Lionel arrived at the Carlson's house exactly at 4 p.m. He wasn't surprised to see Brian and Jacob waiting for him.

  Phil had already sought permission in the morning, and Lionel had no reason to stop them from meeting him. After all, Lauren's life was still in danger, and they needed his help to save her.

  Lionel greeted everyone one by one.

  "How is Lauren now?" he asked his senior, ignoring Brian for the time being.

  "She is awake now, although she's weak."

  "She'll need a week to return to her health. Give her some time," Lionel assured and finally turned to the man who seemed to be on tenter hooks.

  "Hello, Mr. Wallace," he greeted Brian last, which the man didn't mind.

  Lionel hadn't taken a good look at the man the previous night. He had been more focused on Lauren and the danger she was in.

  Now that he did, he noticed how distinct the man's facial features were. Arrogance aside, he had the innate shrewdness of a businessman. Surprisingly, he was bound to reach greater heights in the future and achieve more than he already had.

  Lionel's gaze instantly moved towards Jacob, and his lips arched into a smile when he saw a faint white light around his senior.

  Jacob would surely follow in his father's footsteps and continue his business. But unlike him, he would also be a philanthropist and help a lot of people in need.

  "Lionel, I'm so sorry." Brian started, breaking Lionel's chain of thoughts. "Please forgive me for my impudence the previous night."

  Lionel smiled and shook his head. His displeasure ended the moment he had charged an exorbitant fee. He wasn't the one to hold grudges, especially with someone who had turned over a new leaf.

  "It's fine, Mr. Wallace. We are good now." Lionel brushed him off and even smiled at him assuringly.

  Brian's depressed face lit up, and he beamed with joy. His entire body was radiating relief and delight as if he had conquered the world. "Thank you, Lionel. Thanks a lot. Your forgiveness means a lot to me."

  Lionel was surprised. But he didn't probe more into it and looked at Nia, who was sitting silently beside his professor.

  "Hello, Nia. How do you feel today?" he asked gently, treating the young girl as his sister.

  "I feel fine," Nia replied softly, and Lionel noticed her striking resemblance to her mother, not just in her features but in her mannerisms as well.

  "Good, good. Are you able to sleep well at night?"

  Nia glanced at her mother, who nodded at her lightly.

  "I have nightmares sometimes. Do they count?"

  "What kind of nightmares?"

  Nia licked her lips and fidgeted in her spot. Lowering her head, she hesitated, dawdling for a long time before mustering all her strength.

  "I've been having the same dream since I...you helped me," she corrected herself before continuing. "It's all dark and cold, and I can't see anything. But I always hear something beckoning me."

  "Why didn't you tell us, Nia?" Sophia asked instantly, her concern for her daughter getting the best of her.

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  "I was scared." Nia was close to tears, and she sniffled softly, making everyone feel terrible.

  "Did you have the nightmare yesterday as well?" Lionel questioned gently, making sure not to aggravate her all the more.

  "Surprisingly, no."

  Lionel hummed lightly and looked at his professor, whose eyes were fixed on his daughter.

  "Mrs. Carlson, where are the talismans I gave you yesterday?"

  Sophia was taken aback to have been questioned suddenly, and it took her a few seconds to respond.

  "I..I placed them under Nia's pillow."

  "Would you mind if I take a look?"

  The Carlson couple had no qualms with his request, and the crowd moved to Nia's room. Even Brian and Jacob followed them, intrigued to find out what was happening.

  "Mrs. Carlson, let me." Lionel stopped his professor from touching the pillow and did the work himself.

  Everyone except Lionel was shocked to find one-third of one of the talismans charred, while the other remained intact.

  'Just as I thought.' Lionel picked up the charred Blessing Talisman and turned to his astounded crowd.

  "This talisman protected Nia from the ghost," he explained seriously, and Nia burst into tears instantly.

  "Mom, Mom, please save me. That ghost is scary. Its voice is creepy. Please save me," she dived into her mother's embrace and wailed loudly, tugging at everyone's heartstrings.

  Even Lionel, who was the calmest of all, was affected. After all, it was his first time encountering a ghost.

  "Shh, shh, nothing will happen to you. I promise. We are all here," Phil assured and glanced at Lionel, who nodded at him curtly.

  "Yes, Nia. We are all here. I promise nothing will happen to you."

  While Sophia did her best to calm her daughter, the others waited, and eventually, Nia stopped crying after some time. They had returned to the living room, and once again, the crowd looked at Lionel, waiting for him to start speaking.

  "I'll give you more Blessing Talismans. Please ensure that Nia and Lauren carry them with them at all times," Lionel stressed, and everyone accepted without any questions.

  "Nia, I heard your friends and you visited a haunted house," Lionel started, getting to the main topic finally.

  Nia nodded, sniffling lightly.

  "Do you mind telling me more about it?"

  There were quite a few houses in the town that were deemed haunted. Even his place was considered one of them, even though it was far from being haunted. So, he had to know which place Nia and her friends had visited before he got to action.

  "It's the haunted house in the West End. One of my friends wanted to visit it and since our exams had ended, we decided to go together."

  Lionel bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. He wasn't unfamiliar with the house Nia was mentioning. Although he had never visited it, he had heard great stories about it, each more horrifying than the other.

  "Okay. Would you mind telling me more? Did you see anything unusual?"

  "We went there in the forenoon when it was bright and sunny. But the house was dark, as if something was obstructing the sunlight from entering inside."

  Nia paused and looked at Lionel, and he smiled at her, gesturing for her to continue.

  "At first, we didn't find anything strange. The place looked normal except that it was cold inside, like freezing cold. We were together all the time. But one of my friends separated from us when we weren't noticing, and when we did, we started looking for him."

  "Did you find him?"

  Nia nodded.

  "What happened after that?"

  "After that, we continued to explore the place." Nia stopped suddenly, and Lionel realized that they had reached the most important part.

  "I'm not sure if it was imagination, but I heard a sound, more like a growl, from one of the rooms upstairs, and we were still exploring the rooms on the ground floor. It was like for a second. So, I can't be sure."

  "What happened next?"

  "We finished exploring the rooms on the ground floor and had thought of searching upstairs. But when we reached the stairs..." Nia gulped in fright, her face losing all its color.

  "When we reached the stairs, we saw something. It was all black and moving towards us. Its eyes were red, blood red..." Nia started panicking, and Lionel knelt before her and held her wrist, sending her some of his spiritual energy to calm her down.

  Nia took his deep breaths, and eventually, her face regained some color.

  "We were scared out of our minds, and we ran out of the house."

  "Did you all run out at the same time?"

  "I did, though. I was the first one to leave. The others came out a few seconds after me while some did after a few minutes."

  "Did all of you make it out?"

  "Yes."

  Lionel frowned, a dreadful notion popping into his mind. "How many of you had gone inside?"

  "Seven. Four girls and three boys."

  "Did you notice anything amiss with any of them after you left the haunted house?"

  Nia shook her head.

  Lionel bit his lip as he looked at Nia for a few seconds, making her apprehensive.

  "Anything else you want to tell me? Something you feel might be important?"

  "Yes." Nia hesitated for a moment. "It was scorching when we left the haunted house. But it felt like the cold night of the winter. It was as if the coldness from the haunted house had followed us out."