviously because Renai knew the layout better. She could do it faster and more effectively.
In the end, Gideon and Dustin had dinner outside.
But Gideon didn't eat right away.
He waited until Dustin had finished wolfing down his food and another 20 minutes had passed before he finally began his own meal.
---
By then, Josh had returned from school.
When he walked in and saw his wife clutching crosses and talismans, placing them all around the house, he immediately asked what the hell was going on.
When he found out that Renai had actually hired a priest to save their son—and even agreed to pay $1000—Josh was stunned.
"Renai, you've been scammed! All this ghost stuff is complete nonsense!"
He stormed through the house, flinging open doors.
"Where is he? Where's that guy? Tell him to get the hell out of my house!"
But Renai calmly pointed outside. "He's never even been in here."
Josh froze.
He looked in the direction she was pointing.
Sure enough, there was the priest—still standing out on the street, more than twenty meters away.
Josh hesitated, then stormed out the door.
He raised his hand, ready to yell something—but the words caught in his throat.
Tell him to leave?
But he's not even inside.
Call him a con artist?
That could work…
But Renai hadn't paid him anything yet, and if anything, she'd taken a bunch of stuff from him.
After standing there awkwardly for a moment, Josh finally blurted out the only thing he could come up with:
"You're such a coward!"