Maxine sells a bestseller to buy an old mansion haunted by a demon. She meets a team of professional TV paranormal ghost hunters that have experience with dealing with such. Or so they thought. They acquire aid from an old gypsy woman to help fight the demon while Maxine has flashbacks of her previous lives having faced the Demon Nomed before. Another ghost has been trapped within the home having a grudge against losing his wife to Nomed while another spirit has been waiting for Maxine to claim her original powers she has neglected in this reborn life. Don't forget Suki! A cat that has been protecting the home for a long time and Maxine's dearest and oldest friend from the past.

This was my 10th story I completed.

This is my story version. I do have a screenplay version as well I entered in a contest back in 2020. However, it is incorrect formatting adding to why I decided to go back to school when I turned 30 and learn how to do them correctly. They say Hollywood doesn't read them if they are not formatted correctly. Especially the first page. 

I wrote this back in the Spring of 2020 within a month. 

The TV team of paranormal ghost hunters are named after my favourite band, NCT 127. I even put one of their members no longer a part of it back in. However, since I wrote this, one member, Taeil (Tail) my 2nd fav of the group, has been kicked out due to celebrity greatness accusations the courts could not prove or anything either side of case for SM Entertainment to remove him from the company. Currently, Taeyong (Tay-young), my fav, and Jaehyun (J-hoon) are doing their required military service all Korean men must do by a certain age. 

The Maxine character has no relation to a Max I worked with at Safeway in 2020-2021 or Max at Jersey Mike's I worked at in 2022. 

I do have outlines for some. More roadmaps and sometimes I use them and sometimes I don't use it all or add things I think of when writing. I have carpool tunnel, so just doing this makes my hand flare up and if I continue past that I get a full attack and hit the ground unable to move my right arm at all. I don't have health insurance to get a nerve test or anything for it. So, I avoid triggers, like writing. 

“Well, Miss Loset, you must be excited to go home.” A smiling orderly looks over at her as the two walk down a hallway inside a psychiatric wing of a hospital. Both appear to be in their late twenties and early thirties. She does not acknowledge them and keeps walking forward to their destination. “It’s been a long fee months for you. Doctors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, law in and out of the court system.” 

“I'm ready to be out of here. I am so sick of this place and all of them. But…I feel it’s not over. I still have to meet with the doctor, and he could throw me back in here at any point. I was lucky to get the opportunity presented to me at the moment. I'm still just a lab rat, just in a new cage.” Miss Loset responds.  

“You’re getting out and that is good, so we will just focus on that for now. Smile, please?” The orderly asks. 

“Smiling is part of why I have been in here so long. I can’t right now, even if I wanted to. My face feels numb.” Miss Loset answers. A bag of her belongings is handed to her. She watches her hand quiver reaching out to grab it. He face become more filled with sorrow as she uses both hands to grab the bag. After some paperwork, she walks out of the facility. Stopping, a gentle breeze moves her hair and takes it in as it has been so long since she felt wind upon her.  

Upon returning home, she goes to her bathroom and stares into the mirror deeply. She starts to touch her face. Particularly her cheek. Poking it repeatedly she slaps it slightly, “I can’t feel my face.” Her knees begin to tremble and she sits on top of the toilet with the lid closed. “I can feel my legs. They hurt…” Pulling out multiple medications, some for psychotic treatment, mania, mood stabilizers, stuff to counteract some of the side effects the others create, one for her jaw to not lock up while her head was tilted having the ear on the shoulder where she couldn’t speak, eat, or move and just drool with the mouth open. She slides her arm across all the bottles, knocking them to the floor. The sound of pills rattling inside plastic made her think. She has a memory flashback of the chemical she was injected with. 

“Don’t worry. You will ne better as soon as this enters your system. It will stop your brain from producing and releasing many chemicals in your brain to your body. You won’t be angry no more. You won’t be sad no more. You won’t feel anything.” A doctor speaks as he begins to administer the medication. “Don’t worry Maxine, this will help you.” Much of the medication oozed from her arm as the needle was injecting it to her body. Maxine walks out of the room and her vision starts to get blurry inside the hospital. Inside her bathroom she starts to breath heavily as her knees tremble. In the hospital, she walks into her room and collapses om the floor. In her bathroom, she falls to her knees holding her chest up by the arms. In the memory, she stares blankly at the floor and wall.  

*Clash, clunk, smash, whack, thoomp, thud!* 

The sound of pans falling could be heard in the kitchen startling her. She snaps out of the flashback. Breathing normal again, she picks up one of the pill bottles. Looking at her toilet, she open is and dumps all of the pills into the bowl. Glaring at them in the water, she smiles as they flush down spiraling out of her life. Back to the mirror she stares at herself again. Looking at a make up bag, she put it on. “I missed doing my make up…” 

Some time passes. Maxine was a published author. Part of her release from the hospital was using a book signing of her most recent one as an excuse. She has a bunch out, but this last one really became popular. To her surprise, she was looking at her royalties from it she had just received. Staring at the number on her bank account, she has no reaction to it at all. Her mind begins to go blank as her eyes get heavy for a few minutes. 

*Music begins to play* (or should it be an actual phone ring to like scare people hos suspense movies go?) 

Her phone is ringing and she looks at it. Slowly reach for it, no hurry at all, she sees it is her cousin and answers, “Hello.” 

“Heeeyyy! Who’s my favourite cuz?” She shouts loudly into the speaker. “Congratulations!” 

“It’s not that exciting. A text would have been fine.” Maxine speaks. 

“Noooooo… I had to say it directly to you. I had to hear your voice. I saw your numbers! It’s been spoken of on all sorts of news stations and internet feeds! This is so cool! My cousin is a celebrity!” 

Maxine laughs, “My book is a celebrity. I'm just the author. I doubt anyone will ever run up to me in public for my autograph or stalk me or even recognize me. I keep my author photos less… you know, dark or scary as my mom calls it.” 

“Call whatever you want, but I day pretty. You are pretty and your writing is an amazing talent! Don’t ever stop. What are you working on now.” 

“I'm not sure yet. I haven’t been able to think much lately. I need some time to adjust after everything from the last few months. Let’s not talk about it.” Maxine evades. 

“If you ask me, you need to get out and on your own! Get away somewhere new and not so filled with negatives memories. Up! Gotta go! Smile! Be happy! Love ya! Byyyeee!” 

“Bye! Thanks, love ya too.” Maxine hangs up the phone and thinks. Looking around she clenches her eyes and can hear her screaming no from a memory. Shaking her head she snaps out of it. Taking her cousin’s advice she searches apartments, condos, town homes, land, trailers, houses, all sorts on many sites. “That place is for sale? For that cheap?”  

Maxine didn’t have much and it was all loaded into a small truck. Her mom had saved some old furniture or items, like a pink kitchen cooking set, she found for great deals for her over the years. Her dad had also bought her some house warming items too and both step parents did the same. She had also bought tons of copies of her books to keep and it all fit into a small moving truck.  

After a couple months, she was ready to move into her new place. Her first place on her own. She knew many were jealous of her, but she didn’t care. She actually only recently began to be able to feel good and proud of herself. Driving through the nearby town, the house is on the outskirts, people stare at her passing through with her windows down. She pulls up to her new home and looks at it. A smile actually covers her face. The movers are almost done uploading her stuff into the garage. It is detached from the house with a pathway to a door on the side of the house and a small metal fencing. Around all of the front yard was a tall metal square barred fence with diamond shapes on the tops of each of them. They sort of made and wide U shape every so many from different lengths at the top between tall stone pillars. The bottom 3 foot all around was stone below the metal spokes. A large double gate led to the main pathway of the house’s front door. It had a flower design with leaves and vines designed on it. Stepping out of her car, she slams the door and turns around looking at the neighboring homes as the car beeps from locking. She hears her door slam shut and is startled. Turing around, she is confused looking at her keys. Pulling the handle, the door does not open. Ignoring it, she walks to the sidewalk. It only is in front of her home, the neighborhood is all custom built homes, spread apart nicely from one another. Many do not have fencing. She walks to the end of the driveway where her mail box was inside another stone pillar with some newspaper slots. Opening the mail box, she slowly leans in to look inside. She is remembering when she used to deliver Newspapers. It is empty. Closing the mailbox, it falls back open. Closing it a second time, slightly harder, she jumps from the moving truck honking at her to move out of the way. Stepping aside, she waves at them as they leave. 

*Merwown* 

A cat rushes passed Maxine’s feet. A tortie. It rushes across the street fast. She turns around to look at her house. Their were curtains still inside. Her attention is drawn to one of the windows on the 3rd floor. It almost looked as if it moved. “I best get to seeing what needs to be replaced, extra cleaned, and removed.” 

Maxine is startled by a woman’s voice speaking to her as she gazed at the exterior of her home. “If that cat bothers you, just call the catcher! Don’t understand how that varmint always comes back. I can never seem to catch the stupid scoundrel to deal with it myself. It really irritates my Miss Muffy.” 

“Muffy?” Maxine is curious. 

“Yes. My blessed Greyhound. She is the world to me! My name's Ms. Stanton. Sylvia Stanton. Call me Sylvia, no need for formalities. I never let no man tie me down!” The very old woman holds her hand out for a shake. 

Maxine grabs it and shakes it, “Thanks for the advice. Nice to meet you Sylvia. I'm Maxine Loset.” The cat runs between their legs meowing again.  

“Blast that devil! I smite thee back to hell in which it came!” Sylvia starts to sprinkle holy water toward it. The cat jumps on top of the mail box, then to the top of the corner pillar of the tone fence and lands in the front yard. “Be gone with you fowl beast!” 

“Relax Sylvia. It’s just a cat.” Maxine attempts to reassure her. 

Sylvia puts her holy water vial away and looks into Maxine’s eyes very seriously, “watch yourself closely. The last couple who loved here died, and it was the cats fault.” Maxine chuckles and smiles some. “I'm serious. Both were deathly allergic. Nice folks too.” Sylvia looks around fast around the area as if the cat was running around. Stopping she relaxes and makes eye contact with Maxine again. “Say…you’re a bit young to be living in this place all by your lonesome.” 

“Oh, I just look young. I'm actually a novelist and enjoy my solitude. When I'm settled in, I'll bring you over a collection of my work so far. My last one published became more popular than I expected.  

“Right…” Sylvia turns around and mutters, “settled in…” slowly and slightly crouched she walks across the street back to her own home. She beguns to look back and forth saying, “pss, pss, pss, here kitty, kitty.” As she rubs her finger tips together low, the other hand pulls out a cross from inside her blouse. She squeezes it tightly within her hand.  

Maxine walks up her driveway talking to herself, “great the crazy bible lady is my neighbor. Let’s hope the whole neighborhood isn’t like her. I feel bad for that cat.” She stops inside the garage looking at her stuff. “Does holy actually do anything?” She closes the garage door and turns on the light. She is examining the shelves inside. “I wonder what all this stuff is?” There are a bunch of tin cans covered in dust. Some letters of the alphabet could be seen on labels in front of some of them. Grabbing the 1st one, she wipes off the lid, making her hand black and reads the label. “Ah-ja-win. Ah-jwain. Oh, Ajwain! She swipes across the C section and pulls put one labeled, Cinnamon. Opening it, with some struggle, some orange brown dust escapes and she inhales. “Yup. That’s cinnamon alright!” The bottom shelf has larger containers of glass and she picks up one full of sugar. She sets them both on a nearby bench and turns on another light. The bulb explodes and she jumps back. Suddenly, a box falls off the shelf. Picking it up, she sees an old fashioned spice grinder and mortar and pestle. The light in the center of the garage flickers and Maxine looks at it. She sees the cat sitting and staring at her. “Hey…” She takes a step toward it and the cat doesn’t move. The light continues to flicker and Maxine kneels down to the cat. Reaching her hand out to pet it, the cat takes off running. “Hey! I won’t hurt you! We can be friends!” The light stops flickering and she notices the shelves on this side of the garage are full of gardening supplies. There are many jars filled and labeled with seeds. She grabs one of the baskets and takes a bunch of spices and equipment for it to the house.  

Maxine grabs the handle of the door on the aide of the house. It is locked. “Right… I have to unlock it.” She uses her key from the realtor with no luck. “Hmm. She did say this went to the front door. I better have one for this one somewhere.” She tales her basket to the front of the house. She moves through a small metal gate separating the garden area on the side of the house from the front yard. Stones in the shape of stars lead her to the front porch. There is a small brick stair cases at this end of the porch. The main is directly in front of the house from the path leading in by the gate. The porch wraps around part of the house on the other side some. It is also directly above too. She begins to turn the key to unlock the dead bolt with success. A weathered rocking chair begins to creek on the porch from a slight breeze. The other lock is opened and Maxine opens one of the double doors. For fun she yells, “Honey I'm home!” To hear it echo in the open tall entry way. The door creeks some as she closes it and weight on the door helps shut it loudly. She looks through the glass and can see Sylvia sitting on her porch facing her home.  

Turning around, Maxine takes a few steps to her left to see an open empty dining room with a fire place. The whole room is lined with thick decorative trimming and hardwood flooring. Turning to her right is the start of a wide curved staircase leading up to the 2nd flood. Next, a hallway leading to the rest of the house. Below her feet is stone in the entry way and down the hall and she looks up the 60ft entry to see an exquisite chandelier and more decorative trimming. When you first enter the home, to the right is a small lounge area with carpet flooring. Maxine takes 3 steps down into this area. Some furniture is covered in sheets. Removing the first one reveals a grand piano. She coughs from dust. In the corner she finds a Victorian lounger having a swan design carved into the legs and back. 

Through an archway, she finds herself in a hall going back up some steps to the rest of the house on her left, straight head is another room, and to her right is a door. Opening the door, she finds herself in a mud room. It is warmer in this room than the rest of the house so far. A new washer and dryer on one side, and shelving, hooks, and laundry stuff on the other. Straight ahead is the door to the garage. Besides it is a couple keys. She drops one on the floor by accident and it echoes louder than expected when hitting the stone flooring. As she grabs the key it feels very cold, like ice. She stands up tests the keys in the door. One worked. The other opened a cabinet in the room to pull put and ironing board. She exits the mud room and looks back into the lounge. There was another item with a sheet over it. Confused, Maxine walks over to remove the sheet. It was a coffee table with the initials LF+AF engraved into a heart on one of the corner.  

*Thud* 

Maxine heard a noise. Something hit the hardwood flooring somewhere in the house. Soon, the cat walks into the hallway behind her. “Oh, it’s you. How did you get in here?” She walks over to the cat and it runs into the next room. This room has two bay windows. One looking into the garden and the other to the backyard. The cat jumps up the 3 stairs into the kitchen onto itstiled flooring. Maxine follows it as she escapes out a pet door in one of the Dutch doors leading to the back yard. She watches the cat run and hide in some plants out back. Sighing, Maxine returns to exploring her home. The basket is placed on the island in the kitchen. There is nothing in any of the cabinets except for a large bag of salt. There is also a small TV in the corner on the counter below a cabinet. Where the two halls intersect, directly when entering from the back door is another stair case. These are us shaped and go up to all the floors. Beside them and between the dinning area and kitchen is also an office. It too has a small spiral stair case leasing to the 2nd floor which is a library in the office.  

Before heading upstairs, she walks down the hall from the back to the front of the house. This is decorated with more wooden trimming. One happens to open up to a storage closet and another almost fully conceals a bathroom. Inside, she finds a swan design for the faucet and toilet handle along with swan candle holders on the wall next to a swan light fixture. 

Later that night, Maxine makes herself a TV dinner and hooks up her phone to watch stuff om the TV to go along with. An ad plays advertising a hit show. 

“Spooky, Creepy, Paranormal, superstitions, even extraterrestrial, lets hear your testimonial! Supernatural, weird, or unexplained, we can keep your privacy if you do not wish me to use your name. Just name the place and time, and my cameras will make you not believe your eyes!” A jingle plays for the show. 

“Call me Taeyong. T to the A, young!” Taeyomg speaks as he ties a bandana around his forehead. 

Maxine smiles and skips the ad and continues to eat as she sits on the island watching the screen.  

Early in the morning, Maxine heard a rooster cawing just as dawn was breaking in the sky. She had slept on the lounger in the lounge with a sleeping bag. At first it didn’t bother her. But, it started getting louder and louder. Suddenly it stopped and she began to relax back to sleep. It cawed again, very loudly, almost as if it was right beside her ear. Sitting up frantically, Maxine had no answer for anything. She begins to squeeze her arm some thinking about when being woke up for vitals every morning in the hospital. She gas a flashback to how often she would wake up right before they would come in and always be surprised she was already awake. She hears the flap on the pet door and smiles. Very soon, the cat shows up. It walks to the main entrance and sits down at the top of the steps into the lounge staring at Maxine.  

*meow* 

“Good morning to you.” Maxine remains on the lounger as the cat remains sitting for some time.  

*ding* diiiiooung* dung* du* du* 

A grandfather clock is heard from somewhere in the house, needing to winded and fails the last 4 dings. 

“I…” Maxine was looking around confused, and stands up. Looking back at the cat, “I don’t remember seeing a grandfather clock.” The cat trots off up the curved stair case. Directly at the top of them, is the clock covered in a sheet. When she removes the sheet, a noise is heard from one of the bedrooms. Footsteps. Looking to her right, she slowly creeps to the room and gently opens the door. Inside, there is nothing but a room full of furniture. Walking in, the fireplace ignites. “this room was empty yesterday. There was no fireplace…” The fire extinguished and she examines it to see an opening leading down below. Running downstairs fast, the lounge now has a fireplace too. Maxine turns around facing the dinning room to see another fireplace is now there. “Okay, I must just been admiring the trimming so much, I missed the fireplaces. “Heh, eh…” 

*Mrwow* 

The cat is sitting by the door to the office. Maxine walks over and open it. All of the shelving is now filled with books and assorted antiques. The cat jumps on the desk in the center of the room looking back at Maxine. It then jumps to a decorative cat lamp statue on the wall. It is a lever and a large decorative tile pops up from the floor beneath tall mirror that is behind the desk and next to the cat lamps. Dust has exited the opening of the tile and more escapes as Maxine lifts the tile up more. There is a ladder descending down into darkness. Maxine speaks, “How did you know…” she looks around for the cat and sighs, “I need to get my tactical flashlight.” Maxine runs to her stuff and pulls out a flashlight that has a taser built in. She also puts her hair up with chopsticks. “I don’t need any cobwebs or critters attaching to my hair.” Down the ladder she proceeded cautiously each step to make sure none broke on her. The 1st thing Maxine sees behind the ladder is an old wooden wardrobe. Looking around, she spots a trap door, a large cauldron on its side near and open fire pit in the floor, a small forge, more covered furniture, candle making items and accessories, a book shelf, dead plants, lots of unusual jarred specimens, an alchemy lab, and a portrait. Is is covered in dust, but Maxine is confused. It is very similar looking to her, but from 1000s of years ago. Her dress is very extravagant and her gems too. Maxine reads an engraving in the frame that says July 2nd, 1632.  

*Mrwow* 

Maxine looks fast as the cat jumps on the book shelf. It bites and claws one out to fall on the floor. Maxine picks it up, with her fingers holding the two pages it fell flat open on. The outside binding is res leather with a gold sewn binding. “Sanadrith…” Maxine reads on the front. Flipping the book over, she looks at the pages she held. There is a drawing of the cat, with the same tortie colourings inside. On the other page reads, “Sukie, Sukie! How I love thy Sukie! She is the best friend anyone could ask for. My protector, my guide, forever, she will by at my side. Long before me, she was here. To this place I hold dear. Not here one day, but from her she showed me the way. In the night, I fright, there is nothing we can do. Protected she keeps me. Watches over me. To her, I pledge my loyalty. November, 1544.”  

*Ding, Ding, Ding, dong. Dong, dong, ding, dong* 

The door bell rings. “Who would be here at this hour?” Maxine rushes up the ladder with the journal in hand. Looking out the door, she sees nothing. A light is on in Sylvia's house across the street. Opening the door Maxine drops the journal and her flashlight gasping! Everything is sepia tone. The neighborhood is gone and a town from 1000a of years ago is present. There are horses pulling carriages, donkeys pulling carts, everyone is dressed very antique, there are trees all around as if they are in a woodland area. Maxine steps out slowly to her porch. Behind her the door slams shut and her home disappears. 

“Oh Miss Loset, you almost forgot your orange vodka.” A man’s voice speaks and Maxine turns around to be handed a mason jar.  

“Thanks. Mighty kind of you! Do alert me when you have the next shipment of unrefined spices.” Maxine curtseys and turns around confused. Something took hold of her. Before she knew it, she was walking down the street nodding her head at the townsfolk her greeted her. A galloping horse could be hear fast. It zooms past her directly to the church down at the end of the road. She hears people muttering about something happening to the father and that must be the special medicine they ordered. Lots begin to rush to the church. A bishop comes out assuring church will continue its daily callings and to not worry that the head priest is under great care.  

The bishop looks at Maxine and smiles greatly, “Miss Loset! Perhaps some of your herbal and alchemy techniques could be of use on a matter we came across. Please follow me. The test of you get back to your daily lives.”  

She enters the back of the church with the bishop to witness the priest heavily sweating and struggling in place. “You know I have nothing against the church or its followers, but if I intervene it would go against your ways.” 

“Please! We know, but highly respect and help keep your secret. Something must be done!” a nun pleas and stands up reciting verses from the bible. Maxine kneels down next to the priest. He leans over and grabs her neck.  

In a deep voice, his eyes rolls back and body stops sweating, and his hand turns cold, “your just a girl! Do you really think you can stop me! Not to much longer until I will have control of this body!”  

Maxine begins to loose her breath grabbing the forearms of the possessed priest as she passed out hearing all the church folk reciting bibles verses. When she opens her eyes, she is laying om the lounger again. The fireplaces are still present, the grandfather clock is gone, and the ladder to the basement is no longer present. “What a weird dream.” She hears a book slam and metal object hit the floor in the entryway. Her flashlight and the journal were there on the floor. “I must have been sleep walking.” The journal is full of blank pages. She sets it on the island in the kitchen and eats a granola bar. She feels a chill on her neck and turns around.  

Later that day, she had an appointment with her doctor. “Do you think the dream was about meeting her neighbor and having her toss holy water on the cat?” She asked. She had only told him the part about in the town, nothing about her home. 

“Perhaps. But, being in new places can do that to people. Especially living alone. You are too young to be living alone and I want you to report all this to me if it continues. That way we can fix it. Dreaming of possessed priests is pretty unhealthy and far out their. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have for today. I am going to prescribe you some sleep aids and see if this helps eases the anxiety causing abnormal dreams. Have it filled here.” Doctor Cyril Kard says. Maxine exists his office shaking her head at the prescription form. It takes almost and hour for her to get her prescription. On the way out, she hears a guy arguing with Doctor Cyril. 

“No! And I'm telling you, I make more money than you and have millions of people who support what I do and my lawyers will hear of this! Go ahead and call the cops to drag me in here, you and I both know I will be out before the day ends!” A guy speaks and slams the doctor’s door shut. Maxine and him both smile. 

“I hate that man.” Maxine speaks. The two stop and stare for a little bit.  Maxine breaks eye contact while biting her lip and returns to walking.  

“Hey!” The guys rushes to her and grabs her phone. He puts his phone number in it. “Call me if he harasses you! It’s not right or fair how he treats people. So what if I believe in ghosts! Lost of people do and have for thousands and thousands of years. But, I won’t tell you my name yet.”  

Maxine looks at her phone and laughs reading the entered name of Doctor Cyril butthead club. The guy runs off and enters van fast full of people that drives off. “Strange… I feel like I know him from somewhere. For a moment…nah!” 

When Maxine returned home, she pulled into the driveway and saw boys reflection in one of the upper floor windows. She nearly hits her garage and slams on her brakes. When she turns to get out of her car, she sees the boy’s face again in her window for a moment and flinches. The cat was sitting on the steps to the side back door. Carrying too much, Maxine drops a few items as she enters the mud room. It feels warmer than before and she sets the bags down to pick up the ones she dropped. As she looked there was nothing on the ground. Turning around, the cat was sitting in the hall with the items. Maxine, takes everything to the kitchen. She begins to clean the kitchen starting with the fridge first. It was built into the cabinets and very new age. After the kitchen was cleaned and items were put away. She goes out to the garage. Turning on the light, she stares at all her stuff. 

“If I had to guess where my culinary boxes were…” Maxine picks up a box and shakes it slightly. “Clothes.”  

*Mrow*  

Maxine looks up to see the cat sitting on a box. “You think this one?” Sukie suddenly looks away fast and takes off running. “Okay, bye!” She picks up the box and opens it to find some of her pots and pans. The next box had her cutlery, and the box below them had her plates. She goes back inside and cleans some items, while placing the rest in the dishwasher. When she closed the dishwasher, she heard glass shattering and opened it fast. Nothing was cracked if damaged and everything seemed clear of rubble. She starts it and then it stops. A thud is heard upstairs and the dishwasher starts up again. Maxine listens and can hear a faint scratching. Up the U shaped stairs she turns left toward one of the suites. Pushing the door open fast, she sees the cat tearing off pieces of wall paper and relaxes. “I don’t like it either.” Maxine walks in a couches down grabbing the wall paper. She stands up ripping it off fast. In front of the closet, on the wall she had entered from, Maxine uncovers a mural of a couple’s wedding day. “Wow! Why would someone cover this up?” Maxine rips off more wall paper to revel it all. As she stares at it, the door bell rings. The cat takes off running and hurries to the door.  

“Maxine!” Sylvia, grabs her hand and pulls her onto the porch. “My child! I seen it! The hell braking loose of this place. Your soul can still be saved.” The cat sits at the end of the porch where the stairs lead to the garage hissing. “Be gone demon!” Sylvia starts to sprinkle holy water. 

“Sylvia! What do you mean? I am just fine.” Maxine grabs her and settles her down. 

“This is how it starts…” Sylvia brakes free and pulls out photos of the house. Pointing she says, “see always the 1st sign. The chimneys appear…” Maxine grabs the photos and they catch on fire turning to ash quickly. “You…” Sylvia steps away and pulls out her crucifix. She slowly steps down the steps along the path out of the gate, “you’re one of them! I knew soon or a later this would happen! The devil is walking among this place and you’re leading it! You demon!” Out the gate Sylvia makes her exit.  

“What a nut so! And they say I need medications.” Maxine enters her home. 

That evening, when Maxine was making dinner, she had many instances of her items relocating without her knowledge and the kitchen felt cold many times. At one point, she saw the boy’s face again in the window to the backyard when at the sink. When she cleaned up and gad nothing left to do before bed, she opened the journal of Sandarith again to find it blank. The cat jumped up on the island in the kitchen and began rubbing against it.  

“Sukie?” Maxine asks the cat who now looks at her and sits staring at her eye to eye. “Anything else you can show me… like last night?” Sukie jumps off and scurries up the U shaped steps. Maxine follows her to the 4th floor. Sukie is sitting at the top of the steps. “My butt will look good if I do all these steps every day.” Sukie stands, arching her back, and walks off with her tail in the air. When Maxine climbs the last step, she looks around at the open area. “There’s nothing up here. The attic is empty,” she states.  

*Mrow*  

Sukie sits and looks up at a dangling rope from the ceiling a few foot long. “Okay… I missed that. What is this? A ballroom then? That would explain the saloon. I bet it gets hot uo here full of people.” She approaches the rope and pulls to slowly. “This leads to the attic?” A ladder falls down with dust to make Maxine cough. Suddenly, she hears a thud from downstairs. The same one she has heard many times. Looking at Sukie, she runs fast to the sound leaving the 4th floor. She rushes to the 2nd floor to find the one room's door slam shut and lock before her. Jimmying the handle, the door will not open. A gust of wind bursts open the French doors to her right in the room, directly in front of the U shaped stairs. Out to the porch she overlooks the backyard. It is night and not much could be seen. Turning to her left, she rushes to look inside the room. Reaching to grab a door handle, it turns and opens on its own. Walking in, the portrait of the couple now has a red heart and XO symbols all over the place.  The room now has furniture, old fashioned, all over the place. Tall posts around the corned of the bed with silk draped over them on bars that could be closed for privacy on the bed, a vanity along the wall beside it with make up and real silver and gold items upon it for the face and hair, a coat rack in the corner with men's attire on it, at the foot of the bed, that was angled off the angles wall to he right, was a bench, and all of the walls had the design beneath the wall paper without her of removing it.  

The lights begin to flicker, and the door slams shut behind her. It locks and will not open. A gust of wind fills the area as her hair and loose materials flop about. A chair smacks her in the back from the vanity and Maxine hits the ground. As she stands up, she is lifted into the air and lands on the bed. Sitting up fast, she holds onto one of the end posts of the bed. 

“Sukie!” Maxine shouts. The bathroom door burst open in front of her as Sukie walks calmly, un affected by the gusts. “What’s going on? Can you help me?” Sukie sits and stares at her. The chair lifts again to smack her in the back. As Maxie. Falls to the floor, she notices an abnormality in the wind. Taking a chance and using all her might, she stands and leaps up to grab it. Sukie joins her and the three tumble around to the floor. The room returns to normal and Maxine finds herself pinned on top of a young boy. 

“Okay, okay! You win!” He mutters and disappears. Reappearing in front of her face, he leans down offering his hand in aid to lift her odd the ground. She accepts and stands looking very confused at a ghostly image of a young boy. “What? You got a crush on me or something? Cause I don’t really know you and am not entirely sure if…” 

“Are you a ghost? Or am I truly as crazy as I have been told?” Maxine interrupts. 

“Blimey! It’s true!” The ghostly boy looks up and closely as beat possible into Maxine’s eyes. “Could you really?” 

Maxine holds her hand out, “Maxine…” 

“Yeah, I know.” The boy reaches toward her hand as it goes right through hers. “Hold on…” His ghostly form disappears and a hangar from the closet comes out. As Maxine grabs it, they shake and the boy can be heard, “Ramedes Ward. A pleasure to officially meet you. I have been watching you since you arrived.” 

“Watching me? You’re the reason for all the strange things?” Maxine asks and the hangar looses tension. The ghostly boy appears sitting on the bed behind her.  

“Hey! I don’t lie! But, I owed a favour to a friend. Why can you see me?” Ramdes asks. 

“I don’t know.” She smirks, “Cause I am as crazy as they say? Aren’t you supposed to kill me and eat my soul or something?” 

Ramdes looks down at the ground and his legs kicking off the edge of the bed, “you’re soul is different…” 

“Different? How?” Maxine asks and takes a step forth. A loud low growl could be heard and shakes the house. As she stumbles to the ground, the boy disappears. Sukie begins to arch her back hissing. Managing to make it out of the room, Maxine is quickly overwhelmed by a cloud of black.  

She hears the same voice from her dream possessing the priest, “leave now! Or help me fully rise! They can not help you. I am to strong! I have waited a long time for this moment to be presented to me…” Maxine begins to struggle and suffocate in the black cloud that fills the entire house. She passes out. 

Waking up the next morning to birds singing, she finds herself within the bed of the room. Sukie is all curled up at the foot of the bed. She looks at the portrait to find the heart and XO's gone and the wallpaper only torn on that wall. Other than that, all of the furniture was still in the room. The first thing she did was manage to pet Sukie, who stretched her legs out in enjoyment. Maxine smiled and went to the bathroom. As she stared into the mirror, she saw the boy’s reflection again and turned around fast. Nothing was their. When turning back around, the mirror was fogged and had 3 a.m. etched into it.  

Maxine left the room fast and got into her car driving off fast. She was unsure what to think or believe. “Am I really crazy? I should of took those sleep aids.” 

Maxine spends the day sitting at a lake nearby. She just thinks and ponders over her situation.  

“Are you okay?” Ramades asks her as he sits beside her. Maxine looks slowly, and stares at him sitting beside her. “Last night you were different. I chases that demon away for you.” 

“Demon?” Maxine whispers.  

“Yeah…” Ramades looks away with a look of sorrow. “I don’t know why I'm telling you this, but I like you. You’re not like the rest.” 

“Rest?” Maxine asks and puts her hand through his seemingly normal looking body. She pulls her hand back fast when his body turns grey and ghost like. 

“I bet you’re wondering why you were able to tackle me, but can’t touch me now? Same how I couldn’t shake your hand?” Maxine nods yes. “Well, I can’t shake your hand, cause a formal greeting between humans and ghosts doesn’t exist. But…” He stands up in front of her to lean to her eyes closer. “Like I said…” He crosses his arms and stand up straight, “you’re different!” 

“Yeah… I'm crazy physco! This must be another dream.” Maxine stands up and walks right through him. Heading back to her car, he begins to float around her.  

“What’s wrong? You seem upset?” Ramades floats into her body and speaks, “you feel angry. And…” 

“Get out of me!” Maxine shouts. The ghost disperses her body fast looking at her in somewhat if a shock. 

“You are different than others!” Ramdes smiles. Maxine enters her car and Ramades sits in the passenger seat.  

“Look, I don’t care if you’re dead. My brain will not move this car till you put your seat belt on.” Maxine glares forward out the front window gripping the steering wheel tightly.  

“Babe!” Ramades looks over at her smirking while putting the seat belt on, “I'm way older than seat belts. Have you ever ridden a horse? They don’t have seat belts.” Maxine drives away back to her home not to far. 

“Demon… so a demon is what’s been giving me these hallucinations? The old timey vison, noises, the cat?” Maxine asks. 

“The demon has attacked you on two occasion, but as for everything else…” Ramades stops talking mid sentence. 

“Everything else?” Maxine questions. “When was I attacked?” She slams on her brakes on a dirt road to look at Ramades.  

“Twice! And I saved you. You should trust me.” Ramades floats out of his seat and in front of the car. He starts to float down the road and Maxine watches. After so far, he turns around and gestures her forward. Taking a deep breath, she follows him back to her home. He disappears as she pulls into the driveway. As soon as she steps out, Sylvia approaches her. 

“Maxine, the time is now to save your soul. Please, allow me to cleanse you and this home of all the evil that resides here!” Sylvia is clenching her cross tightly and holding a vial of holy water in the other hand.  

“Evil? I'm not sure what you mean? This is just a house.” Maxine responds and walks off without looking back. 

“Be thy answer, so shall I am prepared!” Sylvia shouts at her and sprinkles the holy water all over her driveway walking backwards to her home and whispering bible verses. 

Maxine enters her mud room and closes the blind, while peeking to watch Sylvia leave her property. She sighs. 

“She not entirely bonkers, but she is of no use to us. Maybe, beneficial…” Ramades says and startles Maxine. 

“By us…” She starts to speak. Ramades disappears. “great…” She goes to her kitchen and Sukie comes through the pet door. She takes off up the stairs. “What? Is there going to be furniture or something now on the 4th floor?” Maxine heads back up and looks at the tall ladder she pulled out the night before. When she looks up, she sees Sukie looking down at her with her tail moving behind her. “Okay…” The attic is dark. Sukie bites the bottom of a curtain to let some light in. Maxine walks forward and ties it. She hears pages of a book flip open on an old dresser. Walking over she finds it is the journal of Sandarith again. “Sukie and I were in the garden today. I'm not sure why my flax, garlic, and turmeric do not grow and always die. I don’t mind purchasing it from the local merchant, but why I can not grow it myself remains a mystery. My order of brick will be here any day now for the kiln I want in the backyard.” She reads. Hearing latch open, next to the dresser a chest opens. Placing the journal down, she opens the chest. Inside it is full of photo albums. She picks up one that is white with a floral pattern om the spine. The cover has a black and white portrait of the painting she uncovered beneath the wall paper.  

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Ramedes appears leaning over Maxine’s shoulder and she flinches. “Sorry. I wish I could fall in love…” He begins to hug himself. “Any type of love would be nice. I can’t remember my own mother…” 

“Can you tell me why this stuff is up here? Why does furniture keep appearing?” Maxine asks and flips open the photo album. 

“You’re not furnishing the place and w…” Ramades hesitates. “well, I… I…” 

“You said you owed someone a favour and you don’t lie.” Maxine closes the album and stands up looking down at Ramades. “Why am I different?” 

“Hey, don’t you want to look around this olace more? There are more photo albums.” Ramedes begins to lift another album and Maxine smack it down into the chest, drops the one from her hand, closes the chest, sits on it, and crosses her leg looking at the young boy. “I'm just a kid! What’s with this sudden interrogation? What happened to the fear? You’re very one way this time another that time and somewhere else here.” 

“What were your words? Babe! I'm way older than seat belts…” Maxine mimics. 

“Okay! You’re right. I may look like a 10 year old kid, but I am thousands of years old. I…” He turns around. “I'm not the only one here. But…” 

“Yeah, the demon.” Maxine speaks. 

“No! Well, yes, that is here, but I meant someone else. He’s just… scared. He used to live here.” Ramades answers and turns around.  

*ding, ding, ding, dong! Dong, dong, ding, dong* 

The door bell rings. Maxine rushes downstairs 

 When coming down the curved staircase, she stops and sighs. “What does Ms Bible lady want now? More holy water? Burn me at the stake?” She opens the door to see her with a group of people holding bibles and candles, “What Sylvia?” 

“Please child! I ask you one last time, let us cleanse your soul! Evil resides and falls upon this house!” Sylvia pleas. 

“I am not religious!” Maxine shouts and slams the door shut. She walks to the kitchen and leans on one of the counters. Her phone rings. The number is unknown. It is just static and Maxine passes out. She wakes up to the door bell ringing again. This time, nobody was there. Hesitantly, she opens the door. No sepia world outside. To make sure, she steps out onto the porch. Nothing… Relaxing on the lounger she thinks. “What’s going on? I mean… That guy said he believes in ghosts.” She looks at his number in her phone. The door bell rings again. This time, there is a group of people outside. Assuming it is Sylvia, she angrily answers shouting, “I do not need to be converted! I don’t believe in god, Sylvia!” She stops and looks to see it is not her. “Oh…” Relaxing, “Sorry, I thought you were… wait a minute…” 

Simotansioulsy her and one of the guys speaks, “It’s you!” Maxine smiles and stares at the guy she met outside of Dr. Cyril's office. One of the other guys waves his hand between them and they snap out of their trance. 

Two of the guys push themselves forward to Maxine. One grabs her hand and begins to shake it hard with both of his hands. “Hi, call me Johnny. I'm the producer and director of this show. Next to me is my partner, Mark.” Marl smiles and waves slightly. Johnny stops the hand shake and places an arm around Maxine as he leans down to her level at the same time. “Do you think you could do us a teensy-weensy favour? Could you go back inside and re open the door. Without the whole staring?” He looks at Taeyong. “Both of you, no staring.” Maxine nods. “Great!” Johnny stands up tall and claps, “alright let’s do this! Places and as expected!” 

The door bells rings and Maxine waits for it to stop before walking into the entry. Opening the door Taeyong is in mid speech, “rejected here many times by the previous owners, all of which have died when taking up residence here, today that is going to change! I'm standing here with, get her a mic.” One of the crew hands her a regular microphone as Taeyong speaks into a headset one for himself.  

“Maxine…” She speaks into the mic as she grabs it.  

“Maxine, who is going to change our history here, right?” 

“What do you mean?” She asks. 

Taeyong gasps slightly, and a couple others do too, “you mean… you don’t know? She doesn’t know fellas!” He looks directly into one of the cameras, “fans. Mom!” Some of the crew reacted.  

“I know the last couple passed away. Allergies to cats and one has seem to make this her home. Sukie!” Maxine begins to speak and Taeyong places his finger on her lips to shush her.  

“Take us inside, a table would be nice, and let us tell you of some of the history and what we do.” Taeyong suggests.  

“Alright…” Maxine opens the 2nd door for them to easily come in, “I don’t have a table set up yet, but…” She stops and stares into the dining room at an exquisite round oak table, carves with matching the chairs. Only the two on the small curved ends have arms, but they all have really tall backs with cushioning draped over them. 

“Ha! Very funny Maxine!” Taeyong says. He looks into one of the cameras directly, “I like this girl!” 

Mark walks in to the far end of the table near the fireplace, he pulls out the chair with arms, “Maxine, sit here, please. Taeyong, close the curtains for me Yuta, you sit on that side of her, Jaehyun, you sit on the other side. Jungwoo, clear off the counters for me, can we get a sound and light test?” 

“Sound is clear.” A crew member says, as some sings slightly for the test.  

“Lighting is good,” both camera men speak holding thumbs up, as a a third camera is pulled put of a case.  

Johnny climbs on top of the table, with no shoes on they all removed them in the entryway and one of the crew touches up Maxine's make up and hair. He looks around for camera angles and jumps down. He stops to the right of Taeyong, “I want the camera on Maxine from right here, yeah… that fireplace looks amazing in the back ground.” He moves to the left of Taeyong between him and Maxine, “yeah… I want camera 2 on Jay right here.” He moves around the table to both sides of Jaehyun. “Hmmm…I don’t really want Taeyong's angle slanted for this, can you give me a selfie shot? Can we use an aerial cam or will it be in the shot?” 

“It’s clear, we can hold this over him for selfie view.”  The crew responds.  

“Great! I'm ready.” He looks at Taeyong, “Are you?” He nods, “Everyone else?” They all agree. “Maxine?” She shrugs. “Good! We're rolling in 3-2-…” He makes a 1 and then points at Taeyong. 

“So, Maxine graciously allowed us into her beautiful home! As you know, when someone doesn’t know about the history of a place, we give them a quick run down. Let’s see what Jay has to say today…” Taeyong speaks into the camera floating over his head. At the end he raises his eye brows in astonishment. 

“This home has been known to be…” Jay pauses for dramatic effect, “haunted!” Some of the crew reacts. “A few murders are said to of happened with no killer ever found, along with multiple “accidental” deaths. I have an article here of the most common, well was once common back in the day, people don’t speak or know of it nowadays, just take a look at the tablet here.” 

Johnny begins to read the same article off another tablet into a microphone, “February 28th, 1934, still during our great depression. Many are still struggling during this time. One couple was not, Mr. & Mrs. Lennon Fandrick. They had been helping out as many folks as they could in this time of need for so many. They opened their home to as many as they could as a place of shelter, to have food, and be consoled during the hardships. The couple had married in 1928, and when the stock market crashed, they put off starting a family until things returned to a happier lifestyle for many. Some feel it was their devoted love toward one another that lead to their horrific demise. Others say it was some lunatic just taking their stress out on good people. What happened the other night, has left the law enforcement stretching their heads and sick to their stomachs. Doctors can not fully explain things either.  

Four nights ago, February 24th, 1934, screaming was heard coming from the Fanderick Manor. The lamps were not lit, making it hard for people to find their way their. Not common at all for this place. All of the curtains were shut too. When a woman screams for bloody murder, people are quick to respond. Was it to late to save her? No body knows. Found with deep gashes all over her body, dress ripped, blood all over the mud room, some say a man began to yell. The hall had been dented as if Mr. Fanderick was forcefully tossed into it in multiple places before being decapitated. The head was not found with the body, and no blood was in the hall. All of the blood in the mud room was confirmed to only be of Amelia, the wife of Lennon. When law arrived with the person who first heard the scream, they said all the doors were locked and the keys were all inside the home. Not only was the young couple murdered, the rest of the people staying their were too. People of all ages. The moat horrifying view was seeing all the children laid out in a circle in the back yard around the bird bath with their throats slit covered in blood. They said when they entered the room by the curved stairs a noise was heard in the fireplace. Lennon’s head had fell down from the chimney into the room and rolled on the floor with his eyes missing! Rushing to the ballroom on the 4th floor to see if the culprit was still their, over 50 bodies were mangled with limbs all over the place. The walls and floors were clean of no blood. Not even one drip when an officer picked up the hand of a woman he knew. An officer ran off to puke in a bathroom only for the rest to rush to his screams. The water ran red of blood. The entire house was said to fill with the stench of rotting bodies. With no witnesses or explanation, the home has been condemned to the public until further notice.” 

Another article is pulled up that Mark reads, “August 11th, 1959. The Frantic Fanderick as people know it as, has been brought up again. A curious buyer and realtor made their way into the condemned manor to find more mystery about it. Inside they found a priest, bishop, and nun, sitting in praying form in the den on the 1st floor. Only, they were no longer alive. It seemed they were preforming a ritual of some sort and just died frozen as they were. What made no sense to a doctor who examined them before their bodies were removed we quote, “I have never seen anything like this before. It is aa if all of their flesh was removed and replaced back onto their bodies. Only, no liaison or evidence of this is present. It’s almost as if the life was sucked put of them!” Many forms of religion came to view this phenomenon only to claim their souls were claimed by evil. No action was to be taken to interfere with whatever they succeeded in. The curious buyer and realtor plan to renovate the home to be livable once again and are going to pay hefty to put all stories of the place to rest.” 

“Are you ready to sell your home?” Jay asks Maxine.  

She stares blankly at the photos on the screen looking up slowly her gaze is almost dead, “Maxine?” Taeyong stands up fast as does Jay and the others back away from her. 

Maxine stands up slowly and begins to walk in a trance up the curved stairs. They all follow her. The grandfather clock strikes 3 as she turns down the hall. Maxine closes a chute to the mud room in the hall as she walks by and it reopens on its own. The lights throughout the house begin to flickers on and off as all the blinds shut and curtains close.  

“What are we picking up, Haechan?” Johnny asks. 

“Definitely reading possession on Maxine. But, the readings are different than what I picked up on the laundry chute.” He raises a device up high and the readings are so intense the device sparks and stops working. “Whoa! Definitely what we have been searching for!” Maxine makes her way to the portrait of Lennon and Amelia. She brushes the cheek of the women. 

“Why? Why did she have to be slaughtered before my eyes?” Maxine speaks, with a males voice over hers. A tear falls from her face, “you were almost out. She stopped when the door slammed between. She couldn’t leave me behind. I watched her be lifted into the air and scream. The scream! Her scream! There was nothing I could do! The door wouldn’t open. When I tried to grab something to break the glass, I was pulled away and slammed into the wall many times. When she fells to the ground, I could see my own body with no head on the floor. I could see all the limbs being ripped in the ballroom. Only, the place was filled with fire. The laugh… that laugh… his laugh… I closed my eyes and then saw my own head missing it’s eyes. I had to watch. He made me watch. The children…” Maxine falls to the floor crying. She regains herself and looks around the room. 

“He’s here! Ramedes, help!” The crew begins to be pulled around and tossed. One starts to choke and loose air rapidly. Maxine rushes over to him. “please!” He is freed and gasps for air. The room doors shut and lock as the area is filled with fire. 

“Souls… I need more souls to complete was I was halted from a long time ago!” The demons voice could be heard. Maxine sees Ramades appear with Lennon as the two point at Maxine. She looks down and sees a pentagram necklace appear around her neck. It glows white and the area fills with a bright light. The all appears in the old town in sepia tone. 

“Wh…what? Our cameras?” Taeyong shouts as everyone is confused. The church bell rings fro service and the grandfather clock strikes 4 in the house. They all open their eyes to find themselves in the dinning room still. “Yes!” Taeyong stands and shakes one of the crew to wake up. 

“What do you mean yes?” Maxine asks. “I'm not crazy am I?” 

“No! Taeyong grabs her cheeks and kisses her. He pulls away fast, “You're amazing! We hit more than a grand slam here!” Maxine is blushing and touching her lips as Taeyong runs to the portrait in the room. Maxine follows.  

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Maxine asks. 

“Doyoung,” Taeyong snaps, “Paperwork!” 

“These forms document your home is indeed residence to a demon, ghosts, poltergeist, orbs, ectoplasm, spirits, lost souls, and much more. The 1st, he stops and pulls the clipboard to write in the 1st and notarized it, “The 1st ever on our show to have all in one place. By signing these forms, you give us permission to anything we catch in film and stating you, plus all of us, are witness to the true events here. Any results in death, we are no liable for, you may choose to be or not to be present when we are working, and royalties will and only will be paid if our views reach over a million in 24 hours of the episode being released ….” He writes in a date, “6-8 months from now. I need signatures at the yellow arrows, initials on the orange, a thumb print at the blue, you reading the line at green on recording, a photo of all of us together to be attached at the red, and a hand shake to fully complete the agreement before I notarize it. A copy will be hand delivered to you at our next visit. What do you say?” Doyoung says. 

“Anything to prove I'm not crazy and to get answers. I always wanted to be on TV.” Maxine completes the paperwork except the photo. 

“We will have to do the photo next time. All of our lenses need replacing. Plus…” Doyoung says. 

“I know, I need to be more presentable. You can see I've have an eventful last few days.” Maxine replies.  

“Are you sure? We, or I, could definitely stay to observe and protect you if you like?” Taeyong asks when speaking to Maxine in the entryway as the crew finishes loading up their broken equipment and store it in their van. 

“Yeah. When it’s just me here it has been like what we experienced. Don’t worry. The house will still be here when you all come back. Thanks though. It’s sweet of you to offer.” Maxine replies and smiles. Everyone is out the door and Taeyong turns around. A group of children were playing in the street and the driver of the van is honking at them.  

Standing in the door way Taeyong turns around, “Ya know? When we were in the flashback…I… I really liked your hair. I mean, it looks great as it is now. But, that old fashion style up on your head,” He takes a step toward her and slightly pinches the bottom of her chin, “I could see all of your lovely face!” He turns around fast, slamming the door shut running to the van. He hops in it and leaves just as he had the day she met him. Maxine watches out the glass of the door and locks it. 

“Somebody’s in love!” Ramades shows up sitting  on the stairs.  

“I barely know him!” Maxine turns around. 

“But, you do like him! Trust me, I've seen it more times than I can count.” Ramades answers. “Actually…” He stops as he and Maxine look upstairs. They hear a man crying. “Lennon…” He disappears. Maxine goes up the steps to the room with the portrait. Opening the door slowly Maxine peeks in to see Lennon sitting on the floor crying. Ramades is rubbing his back standing beside him. 

“I admire your feelings. I…I saw your memories when you, uh…” Maxine begins to speak. 

“I shouldn’t of shown you. Just hearing the event it just took over and I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t help her!” Lennon smacks the floor creating a loud thud. The lights turn on in the room and bathroom. “I can’t do anything…” 

“That’s not true.” Maxine kneels beside him with her hand on his shoulder, “you help me. You help me see the truth. You saved me! Your possession of me may keep me out of the looney bin.” 

“You’re so kind. Modest. Just like…” Lennon stops crying and looks up at his wife in the painting.  

“Is this what she would want? For you to mourn her still? There has to be a reason the demon is here.” Maxine speaks looking at the painting. 

“There is! You can! I'm almost positive of it now!” Ramades shouts. He passes through Lennon and Maxine stands up taking a step back as he approaches. Circling Maxine he places a hand under his chin, “Same bust, same butt, same hair, same eyes, lips, noes, hands, and…” He stops and smiles. 

“To who?” Maxine asks. 

*Mrow*  

Sukie comes running in and rubs up against Maxine’s legs. “See, Sukie is convinced too!” Ramades disappears. 

“Sukie… do you miss her too?” Lennon reaches his hand out and Sukie rubs up against him. “You are why this painting exists.” Lennon holds Sukie in his arms as she begins to pur. 

“Why is this painting in this room and not in the master suite upstairs?” Maxine asks. 

“We gave up the master suite to house a family in there. It was after a while when a man showed up at our home. He was following Sukie. He wanted to sketch her, said he fell in love with her markings. One of the kids staying here, we were fostering a bunch, had ran to get Amelia. She sat right on the porch with all the children and held Sukie, so he could draw her. When he finished, he had drew everyone! The sun began to go down and she asked him to stay for dinner. Finding out, he hadn’t ate in a couple days. That’s when we took him in. What started out as a couple people, to children, lead to us having around almost 70 I would guess! Until that week, and dozens left before they could fall victim to that evil…” Lennon explains and begins to walk about the room. Maxine takes a seat on the bed to listen. “The artists spent a lot of time drawing sketches and teaching the children how to enhance their skills. They’re in a chest in the attic. One day the kids all came back from the library and one had ran right up to the artist asking if he knew how to draw the oil paintings in the book. He replied saying that oil paints are expensive and not something he could do in these times. But promised if he could, he would show them a real oil painting one day. Amelia was so thoughtful and brilliant! She asked all the men staying their if they knew how to make paint. The men were excited to work woth the children, and little did I know that, a lot of the herbs she kept were made into oils and mixed with turpentine or varnish could make paint! Everyone had so much fun and the artist was worried cause we were avoiding him. For colour my wife had just used all of her pallets of make up! It was the amazing! More better, was after dinner one night. We surprised him! He cried, so much happiness! Everyone felt so good. When we woke the next morning, he had this portrait of us and the photo rested beside it. We had it framed and we told the artist do not worry over paying us back. Paper was easy for us to obtain, and he brought so much joy to the people of this house. A widow with her tear filled crumbled war photo of her husband, was able to stand beside him once again as if he were real. So much! So much good was in this home, to fall under a terrible, terrible fate.”  

They hear a bunch of children laughing, what seems to be right outside the house. Maxine rushes to the back door to see nothing, but hears them. Opening the door slowly, the back yard is now very well maintained and slightly different. Lennon looks and speaks, “it looks…” Maxine steps forward. He attire changes to the 1930s look. “You look like that woman!” Lennon and Ramades steps outside to the porch to enter the flashback. The back door slams shut. Standing on the porch, they watch the children run around the porch and down the steps. Maxine sits in a rocking chair, the one that is out front now as Lennon shout, “children! Be careful some of you still are healing from the last time you rough house too much!” The boys begin to wrestle and the girls all scatter around the area. One had come up to Maxine asking her name. Maxine shook her head and stood up walking away. “Don’t worry, she just needs time to adjust. Best if you leave her alone. Go play!” Lennon watches Maxine walks down the steps. As she did this, day became night. Along the path she found herself near the kiln. Maxine had a basket full of unusual stones of different colours. Placing them on tbe ground, one by one around the area. Lennon watched the little girl walk onto the porch. Maxine had disappeared. The girl went to where she was last. Lennon and Ramades follow. Stairs had appeared leading down into a room. When they walked in, Ramades and Lennon returned to their ghostly forms. Maxine was holding the girls wrist and waggling her finger in a no you are mis behaving manner.  

“Child, do not follow. Child, do not be curious. Stay away and do as I say. Here is not a place for you, here there is something I must do.” Maxine speaks in a soft low voice. Lennon is tapped on the shoulder, he looks back to see two boys watching. The girls turns around and Maxine follows as the boys hide. The girl returns to her bed in the room full of children in a trance.  

“It wasn’t too long before this when things began to get paranormal around the place. Causing people to leave. I remember…” Lennon speaks. Maxine holds up her pentagram to the full moon and it begins to glow, she sprinkled a powder about the area and the hidden entrance disappeared. Maxine had walked to the bird bath, and the images of the children laying their begin to haunt him. Maxine submerges her hands in the bird bath and a bunch of glowing orbs appear. 

“We're sorry lady! We didn’t mean to! You warned us and we didn’t listen! Please make it stop! Why did you hurt us? Why are we still here?” The orbs begin to speak and gain a ghostly form of their bodies standing around the birdbath and Maxine. 

“Where’s that one girl?” Ramades asks. 

“Glinda! Wait… I don’t remember her being here the day…” Lennon thinks hard. 

“Harm you, I did not. Consequences were paid for your disobedience. You need to help her, not I, the one you see. She is not me, but it is me speaking through her. I did all I could… what happened, was not my fault and I do not blame you, but an end I was trying and failed. But… she… Maxine, can win.” Maxine speaks while in the control of the flashback. It stops and Maxine has her hands in rainwater in the algae birdbath standing in tall un maintained grass. She turns around pondering what she was shown. “It was the children… they got into the basement…” Maxine takes off running into the house. To the Library, she makes her way into the basement.  

“What is this place? This was never here?” Lennon looks around confused.  

Sukie meows and they all go over to a table she is sitting on. She grabs a bible and flips it open to the inner cover, “this is property of Hamilton H. Halloway.” 

“That was the one boy!” Lennon replies. Maxine opens to where the tassel marker is at to find an exorcism and many other rituals against evil. A couple pages were ripped out and in place was a folded note.  

Maxine read it, “To the one who finds this, know I did all I could, I took her words, Sandarith, and put enchantments about the area. They will not last and it will return. I fear I am too weak and alone to be able to seal its ability to enter this world. The little boy did not mean to re open the portal. Only the children’s souls was I to save, in hopes they can be of use in the future. I was sent to find this place, on behalf of Sandarith's granddaughter. Unable to make the journey herself, I fear the demon, Nomed, may be free one day to destroy all. So, it is not repeated, I tore out what brought him to this world. My secret room has it in its safe. From here you can enter by arranging the tiles to form something else along the western wall. If you found this, Sukie must trust you, or…” 

Lennon has a blank face, “I don’t know what to think.” 

The orbs appear around Maxine and begin to whisper, “We know what do to do when the time comes. We are here for you Maxine the Modest. I say Maxine the Magnificent. Maxine the Marvelous. They all work, but it’s up to her to figure the rest out. I'm sorry! We want to fix what we did!” 

“P.S. I have taken Glinda on as my apprentice. She was the only one I could fully save that day. At a cost… The young man who lived here… I gave his soul to the demon. I fear he will hate me if I ever meet him. It was his or his wife’s… I know his presence will be here for ever. Please tell Lennon Fanderick I am sorry.” Maxine reads from the back of the note. Lennon disappears. “Here forever? “ She looks at Ramades. 

“He can’t leave the property line, not like me. There are different types of afterlives. Give him time to think. I wouldn’t be mad, but maybe we can find information about the girl more. Let’s search the attic!” Ramades disappears. Maxine is huffing and puffing as she reaches the attic to find most of it scattered around the ball room. “So, the other flashbacks you have had, I have not been able to enter. When were they?” 

“Old. Very old. Like 1800s? Maybe before the 1st settlers were dated being here. The house wasn’t here, but the lake was. I'm not really sure.” Maxine replies. She finds a box with an unusual inscription on it that is locked with a funky key. It has Glinda etched into the bottom. 

“Whoa! There is magic on this box! I can’t even touch it and I can open any lock that is not enchanted or in control by a higher or stronger being than myself.” Ramades says.  

Sylvia was watching with binoculars from her home. The ball room had a large multi story window with no curtains or blinds. She sees all sorts of objects moving from out of the attic to the floor on their own. “Evil in that house!” She speaks to herself. Maxine arrives and can be seen talking to herself. Even more stuff begins to appear and float around the area on its own. “A witch! A witch!” Sylvia opens her bible and begins using prayer beads as she reads. 

After lots of searching through the attics items, Maxine decided to get some rest. The night was quiet. Maxine slept on the lounger again. In the morning, she woke up on her own with nothing abnormal. Walking the house, it is empty. She decides to bring in her boxes of clothes from the garage. She takes them to the suite above the lounge. Maxine is startled as she pulls out some items to hang in the closet, “Why are you in this room?” 

“Well, it doesn’t feel right to be in the Fanderick room. I will let him have that.” Maxine replies to Ramades. 

“Fanderick room?” He says confused. 

“Yeah, that is what I will call it. I will get a plate saying so for the door. I need to think of a name for this one. I mean we have the swan bathroom, this one has fish in it… maybe I will decorate this one with an underwater theme, that is…” Maxine turns around and looks around. 

“What?” Ramdes says and looks around. 

“Is any other furniture going to appear?” Maxine says. “I also am going to temporarily keep my clothes in this room. I want to paint the master suite and don’t want my stuff reeking of paint or stained. Maybe you can help me get the rest of the furniture out of it? All the cots out of the billiards room too? I'm crossing my fingers ti find a pool tabel around here! I'm really good.” 

*ding* 

Maxine and Ramades look out into the hall. They both rush out, her through the door and he through the wall. Passed the grandfather clock and the hallway to the left, across from the laundry chute, before the end of this hall, the 2nd set of stairs, and the billiards room was an elevator. The doors had just closed. A green bulb beside the door lights up. She hits the button below the bulb and the doors open. Lennon is standing there with a photo album covered in dirt and slightly spoiled pages. 

“These were photos a photographer had took of our home. He was admiring the architecture. I had stole it from him and hid them. I want you to see them.” Lennon waves them into the elevator with him. The elevator makes its decent to the main floor. “I can change the house and control it, but when he’s around…” 

*ding*  

They exit and enter the den. It is now furnished. An astoria style sofa, with matching armchairs. A hand woven rug was on the floor between them and an end table between the chairs with a lamp upon. In the corner was a custom built secretary desk to fit in the corner. Both bay windows have pillows decorating them. Maxine sits on one of the chairs facing the kitchen and opens the book as Lennon and Ramades sit across from her. She sees lots of black and white photos of the home. Many of them have dark shadows about in similar shapes. A reflection of a grin behind the parlor in the ballroom, in the windows, and even in some water sitting in the driveway. She pulls out a photo taken inside the library. On the desk is a kerosene lamp. Inside she does not see the demon.  

“Hey…it’s…” Ramades begins to say as he moved behind her. 

“I never noticed that before.” Lennon speaks. 

“Me? It can’t be…” Maxine says. 

“Sandarith. Maxine, try to concentrate. Wait! Where’s the pentagram necklace?” Ramades speaks as she looks toward the lounge. He disappears and reappears placing it around her neck. The 2nd he screws the latch, the face in the lamp begins to speak and Maxine drops the photo on the album.  

“Ramades! It’s good to see you! You found…” The woman speaks and the album is slammed shut and knocked to the floor from Maxine’s lap. 

The house begins to shake slightly, the blinds and curtains all move, and a moment later pounding could be hear from the front porch. They all go to view and see Sylvia using a rubber mallet to fasten rubber hooks. A black shadow gathers  behind her and both Ramades and Lennon disappear to divert the demon. A loud thud is heard from the floors above. Maxine ducks as Sylvia looks. She can hear her start to chant bible verses and set something on the porch. She walks away spilling a tail of holy water. When Maxine is thrown into the wall and held in place against it. The front doors swing open and a crucifix was in the center of the porch as angles and amulets hung from the columns. The entire front yard and house turns to fire, except the porch. Nomed appears in the black shadowy form from the photos. It picks up the cross and holds it toward the columns. Syliva only sees Maxine holding the cross and the house and yard normal. The angles and amulets catch fire and turn to dust. Nomed faces Maxine and points to her. He drops the cross on the porch and it ignites till turning to ash. She can hear rattling of metal. 

“Maxiiine!” Taeyong’s voice could be heard. 

“All of our readings are off the meters! Something is binding this gate shut!” A crew member speaks. 

“No!” Taeyong starts to shake the gate even more and try to climb through it with no luck. “Lift me up!” Some help him climb above the wall. 

“Cameras rolling! Mark! Mic! Now!” Johnny shouts.  

“Taeyong is being aided to climb this wall. As you can see…” Mark begins to host and Teayong is pushed off one of the pillars and caught by the crew. He runs into the van and grabs an iron bar along with placing items upon his person. “This gate is being bound shut by a powerful force.” Some of the crew shakes the gate trying to open it as Mark speaks. They can see Maxine on the porch. Taeyong climb back on top of the fence pushing forward with the iron bar. “Let’s watch with all pf our camera lenses to see what happens.” Taeyong lands and is now surrounded by fire in the front yard. Maxine is pulled toward the demon as it steps inside the entryway. Black hands begin to grab Taeyong and disperses them with the rod. Running up the flame stairs to the flame shaped house, he pulls off a rubber attachment from the end of the rod and slashes out a bunch of powder. The demon squeals and drops Maxine. All of the fire disappears with the demon and the house returns to normal. The crew comes rushing in with cameras and devices.  

“What did you do?” Maxine asks as Taeyong grabs her hand while she pushes herself up to a kneel. 

He smiles at her and rubs the back of her hand and helps her stand with a hand on her back, “salt, turmeric, garlic, rue, thyme, all the herbs that ward off evil.”  

“Flax?” Maxine asks and scoots back as Jaehyun and Doyoung split them apart to get readings on their scanners.  

“Yeah.” Taeyong answers.  

“Hey!” Maxine jumps some when a device hits her butt. 

“Sorry.” Jaehyun says smiling.  

“We need to scan the whole house and do readings.” Yuta speaks. “Taeil? Are your readings the same as last time?” 

“No. Some of the presences are not here. Like we picked up, multiple entities here. The spirit begon must have pushed them back. The demon isn’t even reading now.” Taeil answers. 

“I have some photos I want you to see.” Maxine hurries to the den and picks up the photo album. She sits and they all gather round. When she opens it, she is shocked. “They’ve all been burned!” She flips through it fast to find all the photos blacked and scorched. “They weren’t like this 20 minutes ago.” 

“Ezia?” Jungwoo says.  

The crew all looks at one another and nods their head while simultaneously saying, “Ezia!” 

“Ezia?” Maxine questions. 

“We can handle it here!” Haechan winks at Taeyong.  

He grabs the album and Maxine’s wrist, “you'll see! C'mon! Where are your car keys? They need the van and I don’t really use the equipment anyways.”  

Taeyong drives Maxine’s car to a nearby town. The drive through the old district and many people are out enjoying themselves. He turns at a light and then down a street into a neighborhood of small older homes. Not as old as her's, but not from the 2000s. He parks in front of a small house with a small metal fence around the front next to a home with a pick it fence around theirs. A palm reader’s sign is out front near the mail box. 

“Palm Readings and Other Meanings…” Maxine reads as she grabs the photo album and closes the car door. 

There is a brick garage detached from the home and a large bay window with curtains closed and a cat lounging in the sunlight within it. The other side has a brick fireplace. Taeyong pulls on a rope that rings and actual bell that could be heard just on the other side of the door. A metal plate reads, Madame Ezia below her house number. 

“Taeyong!” A woman answers the door, “T'aves baxtalo!” She opens the door to allow him in. “Welcome!” She stops Maxine at the door and looks her over. She stops and stares into her eyes, “So'i tjiro nav?”  

“What?” Maxine asks. “Sorry, I…” 

“What is your name?” The woman grabs some of her hair and separates it between her fingers smiling.  

“Maxine Loset.” She holds her hand out. 

“Ezia Liberty.” The woman replies and smiles grabbing her hand with both of hers. For a moment, Maxine sees all sort of images flash through her mind. “I knew it… Come in! Come in! Sit, browse, whatever your heart desires!” She closes the door and scurries off to her kitchen through some curtains to the right as you enter. Maxine begins to look around at the room to her left where a small table with a crystal ball sat and two chairs on each side of it. One was basic with no arms and the other had a tall back, almost looking like a thrown with cushions and arms having a design carved into it. Taeyong takes a seat in a chair in the corner of the room and crosses his leg watching. She looks into the crystal ball, mesmerized. A cloud begins to fill the inside. She reaches out to touch it when the room begins to feel cold. She turns around fast sensing something. Maxine stops and stares seeing a ghostly man hanging by a rope with his neck snapped in front of the main door and stairs to the basement.  

The curtains to the kitchen open and Ezia walks out with a tray full of crackers, cheeses, and meets. She sets it on a small table next to Taeyong who rubs his palms I delight and begins to munch. Ezia stops next to Maxine and stares with her leaning close to her slowly whispering, “we are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and souls are deep with dreams…” Maxine looks at her and she rushes into the kitchen giddily. When Maxine looks for the ghost, he is no longer there. She sits on another chair next to Taeyong on the other side of the small table. He holds out a cracker with cheese and meat to her with a mouth full already. She tries to take a bite and he shoves it all in her mouth. She smiles and covers her mouth as she chews. Taeyong stops to admire her. Before filling his mouth again. Ezia walks out with a smaller tray of glasses, upside down, and a bottle of wine. She sets it on the table in the center of the room next to the crystal ball. She turns around and sits in the basic armless chair sideways. “Loset! Loset. Loset…” She turns he head sideways for a moment and the. Smiles greatly at Maxine. Without breaking eye contact, “Taeyong, what brings you hear today? Something most splendous so far, yes, indeed!” 

“Take a look at this album.” Taeyong points to it and Maxine hands it to her.  

Ezia feels the binding closing her eyes and then the cover, “real leather, hand stitched, not of people, a home, and…” Ezia stands up and places the album on her chair. She goes into a closet and pulls out some charm bracelets. Handing two Taeyong, she insists putting them on Maxine. She already had some on and she begins to light candles about the room. She moves her crystal ball, below the table in a special holder for it beneath the cloth and moves the wine tray on top of the now empty snack one. “Sit around the seance table, please.” Taeyong brushes crumbs off him as he stands. He pulls out the basic chair for Maxine, moves it over slightly around the table, and scoots it in as she sits and then grabs one sitting beside the fire place to join the table. They are evenly spaced out. Ezia had pulled out small stone and wooden saucers to fill with different spices and ingredients from a cupboard behind her chair. She sprinkles some over the album, then all of them. She grabs a candle stick and hovers it over the album. The powder disappears into the book. She opens the first page, and looks between Maxine and Taeyong. Maxine looks to see the ghostly man standing their placing his hands on the album. Ezia hovers her hands over the 1st photo all covered in burnt black. “I see a house…” She sprinkles some stuff on the photo and it takes fire. It extinguished fast, but the photo was now as if it was in its original state from the 1930s. No dirt, burns, rips, good as new. She turns a page and repeats this on the next photos. Maxine takes a deep breath when she gets to the 1st page where the demon had shown up in the photo ad a shadow in the hall on the main floor. Ezia opens her eyes, “join hands please, I sense tampering by the one to be reveled on this page,” Taeyong and Maxine hesitate slightly and then smile grabbing one another’s hands, “Protect all who are here from whatever will react. May my magic keep us dear and push all the evil back!” She slams two powders down on the photo. The album begins to shake, but the photo is revealed.  

Taeyong grabs the photo and looks at it, “Full body ectoplasm shadow, no eyes shown, a single curled horn on one side and 4 spikes on the other side, one claw is larger than the other, talons… next one.” The continue to reveal the photos and Taeyong looks them over. “I have never seen anything as powerful as this before. Only read about it from stories over thousands of years old and old Catholicism. I would fear to see what it looked like in person.” 

“He has red eyes, and when you look into them its almost as if you can see…souls inside them panicking. Blood was dripping from the largest claw nail, his body was shadowy like this,” Maxine starts to explain while staring at the table. 

“He is not in his full form yet…” Ezia says. 

“When did you see him?” Taeyong asks. 

“Today…when you saved me. Just before he touched me. Didn’t you see him?” Maxine answers. 

“I saw the fire and souls trying to stop me, and a form like in these photos, just an ectoplasm shadow. But, not until I was in your yard. I'm sure my crew has the footage filtered, but I don’t know if we could see what you see or…” Taeyong looks at Ezia. “Madam…” 

“How many times have you encountered him?” Ezia interrupts. 

“Today was the 1st time I seen him. Yesterday, is when he spoke in my home the 1st time, when he said my soul would help him finish what he started. Then…” Maxine beings to speak. “In a flashback…” 

Ezia moves the photo album and replaces the crystal ball, “Gaze into the crystal ball. Tell us what you saw so we shall see, that way I can help you on the path you seek!” She speaks while hovering her hands over the ball. Maxine gazes into it and the clouds turn to the town she was in, it shows her in the sepia tone leaving the merchants shop to the church and the possessed priest. 

*Mrow* 

A fluffy cat, the one from the window, rubs up against Maxine, “Charlie, I agree with you entirely. I must consult with my mentor for guidance and approval.” Ezia pets her cat and stands up. She grabs a small wooden box and opens it. Inside is a very old fashion golden brush. “Might I ask for some of your hair? Simply brush it and leave the brush back in the box. Pardon me for a few minutes as I retrieve something.”  

Maxine picks up the brush, it is heavy. She sighs, “I don’t like brushing my hair. It gets, poofy!” She starts to brush until all of it done. Hair is left in the brush and she returns it to its holder. Taeyong is staring at her across the table, “I know! It’s poofy now!” He reaches across the table and grabs both of her hands. 

“Your face is still amazing!” With their elbows still on the table and them holding hands around the crystal ball they smile and stare. The cloud begin to turn pink and they both appear within the ball ghost like. Inside the ball, the watch themselves looking around. When they see each other they run. Maxine leaps into her arms and he spins her around kissing her till they slowly stop and hug intimately. Maxine blushes and lets go of his hands standing up. Taeyong stands up and walks around the table to her. She begins to examine everything in the room ignoring him. She only goes up to his shoulder and he looks down at her from behind following her closely about the room. At one point, Maxine pulls out an old book on the shelf that looked familiar. As she did this, Taeyong placed his hand on hers and the other on her hip. He leaned in very close to her face from behind. She looks toward him slowly, and is startled to see the ghostly man and steps away.  

“What? I'm sorry.” Taeyong apologizes and feels regret over his actions and feelings. 

The ghost moves around the room and stops pointing to a photo above the fireplace. Maxine is in a trance and approaches. She sees the man with a woman. Maxine picks up the photo and passes out, Taeyong catches her. Inside her head she sees Glinda as a child and her life go by rrql fast, and then her with the ghost man, up till where she was stabbed. She wakes up a bit frantic with Taeyong holding her.  

“Do you see him?” Maxine asks and stands looking into the ghosts face as he blankly stares.  

“No. I don’t see anything.” Taeyong smiles, “you can because you’re…” 

“Got it! Hush your words. I will be the judge of that.” The ghost disappears and Ezia hands them a small wooden box with an old fashioned key in it. “You will need this. Only once will it work. Do not open it, until you need it.” Ezia grabs the bottle of wine and opens it. Taeyong grabs a glass for him and hands one to Maxine. “To a successful séance and new lifelines! Shall our next endeavours be oh so Devine! Cheers!” They clink and drink. “Tell me more about yourself Maxine.” 

“There’s not much to tell…” 

The crew is taking readings, photographs, and scanning the entire house using many different devices and cameras except Doyoung. He is looking over and filtering the footage from when they 1st arrived of Maxine and the demon in front of the house. Some of the cameras pick up the demons image and some did not, along with other things. At the same time he is researching through their digital archives and documenting everything.  

“Hello!” Haechan shouts down the fire place from the master suite to the dinning room. 

“Hiii!” Haechan looks up and sees Jungwoo waving at him and Haechan waves back. 

*Mrow* 

“What?” Jungwoo says confused turning around to see Sukie. 

“Where are you going? What happened? I'm picking up… ouch!” Haechan bumps his head in the fireplace as his readings skyrocket. 

“Aw! Kitty!” Jungwoo smiles and sets his equipment down. 

“Hey!” Haechan shouts. 

Excitingly Jungwoo looks back down the chimney, “there’s a kitty! Ahhh!” Sukie tackled Jungwoo into the chimney that shifts slightly, wider and seemingly slanted.  

Haechan looks up the chimney, “what the? Ahhh!” Sukie lands on his face, forcing him down the chimney. 

“What are those two doing?” Doyoung stands and looks up the chimney to see nothing. When he turns around, Sukie tackles him in the gut causing him to stumble and fall into the fireplace. “Ahhh!” Jungwoo lands first, with Haechan on top and Doyoung last. They all struggle in a pitch dark room. “Light please!” 

“Get off of me and I will!” Haechan shouts. 

“I'm confused! Where are we! What happened to the kitty?” Jungwoo says. 

“I've told him many times not to leave stuff lying around!” Jaehyun walks down the ladder from the attic picking up the equipment on the floor looking around for Jungwoo. “Jungwoo? Where are you?” 

“Hey! Have you seen Haechan? He was in the master suite, but now I can’t find him.” Taeil asks Johnny and Mark who are in the billiards room scanning all the game tables. They look at each other. 

“We heard him shouting not to long ago.” Mark says after looking at Johnny.  

“Hey guys!” Yuta shouts up the stairs. Johnny, Mark, and Taeil run to the stairs, “Do you know where Doyoung went?” 

“I can’t find Jungwoo.” Jaehyun joins them. 

“Haechan is missing too!” Taeil shouts. 

“Okay, let’s search together. They have to be here somewhere.” Johnny says.  

*Mrow* 

Haechan shines his flashlight in the direction of the cat meowing.  

“Kitty!” Jungwoo rushes forth and trips. Doyoung lights some kerosene lamps.  

“Whoa!” Haechan is excited and intrigued by the Morningstar Jungwoo tripped over. He tries to pick it up, only for it to be heavy and scratch along the ground.  

“I don’t see a way out.” Doyoung shouts. “I don’t see a way out! Guys! Heeey! Guys!” He begins to panic some.  

“What is this place?” Jungwoo asks. “Everything is very medieval and renaissance like. Sort of feels like Ezia in here, but more eerie.” The three begin to look around the basement. 

“Where could they be? Even when I try to call them, it goes straight to voicemail.” Yuta speaks.  

“Let’s check Haechan’s recordings back in the van. Maybe he picked something up or could give us a clue.” Johnny says. They enter the van, that is now parked in the driveway. On their way out the mud room door, it slams shut behind them. The group looks back. 

“Not the readings of the demon, but this wavelength is the same as one we picked up yesterday in the room with the painting.” Taeil says. 

“The door is locked.” Jaehyun says trying to open the door. 

“Let’s check the van.” Johnny says. They review the readings and pick up their voices yelling down the chimney. It is followed and ends by static.  

“Does this place have a chimney? I don’t remember seeing one.” Mark asks. 

“What if it was a portal?” Yuta suggests. 

“Who knows? We should put on our protective gear and try to re enter the house, or look for a hidden passage or something.” Johnny tells. 

“Man! I don’t like this.” Jaehyun worries as do the rest. They all now have amulets and jars of various spices in tool belts with other items, they can not get back into the house. All of the doors are locked tight. They do not see or find a basement from the outside either.  

“I guess all we can do is wait for Maxine to get back with her keys.” Mark says as they all relax in the backyard.  

“What should we do?” Jungwoo asks. 

“Let’s find more cool stuff like this!” Haechan has managed to get the Morningstar over his shoulder and slams it down onto a cauldron.  

“Be careful with that!” Doyoung shouts and examines the tiles on the western wall. They are arranged in a photo of the mountains with clouds and the sun.  “Some of these lines don’t match up or make sense.” He mutters to himself. 

Jungwoo has on pieces of armour from one of the knights and gets knocked onto his back on the floor by a swing of the Morningstar. The two continue to horse around. Sukie sits and stares at Doyoung, and he tries to ignore her creeped out. Sukie's attention is suddenly drawn and she takes of running and disappears. 

“You’re quiet.” Taeyong speaks. “Are you okay?” 

“What? Yeah…I'm fine. Just thinking. So much has gone on since I moved into the house. New people, experiences…” She looks down at the box Ezia gave her on her lap on top of the photo album.  

Taeyong reaches over and grabs her hand, “don’t worry! I'm here for you.” He looks over briefly at her smiling as she smiles at him. “I have never met a dead thing I couldn’t handle. My team is the best!” 

“I believe you.” Maxine answers and squeezes his hand. Taeyong drives past a commentary slowly looking at it. 

“I live cemeteries! They always bring high ratings and readings for my show. Cool! It has a mausoleum!” Taeyong explains with excitement. 

“We should go check it out sometime.” Maxine says. 

“You mean it? You would want to?” Taeyong asks. 

“Yes. Of course!” Maxine responds. 

“It’s a date!” Taeyong stops at a light and leans over grabbing both of Maxine’s cheeks and kiss her. She freezes up some and he pulls away to continue driving the car back to her house. He looks over at Maxine trying to ignore him looking our her window smiling.  

Maxine sees Lennon sitting on the front porch in the rocking chair. Taeyong hears his crew laughing in the back and goes toward them. Maxine walks over to Lennon. “Hey…” 

“I don’t understand…” Lennon looks at her slolwy. “I can’t leave this place. I get that. I'm bound to this house. But…” He stands and moves through Maxine. “Why don’t I have access to the basement? It’s here right now, but I don’t understand how I never knew of it before. I can’t do anything in it, except float around. Have you seen Ramades? Maybe he knows.” 

“No. I haven’t seen him since…” Maxine begins to speak. 

“Maxine!” The guys all call her name from the backyard at once. 

“They’re in the basement. 3 of them. I'm not sure how they got their and I couldn’t do anything to get them out.” Lennon tells and floats into the house. “I'll unlock the doors. I didn’t want them all trapped.” 

Maxine walks around the porch to the backyard. She stops and looks at the birdbath thinking about the flashback. She opens up the photo album to the one of the library to see Sandarith's reflection in the lamp. Nothing happened.  

“Hey! Maxine!” Mark waves her over to the kiln in the back yard. She looks around and sees the stones buried in the long grass, except one.  

“Look what they found.” Taeyong speaks. 

“It’s an amethyst geode.” Yuta says.  

Maxine grabs it from them almost in a trance and begins to walk around the kiln whispering as she gently kicks the other stones over, “obsidian, golden tigers eye, smoky quartz, hematite, labradorite,” she stops where the imprint if the amethyst was in the grass, “amethyst…” slowly she squats and places it back. A cloud covers the sun and the area gets shaded. Standing slowly, she walks over to the kiln and taps some of the shaped tiles upon it. Some of the grass disappears and the stairs are visible, just like before.  

“Haechan!” Taeil shouts. 

“Doyoung!” Jaehyun shouts. 

“Jungwoo!” Yuta shouts as they all follow Maxine. They are all halted, except Taeyong by an invisible barrier. Johnny, rips off all of his protective items and is able to pass through. The rest do the same as they find Maxine sitting on her legs in the center of a pentagram symbol drawn into the dirt. She has her eyes closed and slowly claps her hand together in front of her face. Candles around the circle have ignited on their own. The crew begins to record and take pictures.  

“This is too great! I love this girl!” Taeyong shouts into a small camera directly.  

“Look at this!” Johnny hands a Polaroid of Maxine having a ghostly appearance around her in the photo if a woman in a black cloak. Around the area are tons of orbs. Mark and Yuta had ran fast to the van for equipment and came back just as Maxine stood up. Sukie runs in and sits in front if Maxine.  

*mrow, rarn, rar, rar, rar* 

Sukie meows oddly. Maxine holds her palms open in front of her and a large book appears within them. The pages flip open to a drawing just like the one on the ground and ancient unknown writing. Sukie continues to repeat her meows. The drawing on the ground begins to glow purple with glitter and steam coming off it. the necklace Ramades gave Maxine glows white. 

“You will not hold me back any more than you have already! Your soul is exactly what I need to break free.” The demon's voice can be heard. Another pentagram, upside down, is drawn over the other with a goat symbol inside it. This one ignites in flames. Sukie stops meowing and hisses loudly arching her back with the tail up. The original pentagram stops glowing and Maxine snaps out of her daze. The demon crawls out of the ground and grabs her by the throat. Choking her and rising her up high, he starts to speak, “Da mihi animam meam?  Da mihi vitae?  Ut fiat in me revertere: quod enim meum iudicium?  Strigae involaverant et abierunt?  Non spirituum auxilium!  Tempus meum pro me lucrari opes!” 

Sukie has multiple ghostly forms if herself leave her body and surround the flame portal. Simotansioulsy, they all meow aggressively and the flame burns out. The demon drops Maxine on the ground and Taeyong rushes to her aid. Sukie leaps and bites the neck of the demon who fades to a shadowy ectoplasm form and the two vanish. 

Coughing, “Sukie! Sukie saved us! She was trying to initiate me!” Maxine speaks.  

“She’ll be back. But, it will take some time.” Ramades appears. 

“Time? Where did she go?” Maxine asks and sits out of Taeyong’s arms confused to who Maxine js speaking to. 

Ramades holds out his hand and Maxine grabs it, “She took him back to the underworld. But, she can’t keep him their.” They begin to walk, “Answers can be found in the witches lair. Sukie has fully granted you access to it.” 

“The witches lair? You mean the basement?” Maxine stops, “oh!” she looks back at the guys, “Lennon told me that is where your friends are. I'll show you!” She takes off running. The back doors open for them all on their own, from Lennon. Same with the library. Maxine enters and pulls on the cat shaped lever to open the passage.  

“Do you hear that?” Haechan and Jungwoo stop horsing around as Doyoung points at a ladder that magically appears. Lights appears around the room turning on with soft colourful glows as Maxine makes her decent down the ladder.  

“Maxine!” The three rush to her and smiles as everyone else comes down and they all hug one another. 

“Okay, Ramades, now what?” Maxine says as he rushes over to the book case looking for something. 

“Whose Ramades?” Jungwoo asks. Everyone shrugs and shakes their head in a no idea manner.  

“Oh…” Maxine looks back at them, “He’s…my friend. He’s at the book case right now. Lennon is standing with you all. Their both dead.” 

“Lennon? Like Fanderick?” Jaehyun speaks. 

“Yep!” Maxine smiles and nods her head. A book gloats over from the bookcase, but was actually handed to her by Ramades. “It’s locked. Can you open it?” She asks Ramades  

“No. It’s enchanted. You need to dispel it.” Ramades answers. 

“Dispel? Me? How am I supposed to do that?” Maxine questions. 

“When your fully initiated as a witch and gain your powers back, you can!” Ramades excitedly speaks. 

Maxine laughs and walks around the room, “a witch? Funny?” 

“It’s true…” Taeyong speaks and walks up to her. 

“How would you know? Is that what Madam Ezia is? How do I know this isn’t some long coma dream and I am permanently stuck like this in the hospital?” Maxine defends. 

“This is real life! We can go back to Ezia tomorrow and she will explain everything. I believe…” Taeyong grabs her hand and strokes the back of it.  

“Okay…” She smiles, “I think it’s dinner time. I'm getting riled up and should eat.” 

“Yes!” Jungwoo shouts. 

“Yeah, let us cook you something!” Johnny shouts. 

“Taeyong, you should see the footage we got!” Doyoung shouts. 

“You should see what we saw just now!” Mark adds in. 

“You missed it! There was a full ritual interrupted by the demon who was sent back to the underworld by Sukie!” Yuta excitedly speaks. 

“Sukie?” Haechan asks. 

“The cat.” Jaehyun says. 

“Yeah… I hope she’s alright.” Maxine adds in.  

“I translated what the demon said. It was Latin.” Taeil says. 

“It was also a sacrificial portal. Different than the ritual Sukie was using on Maxine.” Doyoung answers. 

“Let me read the translation!” Johnny hurries over from the kitchen. He clears his throat and is wearing an apron, “Give me your soul! Give me your life! Let me take back, what is rite fully mine! Witches be gone! spirits do not help! It is time for me to gain my wealth!” The dinning room table and chandelier begin to shake as the lights flicker in the house. Everyone was around the table, when a loud thud from outside made the inside feel like an earth quake and many stumble or fall over.  

“It’s back…” Ramades speaks to Maxine. 

“He's back!” she shouts. 

The crew all put on their protective jewelry set up their cameras fast. Taeyong and a couple grab their iron rods and the house fills with a dark shadow as the lights all turn off.  

The back doors burst open and a wind current fills the house. From the walls many shadowy hands reach out to everyone trying to grab them. Maxine runs to the kitchen and grabs the box Ezia gave her. The demon is in his shadow ectoplasm form and enters the house. He slams his claw on the ground and Maxine trips from the aftershock . She is grabbed by her ankle and pulled into the air upside down. 

“The Loset bloodline will end by my grasp!” The demon speaks as he pulls his other claw high back behind him and slashes Maxine. She is sliced along her back tearing her closes making blood spill onto the kitchen tile flooring.  

Taeyong and the crew use some of the powder mixture, but the demon had pulled Maxine’s blood up to create a barrier from it. Blood begins to pour out from her body as she screams in agony. Taeyong throws his rod, only to recoil back and sound loudly hitting the floor. He slides across the island in the kitchen grabbing Ezia's box. He opens it and it floats out of his hand inundating the area with magic. 

Madam Ezia's voice could be heard in a loud whisper, “I want to cast out this naysayer. I want this demon to stew in their own discontent. I want them to be free of their wrath, their evil glare. I want this demon to get what they deserve. I want this demon’s bad thoughts to reverberate back on them, tenfold. I want their life to be peaceful again. I don't want them to be harassed by this demon. I want them to be surrounded by friends, not enemies. I want this demon to be afraid of them! Afraid of us! Afraid of her! I want to know this demon will be incapable of doing harm.” Magic and a countercurrent of wind attack the demon and the souls in the walls. The demon drops Maxine who rolls over onto her stomach. Still gashed on her back. The demon attempts to move toward the box. He slams his claw down only for the box to disappear and have him earthquake the house from the island. Taeyong falls to the ground and crawls to Maxine. The crew manages to toss more powder to send the demon away.  

The house is still, and back to normal. Maxine is still in pain on the floor. “It burns…stings…” 

“I can help them help you, but I can posses them while they wear the proactive jewelry.” Ramdes speaks.  

“What can I do to help?” Lennon asks. 

“We need horsetail, plantain, rose! Witch hazel from the cabinet!” Ramades shouts. 

“I'm too weak from the powder to move the tins in the garage.” Lennon responds. 

“Remove…” Maxine begins to mutter. Taeyong leans in. With little strength and a trembling arm, she reaches toward and amulet around his neck, “remove these. Please…” Her arm falls and she passes out. Teayong removes all his protective jewelry as does the crew.  

“Hmmm… Can’t use him. He is under a charm.” Ramades says. Unable to posses Taeyong. Lennon manages to take over Doyoung and the crew notices. To the garage Lennon takes Doyoung to grab the herbs asked for. Ramades enters Haechan and speak through him. “I am Ramades. We will not harm your friends. I need a body to do this.”  

“How can we help!” Taeyong shouts. 

“Witch hazel from the medicine cabinet on this floor. Candles places in a circle around her body. Sukie… uh oh! Sukie! Suuukiiieee!” Ramdes speaks through Haechan. The piano is heard and Sukie comes running. She leaps onto the island and sits looking down at Maxine. Lennon returns with Doyoung and the Witch Hazel extract is brought. The candles are all lit and Ramdes kneels beside Maxine inside the circle as Lennon does opposite. “The res of you in a line horizontally behind me kneeling.” 

*Mrowwwwowoowoow* 

Sukie meows and raises her paw. Ramades dumps the witch hazel all over the open wound. The candles begin to float. Lennon is pushed put of Doyoung's body and out of the circle. Ramdades halts both of them to stay back. Sukie enters thw circle and pulls out Maxine’s pentagram necklace. She places her paw on it and closes her eyes. It begins to glow purple and the candles move around to a pentagram shape and glow magically between them. Ramades places the herbs inside the wound. Maxine wakes up a gasps. She reaches around her to her back and Ramades helps guide her hand over the wound. As they do this, the herbs turn to a scab. The candles all extinguished and fall to the floor and all the glowing stops. Ramades exits Haechan. Taeyong rushes to Maxine as she pushes herself up.  

“Are you okay?” Taeyong asks. 

“What was it like to be possessed?” Taeil runs to Haechan. 

“I'm better, still sort of hurts. I will be okay.” Maxine answers. 

“I felt like a kid inside again. I just wanted to run around screaming and throwing stuff.” Haechan answers. 

“I felt sad. Like heart break sad. It wasn’t pleasant. I hesitated at the mud room and feel it strongest their.” Doyoung begins to speak. He stands up and looks around, “I'm sorry Lennon… I would want to cry to and want you to know we ate here for you anytime!” 

“Thanks everyone.” Maxine speaks as Taeyong helps her stand. “I'm glad you two didn’t get sent away this time too.” She says to Ramades and Lennon. “Sukie!” 

*Mrow*  

She trots off to the stairs. She looks back and meows again. They all follow her. She goes up to the third floor. To the left she enters the master suite. Inside all the furniture has been cleared. To the right is a half brick wall dividing a vanity atea to the bathroom. Off to the right is a sitting area and the fire place, while the middle wall has some stairs leading up to a raised area where a round bed is having curtains all around the raised area hanging from the ceiling. Sukie jumps on the bed. 

“She says you need to rest.” Ramades speaks. 

“You can understand her?” Maxine asks. 

“Yes… You will too. Soon.” Ramades answered and then disappeared. 

“She says I need to get some rest.” Maxine steps forward and looks at the crew. She smiles. “I'm very grateful. Tomorrow we will continue out venture. I should be safe till the demon returns. If I avoid anything to prompt it back. Which I will.” 

“Yep! And just to he sure, I'm going to stay with you. Right here to be sure!” Taeyong runs and jumps on the bed. 

“We'll all stay!” Yuta shouts. 

“I call dibs in the Fanderick suite!” Doyoung shouts and runs. Jaehyun fallows. 

“Top bunk across from here!” Yuta shouts. 

“The suite in this floor!” Jungwoo shouts. 

“I guess that leaves us in the other suite in the 2nd floor.” Taeil says to Haechan as the two exit the room. Haechan winks at Taeyong as he closes the double doors to the room.  

Sukie jumps off the bed and goes to the French doors to the aide of the bed before the vanity and bathroom area. She looks at the door and Maxine opens it. On the south side of the house they are standing on a patio over looking the yard on that side of the house where a pond is. Sukie jumps on a chair and curls up on the cushion.  

“It’s almost a full moon…” Maxine says and gazes into the moon. She walks slowly till she reaches the railing.  

Taeyong walks up behind her, “What a beautiful night to be with a beautiful woman.” He rests his hand on hers on the railing while also gazing at the moon.

That night, Maxine doesn’t sleep well. Throughout the night she tosses and turns while speaking in her sleep. 

“I shall not fall to you evil demon!” Maxine is in the past and grabs the forearm of the possessed priest grabbing her neck. With one hand grabbing him fast, the other reaches into her dress pulling out her pentagram necklace. The very same Maxine has. She presses it against the forehead of the priest and it begins to burn his skin. She is tossed across the room and her stands up pointing at her. 

“If this body could not fend me off, what makes you think you can? Your magic only harms his physical form, but not mine!” The demon shouts. 

The bishop and nun begin flick holy water about the area, and the demon is shoved into a corner to avoid it. Maxine stands up holding her dress out in a curtsey with her head down toward him and her knee bent with the foot back behind her. “I am Sandarith Loset! The 5th generation known of by my family. Grandmaster in many crafts residing under witchery. I greet you, from one higher being to another in this age dominated by humans. Do you stand before me without tradition? Having no honour!” 

The demon exits the priests body. In his shadowy ectoplasm form, he bows. “They call me Nomed. I have no higher ranking above me, but neither have I gained my right to be placed. Respect toward your gesture. A king greeting is not heard of for my kind, but it will do you no good. A witches soul… just what I need to break free from my hell and rise into this world!” The church become engulfed in flames. Nomed grabs the nun by her throat, squeezes and snaps her neck as he siphons her soul from her being. The bishop attempts to run and succumbed to the same fate. 

Maxine had pulled out a ring having the stone of Machu Picchu with the triple moon symbol etched into it with the witch’s knot behind it. The dream starts to skip around. Showing the moon in all its phases, Sukie, the house, Lennon’s memories, and many of Sandarith in various times. She lives her life seeing many generations. All looking as she is. Suddenly, Maxine sits up and gasps. She look around the room catching her breath. 

Her back is touched and she arches it slightly, “You back healed!” Taeyong speaks and he begins to rubs his hand along her backside.  

Maxine closes her eyes as he touches her, “All the pain is gone. It feels…” She turns around and kisses him. 

Later that day, they arrived at Madam Ezia’s house. Below her name beside the door and under the house number attached to the clip was note saying she would be back after Friday the 13th.  

“Today is the 10th of August, 2021…” Maxine speaks looking at Taeyong. The two gaze and strike each other with a kiss and embrace. They pull apart. “I guess we'll have to come back. What should we do in the meantime?” she pulls up the moon phases on her phone. “Friday is the 13th, and the next full moon is Thursday…” 

As they pull into Maxine’s driveway, Sylvia rushes up. “Oh great… she’s not pleasant and very religious.” Maxine tells Taeyong and gets out od the car. “Sylvia!” 

“Hush! I only bring warning! This is my last attempt to free your soul.” Taeyong approaches them. “all of your souls of this evil!” She pulls out her crucifix and begins to recite a bible verse. Maxine drops to her knees in agony.  

Taeyong grabs the crucifix from Sylvia's hand and throws it off of Maxine’s property, “You know nothing! Your actions will only make it all worse! Leave and never come back!” He shouts to her as she fears back and runs to pick up her crucifix and back to her home. 

Maxine stands up, “I'm scared…” 

“I won’t let her harm you.” Taeyong replies. 

“I've…I've seen…” Maxine passes out. She awakes in the bed of the master sweet, by Ramades and Lennon by her side. “What happened?” 

“You’re slowly regaining and it’s draining you.” Ramades answers. 

“What day is it? Is it still Tuesday?” Maxine asks. She grabs her head from a head ache. “I have been having these weird dreams lately. They feel real…”  

“I don’t think their dreams. But, memories… memories of your past life.” Ramades answered. 

“Past life?” Maxine questions. 

“Yeah… Have you not seen the resemblance? Sandarith is your ancestor.” Ramades tells Maxine. 

She begins to laugh. “You’re saying my mom’s a witch too and never told me? I don’t believe that. She’s more like Syliva than me.” 

“Maybe not your mother. But, the blood runs in your veins. They say proper genetics skip every generation.” Ramades begins to explain. 

“How do you know all this? You predate Sandarith.” Maxine states  

“Well… not entirely…” Ramades touches Maxine's froehead with two fingers. A bright light emits. When Maxine is able to see again, she finds herself over looking an old village. She sees Ramades running and playing with a couple other young people. They all stop and look as a group of men on horses gallop in. They pull out blades and blunt weapons and begin to strike down any int their way. Ramades runs into the closest home to trip down a step by a woman’s feet. 

“What are you doing in my home, child!” A Loset woman speaks. Just then one of the men laughs and barges in. Ramades rolls over and scoots back as far as he possibly could. The man raises his weapon and strikes it down. Just as he did this, the woman stabs him in the chest with a dagger and mutters some words. He falls to the ground dead, and she runs out of her home to the center of the village. Everyone was dead! The attackers all charge forth and she raise she hands high into the air as a pentagram appears around the whole village! A purple glow begins to fill the area and all of the attackers are caught in slow motion. She grabs one by his hair and easily slices his head off with the dagger and tosses it. The next, she pulls off his horse and slams him into the ground. She slices him open and rips out his heart. To tend the last life, she puts on the dame ring Maxine seen before, and she devours the soul of the man into the ring. The glowing all stops and the large pentagram fades away to not be seen. Ramadesas watching and became frozen in fear in the doorway of the woman’s house. She walks up to him and stops outside the home. As she looks around, she asks him, “I sense your fear. What is your next reaction to it? Will you report me to others and have me hunted? Or run away?” 

“I…I…” Ramades stutters. He runs out of the house, “Ma!” He slides in the dirt ans the grabs the man’s body next to her, “Pa!” He cries.  

The flashback jumps ahead to the next day. The woman walks out to him and kneels holding out an apple, “You need to eat. If you choose to stay here till their rotting corpses, then that is your choice. I can not stop you.” 

“What else am I supposed to do? I have nothing!” Ramades shouts and smacks the hand out of her hand. His face goes from angry to sorrow. “I'm sorry! Mother would not be please to see me disrespect an elder in such a manner.” He picks up the apple and wipes it on his clothes and takes bite. “Wow!” He smiles, “this is the best apple I have ever had.” The woman sits on the ground and watches him finish the apple to just the core. She hands him another. “I don’t understand what or how you did to those men? Ma and Pa always told me to accept all no matter what. That is was up to me to choose right from wrong.” 

“It is…” The woman looks away from him, “If you feel me as good, then I will tell you. If not…” She looks at him seriously, “I must leave and if you shall find me again you will fall to the same fate at the attackers here.” 

“I have nothing! You saved me! I am forever grateful and in your debt.” He moves into a kneel and bows his head to here, “Please take me in as your own! I want to protect others aa you have me! You gave me food and…and I feel good around you! Please!” Ramades looks up at her with a couple tears dripping from his eyes. 

The woman grabs his chin and smiles. With the other hand, she wipes the tears from his face. “Shhh! Hush child.” She pulls him in for a hug, “I will protect you and you shall me. Fate has brought us together…”  

The memory fades away and Ramades begins to cry. Maxine lifts his chin and wipes his tears away. “It’s true. Fate has brought us together.” Ramades becomes shocked and slightly angry and disappears.  

“I'm sure he just needs some time. If it helps any…” Lennon rests his head on Maxine’s, “I accept and agree with your choices in the past and pledge my loyalties to you too.” 

Sukie comes running in with a key and places it on Maxine’s lap on the bed. It is very old and has a magical appeal to it. 

“What’s this?” Maxine asks. 

Sukie wants Maxine to follow her and she steps out of the bed to notice she is in a silk nightgown. Before exiting the room, she grabs a matching robe to place over her and puts on some slippers. She opens the master bedroom doors slowly and does not close them. She can hear all the guys laughing and enjoying themselves in the billiards room down below.  

“They're using the games! Warms my heart to hear joyful laughter again from there.” Lennon says. 

“I'm surprised they find merriment in them in theses days. That makes me happy to know old things still have a chance.” Ramades shows up as they walk up the stairs to the 4th floor.  

“I haven’t been in their lately. What’s in it now? A pool table I hope?” Maxine whispers. 

“I returned all the furniture I had furnished it with originally. Yes, a pool table. My father and I had built it. The same with the card table and the other furniture to home the rest. He would come over every weekend to play poker with the men here and other games with the children like go fish, canasta, bridge, old maid, gin all sorts. Chess, checkers, Chinese checkers, backgammon, Othello, pick up sticks, jax, monopoly, scrabble, sorry, all sort!” Lennon answers.  

“Why did you bring me to the ballroom?” Maxine asks Sukie and stands in the moon light of the two large windows on the west and east of the ballroom.  

“Well… it’s almost midnight. She gave you that key for a reason. Glinda's box…” Ramades begins to speak. 

“That’s probably downstairs. I left it in the kitchen.” Maxine says.  

“Don’t worry.” Ramades disappears and reappears holding it.  

“So you do know what’s in it.” Maxine sits on the floor on her legs in the middle of the ball room.  

“Yes and no. I have an idea.” Ramades answers handing her the box. When Maxine grabs the box a rainbow of colours fills the room from the box. Ramades closes his eyes and places his ghostly forehead upon hers while touching her shoulders. “Let’s see if this works.” 

In the kitchen Jaehyun jumps some as he takes a drink seeing the box disappear. He moves over to the table in the dinning room and looks at a couple monitors. He can see an ectoplasm form of a child sides human appear and disappear with the box. He checks all the cameras set up throughout the house in and outside. He sees Maxine and watches her go to the ballroom. As soon as the rainbow appears, one of the cameras is picking up the ghostly woman in the cloak around her body again. He watches to see Ramades' shape and Lennon’s appear on one of the cameras. Maxine disappears with the box, but the other two remain. Jaehyun continues to watch for a couple hours. The others slowly join him and many pass out as the night passes over midnight. Just before 3 a.m. Maxine returned!  

“It’s her. I mean. It’s…me…” Maxine is hugging the box tightly. She smiles at Ramades. “Why… why was I reborn different?” 

Ramades floats about the room and looks out the large double story window to the backyard. “Something… I'm still searching. Usually, I was always there when you were born. Drawn unconditionally. I always come back to this area and when I saw you I wasn’t sure. At the same time, during Lennon’s time…” He turns around and moves to the box, “this… she never did this. What the boy did with his ritual, was just like the 1st time. As you saw in my memories, we both lived for thousands of years until first meeting, him… I was hoping that maybe during the witching hour, when our powers are fullest and the moon close to so full of the week of the 13th of Friday…” A cloud covers the moon outside making the room darker. The grandfather clock strikes 3 and on the last ding it staggers. The crew all look in it direction. The box begins to glow and so does the key. Maxine sets it on the floor and opens the lock. The fastens on each side beside the lock unlatch and she rotates them outward and a mechanism is heard. Slightly, she lifts the lid and a bunch of glittery powder exits. Maxine coughs some from her face being covered. “Don’t worry, it should go away.” In moments Maxine absorbs the powder and she is all shiny and glittery. “Pixie and Fairy dust!” Ramades smiles and rushes behind Maxine and leans on her shoulder to look over and watch the box fully open. The cloud moves and lights the room again. Maxine opens the box to find the ring of Sandarith. “It’s here! This is amazing!” 

“Should I put it on?” Maxine stares at it and a rainbow shine moves across it fast.  

“Not yet! Just encase. But…” Ramades pulls out pouch. “Keep it in this. I have been searching for it for a long time.” 

*ding* 

“What was that?” Haechan asks. 

“The elevator?” Yuta speaks. 

Taeyong rushes to it as the others check the cameras. Sylvia entered the home and is in the elevator. Taeyong and the others rush up the stairs to the 4th floor. 

*ding* 

“It must be one of the guys.” Lennon and Ramades disappear. Maxine stands as she is shocked to see Sylvia exits with many protective Benedict jewelry, her crucifix, holy water hanging out her pockets of her robe, hugging a very old bible. “Sylvia? What are you doing in my home? I'm guna have to ask you to leave! This is breaking and entering!” Maxine tells and begins to walk toward her. 

“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.” Sylvia shouts and Maxine falls to her knees, the guys all enter and attempt to stop her. All not wanting to harm an old lady. She opens her bible to a marked page and holds out her crucifix. “Adjure te, spiritus nequissime, per Deum omnipotentem." "I adjure thee, most evil spirit, by Almighty God." Haechan, Doyoung, and Jungwoo all fall to their knees in agony holding their chests and heads. Maxine can see spirits grasping onto their bodies as she clenches her entire body to see Sandarith’s spirit around herself. Ramades and Lennon spots this and rush to the attic fast. Taeyong grabs crucifix and Yuta snags the bible. Sylvia pulls out her holy water and tosses it at all of them, “the power of Christ compels you!” The rest of the guys start to burn, what looks like steam, from their skin. “Voodo, gypsy, juju! All signs of the devil!” She shouts and picks up her items. She looks into Johnny’s eyes and grabs his amulet with the crucifix and shakes her head, “so much to cleanse here!” She walks over to Maxine holding out the crucifix and reopens her bible, “Adjure te…” all of the curtains begin to move violently and the lights flicker. A bunch of candles appear around her and Maxine in a circle. Lennon draws a circle and pentagram on the floor with paint and Ramades lights the candles. He fails at trying to grab the objects from Sylvia and instead uses red paint on scythe to appear before Maxine. 

“Please, recite these words and stand grabbing the sythe, through this holy anointing…” Ramades tells Maxine and she stands. Ramades uses his powers to create the cloak of Sandarith around Maxine and a bunch of black mist, ectoplasm, to be visible by all. 

“Sylvia Stanton! Through this holy anointing!” Maxine shouts. 

“No! I'm not ready!” Sylvia takes off running, as best possible at her age, to the elevator and hits the button multiple times. She takes her exit.  

“Go to the window and hold out your arms. Lennon, pick her up.” Ramades asks. Maxine does this and they watch Sylvia rush back to her home and freak out looking back to see, what looks like the grim reaper. The curtains close fast and everything and everyone returns to normal. Ramades exits Maxine and rolls on the floor laughing! 

“Why is that so funny?” Maxine asks. 

“It just is! God is death and fear if god is a sin!” Ramades speaks. 

Maxine giggles and looks at all the guys, “Ramades and Lennon did this, not the demon. In fact, Ramades finds it hysterical. God is death…” 

“Fear of God is a sin!” Johnny says. 

“So our protective stuff and charms cast upon us do not work against Catholicism?” Yuta asks. 

“I guess not. We asked Ezia to do them against evil spirits after…” Jaehyun says. 

“Shhh!” Have the crew shushed him. 

“We never encountered religion to this scale. Something new to add into our show? Maybe?” Mark says. 

“I wonder how much of this we got on camera?” Johnny rushes up to the camera and looks into it. 

“Camera?” Maxine looks. 

“You signed the contract. Yes, we saw some of the box you opened.” Doyoung says. 

“Can I see it? It looked interesting.” Taeil asks. Maxine looks at Ramades and he shakes his head that it’s okay. Maxine pulls it out. 

“I can’t put it on yet. Not the right time.” Maxine says. 

“I want to see when you do.” Jungwoo says. 

“It’s late. We should all get rest.” Taeyong walks away seeming a bit disappointed. Maxine follows him to the master bedroom. He is leaning his forehead against the wall inside with his elbow beside.  

“What’s wrong?” Maxine asks. 

“Bad memories. A lost friend and failed episode of our show.” He turns around still leaning on the wall and looking down.  

“If there’s anything I can do to help, I will try.” Maxine walks over to him and places her arms around his waist. She leans down to look up at him and kisses him. 

The next day goes by simple. Nothing to crazy or chaotic. They all spend a lot of time enjoying the backyard, it is all well tamed and the plants are all full of life. They didn’t let her cook all day and made her try a lot of their favourite dishes. They had fun with Lennon and Ramades helping them out. Maxine had also interpreted of how Sandarith and Amelia Fanderick have always been into gardening and the collection of spices. When dinner time came round, Maxine was grabbed by her hand and rushed out of the house by Taeyong. He has a picnic basket that he loads into Maxine’s car after getting her inside it. 

“Where are we going?” Maxine asks. 

“Did you forget?” Taeyong replies. “We have a date planned, remember?” 

“Date? Oh! You meant. A real date. Okay! Let’s go!” Maxine responds. They drive to the cemetery. Before they exit the vehicle, Maxine is frozen. She can see all sorts of spirits about their tombstones   

“Are you okay? You’re not chickening out on me are you?” Taeyong asks her. 

“No. It’s just that… they all look so sad.” Maxine exist the car. 

“I wish I could see them. Please, let me know if anything…dangerous comes round.” Taeyong takes her hand to hold and grabs the picnic basket. They walk slowly into the cemetery. “You pick a spot!” Taeyong rushes ahead of her and turns around smiling. Maxine smiles back and looks around everywhere. She grabs his hand and walks them to an open grassy area. He had lit some candles and the two sat on a blanket feeding one another as the sun was setting. The talked until the sun was fully set and the moon took its place.  

*Mrow* 

“Sukie!” The two speak simotansioulsy as they look at her. Some of the spirits in the area begin to mutter about a guardian being their. They follow Sukie to the large mausoleum. Outside of it are a bunch of graves and tombstones circling the entrance path. Sukie climbs a top of the mausoleum and sits at the tip of the roof on the edge looking down at Maxine. Taeyong gently pushes Maxine forth and when she is in the center of the circle the area is filled with a purple glow and in the grass a large pentagram fills the area around everything. Taeyong takes some steps back to avoid being caught within it. Many of the spirits gather round to watch.  

*mrow, rarn, rar, rar, rar* 

Sukie repeats herself over and over as a bunch of the glow begins to enter Maxine’s body. The mausoleum doors burst open and a ghostly Sandarith walks out slowly. She reaches for Maxine’s hand, for a moment the moon turns purple as their palms touch. The form enters Maxine and she stumbles. The area returns to normal and Taeyong rushes forth to grab her to not fall. Inside the mausoleum it begins to burn of fire. A hand forms and grabs Sukie off the roof.  

“Nooo!” Maxine pushes herself out of Taeyong’s grasp and runs into the fire with him right behind her. The doors slam shut behind them! They grab one another as hands of souls begin to grab them. The fire extinguished and inside the pitch darkness, the souls grab them. They become completely engulfed by darkness and pulled into the underworld. Both awake laying on a ground near a large river by a poke of a long wooden rod with a paddle at the other end. 

“Payment for passage across to the world of the dead.” A raggedy man speaks holding out his hand. 

“We're not dead! Are we?” Taeyong speaks. 

“Not dead…not possible to be here. Unless…” He pulls out a monocle and places it upon his eye. He looks over Taeyong. “Not dead. But, human! There are consequences!” He pokes Taeyong that causes him to fall back. Hands begin to reach out of the water and fog begins to fill the area. He raises his paddle high into the air. 

“Stop!” Maxine rushes over and grabs the  paddle. She pushes the man back with it. He stumbles and looks her over. He starts to grovel and slowly bows to his knees. 

“Forgive me!” He looks up at Maxine. “A Loset… No consequences, m'lady.” He stands slowly and bows again. “Might I be of service in any way? A witch of your ranking needs not pay me.” 

“Here. I'm sorry I took this.” Maxine hands him his paddle back. “I'm looking for Sukie. She was dragged down here by a fiery hand.” 

“And you by the black souls! Thank you for the return of my paddle. Modest, kind, and beautiful! I shall open the door for you.” The man taps the ground two times and stabs it in the air. An old wooden door appears and he pushes it open by a round metal piece. He bows and gestures them forth. “Chthonic awaits…” 

“Thank you!” Maxine courtesies. 

“Thanks!” Taeyong holds out one of his charm bracelets having many silver pieces and places it on the mans wrist. The man is speechless and hands Taeyong his monocle. Then watches the couple walk forth along a black brick path with magma on both sides. They hold each others hands as they make their way. A black brick castle could be seen at the end of the long path. They reach an intersection having many paths leading various directions to doors. A metal sign sticks out of the center of the path from the lava. Behind them in the distance a from begins to grow from the magma. 

“Look! Guardian Meadow.” Maxine rushes toward the door and opens it. She is pulled in and Taeyong rushes forth to be also. The door slams shut just as the demon they are familiar with is prevented from passage. They enter a meadow having black grass and a red sky. The area is full of cats. “Sukie!” Maxine shouts and all of the cats look at them. Many begin to surround them. 

“This isn’t good…” Taeyong scooches close to Maxine. The largest cat, mangy, greasy, and having many scars and scrapes, holds out its paw and extends its claws. They all begin to hiss and growl. 

*Mrow* 

The cats all stop as Sukie comes running in. The cats begin to back up slowly. The largest cat remains it’s stance and strikes at Sukie who stands still.  

“No!” Maxine punts the cat to fall over. She points down at it, “Bad Kitty! Sukie is mine! She did not step out of line! Compared to you, she’s pretty!” A spark of magic exits her finger into the cat. It stands up coughs out a bell and rubs against Maxine’s feet. It stops and nods to Sukie who nods back. The cat flicks its tail and a door appears. Sukie runs forth and Maxine picks up the bell before placing her hand on the handle. She looks back and reaches out for Taeyong. He looks around at all the cats back to the leisure of napping, grooming, and playing before he grabs her hand to push her through the door that slams shut as the demon appears to be hissed at by all the cats. The couple falls out the door on the ground. Maxine first with Taeyong on top. The door disappears by fire. They are in the ritual room beneath the kiln. The couple look at one another. They are about to kiss when a fire ignites in the air above them and extinguishes. A book appears and they roll away from one another as it falls and splatters dirt about the area. Maxine touches the book, to have a memory of Sandarith opening it and using it. Maxine grabs the book. It opens and flips through all the pages and slams shut. As this happens, a bunch of energy exits the book into her body. Her hair had moves from the wind of the pages and when completed she blinks her eyes a bunch in astonishment.  

“What happened?” Taeyong asks as he puts on the monocle he received. 

“She just learned a bunch of spells and knowledge!” Ramades speaks.  

Taeyong jumps, “I…I can see you!” He shouts in excitement. Ramades floats around him confused  

“An eye of the non human." Maxine mutters.  

“This is so cool! Can I keep this?” Taeyong asks. 

“He gave it to you and it is not cursed.” Maxine said. She starts to scrap away dirt of the pentagram and sacrificial portal on the ground. She looks up, “aw man!” 

“What?” Taeyong and Ramades shout.  

“My car is still at the cemetery!” She runs to notice the entrance is not open to outside. 

“Don’t worry! You can get it back, you can do magic now! We need to go this way.” Ramades tell and then floats through a mural made of large tiles on the wall. The same that is in the basement. Maxine touches the wall and sees how the solve the tiles. When completed a portion of them move open to lead into the basement. “Welcome to the witches lair!” Ramades greets them. “It only appears for you and can be claimed anywhere you choose it to be settled.” The entire area is no longer dusty and everything looks newly re furbished. Ramades flips open a spell book on a podium written in Latin. 

“I can’t read this…” Maxine says as she examines the pages. 

*Mrow* 

“Rhyme… okay, try to make a rhyme to bring your car back to start with is what Sukie suggests." Ramades says. 

“Umm… My car was left behind, along with our stuff. To not commit a crime or parking, bringing it all back here is a must!” Maxine says and some magic exits her mouth. “Did it work?” Ramades floats outside and comes back in with a thumbs up! They exits the basement into the library.  

“Our dates not over yet…” Taeyong grabs Maxine and the lights in the room dim. The crew is confused when the hear the upstairs library door slam shut and then the stairs ran up for the master bedroom doors to slam shut and lock. They scratch their heads and review the footage to see them drop into the ritual room and the car appear. The house begins to shake and the lights start to flicker. Maxine and Taeyong exit the room to hear the demon begin to speak and they hear screaming from the crew. 

The lights begin to flicker and the house begins to shake. All of the crew begins to look around and at one another scattered about the house. The deamon begins to speak, “Auferat et quid unus post gloriam misit me ad te, cara habere. Et quod sic mundi ad venit cum prope nullum timorem: tu autem et timeo! Ut ego illos, et conteram: et posuit ea retro simul. Et erit mihi in captionem et in perpetuum. Da mihi animam meam? Aliquam sui complicatam notionem evolvere. Nunc mihi pande, pande mihi era. Ego oriri et ex periculum?” 

“Ahhhhhh!” Jaehyun screams from outside as he falls to the ground being teleported high above it. His neck and limbs snap as he hits the ground. 

Taeil is walking down the curved stairs to the entry and it turns into a slide. The landing turns black with many souls who grab him and pull him into the underworld into a cage over magma as far as he can see.  

“Taeil!” Yuta rushes to the entry as the blackness fades. He can hear creaking and starts to suffocate. The chandelier snaps and falls on top while shattering glass all over the place. His body is engulfed in flames and disappears to be laying inside a cage near Taeil. 

“Yuta!” Taeil shouts and tries to reach out to him unable to reach into the next cage.  

“I shall take away what is precious to the one you hold dear. To come to my world and be so near with no fear, you shall now fear! I will take them, break them, and put them back together. I will trap them with me forever. Give me your soul! It's time to unfold. Unfold my time, unfold my era. I shall rise and bring out peril!” Ramades speaks translating what the demon spoke as Taeyong and Maxine are pushed back into the master sweet and the walls are replaced with fire. 

“Help them! Ramades! Lennon! Please!” Maxine shouts as she is burnt many times unable to exit the room.  

“No! No!” Haechan can be heard running and slamming into walls and dodge various objects being tossed at him.  

Mark looks at the all the glass on the floor from the hall just before the entryway. The front door swings open and Jaehyun is possessed with white eyes and grinding and cracking as he walks with his broke bones. “Jaehyun?” Mark stares and frozen with fear. Jaehyun grows fangs and bites Mark on the neck as he grabs his arms digging claws into them until he passes out. Jaehyun drops to the floor neck to him and the ground pulls them into the underworld.  

“OMG!” Taeil shouts as Yuta pukes seeing how Jaehyun looks.  

“Help them, help them all! Please keep them safe and do not fall! Drats! In this room we are trapped, have it open when I sanp!” Maxine snaps and the doors burst open for them to exit. They hear Haechan shouting for help and Taeyong rushes to help him. He tackles some furniture to save him. The knives all fall out of the holder on the counter and lift into the air. The two look at one another and run. Taeyong is grabbed by his ankle and tossed into the backyard as the doors turn to fire preventing him from entering. Maxine had ran into the bathroom of the Fanderick suite where Jungwoo was fighting against chains on him trying to pull him into a bottomless filled tub. She grabs his hands and starts to pull and be pulled with him back and forth in a tug if war. The grandfather clock begins to strike for 11 p.m. 

*Mrow*  

Sukie drops some gloves and Maxine puts them on. She is able to pull Jungwoo out. “This lock will open on the last strike of the clock!” The two exit the bathroom into the hall as Jungwoo ran across Maxine fells down a pit that appeared and lands her in the ritual room. The walls turn into souls trying to grab Jungwoo as he flees.  

Johnny was in the ballroom and finds himself fighting against shadowy forms of the demon. He happened to have an dagger on him that actually worked against them. “An Athame? Do you really think you can use it?” the demon taunts. 

“I won’t give up and take a stance!” Johnny shouts as he starts to stab all sorts of shadowy demons attacking him.  

“If I can not free them, then aid them will give me glee. Not all of them can be saved, but keep them from the grave!” Magic exits Maxine’s hands and the souls disappear from the house. Maxine enters the sound proof library where Lennon is in the fetal position crying. 

Muttering through the sobs, “screams. I don’t like the screams. I can’t do nothing. Just like…” Maxine leaves him be and hears a loud crash of glass breaking and sees Taeyong run away from the door to the grass looking up. 

Haechan bumps into Jungwoo on the 2nd floor at the stairs and the two rush up them into the ball room now dodging various knives from the kitchen that keep lodging into things and re lodging to try and strike him. Johnny is ambushed by a dozen demons and can not break free. The elevator door opens with Doyoung possessed by Ramades. He tackles the swarm of black and manages to reach into it and pull Johnny out. The demon pushes Ramdes out of Doyoung and they all are now being attacked by objects as Ramades uses his abilities to protect them as much as possible. The stairs turn to fire as they attempt to flee.  

“The window! The balcony isn’t too far!” Johnny shouts.  

“1-2-3!” Doyoung counts down. Their combined pressure breaks and shatters the window. As they all fall, everything becomes slow motion. The demon reverses them back into the ballroom repairing the glass. Johnny is tossed before the elevator. 

*ding* 

The elevator doors open and they all rush toward it. Johnny crawls in and the doors shut behind him for the elevator to drop 1000s of floors fast and land him inside cage in the underworld with the others around. Sukie runs through the fire on the stairs with Maxine and they all gather inside the the pentacle drawn on the floor. Maxine starts to speak the words of Ezia from the box, “I want to cast out this naysayer!” The pentagram negins to glow. “I want this demon to stew in their own discontent! I want us to be free of his wrath, his evil glare!” A wind fills the area as the house shakes and all the lights go dark. “I want this demon to…uh…” 

“Get what they deserve!” Haechan shouts 

“We want this demon’s bad thoughts to reverberate back on them, tenfold!” Doyoung adds in. The pentagram exhorts a large amount of energy looking as if a circular waterfall of magic was flowing backwards into the ceiling. The demon appears in his ectoplasm shadow form and slashes at the barrier to be recoiled off. 

“We want our life to be peaceful again!” The four all shout in harmony.” The demon disappears. 

“Nomed will be back. Nomed has enough to get what he wants.” The demons voice could be heard as everything returns to normal. Taeyong comes running into the house as the others rest on the ground catching their breaths. The barrier is still up and Teayong approaches unable to enter, but not recoiled back. Maxine reaches up and through the barrier and it dispels. They all lay on the floor catching their breaths over what happened.  

Taeyong sits up fast, “What about everyone else!” He runs shouting for their names and searches all the rooms to come back up with a face full of sorrow. 

*Mrow*  

“What Sukie?” Sukie rubs up against Maxine and sits looking up at her. “Can you tell me Ramades?” Taeyong puts in the monocle. 

“He took them to his realm in the underworld. Their he can take their life give it back and take it away as much as he wants. He didn’t take their souls here.” Ramades explains. 

“How do we get them back?” Taeyong shouts.  

“Will you help me translate Sandarith’s books and writings? There must be something? I mean… the man in the underworld knew me by name…” Maxine asks and suggests. Over the next two days Maxine practiced and attempted many charms, spells, and potions. She put them on the house and her friends for the full moon and Friday the 13th. They are all hoping Ezia will be back that Saturday to help them. Ramades keeps depleting his energy and disappearing from helping her with so much or getting items for her and says she needs a real person or else he may not be able to help with the demon if he shows. 

Taeyong mopes around and keeps to himself during this time and could be shouting in agony over the loss of his friends at times. Haechan and Jungwoo try to help Maxine and actually managed to do a few spells themselves in the cauldron. Sukie had brought her another key to a cupboard in the lair having wands, staffs, and various gloves to help cast magic. But, only Maxine was able to use them. Doyoung spent most of his time still dedicated to the show and reviewing, processing, and researching the footage.  

That Saturday after Friday the 13th, they all went to Madame Ezia's house. She answered her door excited to see Maxine. “Come in, come in! Please!” She gestures them all inside the house and rushes off to the kitchen for snacks. After, she scurries off and hurries back with a sack, box, and book. “These are for you!” Ezia shoves them into Maxine's arms.  

“Grimorie?” Maxine looks down to read the book on top of the items. 

“The book of shadows! Really!” Taeyong stands up fast. He grabs the book for it to crumble to ashes. His eyes open widely as he look at Ezia, “I'm so sorry!” While kneeling, he starts to scoot up the ash. 

“Realx…” Ezia places a hand on his shoulder and then grabs his arm to stand up. “Sit! Let her call upon the book herself.”  

Maxine sets the other items on the table. She reaches her hand out toward the pile of ash for it to reconstruct in her hand in an instant. “Is this like the book we got in the Underworld?” Maxine asks as she flips the cover for it do what the other had done passing knowledge into her being.  

“You’ve been to the underworld?” Ezia asks. 

“Yes. To get Sukie back after she woke up my powers.” Maxine looks around at all the guys. “I'm planning to go back.” 

Ezia takes a seat in her chair on the far side of the room, she closes her eyes and the lights turn out while candles light, “everyone, sit!” They all grab chairs and sit around the table. Ezia keeps her eyes shut and starts to hover her hands over the crystal ball in the center. “I seek a window, or to see through eyes. They are in search of some dear special guys. Taken away from them they were sent, to be succumbed to harsh punishment. The underworld is their task. Show us, show us crystal ball! Make it snappy, make it fast, can Maxine save them all!” A clash of thunder and lightning strike fills the room. “Join hands!” Ezia opens her eyes as they all gaze into the crystal ball. It fills with magma and bursts a bubble and many cages could be seen over the magma. 

“Look!” Jungwoo shouts hapily. 

“Jaehyun!” Doyoung says and looks away from his broken body. 

“Taeil! Oh my gosh! Is…is…is that his…” Haechan says seeing one of his arms swapped with his leg. 

“We need to rescue them!” Taeyong shouts. 

“Calm down! As long as they are in the underworld, they can be returned to normal. He can take their lives and reconstruct them over and over.” Ezia speaks. They continue to watch. Yuta is holding his own head in his hand out like Shakespeare talking to himself. Mark and Johnny have been merged together. They are all bruised and covered in gashes. As they watch, the demon appears. 

“Nomed…” Maxine mutters. The demon looks around as if he heard her voice. He approaches Jaehyun’s cage and the bars disappears. He picks him by a broken leg and moves his claw around outside his chest. In moments, Jaehyun’s eyes open and he is breathing again with nothing broken no more. He feels around himself and is in a panic state looking around at everything upside down. Nomed pulls him to the center for the rest in cages to see easily and starts to lower him down to the magma. The guys in cages start to shout, no, as do the ones around the séance table. Nomed dunks his head in for the flesh to be gone and a skull remaining. Submerging him gully till his claw is in, he pulls out a skeleton. Nomed flicks it and the bones goes flying into all the cages freaking the guys all out. Yuta drops his head on the cage floor. Nomed snaps and the bones regain their flesh. Jaehyun looks around and sees Yuta and the two both scream. “Nomed!” Maxine screams and stands up. He body is glowing white and her eyes are shut. Inside the crystal ball they see a ghostly Maxine appear behind Nomed. “How dare you! You really think I'm afraid of you! We've played this game before. It doesn’t effect me or my state!” 

“Loset!” Nomed turns around and slashes at Maxine and her form jumps back. Magma splash all over the area when his claw made contact with it. “Face me in my realm and we shall see who is stronger!” Nomed starts to inhale deeply that begins to pull Maxine’s ghost form toward him. Ezia relases hands and grabs a clump of powder from her pouch and blows it onto Maxine. She snaps out of enchantment and her soul disappears from the underworld and the crystal ball goes clear and empty. Nomed turns back around to face his captives. “Her soul will be mine and I will walk the surface!” His eyes burn of fire and ignite all the cage causing the guys to scream.  

Maxine sits down, “What happened? Did I leave here?” 

“Your soul entered the crystal ball and I think is was your past memories taking over to give you that confidence to confront him. But…” Ezia stands up and looks around her shelving behind her chair. She finds a small metal box and puts on a glove to grab it. She holds it out to Haechan. “Open and remove it’s contents.” 

“Okay!” Haechan open the box and pulls out a silver needle of some sort. “It’s just a, ow!” He drops it and it lands on the table. He kisses his finger and thumb. “It burned me!”  

Jungwoo picks up the needle and starts to stare blankly into it. Taeyong starts to shake him by the shoulder with no luck and rips it out of his hand. “What happened?” Jungwoo snaps out of his state. 

Nothing happens when Taeyong holds it. “Taeyong, I want you to prick Maxine’s finger with that. My charms and enchantments. I placed upon you are still working. As for you three, they have never worked and you carry with you souls of the undead. What they may be… we don’t know, but could find out when the stars are right. Or your paths find...” Ezia stops and looks into the crystal ball as an image starts to form in the smoke.  

“Hello? Did I hear Haechan scream? I think I saw the others not to long ago, but was brought here. I'm so lonely. I miss everyone terribly.” A guy’s face could bee seen looking around talking. 

“Winwin!” The guys all say. 

“What? Was that?” Winwin now could be see wondering around in darkness.  

“Put your hands on the ball.” Frank appears I  his ghostly form next to Maxine. She does this, and Frank enters her body. Maxine’s soul appears I  the dark and Winwin turns around to have a hard time looking at her white ghostly self. “Hello?” 

“Winwin?” Maxine asks inside the darkness as her regular begin touches the ball having her eyes closed.  

“Yes! How do you know my name?” He asks and the gasps. 

“I can help you.” Maxine speaks. 

“Shhh!” Winwin begins to whisper. “He can hear us. He’s on his way.” A loud sound of metal is heard and Winwin is engulfed by the darkness in the blink of an eye. Ezia blows powder onto Maxine to snap her out of it. 

“Winwin! Winwin!” Taeyong shouts. “Where did he go? What happened? Where is he?” 

Maxine rubs her eyes and head, “I saw…a factory or warehouse of some sort. He was laying on the ground.”  

Taeyong grabs Maxine’s shoulder and looks her I  the eyes, “Please!” He looks at Ezia still holding Maxine by the shoulders, “can she?” Ezia starts to nod her head. 

“Frank?” Maxine questions looking at Ezia. “I saw…” 

“He has moved on and you have become stronger.” Ezia answered. “She looks up and a tear falls from her eye, “I couldn’t be any more happier this week.” 

“So…” Maxine starts to mutter. 

“You need to go and free this, Winwin. Then enter the underworld. This Nomed will be of not match then.” Ezia demands. 

“What did you mean by our souls are…” Haechan begins to ask. 

“Like ours, but not of magic decent, but not human. Taeyong, prick Maxine’s finger!” Ezia commands. Taeyong grabs Maxine’s hand and smiles at her. He looks down at her hand and flips it over. A quick stab into her finger she flinches and pulls her hand away. She a tiny amount of blood could be see and she flips her hand over pointing her finger over the table. They all wait a few minutes and a single drop of blood falls. Turning her finger over the opening is healed. “When you are at full power, no blood shall fall. The time to defeat Nomed will happen once and for all! Destiny await, destiny calls!” Ezia stands up fast, “Go forth to the task set in motion! After you will have quite the commotion! Devotion ia strong, devotion is needed! I have give what will aid to keep on proceeding!” She claps her hands and smoke fills the room. When it clears Madam Ezia is no longer present.  

“Let’s go to the factory!” Taeyong shouts and heads for the door. 

“But, but, but…” Haechan mutters. 

“I said, let’s go to the factory!” Taeyong stops and looks back  

“Yeah! Let’s go get Winwin back!” Jungwoo stands and moves next to Taeyong. Haechan stands up slowly and stand on the other side. Taeyong holds his hand out and the two beside him stack them on top.  

“Okay!” Doyoung stands and places his hand on top. “I believe in Maxine!” they all look at her. 

Slowly she walks over and reaches her hand out, “I will do as I am asked and do as I have been told. So much has begun to unfold. I will help your friend, and save our friends. Nomed shall meet his end. I am ready to behold and fill my mold. Together, we are strong! As one we will get this done!” Maxine places her hand and a spell exits her hand to fill everyone’s body. They all smile and look at one another.  

They all make their way to an old, run down, and abandoned factory. It is very cloudy and slowly getting darker and darker. The van stops. Taeyong leans forward from the back looking at it between the two front seats. The crew all stares with him. 

“Will you tell me now?” Maxine asks. The crew all flinches as she spoke.  

Taeyong glances at her before sitting back down on the bench of the van folding his hands looking at the floor and sighs. “I never thought we would be back here… and I never thought it would be with less than half my friends.” Taeyong looks at Maxine with a face of sorrow, regret, and admiration, “The last time we were here…” 

Flashback to when Taeyong and his crew were last at this factory… 

Taeyong is speaking to many cameras and his crew inside the factory, “Okay! It was in this spot a man saw his wife, where the two worked in this factory, flirting day after day with their supervisor. No! This is not a murder case, but a case of heartbreak.” 

The cameras move to Jaehyun  who is walking around the abandoned factory, “This place closed down after the tragic end of a man by one of these machine. A place making cat food and total complete heart break causing the man to not pay attention and meet his end.” 

The cameras move to Mark who is standing by a machine covered in caution tape he holds out an article printed out from the internet, “Late in the day one fall, a man met his tragic end. Due to lawsuits filed any actual names associated with this incident are not to be released. It was said a husband and his wife both worked at the cat food factory. Other employees stated the wife was having an affair with the supervisor. They always told the man to just leave his wife. He claimed he loved her so much, he couldn’t be without her. One day, he was loading raw fish into this Extruder Machine. He heard his wife laughing and looked knowing who it was from. Only this time was said their supervisor was proposing to his wife. She pulled off her wedding ring and band looking directly at the man and dropped them to accept the new engagement ring. They said the man froze and began to cry from heartbreak. He leaned on the chute dropping raw material into the machine that was not fasted in place. As a result, the man stumbled and fell into the machine. The screaming only lasted seconds. Employees said the place reeked daily, but when he fell in it was a stench you could not forget.” The lights start to flicker in the factory. 

“Ugh!” Doyoung shouts. 

“Yuck!” Yuta shouts. 

Many of the crew begin to cough, gag, and plug their noses. “What is that smell?” Winwin speaks.  

“Dead…” Taeyong answer blankly.  

Screeching, scratching, and banging could be beard throughout the area against metal.  

“Ahg!” Winwin shouts and drops his equipment falling to the floor scooting away fast. The others gather to see blood writing saying, leave! They hear the doors and windows all open and wind fills the area. More messages of blood saying, leave, covered the place.  

Taeyong speaks into the camera, “This is what has been said to leave this place shut down and abandoned.” He stops when a drop of redish sludge hits his shoulder. Looking up, as other members of the crew wipe off camera lenses, rub it in their hand, become overwhelmed in fear, and hold stuff over them, the entire ceiling is filled with the sludge and is dripping down on them. Soon all of the walls and everything in the room is covered with it. The Extruder Machine turns on and start to shake as it spits out more of the sludge with two rings. They land in front of Winwin who picks them up. The second he touched them the area below him filled with sludge and an arm reached out pulling him into the sludge. The crew all panics and freaks out! The sludge on the ground starts to grow and another arm reaches out trying to grab them. They all start to run. The floor is slick everywhere and the sludge falls large and heavy from the ceiling. They all pick up a trash can to batter ram the door open and escape before being consumed. 

Present day… 

They all exit the van. The wind starts to blow. 

“It’s him!” Haechan moves behind Maxine grabbing her and peeking over her shoulder as Jungwoo does behind him. Taeyong is standing next to he with his eyes shut. Maxine grabs his hand and he flinches some look at it and then her.  

Thunder sounds and it starts to rain slightly. They walk to the main entrance doors for them to creek open on their own. They all walk inside. 

“Friends… saviour… peace…” They hear a voice whisper. 

“Winwin!” The crew all smile while looking around and at one another.  

Maxine freezes, seeing the run down lobby flash to be pristine and people walking in for the day. It disappears and Maxine turns down a hallway. More flashes show and she sees the man, his wife, their supervisor, and other employees. The others fallow behind her to the double doors of the main factory. Maxine reaches her hands out to place one on each of the handles. 

“Wait!” Doyoung shouts. Maxine turns around. “What are you going to do?” 

“Well…” She looks at the floor.  

“Talk…” Winwin's voice can be heard whispering again. 

“Yeah… yeah! I will talk to him first. Maybe, like Ramades and Lennon, I can see him.” Maxine answers. “If not, I suppose a ritual that is in my mind at the moment.” Maxine turns around. Before she touched the handles, the doors creaked open on their own. She takes a step and is pull forth to the ground as the doors slam shut behind her and furniture barricades her in. The guys all look through the windows as Taeyong attempts to open the doors with no luck. “I'll be fine!” She shouts and stands up brushing dust off of her. The room is dark and she has a flashlight. Lighting lights up the whole place fallowed by thunder as the rain pours down heavy and loudly. 

“She can do it!” Winwin speaks looking through the windows of the doors next to Taeyong. He glances over and then jumps back to the floor. 

“Winwin!” He looks through the monocle with boys eyes, “It’s you!” Taeyong runs forth trying to hug him, only to move through his ghostly form. He turns around, “Are…are you dead?” Jungwoo, Haechan, and Doyoung all look at one another to see nothing.  

“I'm not sure. Either I am like this, or I am in darkness. I have been stuck here. Anytime you returned, I would call out to you. All of you! How is it you can see and hear me now?” Winwin explains. Taeyong holds out the molecule and the others fight over it, but all take a look feeling happy to see Winwin again.  

Maxine is walking to the Extruder Machine. One light is flashing on and off lighting it up. The machine is shiny and has no dust upon it. She feels coldness on her backside and turns around. The are gets cold and her breath could be seen. She looks to the right fast as a black shadow caught her eyes. With multiple attempts to spot the shadow the room starts to stink. Maxine makes a disgusted face. “Look! I don’t want to harm you. I just want to talk! Please!” Blood saturates the floor and wiped away is the word, why? “I heard about what happened here.” She sits on the ground near the puddle of blood that fills in the word. “I cam help you. What is it you want?” The word revenge is wiped into the blood. “I can’t help with that. I can’t bring her back…” Maxine looks as a loud sound if metal is heard. “May I share something with you?” The blood wipes the word what into the blood. “I recently found out I am not what I thought I was… I am not human. I am also meant to stop something bad. Someone who has been hurting many for 1000s of years. He's actually a demon.” Lightning and thunder lights up the room and echo loudly. The blood wipes the word so into it. “Well, you're not evil! I don’t feel scared here. I feel sad and sympathetic here.” The ceiling starts to rain sludge and the puddles turns to it as well. Maxine just sits there. 

“Maxine!” all the guys shouts watching through the window.  

She puts on the gloves Sukie gave her. When the hand reaches out for her she grabs it and starts to pull on it. She slips some from the sludge, but pulls put a human like form made of sludge. The man looks at her as she does him in the eyes. “I get that someone you love and care for was ripped away from you in a manner non pleasant.” The man makes an aggressive face and the machine turns on behind her. It spits out the rings. Maxine reaches her hand out above her head, slightly out, with an open palm up having the fingers slightly bent. The rings stop in mid air and she takes some steps back while bending her elbow bring her hand towards her face. Slowly, the rings float to her until they are just above her palm. The sludge man leaps at her, “Stop!” Maxine grabs the rings and runs up the steps to the spot where the man had fell into the machine. She holds her closed fist over the opening of the machine with the rings. “This is all you have!” Sludge drops down in the large ammount to cover her enitre body. She falls down the steps only to stand up. She swipes her other hand infront if her entire body to remove all the sludge and be spick and span. “I told you! I am not human!” The sludge man multiples and they all start to attack and splat all over the place. Maxine takes to dodging and moving about the area. “Look! You were mad someone took away someone you loved and unfortunately, as a result you became stuck like this! Is that really fair of you to take away someone from a bunch of people!” The sludge stops. Maxine catches her breath. “Please! Let me help you!” The sludge had begun to disappear. She walks over to the Extruder Machine. Out of her backpack, she sets up candles around the machine. She stops and places her hand on it with her eyes closed, “do you want me to help you pass on?” She opens her eyes and smiles.  

In the hall Winwin disappears. The guys all see the furniture move and are able to enter the factory. The sludge forms behind Maxine. “Look out!” Taeyong shouts and runs forth tackleimg the sludge. 

“Ow!” Winwin speaks as the sludge drips off of him. 

Taeyong starts to wipe his face, “Winwin?” The others help them stand and they all squeeze Winwin. 

“I need your guy’s help.” Maxine points and helps them all get into position around the machine. She pulls out a pouch and grabs a hand full of powder with the rings on her hand. “Are you sure?” Maxine asks looking up with her eyes. “Okay…” Maxine tosses the powder onto the machine. The candles start to float. “This soul was lost and broken hearted. For he lost the one he loved to be forever parted. To find he caused the same pain to others, he saw was vain. We came here and are here in the rain. We seek to help him use his powers toward good. They way he now sees he should! Bring him forth and bring him with! That way he can help us with his gifts!” The light turns off above them and all the candles go out dropping to the floor. The room is dark and a ghostly form of the man exits the machine and enters the rings. Soon after, all the lights turn on in the factory! 

“Did you do it?” Taeyong asks. 

“What did you do?” Winwin asks. 

“I helped him move his soul into this ring. He's now bound to these rings. I…” Maxine’s face is full of sorrow, “I will send him to the underworld…” She turns around, “soon…” She walks away. 

Maxine and the crew return to her home. 

“Yay!” Haechan is super excited as they exit the van. 

“What? Half of us is still gone!” Winwin ask. 

“Yeah, but Maxine is going to bring them back.” Haechan runs up and hugs her. They all stand in the driveway of her home.  

“I will try. But, going into the underworld…” Maxine begins to speak. She watches as a vehicle with Crisis pulls up with some police officers. They all get out and walk toward them. “Umm? Can I help you?” 

“Maxine Loset, I'm sorry but your reclamations lately have been determined unhealthy and un safe. We are from Crisis and from a report made by an anonymous person with proof of your statements we have been approved by Dr. Cyril to take you back to him at his facility.” One of the men speaks. 

“What?” Maxine is confused and shows a look of anger. 

“You can’t take her! This is ridiculous!” Taeyong shouts. 

“What statements? I have been with these guys all week!” Maxine says. 

“Calm down Taeyong. We also have an order to take you in as well and that you two are no longer allowed to see each other based on motivating one another’s sensitive psyche into negative behaviour.” The other man speaks. 

“This is ridiculous! This is my home and you are on my property.” Maxine turns around to walk away. 

“Mam, if you refuse we will drag you off the premises by any means necessary to do so. There is no negotiating out of this. Just go with them.” An officer speaks.  

Maxine sighs and turns around, “fine…” she walks to the crisis vehicle.  

Ramades floats beside her, “I'll with you.” 

“Taeyong, that mean you too.” The crisis man speaks. He reaches his hand out to Doyoung who grab one another and they pull close to a hug. 

“We'll get the lawyer there as soon as possible!”  Doyoung speaks and pats Taeyong on the back as he is handed the molecule. Maxine and Taeyong are sat in the crisis vehicles separated by cages and taken to the psychiatric hospital. They took Taeyong in first and made Maxine take sedation medications before even being let out of the vehicle. She started feeling sleepy as they entered the building and she got wobbly. 

“Chair!” Dr. Cyril walks up to her as she faints some being caught by an orderly looking at his feet. She is placed in a chair and her head flips back over it. The doctor looks into her eyes with a flashlight and she can’t move at this point. Her vison blurs, “don’t worry. You’re thinking will be corrected soon.” She hears a ringing noise and passes out.  

“Ahg!” Taeyong is passing back and forth in a room. He hears the doors to the ward open up and rushes out. “Maxine!” He runs toward her to be grabbed by an orderly. 

“I'm sorry, but you two are not allowed to see one another. She has been sedated and will be placed into her room in the other half. Her door will be locked and guarded. She will be moved to a permanent facility once I finished her evaluations. You would be best to not intervene or face the same fate.” Dr. Cyril says and shoos Taeyong back with a hand gesture. Taeyong watches them wheel her into a room and lift her into a bed. The door is shut and an electronic lock is activated. An orderly pulls up and chair and sits with his arms crossed looking at Taeyong. The Doctor smiles and walks off.  

Taeyong attempts to walk up and the orderly stops him, “I just want to look at her. Through the window. Please… I… I love her…” The orderly allows him to look in the window. After a minute he makes him step away. Taeyong spends the entire time pacing back and forth or sitting staring at the door until the next day. He only moved to go speak with his lawyer in a different part of the hospital. It is morning and Maxine wakes up.  

She panics some, “no! Not here again!” She stands up fast and goes to the door. It is locked and won’t open. “ugh!” She starts to shift her weight back and forth between each leg and rushes to the bathroom to pee. 

“How good are you at fighting?” Ramades asks and shocks her. 

“Hey! Get out, wait till I'm done.” Maxine covers herself. 

“Relax, I'm just a ghost and a kid one for that matter. Nothing I haven’t seen before. Do you remember what time I originally lived in? Besides, there are no cameras in here. Best you don’t speak too loud either.” 

“I've never fought before. That’s not a good idea in a place like this anyways.” She speaks softly and flushes the toilet. 

“Right! But, you are a witch! This place is not witch proof! Nor is it fully ghost proof. Someone like me in here can…” Ramades enters the mirror as she washes her hands and shows the other reflected places in the facility. Even a spoon rested on Dr. Cyril's desk as he speaks with a patient.  

“The whole place is locked. What are you suggesting?” Maxine asks. 

“Well, we wait for your man yummy to return, get some items…” Ramades starts to float around her he stops and grabs her shoulders looking over them into the mirror, “you can travel through mirrors...” Maxine looks at him, “and then open a passage to the underworld.” 

“What? Is that safe? Nomed…” Maxine replies. 

“Well… I will bring you your items. Through the mirror. Just give me some time. It won’t take to long!” Ramades disappears. Maxine wonders around her room. The orderly returned moments before Taeying showed up and knocked on her window. She rushed toward him and the two smiled through the glass. He passes a note to her under the door. It has a heart with their initials in it. With a message, I will not leave this place without you! You are more important to me than anything! XOXOXO, and lost more tiny hearts. She smiles and points to an R.  

“Important?” Taeyong is confused. She nods her head and then fold it some to show the R more pointing at it. “R?” She points to an a, m, a, “Ramades?” She nods yes. “Okay!” The orderly pulls Taeyong away from the window. This time he stands leaning against the wall smiling at Maxine.  

Time passes and Maxine hears water drip from the shower in her bathroom. She enters the bathroom to see Ramades holding her bag.  

“Are you ready?” Ramades asks and Maxine smiles nodding her head. “You need to get him to his room.” 

Maxine rushes to the window and knocks on the door. The orderly opens the door and asks her, “what do you want? The doctor will be here soon to evaluate you. I know you must be hungry, but you will have to wait and brought food.”  

“Well, I was in my bathroom, and I was noticing my bathroom, doesn’t have anything to wash up with. It would be nice to clean up before I get out of here. What sort of bathroom doesn’t have shampoo and conditioner?” Maxine says. 

“I'll see what I can do.” The orderly shuts and locks the door. Taeyong was gone. Maxine rushes to her mirror and looks into it. Ramades hands Maxine her gloves. She places her hands on the mirror and closes her eyes. She thinks of Taeyong. 

“Maxine!” Taeyong touches her hands against the mirrors where hers are. She opens her eyes and smiles as the mirror becomes jell-o. She is able to lock her fingers within his and crawl onto his bathroom counter. She falls into his arms and wraps her legs around him as they kiss. 

“Eh-hem?” Ramades clears his throat and is holding the items they confiscated from her when they were admited. The two release from one another and Maxine stands up proper. 

“Right… what now?” Maxine asks. 

“Is that Ramades? How did he get this?” Taeyong asks. 

“Through the ceilings. We need to go to another room.” Ramades shows them one of the medical exam rooms. They pass through the mirror and drop from the ceiling lights. They stand up fast before getting to lost in each others eyes. “Now, put on your pentacle and draw a pentagram.” 

“Why do we have to be in this room?” Taeyong asks. 

“It is a room filled with negative scenarios. Forcing people to change against who they are is a way of the underworld. A portal will surely open here.” Ramades answers. Maxine hands Taeyong his molecule and he forces himself to put on the necklace for her. As soon as it was on, Maxine could hear all sorts of whispers. She looks around. 

“What’s wrong?” Taeyong asks. 

“I can hear all the negative in this room. He told me that this room has had many acts that are of the underworld. So many forced to change who they are…” She looks at Ramades, “Do I need the candles?” Maxine asks. 

“I don’t think so. You just want to teleport their.” Ramades answers. 

“You’re not coming with?” Taeyong asks. 

“No. I can’t. But, I will clean up here and head back home. Use the fire ashes to cover the pentagram and grab the brimstone.” Ramades backs away as Taeyong and Maxine stand in the center holding the stone together. “Concentrate and think of where you want to go.” The close their eyes and soon they are both pulled into the stone to be plopped out of a larger source of brimstone in the underworld.  

The two stand and look around. “What do we do now? Something feels… feels…” Taeyong looks over his shoulder to continue turning his body while falling down to dodge a shadowy figure fly passed them. Maxine helps him up and the two find themselves at a different intersection having many paths leading all over the place. 

“Nomed!” Maxine points to a sign, grouped with many, that has a string and rock at the end of it. She tugs the string and a door emerges from the magma. When all if it drips off she grabs the nob and the two enter. When they pass through, they door enters the magma again. 

“I hope there’s another way out.” Taeyong speaks watching the door leave. He turns around to find Maxine moving along the path. It doesn’t go to far when Maxine stops at the edge overlooking an endless ocean of magma. She begins to hear whispering of all sorts simotansioulsy. Holding out her hands, in the gloves, over the magma she manages to pull up a large ingenious platform. She steps onto it and reaches her hand out to Taeyong. They board and she maneuvers it floating around. 

“I don’t know where to go? I can hear so many voices.” Maxine says.  

“I want you to go back in that direction.” Taeyong points. “I felt something going that way.”  

Maxine gasps, and halts the platform. The two duck fast as a hears of shadows pass by swiftly. They look up, while laying down, and one stops to approach them close. It reaches out for Maxine’s pentacle to have its shadowy hand bounce off. It looks her in the eyes and enters her body fast. She freezes up and blacks out. Taeyong begins to shake her worried. Coming to fast, she stands and closes her eyes. A ghostly form of herself leaves her body and zooms across the area fast. She finds the guys. They are sitting around moping in their cages as themselves full of bruises and gashes other that very normal. A couple of them watch her as she moves about the area examining them all. Nomed is looking into the magma at images of the house watching the others. 

“Where is she?” Nomed mutters. As she looked over his shoulder, Sukie sat up and jumped into the viewing fast. “Blech! Stupid feline!” Nomed moves his viewing of the home over and over only to have Sukie look into it. She meows and Maxine gasps returning to her body.  

“What happened? You weren’t moving or breathing.” Taeyong asks. 

“I found them! Let’s go! Sukie is helping us. Buy. I'm not entirely sure what to do.” Maxine answers moving the platform fast. They approach from behind, and Yuta gasps in excitement to see them. Nomed turns around only for Sukie to leap through his viewing scratching his face. Maxine pulls out an athame dagger and strikes it into each of the locks of the cages to free everyone. They all pile onto the platform and take off. Nomed tosses Sukie into the Magma.  

“Sukie!” Mark shouts. 

“She’ll be fine!” Maxine shouts. Nomed is surfing the magma following them. Gaining on them Maxine panics. They all hold her in a group hug.  

Back at the mansion, the others were sitting around the dinning room table moping. Ramades had placed a bunch of wishing stones beneath their chairs. 

“I wish they would come back already.” Haechan says. 

“Me too!” Doyoung says. 

“That would be a great wish!” Jungwoo says. 

The stones all start to glow and float in front of their faces, “wishing stones! I wish for them a to come back! Here!” Winwin grabs the stone and passes it to Haechan on his left. “Take it! It’s a gift, a wishing stone must be given away!” They all pass off their stones and a bright light filles the room blinding them. 

In front of the platform in the underworld a bright white light appears and Maxine guides them eight into it. The platform crashes, but they all go flying through it to land on the dinning room table. Nomed grows large and dives into the Magma in anger.  

Everyone smiles and hugs in happiness to be reunited. The house begins to shake and they gather close to one another as Maxine walks into the entryway. 

“Nomed!” She shouts and he voice echoes many times over and over getting fainter each times. “Get out of my house!” She turns around shouting in all directions while taking a defense stance in the process. “I…will…vanquish you!” She screams. “Once and for all!” Her voice deepened. A ghostly form appeared around her body of the original Sandarith, “We may of both failed in the past, but this time…” she stops and looks directly up at where the chandelier used to be, “we both are determined to win! Only one of us will come out on top and…” she looks down closing her eyes, “I have more this time than ever before you can not match.” The house fills with a gust and all the lights blink as it shakes. She pulls out a wand and holds it high above her head with the other hand nearby it she summons a black candle, candleholder, matches, a black pepper, white pepper, some salt, a carving tool and some oil. The wand disappears and all the items begin orbit around her body dropping dropping from above. She garbs the candle and it stops moving. She grabs the matches, “I like this candle with a match,” she grabs the candle after lighting it and stabs it into the holder. “Into its holder starts my wrath, I take the peppers, both black and white,” She releases the candles and grans the peppers holding them in the flame, I sprinkle salt to keep you tame. I know your name, Nomed, Nomed, Nomed! You will not send me away again! You will not win this way or bring pain! Go away! I say now, go away! I grab the carver in my hand, ti slice this spell on this land! To pour the oil on the pieces, I send you gone! Here my thesis!” A loud crash of thunder could be heard and the house returns to normal and Maxine disappears to reappears on the roof of her home laughing as the witches do. She looks at the moon and the star filled sky after. Looking at her back yard, she notices something odd around her kiln. A catholic cross has been burned into the grass. Almost as if by a corrosive acid of some sort. Maxine disappears and reappears back in the entry of her home. She is now wearing dark coloured cloak. The guys all approach her. 

“Sandarith! I mean… Maxine!” Ramades speaks to her. 

“Ramades!” Maxine smiles at him and brushes his cheek. “I can’t do anything without you! I remember so much…” Maxine looks around suddenly hearing Sukie meow. “Sukie!” She takes off running through the house to the back yard. She enters her ritual room beneath the yard. Only to fall to her knees fast.  

“Maxine! So glad you could make it! Seeing as you fled, I had no reason but to go to the witness of your madness.” She is drenched in holy water by Doctor Cyril and it burns her. The others all enter and as they ran toward him, vanquished to reappear inside Sylvia’s home across the street.  

“Come on! Hurry up! This witch needs to be dealt with! Make your mama proud!” Sylvia walks over tossing more holy water onto Maxine. 

“Mamma?” Maxine struggles to speak and look at them both. 

All of the guys look around to find the room full of crucifixes and hurry out of the home fast. A barrier forms around Maxine’s property to repel them all from stepping upon it.  

Maxine is struggling to try and stand up from a glowing cross in the dirt below her and tne holy water. Dr. Cyril walks over and clamps a metal brace around her neck connected to a chain. He walks to a podium at the other end of the cross and tugs the chain. Maxine falls into the dirt as he begins to speak, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil” 

Ramades shows up to speak with Taeyong, “She will need these things!” He hands him a lost and the keys to their van. The van slowly rolls out of the driveway and stops in the streets. “Go! Send them! We can’t waste any time! It will take a bunch if times to get her witch soul to break!” He disappears to find Lennon cowering in the library in the fetal position. “Ohhhhhh!” He gets frustrated and kick him. “get up! Stop being like this!”  

Lennon rolls over, “hey! It’s easy for you cause he can’t harm you. He's coming. He's on his way! I can tell! It’s best I stay back!” He stands up and looks around hearing whispers of Latin in Nomed's voice. “This is more powerful than any other time!”  

“Yes! I agree! More powerful, but that doesn’t mean you should cower! Maxine needs you!” Ramades attempts to motivate and talk sense into Lennon. 

“May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.” Dr. Cyril speaks. Maxine managed to stand just as he finished his prayer speaking from the podium reading from an old bible. A ghostly cross exits the bible and passes through Maxine causing her to fall to the ground again. Sylvia begins to set up beeswax candles around the area and light them. The doctor begins to repeat the prayer. Each time the cross passed through Maxine, she felt weaker and weaker. She begins to think of everyone and everything she has been shown by those who are dead. Concentrating, she focuses all of her energy to the 1st flashback she had seen in sepia tone of the old town that used to be in this location. The cross fills solid with white below her in the ground. It pulls her into it with Sylvia and the doctor.  

Maxine sees memories of Sandarith vanquishing Nomed multiple times in the past. She lands in a memory to find herself looking into a window of the church in the sepia tone flashback. A person is brought into the church with fever, cold sweats, and ranting. “Nomed…” She finds herself muttering uncontrollable, knowing the memory is playing out as it actually happened. She reaches into her basket beneath the cloth. “What?” She stops and watches the priest pull out a bible. 

“What is that? It doesn’t look like the bible we usually use.” The nun asks. 

“This is a newly printed bible. It has methods perfect for exactly this!” The priest opens it and begins to read the exorcism prayer. The bishop begins to set up the area. The person begins to fidget and flop about the area. The crosses start to impale their body and Nomed’s voice could be heard. 

“Verba ex virtute, aut viribus verba.  Surge me, et gratias ago?  Stultum homines!  Stulti terram hanc?  Conteram vobis mea manu!” (The words of power, the words or strength. Rise me up, and I will gibe thanks! Foolish humans! Fools of this land! I will crush you all by my hands!) Nomed speaks. 

“What is this?” Sandarith speaks. She watches and slowly sees the person become engulfed in a shadowy ectoplasm. Nomed starts to form his shape from them. “No!” Sandarith interrupts the prayer and everyone looks at her.  

“Stupid witch! Be gone!” The shadowy form enters the priests body and the nun closes the window by wooden shutters.  

The memory jumped ahead and she is being choked by the priest from the first time she was shown this. Nomed speaks to her through the possessed priest while choking her, “you’re just a girl! Do you really think you can stop me! Not to much longer until I will have control of this body!” 

Maxine grabs the priests fore arms, she has on the gloves Sukie brought Maxine, and laughs, “Nomed! You think I will gibe in this easily! Whatever this gain you have is…I will vanquish you, as I always have! You are weak compared to me!” 

“Oh, perhaps in the past, but this time, I am stronger and getting stronger thanks to these people!” Nomed speaks and the possessed priest stands up holding Sandarith by the neck. “The first host I consumed, with this religious priest, should be enough to allow me to take you! Even the church is a weakness against witches!” Sukie appears hissing loudly to land on the face and scratch him. Sandarith drops to the ground and quickly begins to draw a pentacle. It ignites by fires and she starts to burn from protective prayers in the church.  

“Go! Now!” Sandarith shouts to the bishop and nun. 

“What about the father!” The nun shouts, it is Sylvia’s ancestor. 

“It’s too late for him! If he had not gave his body up, Nomed may of took to our world already!” Sandarith shouts in pain. “Go!” The bishop, Doctor Cyril's ancestor, grabs the nuns wrist and drags her out of the church. The entire place sparks fire and Nomed back hands Sandarith across the chest flinging her into the wall. She stands up fast just as he attempted to strike her again for a barrier to protected her recoiling him back. Sukie takes to outside and starts to run around the entire burning church fast leaving paw prints in a pentagram shape.  

Inside a witches lair, a person is watching in a cauldron while adding ingredients to it. 

Slowly, the church is draining power from Sanadriath and her magic is not working as well. At the same time, Nomed is becoming weak too.  

“I have no choice…” Sandarith closes her eyes and starts to glow white. Both pentagrams glow and Nomed becomes caught in it. He starts to pull his demonic form out of the priest from the chest. He stabs his claw into Sandarith and she falls to her knees still concentrating. Sukie leaps in snatching her pentacle necklace and taking off fast with it. The entire area fills with a white light and when it disperses everything in the area is gone leaving only ash. 

Sandarith can be seen in the cauldron blowing a kiss and waving as a vial of blood is poured into her face causing it to ripple away and hair dropped in that disintegrates fast.  

Another flashback is shown to Maxine being inside of her home. Everything is dusty and a group of religious people walk in. One of them is Sylvia dressed as a nun an younger while the alter boy looks to be a young Cyril. They all gather in the den moving the furniture and setting up and alter for a religious ceremony of some sort. The priest has the same old bible from before and the future. The nuns are first to kneel as the test soon join around in a circle. They all begin to pray as the priest speaks a different verbiage. The crucifix on the ground is replaced by a goats image and upside down star symbol around it. It ignites fire and many of the religious folk begin to panic. Maxine is watching through a crystal ball from below the house as another reincarnated Sandarith. She begins to draw her pentagram directly below them and Ramades is with her in human form assisting her. Sukie makes her way upstairs just as Nomed begins to crawl out of the portal. The priest stops speaking dropping the bible and freezes. He falls to his knees fast and starts to pray. Nomed stands and holds his arms out to the sides toward one of the nuns and bishop and starts to devour their souls. Sylvia grabs Cyril and the bible and rushes out before Nomed could seize them. Nomed takes step up the priest who is still praying. 

Mrwoooooow!  

Sukie meows loudly to get his attention. “Sukie!” Nomed turns around to face her. He steps with fire footprints left behind toward her and stops as a crucifix is stabbed into his back. Nomed reach behind him pulling it out while the priest returned to prayer. Nomed lowers himself to his level an laughs. He absorbs the soul of the priest leaving the mummified looking corpse left in prayer position. As Nomed stands up, the pentagram below him starts to glow through the floor. “No! Loset…” Before he could move, Maxine finds herself reach up and her ghostly hands begins to pull Nomed through the floor. She drags him to the ritual room where Ramades had prepped another ritual. Maxine is dragging Nomed by his feet and both are caught in the new glowing pentagram.  

“What are you waiting for! Just do it!” Maxine shouts. 

“But, you’re caught!” Ramades shouts.  

“Just do it! He’s too powerful and there isn’t time!” She insists. Ramades thinks and then completes the ritual. Fast he runs and hugs Maxine. “No!” Before they new it a bright light filled the area and when gone nothing was left. 

Maxine finds herself in a place full of white and clouds, she sees a woman with feathery wings and runs toward her. “Maxine!” She hears the guys screaming. “Where are you? Help!” 

Maxine stops, “oh no! This is all my fault!” She falls to the ground and cries. A hand appears wiping a tear from her eye and she can see feet and the wings. Before she could look up, she found herself transported back to the ritual room with the doctor, Sylvia, all her friends, and Sukie struggling against Nomed and many shadowy forms of himself. 

Cyril is standing at the podium reading from the bible as Sylvia sprinkles a ground up mixture of the 7 holy herbs upon him. Nomed is unable to strike from a barrier in the shape of a crucifix protecting them. All of her friends are caught in his shadowy grasps or moving about the area trying to avoid getting caught. Coincidentally, Haechan, Jungwoo, Doyoung, Winwin, and Taeyong are the ones who are free. Maxine stands and a ring of fire forms around her. She is unable to pass through it.  

“Maxine!” Ramades shouts and passes through the fire and pushes her out of it. She lands on her butt and looks at his ghostly hand reaching out to help her stand. “ Cyril! Sylvia! Please stop!” She shouts. Nomed faces her and swipes his hand along the ground. All the ghostly forms of himself gather to form a larger arm and knock her down to her backside. She stands fast and runs toward the doctor. She is bounced back by the same barrier crucifix to be caught by a bunch or floating orbs.  

“Fortior me est semper?  Hoc erit in fine Loset sanguine!” Nomed speaks in Latin. (I am stronger than ever! This will be the end of the Loset bloodline!) He claps his shadow hands around Maxine and the orbs all disappear dropping her to the ground avoiding being hit. She rolls over and pushes herself up to run off. The crucifix drawn on the ground reappears and snags her. She is stuck on her hands and knees unable to stand or crawl. “A long awaited triumph is now at hand!” Nomed walks over to Maxine and lifts his foot high above her head. He stomps it down toward her head and Lennon appears grabbing it to save her. 

“I'm not afraid of you anymore! You ruined my life! Stole the one I love away from me! If she was here right now, she would of took you on long before I mustered up the courage to do so!” Lennon shouts. All the orbs appears around the room. 

“Quick! Draw the pentagram!” Ramades tells Taeyong and he tells the others. They all hurry off.  

“Ramades!” Maxine shouts as one of her knees starts to fall into the crucifix. Children laughing could be heard. 

“Take my hand! I told you we would help!” The young boy forms from one of the orbs. Maximes grabs it and a white glow forms from their hands. The other children all appear in ghostly forms holding hands. Ramades is holding her other hand. 

“I'm always ready, but this time it’s so different…” Ramades speaks. Nomed tries to strike Maxine to be blocked by a barrier. He is furious and opens up a sacrificial portal over everything! Fire burns from the goat and upside down star symbol.  

Maxine gasps and stares something passes through her mind and a women’s voice speaks to her, “Call me and I shall aid you…” She lets go of the hands and rushes to her bag. She dumps out all the items. She tosses her athame to a point of the pentagram, the bell to another, the box from Ezia, her grimoire, and looks around.  

“Taeyong! To the last point! I need everyone to aid in this!” Maxine shouts. Taeyong takes the last point with Jaehyun who pulls out a glass eye of some sort attached to a string. Haechan grabs the book and Taeil pulls out a scroll. Jungwoo grabs the Athame as Johnny pulls his out. Doyoung picks up the box and Yuta has a bunch of colourful scales he places inside it. When Winwin picks up the bell, Mark is feeling left out. He has no item given to him from the underworld and knows the bell came from it. 

“Ramades! Are we missing something?” Maxine shouts.  

“The needle!” Taeyong pulls the silver needle out of hia pocket and tosses it to Mark. As it moved through the air, Nomed broke free from Lennon and leaped up swallowing it. He beings to laugh.  

“Hey Nomed!” Maxine shouts as she runs from Taeyong, she tosses it into the crucifix barrier and then tackles it with her gloves on. She manages to break through and grabs the needle just before Sylvia could while also tripping her. The crucifix on the groud starts to fade.  

“I'll give him the needle!” Ramades takes the needle to Mark. Cyril pushes Maxine toward Nomed who grabs her.  

“All poweful demon, I want this girl gone just as much as you do. Perhaps we could make a deal?” The doctor tries to bargin. 

“Are you crazy? There’s no deals with a demon!” Maxine shouts while struggling in Nomed’s arms.  

“What do you say? You take her and let my mother and I leave, and in exchange you can also have all these stupid boys too!” Cyril says while approaching Maxine. Behind his back he has a crucifix in his hand. Sukie leaps onto the podium dropping a sheet of papers onto the bible and begins to meow loudly. The sacrificial portal ignites strongly as the pentagram glows with the two intertwined! The doctors holds his hand out for a shake. Nomed reaches out for it and the doctor stabs his claw with the crucifix. Sylvia attempts to grab the bible to be scratched by Sukie and then tossed near her son and Nomed by Lennon who then keeps her held down. Nomed was angry and slashed his other claw theoguh the doctors torso. 

“Foolish human! You made me more powerful to where your religious items have no effect on me at this point! I don’t even need her anymore, but taking her soul is a revenge well deserved!” Nomed speaks and lifts him into the air with blood spilling all over the place. The sacrificial portal begins to react to it. Maxine hurries to Sukie and looks over the page she left.  

“Wait…” Maxine looks at Sukie who nods at her. Maxine takes off the rings she got from the factory and holds them in her palm. “Please! I ask for your soul! No longer aiding me, but to save them. Save them all! This demon Nomed he must fall!”  A glow exits the rings and the many from the factory appears in a ghostly form nodding he holds out his hand and she places the rings on his palm as he closes them slowly. He holds them near his heart as he walks toward Nomed. 

“Goodbye Maxine!” Lennon shouts and dives into the portal right behind the man.  

“yeah… I… we'll… it won’t be long!” Ramades stutters and then rushes off into the portal. 

Maxine raises her hands in the air reading off the page, “Oh lord, I have a demon who must be perished. I seek to save all those I cherish! Let they send down upon me an angel. Let us have the power to defeat this monster! One who defiles your teachings!” All the orbs begin to glow immensely. Sylvia is crawling toward Maxine’s feet. She grabs the holy water out of her hand and kicks her back. “I sprinkle down the water of the blessed! Help us with this mess!” Maxine is tossed back with Sukie and so are all of the guys. All of the items disappear and the crucifix on the ground reappears. With all three symbols collided a white cloud appears above the room. 

“No!” Nomed drops the doctor on the ground who is now almost drained of blood. He reaches toward his mother who lays there watching. Nomed ignites the ground and pulls the mother and son into the underworld. He starts to laugh and slowly is pulled through to. As everyone stood, a golden halo exits the cloud. The woman Maxine had chased before, an angel exits diving down fast directly into Nomed pulling him out of the sacrificial portal. The two clash and battle. The angel stops and and spreads its wings out with a bight glow. All of the orbs and turn into ghostly forms of the children that everyone can see. In just a few moments they all have living breath flesh and wings sprout from them all. The children are now angels and all take to battling Nomed. He is struck down to the ground. The angel summons chains to wrap his limbs and takes off back into the cloud dragging him behind her. All of the children fly by Maxine and kiss her on the cheek before following into the cloud. All of the portals are gone and the room is left dark. 

“Maxine?” Tayeong stumbles around trying to get to her. 

“Light!” Maxine casts a spell to make herself glow. She rushes outside and looks at the sky. She can see an image of Nomed facing the angel and angelic children in the clouds and smiles. “It’s over…” She smiles and looks at all the guys. “he's gone for good!” They see a stork fly by carrying a basket. It lands on the front porch of her home and hits the door bell. They all rush through the home and open the front door. The stork flies off. Maxine kneels and moves part of the blanket in the basket to reveal a baby! A note was rested on his sleeping self saying, Hi my name is Ramades and my soul has always been bound to my mother forever and ever! Maxine grabs his hand and has a flashback to the memory he had show her before of how he met Sandarith. It shows her leaving her child on the porch of a couple and knocking on the door. In time, she moved to that same village to keep an eye on him. Many memories flash of him being reborn over and over and always with her. Maxine snaps out of it and looks at Taeyong smiling. Baby Ramades wakes up and smiles. He glows some and removes Maxine’s pentagram. It floats over to him and he chuckles. It is quickly placed in his mouth and they all smile.