Ten minutes later, Lionel sat in the living while the others sat before him.

  Unlike before, Brian looked as if someone had stolen his soul. The man was beyond frightened and he was short of losing his consciousness.

  Lionel diregarding again and directed his gaze at Phil and Jacob who were sitting side by side.

  "Lionel, what the hell happened there? How..." Jacob was still in shock. For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming, a lingering effect after watching a good horror movie.

  "Well, it's exactly what you saw. Lauren was being haunted by a ghost, the same one that haunted Nia."

  Jacob looked as if someone had punched him in the gut.

  Lionel pitied him and wanted to stop. But he didn't when he recalled the questions he wanted to ask them.

  "Lauren's situation was actually worse than Nia's."

  Phil's brows knotted into a frown and he looked at Lionel apprehensively. "What do you mean?"

  Lionel ran a hand through his hair and sighed softly. "Whatever was haunting Lauren was sucking her life force dry. If this continued, she would have become a corpse in two days. Even I wouldn't have been able to do anything then."

  Jacob and Susan broke into a cold sweat while the Carlson couple felt their blood run cold. Their breaths were stuck in their chests as they tried to digest the truth they had just heard.

  "Is Lauren safe now?" Jacob asked, his mind going blank at the thought of him losing his sister. "Will the...will the ghost haunt her again?"

  "I'm not sure." Lionel didn't lie to them to pacify them. "I sensed a lot of resentment in the air when Lauren stopped twitching. There is a chance the ghost might return to exact revenge."

  "Lionel, please help my sister. Please save her." Jacob immediately dropped to his knees and begged him, holding his hand desperately.

  Lionel was their final straw. If he gave up on them, no one could save Lauren.

  Jacob had seen how effective Lionel's methods had been. Even if he had doubts about his sister being haunted by a ghost previously, all of it vanished once he saw his astonishing moves.

  "I..."

  "Please, Lionel. Please save my daughter," Susan too begged, her eyes red with tears. She was about to kneel as well when Lionel stopped her.

  "Please, Mrs. Wallace. I'll do my best to help Lauren."

  Barely had he helped Jacob back to his seat when Brian knelt before him, startling everyone.

  "Mr. Wallace, what..."

  "Lionel, I was wrong. I am at fault. I shouldn't have insulted you. I shouldn't have...." Brian was reminded of the scene he had seen in his daughter's room and he trembled visibly. "Please forgive me."

  Lionel didn't speak a word. He looked at him coldly before glancing at Jacob, who understood what his junior was asking him.

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  "Dad, get up."

  "But..."

  "Mr. Wallace, you don't have to apologize. I won't accept your apology." Lionel rejected him without mercy.

  "But..."

  "And you're only apologizing because you realized only I can save your daughter. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hesitated to throw me out of your house by now."

  "No, no..." Brian shook his head. He had learned his lesson. He regretted his loose mouth. He really did.

  "Hold your breath, Mr. Wallace. I'm not interested in your apologies. I have other matters to handle." Lionel turned his head away and returned to the issue at hand.

  "Mr. Carlson, Jacob, I have a few questions to ask."

  "Go ahead, Lionel." Phil nodded, not bothered by his behavior with Brian. The man deserved it. Who asked him to be stupid and insult people without thinking?

  "Nia and Lauren were haunted by the same ghost. While I didn't sense any mark on Nia, the ghost had left a mark on Lauren. I think it may be because it was feeding on her life force."

  Phil shifted uncomfortably while he waited for Lionel to ask his question.

  Even Jacob sat still as he listened to his junior while Sophia and Susan remained silent.

  "Do you know anything the girls did that might have attracted the ghost to them?" Lionel asked his first question.

  Jacob frowned, not understanding what Lionel was getting at. "Lauren and Nia are classmates and friends. They meet almost every day. I am not sure what they did."

  "What I meant was did they ever do anything out of the norms? Maybe they visited a place they shouldn't have or picked up something strange?"

  Jacob's frown deepened while Phil tried to recall if Nia had mentioned anything along those lines.

  "I can't..." Jacob shook his head. However, Susan interrupted him before he could finish.

  "Wait a minute!" Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at Lionel in disbelief.

  "Mrs. Wallace, do you know something?" Lionel narrowed his eyes as he observed her.

  "A week ago..." Susan gulped and looked at Jacob briefly before continuing, "Lauren and her friends visited the haunted house. It was the day after their exams ended. I think...I think..."

  Susan couldn't continue anymore and a tense silence fell over the place.

  "Lionel, do you think...." Sophia dreaded to think of the possibility. "Do you think they provoked something at the haunted house?"

  "Well..." Lionel tapped his fingers on his knees. "I won't deny the possibility, Mrs. Wallace. Whatever Nia and Lauren provoked must have been at the haunted house. But..."

  Lionel stopped for a moment as he thought about it. "May I know how many people had joined them on this adventure?"

  The Wallace family and the Carlson couple weren't fools to not understand what Lionel was trying to imply.

  "I'm not sure, Lionel. There were two other girls for sure," Sophia answered, her voice quivering slightly. "But there might be more. I'll have to ask Nia about it."

  Lionel rubbed his head, feeling a slight headache creeping in on him. His lack of sleep for the last two days and the depletion of his spiritual energy over the day, while he stacked talismans, were taking a toll on him.

  "I should leave now." Lionel stood up, prompting everyone to jump to their feet in agitation.

  "No, you..."

  "Relax, Mrs. Wallace. Lauren is out of danger for now. The ghost won't haunt her for the time being," Lionel assured the woman who was just short of kneeling before him again.

  "Mr. Carlson, I'll visit you tomorrow. I need to have a word with Nia."

  Phil nodded, unable to find his words.

  "Lionel, do you..." Sophia hesitated, unable to put forth her request directly.

  "Mrs. Carlson, these are the talismans. Give them to Nia." Lionel handed her a Cleansing Talisman and a Blessing Talisman.

  "But..." Sophia glanced at Phil who took over instantly.

  "Can you give us a few more, Lionel? We..."

  "Mr. Carlson, that ghost won't attack you. Otherwise, you would have shown some signs by now. Its targets are only the ones who provoked it," Lionel explained.

  "Lionel, could you give us some talismans as well?" Jacob asked, eying the talismans in Mrs. Carlson's hands greedily. Since he knew their power, he wanted them as well.

  "Sure. That would be a thousand dollars each and I used three talismans on your sister before. Adding them with my fees would be fifteen thousand dollars."

  Although his fees weren't exorbitant, everyone was still taken aback and they gawked at him speechlessly, especially the Carlson family.

  Lionel handed two talismans to Jacob after Brian transferred fifteen thousand dollars to his account.

  Nodding lightly at them, he turned around to leave.

  "Lionel, I..." Brian started, but Lionel didn't stop to listen to him.

  It was time to return home to his sleep. Everything else could wait.