In the dim bedroom, Doreen pushed herself up, woke up her husband beside her and asked softly: "Did you hear anything?"
In his sleep, Macpherson barely opened his eyes and said vaguely: "The sound... is Jack barking?"
"Seems to be……"
"Why is it asking you to call me..." McPherson sighed helplessly, lowered his eyelids, turned his back to his wife, and continued to sleep.
Doreen felt something was not right, so she braced herself and listened attentively.
"Hee hee hee……"
The laughter of children could be heard faintly from the ceiling overhead.
"No, it's my daughter's voice!"
Doreen hurriedly shook her husband, and Macpherson, who was still asleep, opened his eyes, most of his sleepiness gone.
He heard it too.
Da da da da——
On the ceiling overhead, there were sounds of running, but no dust fell.
"My daughter won't sneak upstairs to play, right?"
"No way...my daughter is already sensible, why would she run around at night?"
"Maybe it's because you moved to a new home?"
"...You go to her room and have a look."
Doreen's voice became softer: "Please accompany me, I don't dare to go outside alone..."
"There's really nothing I can do about you..."
MacPherson shook his head slightly, sat up, put on his slippers, and lifted the oil lamp on the bedside table.
The light was tweaked to be brighter, Doreen took her husband's arm and walked outside the house.
The corridor is quiet, and the oil lamp can only illuminate a small area in front and behind you.
"ah--!"
Suddenly, Doreen screamed and threw herself into her husband's arms, screaming in terror as if she had seen something.
"Dog hair! And blood!"
McPherson followed what his wife was pointing at and saw a large area of golden dog hair and blood on the wooden floor, as well as an extinguished kerosene lamp that fell not far away.
"Daughter, our daughter..." Doreen was so anxious that she almost cried.
McPherson couldn't care less about comforting his wife and rushed into his daughter's bedroom.
The door was open, there was no one in the room, the quilt was lifted, and there was still a trace of warmth and pressure.
Doreen followed to the door and saw that there was no one in the room. She leaned against the door in despair and cried: "Beth and Jack are gone! Mike, has a thief come in?"
"Shh..." McPherson was shocked and quickly covered his wife's mouth. After she calmed down, he put the oil lamp into her hand and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, you take the oil lamp and call the police. I'll go upstairs.
have a look."
Better to be a thief or a robber.
McPherson thought to himself.
He would rather believe that there were thieves and robbers who saw that they were strangers, so they broke in and stole things. At least then Beth might still be safe.
If she fell into darkness... Macpherson simply didn't dare to think about it, and felt a twinge of pain in his heart.
"Give me the oil lamp? What should you do?" Doreen had tears on her face, and then she saw her husband picking up the oil lamp that should have been placed next to Beth's bed from the corridor and lighting it with a match.
"...be careful."
Doreen left a worried word and ran back to the bedroom without looking back.
She rushed to the bedside, picked up the phone receiver, and kept dialing the dials with her other trembling hand.
Gragla Gragra——
The sound of the turntable drowned out the rapid breathing coming from Doreen's pale lips. Just as she was about to finish entering the police station password, Doreen suddenly froze and looked behind the phone with despair in her eyes.
The phone cord hung limply over the edge of the closet.
She just remembered that this was her new home and the phone line hadn't been connected yet.
Wow——
There was a sudden noise behind her, and Doreen was frightened and turned her head, only to see that a piece of wallpaper fell off, revealing a dark brown wooden wall.
Doreen felt relieved, put down the phone, and prepared to run out to ask for help from her neighbors.
But the moment he turned his head, in his peripheral vision, something suddenly appeared on the wall where the wallpaper had fallen off.
Doreen subconsciously stopped and looked at the yellowed wall again.
Behind the snow-white wallpaper, something hidden inside seemed to be moving out. A dark outline poked its head out little by little, and hole-like eyes peered toward Doreen with gloomy eyes.
…
After persuading his wife to leave, McPherson looked around, picked up the racket in the unpacked box by the door to defend himself, turned around, walked around the corner, and went upstairs.
Arriving quietly on the second floor, McPherson followed the faint sound of running and finally walked to a door at the far end of the corridor.
"Dad, I'm here~"
Hearing his daughter's laughter behind the door, McPherson breathed a sigh of relief, then pushed the door open and walked in with a helpless smile: "It's so late for you and Jack -"
The sound stopped suddenly.
…
Marcus didn't tell Lu Li who the other exorcist was, only that he might meet him there.
"The client was crying when I got the call. She asked us to, uh... let you go quickly."
"In Belfast?"
"Well, Belfast's... Oak Street, uh, is on the south side of Belfast, very close to the oak forest."
Oak Grove is on the outskirts of Belfast, and the proximity of Oak Street to there shows that it is a very remote street.
Lu Li asked: "What is the content of the commission?"
"A ghost appeared in the client's home. Her family was attacked yesterday and disappeared."
"When did she contact you?" Lu Li asked for every piece of information in detail.
"Uh... just now."
"I disappeared yesterday and only thought of solving it today."
A scratching voice came from the phone: "Maybe the client called the police first and then contacted the detective agency after thinking that the police couldn't solve the problem? By the way, the client looked very anxious, and you also have a competitor."
Lu Li did not ask Marcus where the competitor came from: "Does that mean I have to rush there early, like tonight?"
"Well... that's best. But if your competitors are a bit lazy, you can set off tomorrow morning."
"Should we act now..." Lu Li murmured, turning his head to look at the dim sky outside the window.
It was just four o'clock in the afternoon, and there was still some time before dark. However, due to the gloomy weather, the brightness has become difficult to see before five o'clock in the past few days.
Although staying in a lighted place in the dark can ensure your own safety, it will bring great restrictions on your vision and movement.
To put it bluntly, Lu Li's behavior will become constrained in the dark, and it will be difficult to detect the danger hidden in the dark.
"The commission fee is very high..."
As if sensing Lu Li's hesitation, Marcus's seductive voice sounded.
"I will rush over later and ask the client to wait for me." Lu Li no longer hesitated and spoke exquisitely into the microphone.
"I understand the first sentence, but uh... I can't do the second sentence. After contacting other exorcists, I contacted the client, but I couldn't get in touch. Oops, I said it!"
"Understood."
Lu Li didn't say anything and hung up the phone.
He looked at Anna who had tidied up the room and just straightened up, wiping her forehead without any sweat: "Are you tired?"
