[Chapter 232: A Child's Handprints]
Daniel said, "Looking at your complexion, your sleep hasn't been very good lately."
Nolan picked up his teacup but didn't drink. He stared at the rippling water inside, his tone heavy. "It's not just bad, it's worse. I can't fall asleep at all. Every time I close my eyes, I hear that sound."
"What kind of sound?" Daniel asked.
Nolan paused, searching for the right words. "It's like a... 'croak-croak' noise, like thick phlegm stuck in someone's throat and they're forcing themselves to breathe."
He looked up, fear clear in his eyes. "At first, it was coming from the corner of the room. Then it was under the bed. Last night... it was right by my ear."
"A croaking sound?" Daniel frowned, unsure.
"Anything else?" Daniel pressed.
Nolan wiped sweat from his forehead. "My wife, Emma... The night before last, she was washing her hair in the bathroom and suddenly screamed. She said while scrubbing her hair, she felt water mixed with lots of long black hairs crawling up her arm. But when I rushed in, nothing was in the drain, just some black slime."
Daniel's eyebrows twitched. "Long hair and slime?"
Nolan leaned in, lowering his voice. "Last night, my young son said he heard a cat meowing inside the house. But we don't have a cat. At first, I thought maybe a neighbor's cat had come inside, but I searched every room and found nothing."
"Cat meowing?" Daniel said again, feeling a vague sense of familiarity. The details were fragmented, but this felt like something straight out of a horror movie.
"Anything else?" Daniel asked.
Nolan gave a bitter smile. "These things are driving me crazy. I can't focus on my work at all."
Daniel nodded thoughtfully and used the Spiritual Perception Technique. Through his eyes, Nolan was engulfed in dense, sinister energy. It wasn't just dark energy -- there was a powerful wave of Resentment and the unmistakable force of a curse.
Daniel's mind raced. What had Nolan stirred up to attract so much negative energy?
After a moment's thought, Daniel asked, "Have you played any spiritualist games recently?"
Nolan looked helpless. "No, I lost interest in that a long time ago."
Daniel asked, "Have you disrespected any mysterious beings or moved into a new home recently?"
"No," Nolan replied. "I moved in over six months ago."
Daniel pressed on, "Have you visited any places rumored to be haunted?"
Nolan nodded slowly. "I don't know if it counts as haunted, but I did go to an old mansion a while back."
"What kind of mansion?" Daniel questioned.
"It was a very historic Victorian mansion, abandoned for years. If it weren't for scouting locations, I never would have gone inside."
Daniel's heart stirred. "What happened once you went in?"
"At first, nothing. Then suddenly it felt like someone was staring at me from behind, but every time I turned around, no one was there."
Nolan's voice trembled as he recalled it. "I thought it was just a draft or my imagination, but after leaving, that feeling followed me all the way home."
Daniel asked, "Did anyone else who went with you experience the same thing?"
Nolan's expression darkened. "I was the only one who dared go inside. The others said the house felt... wicked. I didn't think much of it at the time."
Daniel held back a chuckle. Others wouldn't go in, but you did. "And after that, the things you described started happening?"
Nolan nodded, exhausted. "Yes."
Daniel said, "Sounds like whatever followed you was dragged out of that house."
"Is it on me, now?" Nolan was alarmed. He abruptly stood and glanced nervously behind him, seeing nothing.
Daniel reassured him, "Don't worry, it's not on you right now."
Nolan exhaled but quickly tensed again. "Will it be later?"
Daniel nodded. "Of course. Otherwise, why would it follow you home?"
Nolan's face went pale. "Mr. Cross, help me."
Daniel replied, "One hundred thousand dollars. Twenty thousand upfront. If I don't solve it, you get that advance back."
"Okay," Nolan agreed without hesitation and wrote a check immediately.
Daniel tucked the check away, packed his things quickly, and followed Nolan out the door.
...
As Nolan drove, his hands clenched the wheel tightly. He constantly glanced into the rearview mirror at the back seat, his face strained.
"Mr. Cross, I feel like it's in the car right now," Nolan whispered.
Daniel said, "Think of it like this: once that power attaches to you, it targets you. It's by your side all the time."
Nolan's body shook. He said nothing more and pressed the gas pedal harder.
...
The car stopped in front of a villa in West Hollywood. The house was in a prime location with a very modern design. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave it a bright, transparent look.
But to Daniel, this house was shrouded in thick layers of Dark energy, Resentment, and curse power. Even the sunlight hitting it seemed drained of warmth.
"Mr. Cross, please come in."
Nolan opened the door, and a cold, damp breeze rushed out, carrying a faint, fishy stench -- like rotting dead fish.
The house was deathly quiet. You could hear a pin drop.
Daniel stepped into the living room, extending his Spiritual Sense.
"Where are your wife and kids?" he asked.
"I had them stay at my brother's house for now."
Nolan looked around nervously. "But this house... it definitely wasn't this cold before."
Daniel said nothing, moving slowly through the living room to the large window.
The glass, which had been spotless before, suddenly showed a trail of wet handprints. They were very small, about the size of a five or six-year-old child's hands. The strangest part is the handprints were on the inside of the glass, inside the house. And water stains slid down slowly, leaving dark streaks behind.
"Did your son leave these?" Daniel pointed to the glass.
Nolan leaned in, alarmed. "No! When we left... they definitely weren't here!"
Daniel wiped one of the water stains and sniffed it at the tip of his nose.
It smelled fishy, foul, icy cold, carrying the unmistakable scent of decay -- something not of the living.
"Let's check the bathroom," Daniel said expressionlessly, heading upstairs.
He pushed open the master bathroom door.
The damp smell was even stronger now.
The bathtub held water halfway full, the color turned to black.
Daniel leaned in to inspect the drain.
In the gaps of the metal grate, several strands of pitch-black hair twisted slightly, as if alive.
He pressed his fingers together like a blade, surging his magic power slightly as he hooked the air.
"Come out."
Squelch...
A long strand of soaking wet black hair was forcibly pulled free from the drainpipe.
*****
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