"Wait a minute, so you knew Shiller not from your investigation into the serial killings, you t him when you were a child?" Constantine also sat down, questioning Angela in disbelief.
Angela took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep her emotions in check, then shook her head, "No, I didn't know him at that ti. I only rember that the specialist my parents arranged was late that day, so he had a dical intern handle my preliminary examination."
"The intern introduced himself as Shiller, but by then, I was already terrified. The mont I saw him, I started crying..." Angela opened her mouth as if to say sothing else, but ended up shaking her head and giving a bitter smile, "I rember how flustered he was."
"He had no idea why I burst into tears when I saw him. He spent ages trying to calm down, but nothing worked. Only when I wore myself out from crying could the examination proceed."
Angela shook her head, "I was completely shattered. He asked why I was crying, but I can't rember what I responded with. It must have been so incoherent ramblings."
"But I told him everything. What struck was that he wasn't surprised or skeptical about seeing monsters. Unlike most people, he didn't jump to the conclusion that I had so sort of ntal illness."
"He said that he could help , so I wouldn't have to suffer from this problem anymore and nobody would ever figure out I have any ntal issues."
Constantine's eyes widened. He looked at Angela, "Did you say that it was Shiller who made you stop seeing those things??? That's impossible. Isn't it because the demon chose your sister over you?"
"He didn't explain much to ." Angela shook her head, "At that ti, I was exhausted from crying. He played a calming piano piece for . I eventually fell asleep, and I have no knowledge of what happened next."
Constantine stayed silent, lost in his thoughts. After a while, he murmured, "In theory, you could see those things because of the occult, and your inability to see them was also due to the occult."
"Any psychiatric or psychological treatnt should have been ineffective. Your inability to see those things was likely because the demon gave up on your soul and went after your sister instead."
"How do you know the demon went after my sister?" Angela retorted, "From my sister's letters, she committed suicide to thwart the mysterious organization's conspiracy, not because the demon pursued her, how can you be so sure that the demon chose my sister?"
"If the demon had chosen you, you'd still be able to see them, but you can't, so..." Constantine shook his head, "Indeed, we can't make assumptions. After all, your sister has passed away. We have no idea if the demon had reached out to her before..."
"If the demon had chosen you from the beginning, there shouldn't be any way for you to stop seeing those things..." Constantine mumbled, deep in thought, "Shiller must have used so other approach, it's just impossible."
"If he really had such a thod... If he really had such a thod..." Constantine repeated under his breath, while Angela told him, "When I woke up, he told to firmly believe those things didn't exist, and to deny their existence whenever asked."
Then, she looked up at the ceiling, "But that wasn't the last ti we t. After I let the murderer slip away, I started to suffer from severe psychological problems again, almost to the point of being crippled by insomnia and nightmares."
"At that ti, I was working on an assault case in the Rushing City. During the investigation, I fainted and was taken to a hospital by my colleagues. There, I t Shiller again, but this ti, he was a resident physician."
"Initially, he didn't recognize , but I rembered his face. When I told him that I was the little girl who cried at the sight of him, he was very surprised. He said he never expected to beco a police officer."
"I have to admit, when he gave that surprised look, I felt rather delighted. He might have thought of as a weepy weakling, but I had already cast off that shadow."
"At his office, we chatted for a bit. He did a couple of check-ups, diagnosed with anxiety disorder, and gave so dication. When I took the pills after returning ho, my condition improved significantly."
"Around that ti, I was serving as an assistant detective, investigating a series of serial murders in the Rushing City."
"I was supposed to be working side by side with my superiors, but I always wanted to do more. That's why one day, I ended up being the first witness at a murder scene..."
"The code na for that case was..." Angela paused for a mont, seeming reluctant to recall that event, but finally, she spoke, "Carnage."
"The perpetrator liked to flay people alive then leave the victims in a location to die."
"He would lure the police there, giving the victims a glimpse of hope at being rescued, only to detonate a bomb and kill them." Angela's voice began to tremble at this point, making even Constantine shudder.
"And I... I was the police officer who was lured there, and seen by the victim." Angela could no longer hold back her tears.
"I saw the victim's eyes, his gaze. The mont he saw , a glimr of hope ignited amid the despair and pain in his eyes. He had such a strong will to live. We were rely a few steps away, I could have saved him if I had moved a bit closer..."
"Then, the bomb exploded, he died, I saw... I saw the spark of hope in his eyes die out completely, leaving nothing."
Constantine sucked in a gulp of cool air. Though his understanding of psychology was basic, he knew that such psychological trauma could inflict great damage on a person. Still, he asked, "What happened next?"
"I fell into utter madness, totally losing my sanity." Angela sobbed, "I don't rember clearly what exactly happened, but when I woke up next ti, I saw Shiller again."
"He looked at with an extrely helpless expression, and then..." Angela revealed a strange expression, said, "I didn't an to, but I really couldn't control my emotions... I cried again."
Constantine could almost visualize the look on Shiller's face then. He sighed, looked at Angela, and asked, "What happened next, did he cure you again?"
Angela nodded, "I don't know how he did it, but anyway he played so soothing music, and I fell asleep again. When I woke up, those horrific mories had beco blurry, as if they were far away from ."
"After that, we talked a lot. I found out that he was also investigating the serial murders. He told that the departure of the incubus was temporary and if I couldn't reach a state of spiritual self-consistency, the madness would co back sooner or later."
Angela sniffed, wiped her tears, the firm look she always had suddenly returned to her face, "He told that if I wanted to completely get rid of the incubus, I had to face it fearlessly."
"So, I strove for opportunities in external tasks, in every task I perford brilliantly, better than anyone else. Finally, I returned to the tropolitan Police Departnt, got involved in my first major case, and played a key role in the breakthrough."
"I feared nothing, no murderer, no matter how brutal or violent he was. I did my utmost to bring them to justice. In this way, I managed to overco my past fear and beca the most famous female detective people talked about."
Constantine patted Angela's shoulder. This ti, he truly admired this policewoman. Having suffered countless ntal tortures himself, he knew how difficult it was to escape from such a state.
When one's spirit is plunged into a trough, it's not as simple as "just think over." It's impossible, just like trying to get an over-cliff-fallen man to step on his right foot with his left foot and asking a drowning person to paddle his way up."
Although changes in the external environnt can help heal psychological trauma, in the end, it depends on the individual's strong willpower to pull through. Clearly, the heart of this female detective is much stronger than most people.
Angela stood up, turned her head to look at the still lit light in the ergency room, "He had saved a few tis. Even though I'm not a doctor and can't save critically ill patients, I can find out what's really going on."
"Anyway, it must have sothing to do with that mysterious organization." Constantine put out his cigarette, tossed the butt into a trash bin nearby, Angela reloaded her gun, holding her pistol, she walked out, saying, "I will make them pay."
Constantine stood at the spot, also looked back at the still lit light in the ergency room, then turned around and walked outside.
As he walked out, he was still mumbling in confusion to himself, " The first demon was the one I summoned to flirt with, what were the Hellhound and then big guy up to? How did they happen to appear there?"
Suddenly, his expression turned sowhat cold. He pulled out the Bible from his bosom, then tore off a page from it, and held it in his hand, saying, "Forget it, I'll get rid of these ddling guys first. Owl? Hmph..."
After they all left, a deserted corridor remained, lit by the ergency light, behind the ergency room's door, lay Shiller, who was wearing a respirator. His face was pale, and around him, doctors in surgical gowns bustled.
The monitor equipnt beside him gave out stable "beep" sounds, suddenly, the beeping started to accelerate. The chief surgeon imdiately said, "The condition is getting worse, quickly!"
The doctors around him turned into a frenzy of activity. After the sound finally returned to stable, a few seconds passed, the beeping began to speed up again, the doctors started to bustle again in frantic activity. After it stabilized, it worsened again.
Just like that, worsening, rescuing, stabilizing, worsening, rescuing, stabilizing... Despite three exhausting attempts, Shiller was still in danger.
At that mont, in Shiller's Thought Palace, Shiller, who was dressed in a black suit, stood in the centre of the palace's bottom, head raised, and cried out:
"Death! Death! Are you there? Death! I have so questions for you, can you co out and et ?!"
"...Why haven't you co? Gray mist, can you die even more transparently?"
Soon, the aggrieved voice of Gray Mist ca from above, "I've tried my best, but the doctor's dical skills are too excellent."
"..."
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