Warlock (2)

"Spirits?" Mrs. Martin frowned and immediately pointed to the elevator. "Get out of here before I call the cops!"

She had never heard of such outrageous claims before. Did the guy think that she was a 10-year-old kid?

When she saw that the man still stood there, she quickly put Wesley behind her and took out her phone. "Look after Juin…" she said to Wesley as she kept her eyes on the man.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the man quickly said as he raised his hands up in front of his chest. "I'm really a priest. That kid! He's been acting differently lately, right? Has he been saying things, like how there are things bothering him…" He lowered his volume before adding, "Like ghosts and demons?"

Mrs. Martin's eyes widened slightly. Even so, she was hesitant to believe his words.

"He's being attacked by various spirits now, and all of them want to take over his body…" Warlock murmured as he looked at Juin with an intense expression. He actually saw those spirits around the boy. Various ghosts, both humans and supernatural beings, were clambering around the boy's body, hoping for another chance to live again.

The human ghosts could not do much harm other than scaring the boy, but the ghosts of supernatural beings were stronger, and if left alone, they could cause potential damage to the boy's body.

"W-why…"

"The boy is getting weaker, and if we don't do anything, he would be taken by the spirits…" Warlock said with a serious expression. He was actually lying, for he could see that there was something protecting the boy. Even so, the protection was dwindling.

There was a layer of golden light glowing softly on the boy's body, but it was there one second and gone the next. It wouldn't be long before the protection failed completely.

Warlock then turned to look at Mrs. Martin and said, "There's a church near here. If you're not inclined of letting me into your house, then I can meet you there if you want. Bring the boy with you."

Mrs. Martin looked at Juin, who was still crouching and shivering at the corner. She had to do something, so in the end, she nodded. "I'll meet you there, Mr. Warlock."

Warlock nodded. He took out a small red bead from his pocket and walked over to Juin. Crouching down on one knee in front of the boy, he then took Juin's trembling hand, gently peeled open his tightly curled fingers, and placed the bead on it.

"Hold onto this. It would keep the spirits away from you," Warlock said gently. When Juin looked up at him with a surprised expression, Warlock added in a soft voice, "I can see them too."

For the first time ever since Ashton's death, Juin finally found someone who believed in him, and his lips trembled a little as he looked into the man's heterochromia eyes. In fact, Juin felt that the man's green right eye was glowing slightly.

As Warlock stared into Juin's eyes, his eyes widened slightly, as if he was shocked by something he saw within the boy. "I thought you accidentally touched things you shouldn't and attracted those spirits, but it looks like I'm wrong…" Warlock murmured as he gently patted Juin's head.

He then stood up and said to Mrs. Martin, "The bead I gave him would keep the spirits away from him for a time being, but it wouldn't last long. He's attracting a lot of spirits, and I doubt that the power within the bead could keep all of them away."

After looking into Juin's eyes, he knew that those spirits didn't just want to take over the boy's body. These spirits wanted the core of the body; the soul that was currently residing within the boy.

Although, he could not help but wonder to himself, "How did the boy survive until now? Was there someone protecting him before this? Was it the same person who put the weakened spell on him?"

Seeing that Juin was looking at the man with a thankful expression and that his eyes no longer seemed fearful, Mrs. Martin nodded. She did not really believe in ghosts, but if it could help Juin, then she would take this chance.

...

Lucifer was surprised to hear that Juin could see spirits when he was young. "He's a seer?" he thought.

"I took you to the church immediately and met up with Warlock," Mrs. Martin continued. "I couldn't really tell what he did. He put you to sleep and chanted something incomprehensible, and when you woke up, you are no longer so afraid of things that others couldn't see."

She did not add, "You were just afraid of everything else…"

She then looked at "Juin's" chest and said, "And the weird birthmark on top of your chest was gone as well…"

"What?" Lucifer frowned. He did not recall seeing any noticeable scars on Juin's torso.

"Here…" Mrs. Martin pointed at where his heart kept within. "You had this scar-like birthmark over here. Since it was slightly raised, it looked sort of like a knife scar more than a birthmark. I asked the orphanage director when you first moved in with us, but she said that you had it ever since you were a baby. I figured that it was probably a unique birthmark."

She remembered Warlock moving his finger around Juin's chest during the "exorcism", almost as if he was drawing something using his finger.

Meanwhile, Lucifer could feel his head spinning as he found out more and more things about Juin. It was just one thing after another. But one thing for sure, his vessel was definitely not a simple human.

Seeing the frown on "Juin's" face, Mrs. Martin quickly comforted him. "It's probably nothing, so don't worry too much about it."

Lucifer nodded, just to comfort her. However, he knew clearly that there was definitely something. "You wouldn't know where to find this Warlock guy, would you?" he asked.

Mrs. Martin shook her head. "He disappeared, saying that he had cut off the link, whatever he meant. After that, I've tried to look him up among the churches in the country, but no one heard of him before. He might be Asian, cause his features are a little like yours, but those eyes and his gray hair… Well, that could be dyed…" She shrugged. "Anyway, why are you suddenly bringing all these questions up?"

Lucifer glanced at her before answering nonchalantly, "I just wanted to know more about myself…"

…