From Satan with Love (bxb)

Chapter 9 A Demon Always Lies

It was not the first time a demon had tried to use Leon's family to hurt him. After all, childhood trauma always rattled people in the worst way. However, thanks to the job, Leon had had plenty of exposure to similar situations. Even if the demon had taken his mother's form, he wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

It was Exorcism 101. All demons were liars. His mother had passed away, and he would not see her again in this life. Leon had come to terms with it.

"You are not my mother," Leon said, unfazed. He took several steps forward, shielding Angel and Mary as he continued to ask, "What are you?"

"Have you already forgotten about your own mother, nae adeul?" Everyone in the room asked with the same female voice, and it sounded like an interrogation from all sides, "Have you forgotten how I died? I died because of you! You killed me, my son!"

Leon sneered coldly, "Your lies can't hurt me, demon. My mother's faith was strong, and I know she is with God."

And then everyone began to speak in Korean, which most of the crew didn't speak. "I'm not with God, my son. I am burning, all the time, and it hurts so, so much...Your dad is here, too...Can't you hear him screaming?"

Leon's jaw was tensed with anger, and he didn't answer.

The unified voice continued, "Why didn't you help us? Why don't you come to join us? Come...my son, take your brother with you, and we can finally be together and be a family again!"

"What do you want from all these people, demon?" Leon ignored the demon's provocation and asked as calmly as he could. There was not a sliver of emotion in his words, yet Azazil noticed the rigidness in his posture.

"I want my child. I want my child! I want my child!!" The unified voice grew louder and louder with each repetition of the phrase, until everyone was screaming around them. Mary covered her ears with her hands. Sheer terror overtook her bloodless face.

In stark contrast, Angel showed little to no fear, only mild annoyance as the volume of the scream reached an ear-damaging level.

And then, the scream abruptly stopped. Everyone in the room resumed their previous activities as if nothing had happened in the past few minutes. However, the director, Abby, noticed the raw, tear-stained fear on Mary's face that wasn't there moments ago. It was also strange that, to her and the others in the room, in the interval of a second, Leon suddenly was no longer sitting but standing with a cross in his hand. Moreover, Angel was not even in the room a moment ago and now was standing next to Leon.

"What happened?" Abby asked, confused.

Many people's phones began to vibrate or make sounds from the flood of notifications of messages, calls, and news alerts. What had been recorded with the two blessed cameras in the past few minutes was already spreading like wildfire on the internet. Many crew members' families and friends saw their "possession" scene and were, understandably, freaking out.

"You guys should all check the footage later," Azazil suggested with a hint of jesting in his tone. "But maybe pour yourself a drink first. You are going to need it."

They wrapped up the interview soon after. Mary was still a little shaken when they were leaving, but Leon prayed with her and consoled her with his deep, profound voice as much as he could, and it calmed her down.

As Angel helped load some filming equipment onto the van, an assistant excitedly rushed to Abby and Leon's side, telling them that Sheriff Wyatt Caldwell had changed his mind and agreed to let them interview him and any of his officers.

Contrasting with Abby and the assistant's excitement, Leon only found the sudden development odd, and he asked in perplexity, "So sudden? What changed his heart?"