Chapter 212: 412 Ocean Avenue
Amityville, Long Island, New York.
A pickup truck sped past on the asphalt road.
Shadows of woods on both sides, and very few vehicles were seen on the road.
The three drove all the way to the center of the town before seeing some local residents.
In front of St. Anna's Church.
This was a building with quite a rustic style, and also the first destination for the three on this trip. Due to many recent personnel transfers in the Church, the trial concerning Father Delaney had also been temporarily shelved.
When the three arrived, this priest was kneeling in front of the holy statue praying.
After learning the purpose of their trip, Father Delaney sighed.
William said: "I read some information you provided in the commission report earlier. I came here to inquire again to see if there is any other information."
Delaney pondered for a moment and spoke: "Do you know the history of that villa?"
The three shook their heads upon hearing this.
Father Delaney made a cross on his chest.
"May the Lord protect us. The houses in the Deer Park area were originally built by a group of Dutch colonists."
"They claimed it was to facilitate hunting activities, but actually did shady, evil deeds."
Delaney shook his head and spoke again.
"This was originally the habitat of the Indians, and Deer Park was also the homeland they relied on for survival."
"But within decades of those colonists setting foot on Long Island, the indigenous population here almost halved."
"No one knows where they went, but according to some people, screams could often be heard around the lake."
"And that is exactly the current villa district."
Surprise flashed in William's eyes; he didn't expect that house to have such a history.
But he also realized one thing.
Colonists, Indigenous people...
These two identities combined were almost synonymous with "Blood and Hatred."
He could already guess what happened inside that house.
"In this way, maybe the Lutz family is not invaded by demons," William pondered secretly.
The dangers to be solved in commissions are generally distinguished according to their characteristics.
For example, serial killers, zombies, etc., because their individual threat is small, usually can be solved using physical means.
So they are also called "Physical Threats."
And like evil spirits, vampires, etc., because they possess certain special abilities, they are classified as "Supernatural Threats."
To deal with such monsters, one must find their weaknesses.
If demons are involved in the commission, it is very likely to cause irreversible changes to a piece of land, and subsequently cause a series of threats.
Events of this level will rise to "Reality Corruption," and Holy Clergy Members must handle them carefully.
This was also the reason why he came to the church first.
After experiencing the Hans incident, William no longer fully believed written reports.
He preferred to investigate near the scene in person.
Just like now, once William judged the commission to be too dangerous, he would absolutely not step into that villa.
After leaving the church, the three officially headed to the commission location.
An hour later.
412 Ocean Avenue.
The car turned off the engine early on the side of the road.
Just as Lynne was about to get out of the car, she found the two beside her unmoving.
She turned her head and found William and Judy each holding a monocular telescope, sizing up the villa not far away.
"Tell me your discoveries." William said.
"Emm... there is a flat lawn with no obstacles. If we need to run, it will be hard for the evil spirit to stop us."
Lynne was instantly stunned upon hearing this.
Why start thinking about running before even getting out of the car!
Judy continued: "The first floor of the villa is very wide, but the second and third floors only occupy a small part, which means there is likely an attic in the house."
"That is the place where evil spirits haunt the most, so we must stay away under any circumstances."
Lynne couldn't help but open her mouth wide.
"Seems... a bit professional," she thought to herself.
William aside, however, said: "What else?"
Judy tilted her head but really couldn't remember what else, so she could only look at William with seeking eyes.
The latter shook his head helplessly: "Starting from the second floor, the range of activity is obviously much smaller."
"Therefore, when formulating the investigation strategy, consider the escape route after being attacked."
The corner of Lynne's eye twitched.
So it's still about running away...
William's tone was serious: "Always have the consciousness to 'Run' in your mind at any time."
Judy nodded, then took out a notebook from her backpack.
Lynne leaned over curiously and saw it was full of notes.
"Records of Pig Teammates' Fancy Ways to Die..."
"Six Little Tricks to Deceive Evil Spirits..."
She only glanced at it and felt a headache. What exactly did the priest in front teach this beautiful girl...
Lynne just felt like she had seen some novelties.
Shouldn't exorcism be drawing out the evil, then reciting scriptures to force their names, and then shouting in the name of the Lord to make them scram?
Lynne rubbed her forehead, finding the behavior of these two somewhat hard to understand.
After this, William drove the car around the villa.
"The nearest house is also hundreds of meters away, so no need to worry about the risk of evil spirits in the neighbors' houses." William rubbed his chin.
"There is a lake behind the house, connecting to Long Island Sound."
"In the style of American Horror, underwater dead spirits or monsters rarely appear. This can also serve as a backup escape route, but pay attention to the integrity of the boat hull..."
William kept the observed information in his mind.
Maybe these things wouldn't be used until the end, but once a crisis was encountered, they were very likely to become key life-saving clues.
After testing Judy again, William finally drove the car back to the front gate of the villa.
Lynne was sleeping soundly in the back seat.
Originally she wanted to share some tasks with the two, but after observing for a while, she actually found she couldn't help at all.
So Lynne could only choose to rest, planning to work hard after going in.
This time, after the car stopped steadily, a lady walked out from the house.
Kathy Lutz crossed her arms over her chest, nervously knocking on the car window.
"Hey... are you people from the Church?"
Seeing the two adults in the car wearing Church uniforms and bringing a child, she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
"Kathy, it's me!" Lynne leaned out.
"Oh! Lynne, you're finally here."
Seeing an acquaintance, Kathy finally completely let down her guard.
"Just now I saw a car driving around nearby, and thought it was him... coming back. Almost took the children to hide."
Hearing this, Lynne glanced at William, then smiled awkwardly: "Sorry, we got a bit lost just now."
Kathy nodded: "These two are..."
Lynne introduced proactively: "This is Father William; he is responsible for handling this commission. This is Judy Warren, she is William's... student!"
Kathy also greeted the two, but immediately after she revealed a puzzled expression.
She saw both William and Judy sizing her up and down.
This made Kathy a little afraid.
Judy tugged at William's sleeve, then whispered in his ear: "This lady has an evil aura on her, but is not possessed by an evil spirit."
William nodded approvingly; this matched his speculation.
"Is there... something on me?" Kathy finally couldn't help asking.
But both William and Judy smiled and shook their heads.
However, this scene made Kathy even more nervous.
Fortunately, Lynne already had some understanding of the two's "Quirks," so she hurriedly smoothed things over: "Kathy, let's go in first. By the way, where are the children!"
Kathy's face looked much better.
"Billy is reading comics; Chelsea should be playing in the attic..."
The two ladies walked into the courtyard first.
But halfway there, Lynne suddenly stopped.
"Almost forgot."
She let go of Kathy's arm and ran in front of William.
"Father William, I will start completing the pre-exorcism test right away."
William narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat puzzled inside.
In the next moment.
He saw Lynne take off all the holy artifacts on her body, then use a crucifix to cut open her palm.
Blood soon flowed down her fair arm and dripped onto the soil.
After this, Lynne tore off a corner of her robe and buried it in the blood-soaked soil.
"Oh! My God, Lynne, what are you doing?" Kathy looked surprised. Judy also opened her mouth wide, looking at William in confusion.
The latter frowned: "Nun Lynne, what is the meaning of this?"
Lynne bandaged the wound with cloth while looking at William with strange eyes.
"A blood ritual. This way, if the evil spirit launches an attack, I will be the first person cursed, which can buy you time to evacuate."
Her tone was relaxed, seeming to think this was a matter of course.
"In the past, when participating in Church commissions, those Holy Clergy Members from the cathedrals would ask us to do this."
"Do you... not know?"
William narrowed his eyes.
He indeed had some understanding of Holy Clergy Members treating lower-level clergy members as tools.
But he never thought it was in this form.
Blood carries very obvious characteristics of a person; exposing it to evil spirits poses huge hidden dangers.
Such a ritual with strong evil implications could actually appear in the Church.
This indeed shocked William's heart somewhat.
And judging from Lynne's tone, she must have done it many times.
Combining with those injuries on her back.
William found it hard to imagine what this nun had actually been through.
He didn't speak but walked to the patch of soil with bloodstains.
Then he placed several holy artifacts around it and quickly set up a small isolation magic array.
Accompanied by a burst of energy fluctuation, the space there became a bit brighter.
William used a wooden jar to put that soil inside, sealed it well with a paper slip, and handed it to Lynne.
"After returning to the monastery, enshrine it in front of the holy statue, recite the Bible once, and then pour the soil in the courtyard."
He stared into Lynne's eyes and said.
Lynne took it blankly, not knowing what to say for a moment.
"Actually, you don't need to worry; this is my duty..."
But William interrupted: "This is not worry, and I don't need such help."
His tone was indisputable, but Lynne felt a warmth in her heart.
"I understand, Father William." Her voice was a bit low.
William immediately switched to a relaxed tone again.
"Mrs. Kathy, before the formal exorcism, I still want to understand some things from you."
He invited the hostess to a bench aside.
At this time, Judy also came over; she leaned close to William's ear and whispered: "Will! You did very right!"
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