Phoebe glanced towards the pale, black-haired Seth.
She opened her mouth to ask a question, but then closed it again.
What could she even say?
The words felt too big and complicated...
After a moment of heavy silence, she managed to only say a small sentence.
"...Thank you."
Seth simply nodded.
He saw how her shoulders trembled.
She had truly been moments from death if it were not for him interfering...
The image of that thing.... the little girl with charred, black hands crawling like a monstrous insect— it imbedded itself like a memory in Seth's mind.
A cold shiver ran down his own spine just remembering it.
To be honest, his first instinct had been to run.
When he'd heard that creepy crying in the forest, every part of him had screamed to turn back.
But another thought had stopped him...
This was a perfect chance.
He needed to see what Phoebe could do.
He needed to understand the real power of a witch in this world.
Sure, she and her family were letting him stay, but that kindness was for the original Seth, not him.
He was an imposter in a dead man's body.
And from what he'd gathered, Phoebe might even be connected to that death.
He couldn't afford to trust her blindly...
So, he had forced himself to quietly watch.
And to his shock, she didn't fight but instead made a run for it.
The only strange thing she did was cut her own wrist and chant, which made a tree branch fall on the demon.
Seth immediately assumed that Phoebe was not that powerful of a witch to only be able to do small tricks that require harming herself...
When she started running, Seth had almost decided to slip away.
After all, it might be that Phoebe wasn't weak, but that she assessed the demon to be strong.
If the demon was too strong for her, it was definitely too strong for him as well.
It wasn't his problem...
But then he saw her fall, clutching her chest in extreme agony.
When the demon was about to reach her... a new, coldly logical thought clicked into place in his mind.
If Phoebe died tonight, what would happen tomorrow?
The officers would investigate.
Her family would say she was fine when she went to bed, with a strange guest in the house.
He would be the prime suspect.
And worse, the coven witches she'd mentioned in the letter would definitely get involved.
Their investigation would be far more thorough as well.
They might have ways of discovering he wasn't the real Seth...
Helping her was a risk...
But letting her die was a guaranteed disaster!
It was a choice between a possible threat and a certain one... The better choice was simple.
So, he had acted.
He found a long, sharp branch that had fallen nearby.
Using all his strength, he drove it down like a spear.
To his own surprise, it worked.
The demon's body wasn't as tough as it looked... The sharp wood pierced right through it!
Phoebe slowly pushed herself up from the forest floor, her legs still feeling weak.
She brushed the dirt and leaves from her clothes, but the dark, sticky blood that had sprayed from the demon was there to stay, staining the fabric.
The metallic smell filled her nostrils.
A heavy silence hung between them, and the only thing that could be heard were their ragged breathing.
Seeing that Phoebe wasn't speaking, Seth decided to do so first.
"Would you believe me if I said I followed you out of simple curiosity?"
He said, his voice carrying out a sense of playfulness.
Phoebe finally looked at him, her expression unreadable in the dim moonlight.
She let out a short, breathy sound that wasn't quite a laugh.
"Not really..."
She said, her voice flat.
"It's a pretty bad excuse."
She walked over to the motionless form of the demon girl, her eyes scanning the body before turning back to Seth, clearly waiting for a better explanation.
Seth took a deep breath...
He had already thought about what to say and what to do.
"Believe it or not, I really don't recall anything. My memories are just... gone. When I woke up in that grave, the only thing that was clear, besides the panic, was that I had gained some sort of strange ability..."
He said, meeting her gaze.
"I do not know the specifics to my ability, but I vaguely felt that people don't seem to notice me as much when I use it."
"It's how I was able to follow you without you realizing it."
He paused, choosing his next words carefully.
"But I need you to know this... I don't think I'm a demon. And I swear, I don't have any malicious or evil intentions towards you or your family."
Phoebe was silent for a long moment, just studying his face as if searching for a lie.
Finally, she spoke.
"I believe you."
Seth was genuinely taken aback.
"Ah? What do you mean?"
He blurted out.
"...Because the Seth I buried was already on the verge of becoming a demon."
Phoebe explained, her voice obviously hinting at an emotional turmoil.
"For weeks before you died, strange things were happening."
"You started speaking very strangely as though your accent changed, your temper grew shorter every day, and you had even started to forget the names of the people you care most about.
"Including your own sister's name."
She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Your sister, Rose, and I... we couldn't bear to watch you lose yourself completely. We made the difficult choice to put you to rest before you turned into a monster that would have to be put down."
She looked him directly in the eyes.
"I assume you already know I'm a witch. When you died, I was the one who buried you. I consumed the sins that were twisting your body and soul, I cleansed you."
"So the you standing in front of me now... you can't be a demon. You're most likely something else... A product or an experiment of another witch or demon perhaps..."
Her gaze then hardened, a flicker of pain and defiance in her eyes.
"I can understand if you hate me for what we did. If you want revenge, I won't stop you. But I'm begging you, spare your sister. She only agreed because she loved you. You were all the family she had left."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"After all, you both lost your parents to demons."
Seth processed this flood of information.
The original Seth's descent, the mercy killing, the tragic backstory.
He let the silence stretch, making it seem like he was grappling with a past he couldn't remember.
Finally, he shook his head.
"...I don't really feel the need for revenge. How can I seek revenge for a life I don't remember living? I don't harbor any special feelings for you or my sister, good or bad..."
"You're practically strangers to me."
He took a step closer, his expression earnest.
"Rather than revenge, I would like to ask for your help."