Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leyla had a knack for gardening, and she tended to the plants with great care, making them flourish. I put down my phone and pushed aside the green branches and leaves. Suddenly, I felt a chill on the back of my hand, and something fell with a "thud." I grabbed it reflexively and found it was a palm-sized stone lion.

"A large stone lion guards the house, a small stone lion guards the tomb. There must be another one. Keep looking!" Christopher's calm voice in my earphones startled me, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the ground, my mind blank.

Stone lions? Why would these be in our house?

After finding the second stone lion, Christopher continued, "The balcony faces south and receives sunlight, which should make it the place with the most positive energy in the house. Someone secretly placed these tomb-guarding stone lions here to turn the home filled with positive energy into one filled with negative energy. If you live here for forty-nine days, the living will turn into the dead."

Could these small stone lions really have such power, turning our entire family into the dead? I wondered.

As if reading my thoughts, Christopher explained, "Of course, these two small stone lions alone wouldn't be enough. Turning a home filled with positive energy into one filled with negative energy is extremely difficult. These stone lions are meant to block the positive energy, preventing the negative energy from leaking out. This ensures that the living inside absorb the negative energy completely."

I panicked. Being pregnant and in confinement, my baby and I spent the most time at home, making us the ones who absorbed the most negative energy. Christopher had been right about many things today, so I couldn't help but believe him.

"Mr. Moss, should I notify the whole family to move out immediately?"

"That would only alert the enemy! Think carefully about who is most likely to have secretly placed the stone lions on the balcony. Do you really believe that the powerful curse that traps the soul on your bedroom bed was placed by your eldest daughter and not someone else?"

There were three bedrooms in the house. My eldest daughter, Ramona, didn't want to share a room with Justine and had been staying at her aunt's house these days. It was indeed possible that she hadn't placed it. Darin had retired and spent his days fishing, leaving early and returning late. Leyla spent her days buying groceries, cooking, and cleaning, spending a lot of time at home. Brodie had been on a business trip for a week during this period. The most suspicious person was Leyla.

But I couldn't understand why she would do this.

"First, open the doors and windows to let some fresh air and sunlight in. At least it will buy you and the baby some time."

I tried to open the windows as Christopher suggested, but no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't budge. I then tried the door, but it felt like it was welded shut.

Sweating profusely, I pressed down on the door handle with all my might, but it wouldn't open. In the silent night, the only sound was the "clicking" of the door handle. Strangely, Darin, Leyla, and Brodie seemed to be in a deep sleep, not reacting to the sudden noise. Finally, with a creak, Justine's door opened, and a beam of light spilled out, bright and piercing.

"Melany, what are you doing up so late?" The sudden voice made my heart skip a beat.

Justine's eyes were cold, and though she wore a smile, it seemed forced and insincere, sending a chill down my spine.

I forced myself to stay calm, moving my hand to lock the door. "I was worried the door wasn't locked properly and that a thief might get in, so I came to check. I'll go back to sleep now."

As I turned to leave, I felt her gaze burning into my back. My heart pounded, but I didn't dare look back. I walked stiffly back to my room. As soon as I closed the door, Christopher's voice came through the earphones.

"Justine is surrounded by an evil presence. She's no longer fully human."

I covered my mouth to stifle a scream. Brodie was already asleep, snoring loudly. The dim bedside lamp cast a gloomy and eerie shadow over the room.

The baby in the crib slept fitfully, her hands scratching as if struggling.

If Christopher was right, how could I protect my child alone? Even if Darin and Leyla were in on it, Brodie was still the baby's father. He couldn't be that heartless, could he? I didn't believe it.

Determined, I rushed to the bed to wake Brodie, but no matter how hard I shook and called him, he remained in a deep sleep.

"Mr. Moss, what's going on?" I choked out, tears streaming down my face, feeling utterly hopeless.

Christopher frowned in the video. "It seems your husband has been cursed with the Soul Entrapment Curse and won't wake up anytime soon. Haven't you noticed how quiet your house has been since 11 PM? Even the baby, who usually cries at night, is unusually quiet. Do you think that's normal?"

It was true. Normally, the noise I made would have woken the baby, who had been crying a lot at night recently. But tonight, everything was eerily quiet.

Christopher paused, his tone grave. "It's said that those who die from cruel torture have extremely strong resentment, and the corresponding evil spirits are the strongest. I think the old woman is likely targeting you tonight."

"Midnight is when the positive energy is weakest and the negative energy is strongest, making it the easiest time for spirits to act. You should destroy the stone lion dark magic to let some positive energy in. It will buy you some time. I'm coming to save you now."

I glanced at the clock. There were 30 minutes until midnight. I found Brodie's dumbbells under the bed, grabbed the 10KG weight, and took out the two stone lions I had secretly pocketed earlier. Raising my arm, I smashed the dumbbell down, shattering the stone lions into pieces mixed with gray powder, paper scraps, and a few strands of unburned hair.

"Melany, don't worry about anything else. Light it up quickly!" Christopher urged through the earphones.

I quickly took out a lighter from my pocket. As soon as the flame touched the powder, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Melany, what are you doing? Open the door!" The voice outside sounded like Justine's but not quite. It was strong and youthful, at least twenty years younger. When I didn't respond, the knocking turned into banging, loud and relentless.

Brodie and the baby remained motionless on the bed. Even Darin and Leyla, who were usually light sleepers, didn't stir.

Christopher was right; something was very wrong tonight.

Feeling isolated and desperate, I remembered that the police station was only a ten-minute drive away. Christopher might not arrive in time, but calling the police could give us a chance.

Just as I took out my phone to call for help, there was a loud crash, and the door was smashed open.