62: Chapter 62 Evil Spirits?

The woman slowly turned her head and looked at Shaun.

Behind her hair, those eyes were no longer the same as before.

Shaun could see that the woman's pupils had constricted into slits, like a cat's or a snake's—in any case, they were not something a human should have.

There was a faint glow in her eye sockets, golden, like molten metal flowing.

That wasn't her.

Shaun guessed that something must be inside her, using her body to look at her, look at Shaun, and look at this church.

Something like... possession...

Great!

He just couldn't catch a break!

In a flash, Shaun decided to let Otis run first.

Given the current situation, even if he weighed 200 pounds, it wouldn't be of any use!

"Otis, can you get up?"

Otis coughed behind him: "...I can't."

"Crawl out."

"What?"

"Crawl out," Shaun stared at the woman, "Now."

A rustling sound came from behind; it was Otis crawling toward the door.

He didn't ask why.

Having been a police officer for twenty years, Otis knew all too well when to ask questions and when not to.

The woman tilted her head.

The movement was unnatural, like a marionette, as if something was trying to control an unfamiliar body.

Then she spoke: "What... are you?"

The voice wasn't hers.

It was lower, raspier, as if squeezed from deep within the throat, every word carrying a resonance that didn't belong to a human.

Shaun didn't answer.

"On you..." She sniffed, as if smelling something, "The scent is very pleasant."

Scent again?

That Bat Monster had also mentioned he had some aura of an old gods. What exactly was that scent?

But that wasn't something to investigate right now.

Perhaps...

He could ask Cordelia about the situation later?

His mind wandered for a moment before Shaun snapped back to reality and faced the woman again.

At this moment, Shaun's palms were covered in sweat, but he didn't move.

The door behind him opened a crack; Otis had crawled out.

The woman looked at the door, then at Shaun, and asked in a low voice, "You're not running?"

Shaun looked at her and countered, "What on earth are you?"

The woman seemed a bit surprised that Shaun still had the presence of mind to question her.

She paused for a moment before letting out a cackling laugh.

The laughter echoed in the empty church, bouncing from the walls to the ceiling and pressing down like countless bats circling overhead.

After a while, she stopped laughing and tilted her head to look at Shaun. In those golden vertical pupils was a cat-and-mouse cruelty: "It's too late even if you want to run."

Shaun didn't hesitate.

His movements were clean and swift, without a single redundant pause. He drew his gun, flipped the safety, raised the barrel, and aimed it at that face that wasn't hers.

"Bang!"

The gunshot exploded in the church, making the stained glass vibrate.

The woman moved.

But her speed was unnaturally fast!

At the moment Shaun pulled the trigger, she was no longer in her original position.

The bullet pierced the pew behind her, sending wood splinters flying.

As for her, like a wisp of smoke, she drifted directly behind Shaun.

Shaun felt a cold wind on the back of his neck.

He didn't have time to turn around.

[Telekinesis!]

Telekinesis surged from his body like an invisible wall, pushing backward.

But before that power could touch the woman, a scream rang out first.

"Ah—!"

It wasn't Shaun's voice; it was hers.

Shaun whipped around.

He only saw a blonde woman standing three paces behind him.

She wore a long black trench coat, her blonde hair shimmering coldly under the church lights. One hand was in her pocket, and the other... was holding the woman by the back of her neck.

Like picking up a cat.

Who else could it be but Elizabeth, that female Vampire?

The woman was suspended in mid-air, her entire body frozen.

The non-human power from just now—the power that could send Otis flying and crack stone slabs—was like a rat caught by the throat in Elizabeth's hand.

She struggled twice, but Elizabeth's fingers didn't budge.

For the first time, fear appeared in those golden vertical pupils.

"You..." Her voice changed, no longer that raspy bass, but a sharp, terrified whisper. "You are..."

Elizabeth looked down at her, her exquisite face devoid of expression.

She simply said coldly, "So noisy."

Elizabeth's hand tightened slightly.

The woman let out a short scream, and then her whole body went limp.

The golden light receded from her eyes, dissipating as quickly as a receding tide. The vertical pupils returned to normal, and that eerie golden sheen vanished.

She looked like an ordinary, thin, young woman who had fainted.

Elizabeth let go.

The woman slumped to the ground, motionless.

The church fell silent.

Sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, illuminating the overturned pews, the broken candle holders, and the unconscious woman.

Elizabeth turned her head and looked at Shaun, saying, "Officer Sean, you owe me another favor."

Shaun held his gun, a faint wisp of blue smoke still rising from the barrel.

He looked at Elizabeth, at the stained glass window behind her, and at the unconscious woman on the ground, then asked, "What are you doing here?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Just passing by."

Shaun didn't speak.

Passing by?

A Vampire, at three in the afternoon, passing by a church?

Who is she kidding?

More likely... she was following him on purpose!

Elizabeth looked at Shaun's expression, the corner of her mouth curling slightly. "You don't believe me?"

Shaun didn't answer.

Elizabeth smiled.

She glanced at the woman on the ground, then at Shaun, and took a step forward.

She was close enough for Shaun to smell her perfume—that same ancient, complex scent, mixed with a hint of blood.

She leaned in and said, "You were just shooting at her with a gun?"

Shaun couldn't ignore that. He gave a bitter smile. "I missed."

Elizabeth looked at him, something shining in those grayish-blue eyes as she asked in a low voice, "And then you used magic?"

He certainly couldn't hide his secrets from this Vampire.

So, Shaun nodded honestly.

Elizabeth's smile deepened. She leaned toward the back of Shaun's neck and breathed, "Interesting... a witch's telekinesis, a Vampire's Self-Healing, and... ooh... this aura."

Shaun's back stiffened.

He felt as if he could almost sense Elizabeth baring her sharp fangs.

Then her voice continued from behind, "Just how many things are you hiding?"

Shaun looked at her and suddenly had a witty thought. "Take a guess."

This sudden remark made Elizabeth stare at him for three seconds.

Then she said, "Officer Sean, you're becoming more and more interesting."

She turned and walked out of the church, the hem of her trench coat tracing an arc behind her.

After a few steps, she stopped and said without looking back, "The thing possessing that woman fled, but it didn't go far."

"This church seems to be its base. If you want to find out more, Shaun, I can help you..."