Chapter 45: The Visit
Listening to William's teachings, the three nodded, half-understanding.
At this time, the bushes were pushed aside, and Emma walked out with leaves in her hair.
"Done setting up."
She threw a crucifix on the ground, her face full of displeasure.
Just now, this damn priest used "learning the basics of exorcism" as an excuse to make her set up holy artifacts alone.
Causing her to be scratched by branches and get dirty all over.
Seeing Emma's face, the hearts of Dustin and the others skipped a beat.
"So cute!"
They all shouted in their hearts.
"Sorry to trouble you to retrieve them later; I've already purified that monster."
William said, and casually introduced the three teenagers to Emma.
The three blushed and couldn't even speak properly.
But Emma didn't pay attention to this.
Hearing that she had to retrieve the holy artifacts, she clenched her fists and hated William a little more.
Emma went back into the bushes. The three wanted to follow and help, but were stopped by William.
The latter had finished examining the corpse of the Demo-bat.
Judging from the result, this thing should have been attracted by blood.
As for that tree hole, William also investigated it.
There was indeed some power left on it, but it was closed now.
He had tried—
Although holy artifacts could purify this power, they couldn't open the passage to the "Upside Down."
William rubbed his chin in thought.
To find Will, one must enter the "Upside Down," and in Hawkins, there were only two ways to do it.
"Looks like I have to find that person (Eleven), or go to the laboratory."
William looked at the three teenagers and asked about the progress of finding Will during this period.
According to Mike, Chief Hopper of the town had started a comprehensive search, and many volunteers had joined.
But no clues had been found so far.
And Will's mother—Joyce Byers, was running around the town every day trying to find Will.
"I saw Will's mom yesterday."
Lucas shrugged helplessly.
"She was handing out missing person flyers on the street. Compared to a week ago, she looked much more haggard."
Divorced in middle age, she had finally raised two sons, but now the younger son disappeared inexplicably.
William could hardly imagine how this mother survived these days.
"Take me to Will's house," he said.
If he remembered correctly, Will had wandered around his house in the "Upside Down" many times.
William planned to try and see if he could contact Will.
Besides, he and Emma needed a place to stay tonight.
...
There was a small path in the woods. Following this path to the end, there was a small clearing.
This place was sparsely populated and somewhat distant from the town.
Only a wooden house stood here.
The eaves were old, and there were many weeds; this was Will's home.
When they arrived, they saw a car parked in the yard.
"Aunt Joyce is home!" Mike pointed at the car and said to Emma.
Along the way, the three tried every means to talk to her.
Although Emma behaved impeccably, she really wasn't interested in these kids inside.
William observed the surroundings.
Using [Night Vision], he found many traces at Will's house.
The aura of these residues was the same as what he saw in the tree hole earlier.
Some clues caught William's attention.
On the path leading to the house, there were two distinct sets of "footprints."
One set was small, about the same size as Dustin and the others.
William guessed this should belong to Will.
But the other set was huge; a single foot was close to 30 centimeters, and occasionally four "footprints" appeared at the same time.
No need to guess, this must be the Demogorgon.
William immediately raised his vigilance.
These "footprints" appeared dark red and didn't exist in reality, but remained as some kind of power residue.
Only William present could see them.
Inside the house.
Joyce took a drag on her cigarette.
She took out her wallet and poured all the coins onto the bed.
She had just finished distributing two hundred flyers today, and she had to print more tomorrow.
Her hair was messy, and her face was full of fatigue; she hadn't slept a full night for several days.
Whenever she closed her eyes, Joyce would see her son's face, then wake up startled, unable to fall asleep again.
Now she had run all over the places Will might go and asked all the neighbors around.
Will seemed to have evaporated from the world.
At the same time, various strange phenomena began to appear at home.
For example, light bulbs in the house would flicker suddenly, and rustling sounds came from the radio.
For some reason, Joyce always felt this was Will.
She tried to search at home, but still found no clues.
Joyce told the police about these things, but everyone thought it was hallucinations caused by her excessive stress and didn't take it seriously.
This made Joyce's heart ache like a knife, feeling powerless.
Thinking of this, tears wet her eyes again.
She stubbed out the cigarette forcefully, then covered her face, enduring the torture alone.
Knock... knock.
At this time, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Joyce was startled, then ran frantically to the door.
Her eldest son Jonathan had a key and wouldn't knock.
In that case, maybe it was a clue about Will!
Creeeeak.
Joyce opened the door nervously, but in front of her were her son's three friends.
She was visibly disappointed and said weakly: "Why are you here?"
"Any news about Will?" Mike asked.
Joyce shook her head, then slowly turned back.
"Um..." Mike didn't know how to speak.
He looked at Dustin.
The latter squeezed out.
"Aunt Joyce, we called a helper to find Will!"
Joyce turned around upon hearing this: "Okay, thank you."
She thought the three teenagers had called classmates from school to help.
"Father William is very powerful! He is an exorcist!" Dustin continued.
Joyce looked confused.
"Priest? Exorcist?"
She came to the door again and looked outside.
She saw a priest in black robes standing next to the wooden house, followed by a little girl.
"Hel... lo?"
William had just buried a crucifix when he heard someone calling him.
"You must be Will's mother?" He took the initiative to greet her.
Joyce nodded, looking curiously at this priest.
She had been to the church in Hawkins but had never seen an Asian clergyman.
"Dustin said you are an... exorcist?"
William nodded and stated his purpose for coming here.
"Can I take a look inside the house?" he asked.
He had just checked the surroundings of the house, and there were no traces of Upside Down creatures nearby.
Joyce felt it was a bit absurd, not understanding what Will's disappearance had to do with exorcism.
She wanted to refuse, but suddenly remembered the abnormalities at home recently.
"What if..."
Joyce suddenly felt a trace of unrealistic hope.
So she invited the priest and the children inside.
After entering, William explored the house.
Joyce followed behind.
She crossed one arm over her chest and rested her chin on the other hand, feeling a bit nervous inside.
William narrowed his eyes.
Ceiling, doorknobs, walls.
These places all had residual power from the Upside Down.
Besides, there were also "footprints" in the hallway; the Demogorgon had been inside.
He turned around: "Has anything strange happened at home recently?"
Joyce thought the result wouldn't change, but the priest's first sentence startled her!
"For example, light bulbs, doorknobs, and such," William said.
Like a drowning person grasping a straw.
Joyce's eyes widened, nodding repeatedly: "How do you know!"
William signaled her to follow him, then walked through the corridor to the backyard.
On the lawn, a dog was growling at the wooden shed in the backyard.
William looked in that direction.
The door of the shed was open, and a transparent phantom was squatting inside.
Using [Night Vision], William knew this was a projection of the "Upside Down" onto the present world.
"Will?" William tried calling out.
The phantom "looked up" and stood up slowly.
Joyce looked shocked, looking around constantly.
"Where? Where is he?"
The children also followed.
William kept a certain distance from the wooden shed, held the crucifix in his hand, and continued:
"If it's you, give us a sign."
As soon as the voice fell, the phantom raised its hand and pointed to the light bulb.
Then, the light bulb in the shed suddenly lit up, becoming brighter and brighter.
Seeing this scene, the children looked incredulous.
Joyce covered her mouth tightly.
☆☆☆
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