Everly had originally thought that Wester’s mission would take at least several days.
In the horror movies she had watched in her previous life, it always went like this: before performing an exorcism, the protagonist would first need to consult ancient texts, sifting through mountains of documents to find information on the demon and uncover its true name. Then came the meticulous preparations at the exorcism site. Some rare and precious tools were required, which often meant the heroes had to risk life and limb to acquire them. Finally, if their own power wasn’t enough, they would have to call in other exorcists from all corners of the world for help…
Who would have guessed that by the very next day, she would hear from the landlord—who had come to check on them—that the Mayflower Apartments had already undergone an exorcism the night before. Under Wester’s guidance, the ritual had gone smoothly, and the evil force lingering in the apartment had been successfully sealed.
“Isn’t a successful exorcism a good thing? Why do you look so worried?” Shelly asked.
The landlord sighed. “Because, although the exorcism succeeded, most of the tenants living in the apartment are dead.”
“Ah… uh…”
“The evil presence in the apartment had been draining the life force from the tenants. Wester arrived too late—their life force was already almost completely gone. Even if they looked normal on the outside, their bodies had long since begun to rot. It’s like a spoiled can of food: the packaging might look fine, but you never know when it might suddenly ‘pop,’ sending its contents flying everywhere.”
The landlord’s description was uncannily accurate. In Everly’s mind, the image of that mass of rotting flesh she had seen a week ago flashed vividly.
If it hadn’t been for that cross that day, Everly and Shelly might also have become one of those “spoiled cans”—trapped inside the apartment, slowly drained and hollowed out by the strange force, until they ended up as mindless, wandering corpses, abruptly dying in some dark corner and leaving people to sigh in endless pity… The thought made Everly shiver uncontrollably.
She did not want to die like that!
“What about that stench? I smelled that horrible odor on the corpses outside the apartment and inside too, but no one else seemed to notice it at all,” Shelly pressed for answers.
The landlord, hearing this, gave him a subtle, sympathetic glance. “That means you’ve been contaminated. The stench that erupted in Unit 304 was the beginning of all the anomalies. Perhaps you stayed in it too long and accidentally got affected.”
“Due to—uh, restrictions—Wester said it’s best not to call them by their real names, or it could bring misfortune. Their influence on the real world is slow and hidden. Until their power reaches a certain level, they won’t make themselves too obvious. For example, the tenants who died in the apartment: their bodies were already decaying, but under the influence of the evil force, ordinary people handling the corpses wouldn’t notice anything unusual. Only someone who’s been contaminated, like you, can see the truth beneath the surface and smell that lingering, inescapable stench.”
“…” Shelly’s face immediately darkened, clearly recalling what had happened in the apartment not long ago.
“But you don’t need to worry too much. Wester has already sealed it, and the contamination remaining in your body will naturally fade over time. If you’re still uneasy, you could go to a church and have a priest perform a purification—though that would cost a little ‘donation,’” the landlord said.
Shelly’s face fell.
He had no money.
Medical care in the U.S. was extremely expensive. Shelly had no insurance, and the compensation he had received from previous gang fights was nearly gone after paying for both his and Everly’s treatments and hospital stays. The little money he had left still needed to cover rent, food, thick winter clothes, paint and brushes, Everly’s formula and diapers… In short, money was needed everywhere. How could he possibly afford any purification ritual?
The landlord understood this perfectly.
Rent at the Mayflower Apartments was cheap, and practically every tenant living there was a penniless poor soul.
Seeing Shelly frown, his face pale and exhausted with worry, the landlord sighed and gently patted his shoulder, offering a few words of comfort.
Every family has its own troubles. Shelly worried about making ends meet. As for the landlord, after the exorcism, most of the remaining tenants in the apartment had died on the spot, turning into ashes with not a single bone left. The few survivors were suffering varying degrees of organ failure, lying on the floor and wailing. Being the owner of the apartment, he too had a huge mess to clean up once he returned…
Thinking of this, the landlord couldn’t help but sigh again. After a pause, he croaked, “When you’re discharged, if you still want to return to the Mayflower Apartments, you’re welcome to come back. I can waive your rent for the next year.”
This rare act of generosity moved Shelly deeply.
After the landlord left, Shelly spent the remaining days in the hospital glued to newspapers, buying large stacks whenever he could, flipping through them constantly whenever he had a moment.
Finally, the day came when he and Everly were fully recovered and ready for discharge. Clutching Everly, Shelly took a taxi back to the desolate Mayflower Apartments.
It took him an hour to summon the courage to step through the apartment gate, ten minutes to painfully climb the stairs to his rented unit, 404, and five more minutes to rush through every corner of the apartment, quickly packing up important items like photos, bank cards, and gold and silver jewelry.
As for the rest of the stuff… he didn’t dare take it. He really didn’t.
After leaving 404, Shelly pressed the apartment key into a potted plant in the hallway, sent the pre-written move-out notice to the landlord, and then bolted from the apartment as if a pack of dogs were on his heels, carrying Everly and rushing overnight all the way to the far eastern state of Yalijifu.
Their destination was a small town called Pukati, located at the easternmost edge of Yalijifu. Here, the winding coastline is split in two by an underwater mountain range, and dense clusters of reefs stretch outward, forming a towering promontory.
The town of Pukati sits atop this jutting sea cliff.
Because of the reefs and lack of a good harbor, fishing in Pukati was never well-developed. In fact, the town had initially prospered due to gold deposits buried deep underground. Later, after over-mining exhausted the veins, the gold rush ended, and the once-thriving town gradually fell into decline. Today, only a few hundred households remain as permanent residents.
For young people who yearned for the bustle of a big city, Pukati’s isolation, backwardness, and desolation made it a place they would do anything to escape. But for the penniless, struggling painter Shelly, Pukati was practically a treasure trove of inspiration made just for him.
A sparse population and distance from urban centers meant a low cost of living; the town’s past prosperity left behind schools, churches, hospitals, shopping centers, and other basic infrastructure that made life somewhat convenient. Beyond that, the dense forests surrounding the town, the lingering mists that shrouded it, and the abandoned lighthouse standing on the sea all provided Shelly with boundless artistic inspiration.
The day after moving to the town, he couldn’t wait to head out and buy canvases, paints, and other tools, ready to immerse himself in his art. He dreamed of creating unprecedented masterpieces that would catapult him to fame, making him a world-renowned painter and leading him to the pinnacle of success.
↑
The above was Everly’s professional reading of Shelly’s facial expressions.
Shelly and Everly’s new home was a spacious detached house, complete with a small garden full of flowers and plants, and a glass greenhouse brimming with artistic charm. The landlord was an elderly woman named Christina. According to her, the house had previously been occupied by her son and daughter-in-law. Not long ago, her daughter-in-law discovered she was pregnant, and the couple moved to the more convenient state capital, Masri City, leaving the house vacant.
“I’m getting old, and I don’t have the energy to come here to clean. It’s better to rent it out. I don’t care much whether the rent is high or low—I mainly worry that if the house sits empty for too long, neglect could lead to all sorts of problems,” Christina explained.
Curious, Shelly asked, “Will your son and daughter-in-law be living in Masri City for a long time?”
“Yes, for quite a while.” At the question, Christina’s smile stiffened. She lowered her head, letting out a long sigh, her eyes reflecting a deep melancholy. “They probably won’t return until the child is about seven years old…”
Hearing this, Shelly felt relieved—at least for the next six or seven years, he wouldn’t have to worry about being kicked out. Feeling like he’d gotten a huge bargain, he didn’t hesitate to flatter the elderly woman a bit: “I understand… Thank you for your generosity. I will take good care of this house. If you ever need help with anything in your life, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Then we’ll be neighbors from now on,” the old lady said.
And just like that, the lease was signed.
Christina’s family was well-off, and renting out the house was more about keeping it maintained than making money. As a result, the rent was very low, and all the furniture and fixtures in the home were free for Shelly to use.
Shelly spent one night with Everly in their new home, going over a list of issues they still needed to handle. The next morning, taking advantage of the bright sunshine, he carried Everly out for some shopping.
Pukati had a shopping center where the townspeople normally bought their goods.
The shopping center was quite large, divided into sections for fresh produce, groceries, clothing, household items, and more. Shelly wandered through the aisles, quickly purchasing all the art supplies he needed, along with milk, bread, jam, and other food to stock the fridge.
When it came time to buy Everly’s formula, diapers, and winter clothing, Shelly ran into a problem—he couldn’t find the baby products section.
He pushed his already-full shopping cart through the huge mall for what felt like ages, until he finally spotted an employee in a store uniform. He approached and asked, “Hey, sorry, I’m new here and not familiar with the place. Could you tell me where I can buy baby products?”
“Oh, hello,” the employee said, putting down what she was holding. She quickly scanned Shelly and the baby in his cart from head to toe, her eyes showing a spark of recognition. “I think you must be Mr. Shelly.”
Shelly blinked in surprise. “You know me?”
The employee smiled. “Yes, Pukati is a small town. News travels fast… You’re looking for baby supplies, right? I’m afraid you’ll have to go to the neighboring town, Kate, because we don’t sell any baby products here.”
“What?”
“The shopping center doesn’t carry baby items,” she repeated. Then, glancing around to make sure no one was listening, she lowered her voice and warned carefully, “Since you have a child with you, it’s probably best not to stay here too long.”
“For a child, this really isn’t a safe place…”
TN
Don’t mind the state/town/city names, they are completely fictional, made up for the story.