Demons Beside You

The instant they entered, the door slammed shut.

“Laurent, why did you close it so hard? You scared me.”

“No… I didn"t close it.”

Asand could feel that Laurent"s hands were shaking.

“Not you?”

“Not me.”

Tick—tock—

Asand and Laurent could both hear the tick of a clock.

A shadow appeared in the darkness.

“Ah…ah! G-g-ghost!” Asand yelled.

Laurent stiffened and froze as he looked at the figure that walked out of the darkness.

It was none other than Pamela.

“Push me away, push me away…”

“F*ck… Why did you two old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds come here?” Pamela"s tone was like she was disappointed.

She really was p.i.s.sed at these two old guys.

“She…she…really is a ghost…” Laurent could feel clearly that his hair stood up when Pamela walked closer. It was an instinctive reaction.

“Why did you come here?”

“To…to see you…”

“Why didn"t you come during the day? Don"t you know how dangerous it is?”

“Ha… Stop joking. Laurent, you and Pamela planned this to fool me, right?”

It was as if it suddenly dawned on Asand and he wasn"t afraid at all anymore.

Before, he"d often pulled these pranks, but this time, he really did get scared.

Asand smiled and rolled his wheelchair toward Pamela.

“Pamela, you don"t seem to have changed a lot. Look how old us two are now.”

He reached out to hold Pamela"s arm.

But he missed.

Pamela was still standing there, but he couldn"t grab her hand or touch her body.

Asand"s expression froze and he turned his neck stiffly.

“Laurent…she… I think she really is a ghost.”

Laurent"s smile was stiff too. “I told you.”

“F*ck, I thought you were joking.”

“You said you weren"t afraid.”

“You two shouldn"t have come,” Pamela said. “It"s very dangerous.”

“What"s dangerous? You won"t hurt us,” Laurent said. “Didn"t I come last time?”

“Last time, it was because of that candle. It"s the candlelight of the rested. As long as it"s lit, the evil spirits outside won"t be able to see you.”

“Then…then… Light another one.”

“There"s none left,” Pamela said. “When the clock rings eight, the evil spirits will come out.”

Pamela pointed at the clock hanging on the wall. There were only two minutes before eight p.m.

“We"ll go now…”

“Too late.” Pamela shook her head. “Go hide in the bas.e.m.e.nt and don"t come out before one.”

“Huh? Go in the bas.e.m.e.nt?” Laurent was terrified by the bas.e.m.e.nt.

“Oh, don"t touch the skeleton.”

Asand shuddered. “There"s a skeleton in the bas.e.m.e.nt?”

“Shut up and hurry.”

Laurent hurriedly pushed Asand toward the bas.e.m.e.nt.

But he was in the wheelchair now and Laurent couldn"t pick him up.

He could only nudge the wheelchair down step by step.

“Be careful. I don"t want to die here.”

“Shut up. Don"t distract me—”

Suddenly, the wooden step under Laurent"s foot cracked.

“Ah!”

Asand was thrown forward. He fell out of the wheelchair and landed heavily on the ground.

Asand clenched his hand and seemed to touch something.

Bone? A bone?

He pulled his hand back quickly.

“Laurent, I think I touched that skeleton. Didn"t Pamela say we can"t touch the skeleton? What will happen?”

“How would I know? Did you die yet?”

It was too dark in the bas.e.m.e.nt, so he couldn"t see clearly.

Just then, something lit up in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

Red light. Two spots of red light appeared before them.

It came from inside the skeleton"s eye sockets.

Clack, clack, clack.

Crisp clacks came from inside.

Clack, clack. “I…woke up again?” the skeleton said. “How long have I slept for?”

He looked at his arms. “It seems that I died while I was sleeping.”

“You two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds really did wake him up!”

Right then, Pamela appeared at the bas.e.m.e.nt door.

“Should I explain?” Laurent looked helplessly at Pamela.

“Pamela, you died too?” The skeleton looked at her.

“You killed me.”

“Me? I didn"t kill you,” the skeleton said.

“When you died, your body released the plague curse. It killed me and more than 100 others.”

“Oh, is that so,” the skeleton murmured.

“Don"t go anywhere and just accompany me, please,” Pamela said.

“Where"s our daughter?” the skeleton suddenly asked.

Laurent and Asand exchanged glances. This thing was Pamela"s husband?

“Dead. Died in your hands too.”

“No, don"t lie. I may only be a pile of bones, but I can sense that she"s still alive. She still exists.”

“So what? Do you still want to appear before her, looking like this?”

“You want to stop me?” The skeleton looked at Pamela.

Pamela spat softly and sprayed icy air on the skeleton.

It suddenly realized that its lower half was frozen. “You actually found out how to transform into a witch? I didn"t think that it would be possible.”

“No, I didn"t become a true witch.”

The skeleton fidgeted but couldn"t move its lower half. “You think this can stop me? When dawn comes, your power will weaken but I won"t. This will be all in vain.”

Pamela"s expression was heavy. She glanced at Laurent and Asand who were shrunk in the corner. “Laurent, call your in-law here.”

“What?”

“Call him over.”

“I don"t feel like pranking him…” Laurent was suddenly terrified.

“It"s not a prank… We need his help.”

“How can he help? He can"t do anything.”

“No, he can help. Only he can.”

“I don"t know what you mean.”

“He could take you out last time. He can take you out this time too.”

“Huh?”

“I don"t know what kind of person he is,” Pamela said. “But he can help.”