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Ooky Spooky

"I, for one, believe this is a story that needs to be told," Lars said. "The people behind this thrive on secrecy; shoving them into the public would cause panic, yes, but ultimately, they would finally be destroyed." One could get the feeling that Lars was very much a 'for the greater good' kind of guy.

He looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "You just witness a real, live demon being destroyed, and you're worried about your boss?" He said, assuming that was who she was talking about. He gave a soft chuckle. Lars led her back through the graveyard, but stopped short when they reached the gate. "I can't go any further. Have a good rest of your night." He saw her off and headed back inside.

On her car, tucked under the windshield wiper, was a folded piece of paper. Upon further inspection, it had writing on the inside. Scrolled in a very elegant cursive:

Ooky Spooky

"A few years," Lars said as he began leading her back to the world above ground. "Isaac was the one who brought this one in. Him and Lucas. He doesn't typically come to these things; he mostly handles the exorcisms with Lucas."

When they were back in the church, Lars locked the door of the basement once more. "I was unfortunate enough to be introduced to this stuff when I was young. If everyone knew the truth, we'd have a shot at stopping the people doing this."

Ooky Spooky

Lars nodded, confirming that this demon was, in fact, from hell. "We have theories on who's doing it and why, but nothing we can prove. How do you explain this," He motioned to the chest, "To the authorities?"

He watched her chase after Lucas, and gave a short chuckle. "Good luck. He's long gone." He walked over to the door. "He's not very friendly."

Ooky Spooky

"A demon," Lars answered grimly, peeling himself off of the wall. "One that's overtaken a host. They're rare, but they've been getting increasingly more common with every day."

Lucas was already slinking out of the room. He was definitely not very sociable.

"Demons that possess people, like they did to Mrs. Reynolds's son, can't overtake the human form on their own. They need help. And that's the most disturbing part: someone is creating these things. Taking people off of the street, and forcing demons inside of them." Lars seemed very heated about this topic. This was clearly a very personal fight to him.

Ooky Spooky

Chest demon image inspo

Ooky Spooky

They waited in the dimly lit room for what felt like an eternity. Whatever was in the chest would shake and growl every now and then. Finally, the heavy door creaked open again. The man that walked in was...underwhelming. His frame was small, and he was buried under the old, black wool coat he wore. His face was tucked into a scarf, hiding the lower portion. He walked into the room slowly, cautiously.

His eyes immediately found Evie. They were every bit as dark and wild as the photo. He froze, seeming to contemplate running.

"It's fine," Lars said, seeing their guest freeze. "She's fine. Let's just get on with it."

Lucas's head whipped around to glare at the priest. He nodded and moved towards the chest. Lars approached the chest too, his keys jingling once more. He began unlocking the numerous, heavy locks. When the last one finally fell, the lid flew open. Long, spidery tendrils shot out. Lars barely managed to avoid getting snatched by one. He backed away until his back hit the cold, stone wall. Lucas, on the other hand, held his ground.

The screeching roar emitted from the chest was not from this world, and neither was the monster seemingly trying to climb out of it. The many arms and tentacles searched for something to grab as a roundish body pulled itself up towards the room. That chest was apparently a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared.

Lucas took a few steps towards the beast, and it actually withdrew from him. The man began to emit light from seemingly nowhere, and the tentacles within the vicinity of him caught fire. When Lucas reached the chest, he shot his hands out and touched the monster. It wailed a horrible cry of pain as it's body caught fire and burned to ash. Soon, the entire thing was gone, and the room was eerily silent.

Ooky Spooky

"Well, I haven't known him that long." Lars continued. "But I know he's been around for a while. Isaac doesn't talk a lot on the subject, but I know Lucas...isn't exactly human."

He stopped outside of a room that could only be described as dungeon. Here they were, alone, deep beneath the ground, in the middle of the night. This was certainly starting to look like a scene from 48 Hours. Lars turned to her, his face serious once more.

"Before we go in here, you have to promise me you won't intervene with what you see. Don't say anything, don't do anything. If you have a camera on you, a phone or anything, record this and focus on keeping it in the frame." He paused. "Just don't let Lucas see it. He's kinda' weird about cameras."

With that, Lars opened the door. The room was large and empty. In the middle of it, chained shut and heavily bolted to the floor, was what looked like a chest. At the sounds of the door creaking open, an unearthly roar came from within the confines of it, and the chains shook. Lars motioned to a spot in the corner for Evie to stand, far from the chest. He held a finger up to his lips to signal her to be silent. Any minute now, they would be joined by the infamous Lucas.

Ooky Spooky

Lars chuckled. "People say I'm spooky, too. Can you imagine?" The section of the church he led her to was looking less and less traveled. Finally, he led her to what was almost certainly a basement door. The sound of jingling keys broke the silence. The door opened, and the abyss met them. The darkness was foreboding. Luckily, someone had to the foresight to install lights.

"I've known him a very long time," The priest admitted. "Walters doesn't approve of our collaboration. Walters is a coward." The words were spoken almost venomously. "One of the best exorcists in the country, and he hangs up his hat after taking the lid off the mother of all Pandora's boxes."

The stairs creaked as they descended. This place almost looked like some sort of old catacomb. "Fortunately, some of us aren't afraid to die for the greater good. I don't particularly have a choice, anyway."

Ooky Spooky

"That's who you wanted to meet isn't it?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. He could tell her nerves were getting the better of her. Not that he could blame her. His phone pinged, and he took it out of his pocket to check it. He scoffed softly.

"He'd going to be late. Well, let's not stand out here with the dead all night. Come on."

With that, the priest led her back towards the church. There was an old metal door that led into the back, clearly a lesser used entrance. The cathedral was spooky at night: the halls dark and abandoned. It didn't seem to bother Lars one bit, however.

Ooky Spooky

The cemetery backed up to the, you guessed it, Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral. It wasn't overly large, but it was still plenty spooky. There was only one mausoleum, standing almost dead center. The moonlight was the only thing that lit the decaying headstones. As she approached it, a figure stepped out from around it.

"You came," Lars said, a pleasantly surprised smile greeting her. "I was afraid this whole scene would be too much for you. Lucas has a flair for the...dramatic, you might call it?"