Eli needed to save a poor spirit before going to bed.
As for why he didn't let Chase enter?
The six-foot-tall goblin with his wide maw was reason enough. It snarled at him, baring its layers of jagged teeth.
Eli simply turned around before unlocking the front door.
Tied to the key in his hand, the goblin could only follow behind him. Its broad frame nearly scraped the door frame as it hunched its shoulders to fit through.
The big eyes, as dark as the creature's soul, lit up with the flames of hunger when it stared at the corner of the living room.
It casually bypassed the newly placed, cream colored sofa near the window. Drool thick as tar dripped from its mouth, sizzling little black scorch marks into the rug.
Eli didn't stop the creature from approaching the child. Not even when the eight-year-old boy looked at him with pleading eyes.
The moment the goblin entered the semicircle created on the floor, Eli hastened to close it with the salt.
Only then did the creature realize it had been tricked.
There was another circle near the little boy, and no matter how it banged its heavy fists on the invisible barrier, it couldn't touch its prey.
Enraged, it let out a roar, loud enough to rattle the window's pane.
Strength was their only forte. These creatures were of a low level and could only use their huge bodies to scare the prey before eating them.
With their low demonic breath, they couldn't come to earth without any powerful medium, which in this case was Mr. Colton, the syndicate associate.
With him gone, Eli could overwrite the sigil carved on the golden key and become the new master.
His gaze bypassed the huge silhouette trying to shatter the barrier and fell onto the crouching kid, who was covering his ears in a vain attempt to keep the screams away.
He looks so much like me...
It wasn't the facial features that resembled Eli. Rather, it was the same posture filled with fear and helplessness that made those dusty memories spring to the surface.
Shaking his head, he grabbed the key and placed it on the ground.
Snatching the knife from the small table, he made a thin cut on his palm, letting his blood trickle down on the sigil.
As if sensing the intoxicating aroma of delicious blood, the goblin turned around.
Its dark eyes were fixed on the white hand covered with crimson. The hunger blazed with a new fervor as it pounced on Eli.
The force was so strong that the outer protective barrier instantly had a few cracks on it.
Eli's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't allow the goblin to see any anomaly.
"Alright," he muttered under his breath. "Let's get this over with."
The goblin hissed at him, long claws scraping at the crack, trying to make it bigger, and if Eli didn't take any action soon, he would be the next dinner.
"Smoke to ash, ash to wind, and hunger to nothing," he intoned through gritted teeth as the stench of decay and Goblin's saliva floated around him, trapping him in the black, misty cyclone.
"By the name you were given and the key you are bound — I break your claim and burn your bond. Blaggoth — go where all carrion goes."
Blaggoth hadn't expected the tiny human to know its real name.
It stood in place, and then it cackled. A loud guttural laughter that left the little boy shivering more violently.
"Hungry," Blaggoth snarled in a crooked voice. "Blaggoth... hungry..."
The next throaty roar reverberated through the room. The cyclone of black mist thickened around Eli as its claws pierced through the weakened barrier, shredding it into pieces.
The broken shards turned into golden dust and flew toward gasping Eli.
The barriers were bound to the creator. The protection was shared, and so was the damage.
Eli's hand trembled as he pressed the bleeding cut harder into the sigil on the key, red lines glowing faintly under his palm.
"By the command of God, I, Elijah, command Blaggoth to vanish into the depths of hell."
The moment his words fell, the mist surrounding him shrieked.
It rushed toward the goblin, engulfing its towering frame that began to fold in on itself.
Amidst the painful roar that nearly split Eli's head, Blaggoth disintegrated into dark ash and vanished, leaving only the two crouching humans behind.
Taking a steady breath, Eli stood on his shaky legs. This was the result of doing two exorcisms in one day, and that too, only a few hours apart.
Curling his bloody palm, he stepped closer to the child before crouching down to his level.
"That creature is gone now."
The little boy with bloodless lips stared at him with his glossy eyes.
"Really," Eli reassured the child in a gentle voice. "The longer you stay in this world, the more your spirit will be harmed. So, you should leave too."
The glossy eyes blinked at him as if silently trying to convince Eli not to make him leave.
"You have to. There is no other way."
If there were, Eli wouldn't have risked draining his spiritual energy tonight. He could have waited for another day.
"You have been dead for almost a month now. If you don't return to the Gates of the dead, your soul will become dirty like that goblin. Do you want that?"
The boy's eyes widened, and he hastily shook his head.
"Yeah, I know. So, be a good boy and leave. I'll pray for you. Okay?"
The boy stared at the living room, which had become his home for the past three days, and then at the handsome brother.
He pointed back and forth between himself and Eli's face.
"You... You want me to pray that in the next life you look like me?"
The boy bobbed his head excitedly.
Eli chuckled softly. "Okay."
Only then did a small smile curl at the corner of the boy's lips.
With a wave of his tiny hand, the tiny spirit slowly turned into golden dust and scattered inside his room.
The dark smudges that the goblin left in the living room were gone the moment the golden dust touched them.
Eli sighed. His shoulders sagged under the weight of exhaustion. "What a sweet child," he whispered before dragging his tired body to his bedroom.