Chapter 22: Revisiting the Theater
Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, William explained:
"This is also one of Mary Shaw's hideouts. I'll perform an exorcism ritual here and catch up with you."
Hearing this, Olivia knew that this priest's "quirk" was acting up again.
Although his method wasn't wrong, destroying Mary Shaw's main body was obviously more efficient.
However, she could understand; the priest must have been genuinely frightened last night.
After all, even she had been a bit panicked.
So, Olivia took out some amulets again and left them for William.
Seeing this, Luen also patted his pocket.
Last night's experience made him thoroughly understand the dangers of exorcism.
Therefore, he planned to stick close to Olivia from now on.
After everyone left, only William and Ren remained in the cemetery.
William first set up a Demon-Trapping Array around the perimeter of the cemetery, and only then did he approach Mary Shaw's grave.
According to the nature of American horror stories, even if a monster is destroyed, as long as something is left behind—
For example, if the corpse is struck by lightning, it can still resurrect on the spot.
So relying solely on an exorcism ritual was still not safe.
The most reliable method was to dig up her grave.
A look of realization appeared in William's eyes.
An hour later.
William clapped his hands, very satisfied with his masterpiece.
Ren leaned on the mound of dirt, wiping his sweat: "Where to now?"
William rubbed his chin.
According to the original work, Mary Shaw should have three hiding places.
The puppet theater, the cemetery, and the young Mrs. Ashen (Ella) of the Ashen family—
That lady had sacrificed herself to Mary Shaw, becoming the latter's "perfect doll" vessel.
Since the first two places had been dealt with, only the last one remained.
So the two drove to the Ashen family estate.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance of a Gothic building.
Knock... knock.
William knocked on the door.
A young woman opened the door. She had curly blonde hair and was extremely beautiful.
"Oh, it's you. Please come in."
Ella recognized Ren.
"Edward was just about to ask about the funeral."
William admired this woman's acting skills.
If he didn't already know that Edward Ashen was dead (and Ella was essentially a puppet/Mary Shaw), he would have been deceived by her.
"Sorry to disturb you." William responded with a smile.
But when the woman turned around, William took out a stone from his robe.
Then, under Ren's surprised gaze.
He stared at Ella's neck and quietly crept up.
...
On the other side.
Olivia and the others arrived at the puppet theater.
For safety reasons, they didn't let the Walker couple (Henry and Marion) come along.
After entering the theater.
Olivia shivered.
It seemed even colder here than last time.
And the three of them faintly felt as if someone around them was peeping at them.
"Let's split up. If you find any puppets, notify the others immediately."
Olivia proposed a seemingly feasible suggestion.
But hearing this, Luen shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum; he was unwilling to face danger alone again.
Jamie wasn't that scared, but seeing Luen unwilling to split up, he also looked at Olivia.
Olivia was helpless, so she gave up the idea of splitting up.
After searching for ten minutes or so.
The three came to the backstage, where there was a passage.
Olivia remembered this place; the two priests had carried gasoline in here last time.
She had also gone in to check but found nothing useful.
Entering this room again.
Broken puppet parts, old blueprints on the floor.
Olivia thought it would be the same as last time.
But she suddenly noticed some new puppet parts on the ground.
Following this clue, the three soon discovered a secret room.
There was a wooden cabinet against the wall, containing at least dozens of puppets.
When they looked at the puppets, the puppets looked back at them in unison.
The scene was quite eerie for a moment.
Olivia was the first to take out her Exorcism Bible.
But immediately, a dummy head flew from the ground and knocked the book out of her hand.
After this, the three were pulled by some force, crashing around the room.
Luen was cut by a piece of glass, blood flowing down his arm.
Jamie was passively flung toward a sharp iron rod, about to be impaled through the head in a few seconds.
In the nick of time, Olivia pulled Jamie away.
At this moment, she held a holy artifact, resisting that force.
Then she found Luen, and the three regained control of their bodies.
But immediately after.
All the objects in the room rose into the air and began attacking the three indiscriminately.
Unable to resist, they decided to retreat first.
The three retreated to a prop iron bridge, which was the path they took when they came in.
"You all deserve to die!"
At this time, Mary Shaw's voice rang out in the room.
The three didn't hesitate and quickly got onto the iron bridge.
But what they didn't know was that a screw on the beam was unscrewing itself.
Olivia slipped and happened to see this scene.
Her heart leaped into her throat.
In the next moment, the screw fell.
The three felt a sense of weightlessness.
Olivia was about to scream, but quickly covered her mouth.
But unexpectedly, the iron bridge only shook once and then stabilized again.
Olivia looked up and saw that one end of the iron bridge had been reinforced with bricks.
She remembered the scene of that priest holding a hammer.
"That was close!"
Olivia scrambled up, pulling the other two to continue retreating.
On the other side, Mary Shaw clearly hadn't expected this either.
She looked confused, but soon found the problem.
"Damn it!"
Angry, Mary Shaw drove an iron rod to smash the bridge.
But the smashed spot only left a mark, revealing an amulet underneath.
...
The three finally approached the main gate.
At this time, Luen was in bad shape.
"Please... please tell my father, I didn't bring shame to him." Luen said weakly.
"No, we have to get him to a hospital quickly," Olivia thought anxiously.
But the theater was quite a walk from the town, let alone the hospital.
Just then, she suddenly thought of something.
So, to Jamie's confusion, Olivia rushed to a pile of trash and rummaged through it.
Soon she pulled out a medical kit!
This was also buried here by that priest earlier.
Jamie was stunned; was this lady a magician?
At this moment, Olivia was incredibly grateful for William's caution.
She quickly performed emergency treatment on Luen.
But at the same time, black mist emerged everywhere in the theater.
When Olivia noticed it, she found that the holy artifacts in her hand were unusable.
And Mary Shaw caught up again with her puppets.
...
Some time later.
"Hey, Luen, Jamie, wake up!"
Olivia turned her head with difficulty, trying to wake up her two teammates.
At this moment, the three of them were strapped to chairs.
Around them were some wooden racks with various tools.
Olivia recalled carefully.
It seemed she lost consciousness after inhaling that black mist, and woke up here.
At the same time, a creepy laugh rang out in the room.
Olivia turned around and found it was Mary Shaw!
"You destroyed my 'children,' so you will become their replacements."
Mary Shaw said as she picked up a knife and walked slowly toward the unconscious Luen.
"No..."
Olivia's eyes were full of despair. She shook her body hard but couldn't break free.
The blade pressed against Luen's face.
Feeling the coldness on his face, Luen opened his eyes and gasped.
"Ah-mmm..."
Luen was about to scream, but immediately shut his mouth tight, wetting his pants.
Mary Shaw held Luen's head firmly, looking for a place to start cutting.
And Luen closed his eyes in despair.
Mary Shaw was about to start, but she heard something outside the theater.
It sounded like... music?
She was a bit confused.
Rapid wind instruments, deep strings, and a gentle melody.
Mary Shaw had appreciated music when she was alive.
So she quickly recognized it as the Fourth Movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony—Ode to Joy, representing human unity and fraternity.
But for an evil spirit.
This was NOISE!
Disgusting, ear-piercing, hateful!
Meanwhile, outside the puppet theater.
William placed a large speaker at the entrance.