"Hurry up and come help."
Hearing Ed's voice, a thoroughly excited Drew quickly moved to Ed's side, picked up a backpack, and followed Ed into the house.
"Father, Drew has always wanted to go to Pluto Church," Lorraine said with a smile, her gaze following the two men.
"I think he sees you as his idol in life."
"Idol in life?"
York was also looking at Ed and Drew, but his gaze had already shifted to the Theodore family waiting at the entrance.
"I am not suitable to be anyone's idol. Of course, if he can come to my church, I would welcome his arrival very much, and if he can also offer his support, that would be even better."
Lorraine smiled, as if she already knew the answer.
"I'll have Ed give him some time off."
"I will wait for him," York said indifferently, then looked at the house ahead, which was indeed unusual and shrouded in a strange atmosphere.
"The most important thing now is what exactly is wrong with this house."
Hearing this, Lorraine handed over the file bag she had been holding, speaking softly.
"Father, these are the materials and evidence we collected after our investigation."
York took it, casually opened it, and pulled out the first document.
"About a year before the Theodore family moved in, a family massacre occurred in this house,"
Lorraine said, looking at the Father who was already reading the file, then continued in a low voice.
"A man named Ronnie Defeo brutally murdered his entire family inside the house at 10 PM, and then shot himself dead in the hallway..."
York remained calm, merely looking at a photo in the file—the hallway of the murder scene covered in bloody footprints—and said placidly.
"So this is why the Theodore family always hears footsteps at 10 PM?"
Lorraine nodded. "I believe that's the case."
York indifferently turned the page. He was just confirming the situation of the house according to protocol, lest the information leak out someday and those people complain about it to the old man.
Now that the fuse and medium for the first stage had been confirmed, the second step was naturally to confirm the nature of the harassment.
York stopped on the interview page and read through it, concluding that:
The Theodore family initially only heard footsteps at 10 PM, which eventually escalated until the footsteps seemed close, at which point a deafening gunshot suddenly rang out in their ears.
This was truly terrifying. Hearing footsteps approach from far away, step by step, right up to them, without seeing anything... that was bad enough. But then, right when the footsteps arrived, a sudden boom! Who could endure that? The faint-hearted would probably have suffered a heart attack long ago.
York subconsciously looked toward the Theodore family. Sure enough, the family's faces were all sickly pale, their eyes bloodshot, looking haggard and weak... He retracted his gaze and continued reading.
After the gunshot appeared, the situation became increasingly bizarre. The footsteps continued at 10 PM. The Theodore family decided to hide in their room, but the handle of their tightly closed and locked door began to turn, until knocking sounds started, only stopping fifteen minutes later.
Finally enduring until daybreak, the Theodore family cautiously emerged and saw a straight line of faint footprints in the hallway, extending right up to the door, as if something had stopped right there at 10 PM last night, turning the doorknob... "Tsk, it's getting more intense," York muttered, smacking his lips as he looked at the accompanying photo showing a blood-red footprint in the hallway.
However, relying only on these photos and interviews was far from enough to obtain authorization from the Church, as these things could be faked by ordinary people.
According to regulations, the next step can only be taken after confirming that the cause is not a mental illness.
Since all three members of the Theodore family were affected and perceived the exact same events, psychological disorder could likely be ruled out.
York continued reading, knowing that the evidence of supernatural phenomena should be next.
The first thing was a photo, again showing the hallway, which was empty. However, a mirror hanging on the hallway wall strangely reflected a bloody, mutilated man whose skull was half-missing at the back.
Seeing this photo, York quietly put it away, closed the file bag, and handed it to Lorraine, who had been waiting.
Lorraine took it smoothly. "Father, the evil Spirit that has been harassing the Theodore family must be Ronnie Defeo, who shot himself."
"I thought so too."
York looked over. Ed and Drew had already come out and were talking to the Theodore family.
"Let's start the exorcism tonight."
"Mhm."
Lorraine nodded. She looked over at Ed, the man she deeply loved, and recalling what she had experienced before, she pursed her lips and finally spoke with some hesitation.
"Father!"
York was about to walk over, but hearing her voice, he suddenly stopped. He looked at Lorraine, whose face was suddenly filled with worry and hesitation, and a ripple flashed in his eyes.
"Hm? What is it, Lorraine?"
Lorraine took a deep breath, made some kind of decision, and began to speak.
"When I previously tried to sense the presence of the evil Spirit, I saw some things through a Spiritual Channeling Ritual."
York looked calmly at the increasingly ominous aura surrounding Lorraine.
"So what exactly did you perceive?"
"When I put myself in Ronnie Defeo's place, I heard some voices. The voices were full of temptation, constantly luring Ronnie Defeo to kill the things in front of him—his family members..."
As if she had truly seen something terrifying, a rare trace of fear appeared in Lorraine's eyes.
"When I tried to identify the source of this voice, I was pulled into a place by some kind of being. I saw a Nun, and It showed me a vision of Ed being killed!"
"A Nun?"
York's heart stirred.
Was the source of the ominous aura on Lorraine some kind of entity that appeared similar to a Nun?
"Yes!" Lorraine took another deep breath, forcefully suppressing the fear that suddenly surfaced from the memory.
"I think this is some kind of being. Whether it's a warning to me or for some other reason, It has targeted something. Perhaps Ronnie Defeo was controlled by It that night, which led him to murder his family and shoot himself..."
Because the Father was present, Lorraine could no longer suppress her thoughts, and the usually composed woman couldn't help but pour everything out.
However, what she didn't know was that under York's calm gaze, her body was trembling incessantly, seemingly trapped in some kind of terror.
"..."
"...Its eyes and lips were completely black, Its skin was deathly pale, and It was shrouded in omens, death, and terror..."
"The moment I saw It, I felt for the first time how close I was to Hell..."
"..."
As Lorraine spoke, she suddenly realized she had fallen back into the terrifying scene—darkness and chaos. She felt a buzzing, static-like noise appear in her ears... Just then, a gentle voice rang out, instantly pulling her back to reality and driving away all fear.
"Lorraine!"
Lorraine followed the voice and looked toward its source, where the reassuring Father was smiling at her.
"Let's exorcise the evil Spirit in this house first. We can talk in detail afterward."
"..."