Noon.
Jennifer, still emotional from their separation, didn't feel like going out. She didn't even want to go home and suggest moving in together.
In such a situation, the demon would most likely follow. John slapped Jennifer to make her behave, telling her to check her house first before considering other requests.
So, the two of them headed out under the blazing sun.
The warm sunlight still provided a great sense of security.
John and Jennifer paused for a moment as they stepped onto the street, but quickly got used to it. An alligator was leisurely crawling on the adjacent path.
It was probably someone's pet, or it had crawled out of a nearby lake.
Beside it, a high-street emperor, wearing an unknown number of pants, passed by the alligator, was knocked down by a tail whip, quickly got up, pointed at the alligator's nose, and started rapping.
The alligator didn't understand rap. It bit the high-street emperor's pants and did a death roll. The good news was it wasn't in the water, and because the high-street emperor wore so many pants, the alligator stopped halfway through the roll.
An Asian person ran out of a nearby store after a zero-dollar purchase, yelling "Baka yarou" as two police officers chased him.
The white neighbor next door, wearing only shorts, was doing push-ups at the public water fountain. Sheriff Old Joe also arrived, but unfortunately, someone had stolen the manhole cover, causing him to fall into the sewer and call for help.
There was also a Black man in a white short-sleeved shirt, treading in place, standing there like an NPC from Grand Theft Auto.
One might think it was a ghost-wall if they didn't know better.
All of this might seem surprising to people from other countries.
But this is the land of outstanding individuals, Florida, not to mention Round Clam Town has always been known as the "birth town."
So, nothing is strange here. John might have been a bit confused when he first arrived, but now he's somewhat used to it.
Round Clam Town is neither too big nor too small.
It's a typical classical town, with houses and facilities that resemble European towns from the last century.
John's home was basically a few minutes from the school, while Jennifer's home was in the suburbs.
On the way, Jennifer was still a bit reluctant to take John to her house. Compared to his small villa, her house was clearly a small country house.
John didn't express much opinion on this; he had never valued such things.
Following Jennifer to the small house in the suburbs, the area was sparsely populated compared to the town center, with only a few households nearby, all of them elderly.
A small tree was planted in the yard.
Inside, the living room featured a beige fabric sofa and dark wood furniture, with a clock decoration hanging on the wall. Bedrooms or resting areas often used old furniture and artistic tapestries, while kitchens mostly had off-white cabinets and wooden island counters.
A very common layout in American small towns.
After John looked around and sat down, Jennifer asked him what he wanted to drink.
"Tea is fine," John wasn't picky. While Jennifer went to pour the tea, a phantom card appeared in his hand. Demons are invisible to the naked eye, and they often take a long time to appear.
"Traces of the containment object, Demon, detected."
"True name unknown."
Demons usually have a true name; generally, if their true name is known, they will be banished back to hell.
Here, the phantom card only detected traces of a demon, which John could completely understand. He observed the house in a circle and found no abnormal traces.
That left only one possibility: Jennifer had just been targeted, and there were only preliminary signs of an invasion.
This was very difficult to deal with.
Every demon is different. Some demons prefer to target those who are alone.
Some demons will attack you even if you gather a bunch of people.
This point brings to mind The Conjuring series.
So, being in a crowd doesn't necessarily mean safety.
Moreover, ordinary people can't detect it in the early stages; even if they notice something abnormal, they'll just deceive themselves.
In the later stages of a true invasion, unless a priest and an exorcist are present, they can only wait for death.
But are there really no ways to detect something amiss in the early stages?
There are. The simplest method is to get a dog.
Animals are very sensitive to the presence of demons, Evil Spirits, and similar entities.
This was demonstrated in the first Conjuring movie.
When Roger and Carolyn bought a house in Rhode Island, their pet dog was reluctant to enter the house because it sensed the presence of a demon.
It even barked wildly to warn its owners, but unfortunately, Roger and Carolyn were ordinary people and didn't understand what their dog meant.
The dog died in their yard the next day.
John had also thought about getting a dog, after all, dogs are the most loyal animals to humans, and they can make life less boring.
But dogs are too fragile against demons; they basically just die if they encounter one.
John didn't like the idea of raising a dog he loved, only for it to be killed one day due to his involvement. He wasn't a cold-blooded person and would still be affected.
If only containment objects could fuse with animals.
Unfortunately, they couldn't.
"Darling, do you want to watch TV, or play some video games?" Jennifer asked, bringing the tea and sitting next to John.
John nodded: "Sure, let's watch some TV."
He couldn't just wait like an idiot for the demon to show up.
The two snuggled on the sofa, watching Tom and Jerry. Yes, that was John's favorite show.
As dusk approached.
The house gradually grew cold as twilight enveloped it.
They had spent the entire day together and hadn't seen anything unusual.
Perhaps this demon preferred to target those who were alone?
Eight o'clock.
Jennifer kissed John and said, "I'm going upstairs to take a shower first, I'll be right back to join you."
John hummed, not paying much attention, and continued watching TV. Some shows were quite interesting; although it was a variety show, the content was much more open than in China.
A show testing male and female couples, where the guests on the show were more open than the last.
"Ah!"
A scream erupted upstairs.
John instantly fused with the Evil Spirit and leaped to the second floor. Jennifer, dressed in a thin nightgown, rushed over and hugged John, pointing at the bathroom.
"Just now, I saw that door suddenly open by itself. All the windows were closed, so there couldn't have been any wind. When I just came out, it looked like someone was hiding behind the curtain."
Jennifer finally knew fear. She had seen the curtain billow and, when it fell, it seemed to outline a person, scaring her into screaming. In a blink, it vanished again.
Now, she somewhat believed in the existence of the things John spoke of.
It was a fear of the unknown.
John went to the bedroom and bathroom, checking everywhere, but found nothing. This meant that this demon might prefer to target those who were alone?
"It should be gone now."
"How about we go to the nearest hotel for the night, or to your place?" Jennifer clutched John's arm, not daring to leave his side. She had been psychologically traumatized by the scare.
"It's fine. We'll just invite more people over for a party later. You can call your friends , and I'll call some friends."
How could John leave? Jennifer was the one being targeted, so changing locations was useless. He could only try a different method: invite more people to share the risk, and hopefully anger the demon.
When John first detected traces of the Ghost Nun with the phantom card, he held parties at home every day or went to the liveliest bar in Round Clam Town, gathering a crowd of people.
A crowd provides a sense of security; that statement isn't just empty words.
The demon couldn't possibly keep chasing and killing just one person, right?
Jennifer's emotions calmed down upon hearing this. Having people over for a party, with more people in the house, would surely make her less afraid.
...