Victor glanced at Leo rummaging through his bag and turned to the others. "Williams and I will check the periter."
With that, he and Williams headed outside.
"Wait, hold on! Take these—just in case!"
Leo pulled out two heads of garlic, a string of prayer beads, a cross, and other random trinkets from his bag.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, he reached into his oversized cargo pants and fished out two laminated protective charms, shoving them into Williams and Victor’s hands.
The two n stared at him with blank expressions. Clearly, they had expected this.
Their expressions scread regret, but in the end, they just sighed and took the items.
Leo stuffed extra sage bundles into their pockets, handed them each a charm, and pressed a silver pendant into their palms.
Then, he turned to Ethan and Celeste, passing them their own share.
Ethan frowned at the strange objects in his hands. "Where the hell did you even get all this?"
He couldn’t believe for a second that the gear bags in their Humvee had co stocked with anti-supernatural supplies.
Leo puffed up his chest. "Brought ’em myself!" He patted his bulky cargo pockets proudly.
Ethan suddenly rembered how, on the plane, Leo’s pants had looked strangely stuffed. At the ti, he had assud it was just so weird design—turns out the guy had actually packed them full of junk.
When Leo handed Celeste her share, Ethan half-expected her to toss them aside. But to everyone’s shock, she neatly arranged the items in her pockets and nodded.
"Thanks."
The entire group froze. Even Victor and Williams, who were halfway out the door, turned to stare.
Even Doe, who had seen plenty of strange things, looked dumbfounded.
Celeste… just said thank you?
"…Uh… uh, y-you’re welco?" Leo stamred.
Celeste smiled slightly and stepped toward the door.
As she walked, she said, "Doe ntioned this place has an ominous presence. We shouldn’t linger in one spot for too long. Let’s split up—two per team to cover more ground."
She glanced at Ethan. "You go with Leo. I’ll team up with Doe."
Without waiting for a response, she left.
Leo turned to Doe, still holding out one of the charms. "Uh… Doe, do you want—"
Without a word, she phased right through him, her ghostly form passing through his body like mist.
He shivered violently and turned around just as she turned back toward him.
"Do you think I need them?" she asked.
Leo frantically shook his head, looking like a rattling bobblehead.
She smirked. "Good boy."
Then, without another word, she floated off after Celeste.
Soon, everyone had dispersed, leaving only Ethan and Leo behind. Ethan was still staring at the eighth knife mark on the wooden beam overhead.
Leo groaned. "Ethan, what are you even looking at? Let’s just go."
Ethan didn’t answer. Instead, he tilted his head. "Do you see that?"
Leo followed his gaze. "…See what?"
Ethan pointed at the beam. "There’s soone hanging up there."
Leo’s face drained of color.
Slowly, hesitantly, he turned his flashlight toward the beam. "Where…?"
"Right there. Can’t you see?" Ethan continued, his voice eerily calm.
Leo started trembling. "Ethan, man, don’t ss with right now."
Then Ethan turned his head sharply and stared past Leo’s shoulder, his eyes widening in horror.
"…It’s behind you now."
Leo scread.
"By the gods above and below! Holy light, blessed waters, spirits of the old—"
He spun around wildly, flailing his charms and beads like a mad priest in an exorcism.
His hands waved furiously, trinkets clattering together as he muttered every religious phrase he could think of.
Ethan burst into laughter.
He clapped Leo on the shoulder. "Alright, alright, relax. You scared it off."
Leo stopped mid-chant, blinking. "Huh?"
"I said it’s gone," Ethan repeated, smirking.
Leo’s face turned red with embarrassnt. "Dude! That’s not funny! You almost gave a heart attack!"
Ethan was already walking toward the door. Leo sighed, shaking his head as he followed. But just as he stepped under the beam, Ethan suddenly stopped.His face twisted into an expression of shock, and he stumbled backward.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Oh, co on, man. You think I’m falling for that again?" He strode up next to Ethan, smirking. "I’m not an id—"
Then he saw it.
"…Oh, hell no."
A black lynx was perched on the beam, its glowing green eyes locked onto them. It didn’t move, didn’t blink. It just stared.
Then—
Tat-tat-tat!
Leo raised his submachine gun and fired a burst at the rafters, but the lynx was faster. With an impossible leap, it dodged the bullets and vanished through a hole in the roof.
Only then did Ethan and Leo notice the hole was even there.
Then, a flash of white shot past them, soaring straight through the opening in pursuit.
Leo nearly opened fire again. Ethan grabbed his arm. "It’s Doe."
A mont later, Celeste, Williams, and Victor ran up.
"What happened?" Celeste demanded.
"Shadow Lynx," Ethan replied.
Leo nodded quickly. Doe’s voice echoed from a distance. "Over here!"
Without hesitation, Celeste took off and the others hurried after her. Their radios had long since beco useless, reduced to nothing but static.
They sprinted past the last rows of houses and into the treeline. Doe hovered beneath a massive oak, waiting for them.
As soon as they arrived, she turned to Ethan. "This is the spot. Last ti we chased it, this was where it disappeared."
She glanced at him. "Try using your soul sense. See if you can pick up anything."
Ethan hesitated. His soul sense had only activated once before, and that had been during a life-or-death mont. Using it intentionally? He wasn’t even sure how.
Seeing his hesitation, Doe reassured him. "Don’t worry. The magic barrier here keeps us hidden from the outside world. No one will sense you."
That wasn’t his concern. He just didn’t know how to activate it. But there was no turning back now.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused.
A low hum filled his mind, then, like ripples in water, an invisible pulse radiated outward from his body.
For a brief mont, he could see everything. Not with his eyes, but with sothing deeper.
Everything beca sharper, clearer. Even the tiniest insect egg buried in the dirt was visible in his mind.
He swept across the village, the tree, the exact spot where the lynx had vanished—
And found nothing.
Opening his eyes, he sighed and shook his head. The group’s anticipation faded into disappointnt.
Ethan frowned. Sothing about this felt… incomplete. Like he had missed sothing. He went over everything again in his head.
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Then it hit him.
He had been so focused on what he could see, that he hadn’t considered what he couldn’t. And there was one very particular empty spot. A place where there should have been sothing—
But wasn’t.
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