The lights in the corridor went out one by one. The shadows of the two brothers were almost instantly swallowed by the darkness. In the dark, small noises were infinitely amplified. Danny's slightly hurried breathing revealed his tension. Johnny also slightly arched his body, with flas almost burning in his eyes.
The word "Alarming Doom" appeared on the screen in fancy script. Eddie, sitting in front of the computer desk, let out a small breath, leaned back, stretched his sowhat sore neck, and muttered, "I really didn't expect Shiller to have a talent for directing. This mockuntary is quite well-made."
"Stop the nonsense!" Venom shouted, "Hurry up and continue playing, I still want to watch! What's coming next?!"
"Don't rush, let fix the previous part first." Eddie leaned forward again, carefully staring at the computer screen, and began to adjust the effects of the font appearance using video editing software, changing the originally abrupt style to a handwritten animation, accompanied by a scribbling sound, creating another kind of eerie and thrilling atmosphere.
Then, Eddie imported a new video file and placed this segnt after the title credits appeared.
At first, there was a long period of black screen, then a bit of static, followed by the sound of leather shoes stepping on a wooden floor, and then the sound of a tape recorder being turned on.
"My na is Naog Sokhup, an Honorary Researcher at All Souls College, Oxford University, and an expert in folklore and mysticism. Forgive for having to tell you such a thriller of a story in this way. Because no matter who it is, they probably wouldn't believe the terrifying events I've experienced in the past week. It all starts with that blockbuster movie and an unknown terrifying demon..."
Eddie listened quietly, occasionally clicking on a certain frequency band with the mouse to cut out small pauses to control the rhythm of the speech, and then put on headphones to process the tone, making the man's voice appear deeper and more mysterious.
After the black screen ended, suddenly the daylight burst forth. The bright sunshine ford a sharp contrast with the suspenseful atmosphere of the previous monologue. The iconic Vatican walls appeared in the fra. The person holding the cara was sitting in a car, and the cara was wobbling, looking unlike that of a professional photographer.
"Today is May 12th." That familiar voice rang out again, "I ca to the Vatican to visit an old friend of mine. In the secular religious hierarchy, he is usually called a Cardinal. But I think many people do not know that he is also a vanguard in defending Earth from demon invasion. I just hope he can solve my troubles..."
The screen changed again. In an office with mahogany floors and very old-looking stone walls, many docunts were placed on the table in front of the cara. An old bald man wearing a robe was slowly putting on his glasses.
"It seems there's no mistake." He spoke slowly, "The symptoms of these possessed people are very typical. They are possessed by devils, indulging in those evil dreams, having their souls drained, and dying in their sleep."
"Except for one case." The cara's owner said, "The boy with schizophrenia living in the sanatorium. Did he resist the demon's attack? Or was so other force helping him?"
The old man gently shook his head and said, "Perhaps this is a conspiracy. A conspiracy woven by devils returning to Earth. He wants to use this boy to achieve so purpose. But there is no doubt that Nelson is special. If you want to thwart the devil, you must protect him."
"I don't know how to do it. I ca to you, wanting to understand about this devil. Across the ocean, that country once fell into darkness for a long ti, but there hasn't been such a severe incident for decades. My colleagues are very concerned about it, and I must resolve it as soon as possible."
"Co with ." The old man walked out from behind the desk, turned, and walked towards a small door on the right side of the wall. The cara followed him through the small door, arriving at a narrow and dark library. It was filled with various books and files, piled full, not only on the shelves, by the walls, on the floors, or the desks, even on the windowsills, all were various old, sowhat yellowing files.
The old man was searching, finally took out one of them and handed it to the cara's owner, then made a gesture to keep silent.
"Do not speak his na."
One Hand picked up the file, and the cara froze on a na — "phisto".
Shiller put down the file in his hand, then took off the cara hanging from his neck. The old man walked over, smiling, and said, "How about that? Should this one pass?"
"Not bad," Shiller said. "As expected, a slightly dimr environnt is more conducive to creating a mysterious atmosphere. Audiences just love watching this."
Shiller took a little ti to import what he had just shot into his phone and then sent it to the Bishop. The Bishop put on his glasses, squinted his eyes, looked at the video screen on his phone, nodded, and said, "Not bad, makes look quite professional. I originally thought I wasn't old yet, but now it seems, unable to keep up with the tis. I would never have thought to bring a cara to film a docuntary during an exorcism."
"In fact, the exorcism has already been completed. This segnt was just a reshoot for the sake of plot completeness. After all, I understand you guys want to promote the Church's contribution in the fight against demons. This segnt can well express that it was you who supported Doctor Sophocles, allowing him to escape from that terrifying experience."
"Truly interesting," the old bishop said, "When the movie is released, I will definitely go see it. I think my colleagues will go too."
"I plan to host a premiere at the new magical school. Then you can enjoy the movie with the mages of Kamar-Taj and mbers of The Avengers. I think you'll have a lot to talk about."
The smile on the old bishop's face deepened a bit. He nodded and patted Shiller on the shoulder.
Knock, knock, knock. Soone knocked on the studio door. Eddie, slumped against his seat's backrest, suddenly jolted awake and turned his head to see Shiller pushing the door open.
"How's it going? Is the editing done?"
"Not even close." Eddie wiped his face, picked up a piece of Swiss chocolate from beside him, and tossed it into his mouth. Shiller sat down next to him. Eddie adjusted the screen, and they both looked at the images on the screen.
"Oh, damn it. Did you feel that?" Danny looked at Johnny. Johnny's face turned serious.
"I sense power flowing. Such imnse power couldn't belong to an ordinary demon. Perhaps it really is phisto."
Click, click, click... Suddenly, the sound of heels striking the ground echoed through the empty hallway, growing closer.
A sudden gust of strong wind blew them back a few steps. They had to shield their faces with their arms.
A scream that didn't sound human suddenly ca from the end of the hallway. All the lights turned on, but the light beca a terrifying blood-red. A monstrously tall shadow, with arms nearly dragging on the ground, flashed past the window at the end of the hallway.
Danny let out a frightened scream, but Johnny had already stepped forward to chase it. Shiller followed behind them, rushing toward the window.
At the window, a strong burnt sll wafted over. Johnny opened the window, and as he looked down, he t a horrifying face of charred black skin, wrinkled and bunched together, with only eyes visible.
The opponent's torso was shrunken, about the size of a seven or eight-year-old, thin black skin clinging tightly to the bones, yet the limbs were unusually long, like a massive spider, crouched against the outer wall of the hospital, gazing up at Johnny.
Johnny was so terrified he stepped back. Danny hurriedly rushed over, but when he looked again, the ugly and eerie creature had already crawled away swiftly with its limbs.
"What was that?" Danny asked, "An illusion? Or so kind of cursed creature?"
"That was a monster from Hell." Johnny took a deep breath and said, "In phisto's Hell domain, there are countless tortured creatures whose limbs and forms have beco twisted. They are all different, but they are exceedingly terrifying. Their common trait is the scent of Hell Ash that clings to them."
"Hell Ash?" Shiller spoke.
"Yes. The burnt sll we just sensed was the scent of Hell Ash. And..." Johnny lowered his head, reaching out to touch the windowsill's edge. His hand brushed against so black marks. He showed them to the others and said, "This is Hell Ash."
Just as Danny was about to say sothing, a scream ca from downstairs, sounding like a woman's voice. They hurriedly ran downstairs. The hallway downstairs also had a faint burnt sll. The scream alard the nurses on the floor, and together they rushed into the room where the scream ca from.
Johnny and Danny led the way. Shiller wanted to go forward but stopped his steps and shouted to them, "Wait! Don't go in!!"
"Bang!" The door closed instantly. Everything beca eerily silent. Shiller, still in the hallway, couldn't hear any noises. His gaze fell once again on the plaque outside the room.
He rembered this room had only one patient, and it was a male. The scream from earlier couldn't have been made by the patient inside; it must have been phisto's trap.
After the door closed, the two inside realized the figure on the bed was clearly male and had no reaction, either unconscious or lost in a dream, despite the loud noise.
As the door closed, the three windows in the room opened one by one. A dense burnt sll ca again, the white walls ignited, and gradually turned charred black. The bed, curtain, instrunts were all engulfed by flas. Yet, the figure lying on the bed stood up in a strange posture.
"He's possessed!" Johnny shouted, "Quick, stop him!"
Danny dashed forward and tackled the figure. But he soon discovered his hand was getting burnt from touching it. He let out a low painful cry. As his muscle strength relaxed for a mont, the figure broke free from him.
"Swish," flas erupted from Johnny's eyes. In an instant, he transford into the Ghost Rider, staring with eyes full of rage at the patient lunging towards him.
"You... are guilty!"
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