Chapter 14 – Commission Completed
The spirits were all familiar with this man.
Beer lover. Family-oriented. The kind of guy who avoided problems instead of solving them.
A stereotypical American suburban husband.
But now… he was completely different.
And thinking back to how close he'd gotten to that priest yesterday, everything suddenly made sense.
So the priest has powers like this? Damn it, we've got a real problem on our hands...
The spirits couldn't even imagine what horrors might await them if they ever fell into that priest's hands.
They didn't want to find out.
Their gazes turned even more resolute as they stared down the Red Faced Demon.
Previously, the dead had been at a disadvantage, but now they were fighting with reckless resolve—even at the cost of damaging their own souls—to take that creature down.
On the other side, the Red Faced Demon was fuming.
Weren't we supposed to work together? Torment some humans, steal their bodies?
I wasn't even that interested in being reborn—just wanted to savor their pain.
Weren't we on the same page, strategically? What happened to unity?
Now his so-called "comrades" were turning on him.
With a furious snarl, the Red Faced Demon kicked away the man in the leather jacket.
Previously, even when ganging up on him, the other spirits had held back slightly, allowing him to hold his own or even gain the upper hand.
But now they were going all out.
He couldn't keep up.
Seizing an opening, the red-faced demon leapt onto the ceiling and vanished into the shadows. There was no way he was going to fight a bunch of traitors head-on.
---
At that moment, a bright red wooden door creaked open.
Out stepped another ghost girl in a white dress—this one leading Dalton by the hand.
She had been the one tasked with finding his soul.
"Daddy!"
The moment Dalton saw Josh, he broke free from the ghost girl's grasp and sprinted toward him.
But then he paused, confused.
Why does Dad look so… different?
Josh, of course, was overjoyed, but he gently stopped Dalton in his tracks.
"Oh, sweetheart—just a moment. I really need to use the bathroom."
The surrounding spirits, satisfied that the child had been rescued, were ready to let the matter rest.
But upon hearing that, there was no way they were going to let Josh linger a second longer.
He and Dalton were promptly escorted to the door.
After witnessing Josh's behavior, none of the spirits dared let the two humans return to the physical world alone.
So...
The ghost bride took Dalton by the hand, while the leather-jacketed man and the upper-middle-class gentleman each supported Josh on either side.
Josh, still distracted, kept mumbling about needing a clean restroom, but the spirits ignored his pleas.
They had also noticed the glowing thread attached to Josh's soul—a strange energy that felt very similar to their own.
That priest… something's not right about him.
---
As they traveled, more wandering spirits began to approach, drawn by the scent of the living.
But every last one of them was driven off by the group escorting Josh and Dalton.
---
Back in Reality
The sky, once bright and clear, began to darken.
Spirits began to manifest across the lawn, drawn by the irresistible pull of two living bodies.
But the moment they approached the house, a burst of holy energy repelled them.
The watching crowd was shocked.
Only now did they fully understand the purpose behind Gideon Black's elaborate preparations.
Elise, especially, was shaken.
She realized that had she entered the spirit realm inside the house as originally planned, without following Gideon's instructions, the consequences would've been catastrophic.
He had saved their lives—without ever needing to say it.
She glanced at Gideon. Her respect deepened.
---
Back in The Further
The spirits finally escorted Josh and Dalton to the doorway of the house where Josh's body lay.
They couldn't get any closer.
"You've all been wonderful," Josh said sincerely. "Drop by for tea sometime."
He hugged each of the ghosts in farewell before stepping toward the front door.
"Dalton, go find your mother. I really have to use the bathroom," he added, pinching his shirt in distaste.
Dalton immediately spotted his own body and dashed toward it, quickly reintegrating.
Josh, meanwhile, headed inside.
---
Back in the Real World
"Dalton!"
The moment Renai saw her son finally awaken after months of unconsciousness, she could no longer hold back her emotions. She threw her arms around Dalton and burst into tears.
On the other side of the room, however, Josh remained unresponsive.
Gideon Black frowned.
---
In The Further – Inside the House
Josh had just finished freshening up. The cleanliness of his skin brought a rare sense of relief.
He looked up—and froze.
In the mirror stood an old woman in a black funeral dress.
Her expression was grim. Her face lacked any trace of life, and her smile was disturbingly twisted.
Instead of panicking, Josh calmly addressed her.
"Ma'am, this really isn't working for you."
To the spirit's surprise, Josh leaned even closer to the mirror.
"Low-quality makeup ruins your skin, and you really shouldn't be applying so much at once…"
He rambled on confidently, clearly well-versed in the subject.
The ghost woman was clearly stunned by his indifference. But with Josh so close, she couldn't resist any longer.
She slowly extended a withered hand toward the glass.
A moment later—
She grabbed Josh's arm.
But the second she touched him, a chaotic force surged back at her.
It was wild and unstable, like a devouring abyss.
At the same time, she realized—Josh wasn't moving.
Then she looked up… and saw him smiling.
A smile so unnatural, so wrong, that for the first time, the ghostly woman felt something she hadn't known in centuries.
Fear.
She let go instantly and retreated far from the mirror.
Josh returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
The ghost stared, expression dark and cautious. She dared not try again.
---
In the Real World
Everyone waited anxiously by Josh's side. His continued unconsciousness made them worry something had gone terribly wrong.
Gideon was already preparing to use an exorcism chant.
Then—
"Josh!"
Josh stirred awake.
He opened his eyes and saw his loved ones crowded around him.
"Hey everyone… it's really good to see you again."
Gideon quickly removed the Cursed Smile Mask, and Josh's expression returned to normal.
Gideon then questioned them thoroughly about what had happened in the Spirit Realm.
He was genuinely surprised to learn that it was the spirits themselves who had escorted Josh and Dalton back.
Elise gave Gideon a long, thoughtful look.
She was beginning to understand: the events of the previous night had left a deep impression on the ghosts. They were afraid of him.
And now, so was she—in a different way.
She made up her mind then and there: when she returned, she would completely overhaul her exorcism protocols.
They were clearly outdated and riddled with blind spots.
She thought back on how casually she had wandered into a place swarming with malevolent spirits. Who knows how many times she had unknowingly brushed against death?
Elise shivered.
Truly, ignorance is the boldest armor.
But now, she had ideas for a new and safer method.
Her two assistants felt the same way.
When Gideon refused to enter the house earlier, they had assumed he was timid—even Renai had thought so.
Now they realized: he had foreseen the danger and prepared for it.
He hadn't argued when questioned. He'd simply followed his principles with quiet confidence.
That, Elise thought, is what a real expert looks like.
Josh, for his part, was full of remorse.
He solemnly vowed to always listen to Renai from now on.
Just then, Dustin came downstairs. When he realized he'd missed the entire exorcism, he was filled with regret.
"Thank you for saving us," Renai said, handing over a paper-wrapped envelope. Elise was also included in the payment.
Gideon accepted it without fuss—but Elise initially refused.
"This was mostly thanks to Father Black," she said sincerely.
But Renai insisted.
Even Gideon chimed in with a smile, "Let her pay—this lady clearly doesn't understand what it means to be short on cash."
With no polite way to decline, Elise accepted.
After the commission was wrapped up, Elise sealed Josh and Dalton's memories to prevent any future soul displacement.
Gideon handed Renai a few protective charms and instructed her family to keep them close.
As for the spirits, Gideon had originally planned to obliterate them completely.
But after learning they'd helped Josh in the Spirit Realm, he decided to let them go—just this once.
Still, to be safe, Gideon reinforced the house's spiritual defenses, bringing its protection level up to about one percent of his church's sanctity level.
He also left his contact information behind—his version of after-sales service.
With everything in order, Gideon prepared to leave.
---
That afternoon, Renai personally drove Gideon and Dustin back to Philadelphia.
As they parted ways, Dustin made sure to say, "Next time there's an exorcism, I better be there!"
While at Renai's place, he'd secretly saved Gideon's number just in case.
Gideon waved them off and returned to his church.
Just as he reached the door, he noticed something—
The hair in the keyhole… was gone.