8: Chapter 8 The Safest Place

Shaun was driving, and Nell was sitting in the passenger seat, wrapped in his police jacket, curled into a ball.

She looked a little warmer than before, and a little calmer too.

But she was still shivering from time to time.

Not because of the cold, but because of fear.

Shaun glanced at her from the corner of his eye, calculating rapidly in his mind.

Shaun tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

A thought had occurred to him earlier.

A thought that no normal person would ever have.

He had seen witches.

To be precise, he had just met a group of witches this afternoon.

And these were the kind of witches who had lived for hundreds of years, could pin people to walls, resurrect the dead, and take lives from a distance.

If there was any place in this world where ghosts wouldn't dare to go...

Wouldn't that be the witches' lair?

At first, Shaun was shocked by his own thought.

But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.

What are witches?

Supernatural beings.

What is the place they live in?

Robichaux Manor!

That century-old mansion should have been haunted long ago, but the show never mentioned ghosts there.

Why?

Because ghosts dare not come.

Because witches are scarier than ghosts.

"Shaun?" Nell's voice interrupted his thoughts. "This isn't the way to the hotel, is it?"

Shaun snapped back to reality.

He only then realized he had unknowingly turned onto the road leading to the suburbs.

The streetlights on both sides were becoming fewer, replaced by thickening darkness and the occasional passing woods.

"We're not going to the hotel," he said.

Nell's body visibly tensed.

"Then where are we going?"

Shaun was silent for two seconds.

He was thinking about how to explain it.

"I know some people," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "They... are quite experienced with this sort of thing."

Nell paused. "You mean exorcists?"

Shaun immediately said, "A bit more capable than exorcists."

Nell was silent.

After driving another kilometer, she suddenly asked, "Will they believe me?"

Shaun thought about the experience this afternoon.

Madison's "You're quite interesting" look.

Cordelia's exhausted but gentle attitude.

And Fiona's smile that made one's back turn cold.

That... was really hard to say!

However, despite his internal anxiety, Shaun appeared exceptionally confident on the outside.

He said, "They will believe you."

"The things they have seen are... even more outrageous than what you have seen."

Nell didn't ask again.

She just curled up tighter, looking through the windshield at the increasingly dark road ahead.

Twenty minutes later, Shaun parked the car in front of that familiar iron gate.

Under the moonlight, the pattern on the gate was exceptionally clear.

Nell stared at the pattern and suddenly shuddered.

"What is this?"

"A... symbol," Shaun said. "Don't be afraid. The people inside are a bit scary, but they won't hurt you."

When he said this, he felt a bit guilty himself.

Wouldn't hurt Nell?

Fiona Goode was a woman who killed without blinking.

But on second thought, Nell wasn't a witch hunter, nor an enemy of the coven, so why would Fiona bother killing her?

Besides, he was there.

Although he was only good at Bullshit, at least he could... could Bullshit a little?

Shaun took a deep breath and honked the horn.

He waited ten seconds, but the iron gate didn't open.

He honked again.

Still didn't open.

Shaun frowned.

When he came in the afternoon, Madison opened the gate from far away.

Oh no.

Could it be that Fiona didn't want to see him?

Just as he was hesitating whether to honk again, the iron gate suddenly moved.

But it didn't open outward.

It rose upward.

No!

Shaun widened his eyes.

The entire iron gate was leaving the ground—not being pushed open, but completely floating up, along with the hinges, the frame, and the brick pillars on both sides.

It rose to mid-air, hanging two meters high, perfectly still!

Nell let out a short scream.

Shaun's mouth was open, and he couldn't say a word.

At the end of the driveway, the main house door opened.

Under the moonlight, a blonde figure stood there, arms crossed, with a strange smile on her face.

Madison.

She had used telekinesis to lift the entire iron gate!

Shaun swallowed and slowly drove the car in.

In the rearview mirror, the gate gently landed back in place behind him, without a sound.

Nell was shaking all over: "What is that... what is that..."

Shaun parked the car in front of the main house and turned off the engine.

He turned his head, looked at Nell, and said in the calmest tone he had ever used in his life: "I told you, they are quite experienced with this sort of thing."

Then he pushed open the car door and walked out, meeting Madison's smile.

...

Shaun pushed open the car door and walked out, meeting Madison's smile.

The moonlight spilled onto the white outer walls of the manor, painting everything in a silver-gray hue.

Madison stood at the entrance, her blonde hair glowing faintly in the moonlight, arms crossed, her expression like a cat that had just caught a mouse.

She asked in a lazy voice: "Officer, did you miss us so soon?"

Shaun didn't take the bait.

He walked around to the passenger side and opened the door.

Nell was curled up in her seat, shaking all over.

Her eyes were fixed on Madison—or to be precise, fixed on the gate behind Madison that she had just opened herself.

"Come on down," Shaun comforted her softly. "It's okay."

Nell grabbed his arm and got out of the car, her legs so weak she could barely stand.

Shaun's police jacket wrapped around her made her look even smaller.

Madison's gaze fell on Nell, scanning her from head to toe.

Nightgown, slippers, frozen red ankles, dark purple bruises under her eyes, terrified look.

Then Madison raised an eyebrow.

The expression changed.

No longer the "let's play" mockery, but... thoughtful.

Shaun noticed this change.

He stepped forward, blocking half of Nell's body: "Madison, I want to ask you for a favor."

"Oh?" Madison's gaze moved away from Nell and landed back on Shaun's face. "What favor?"

"Her name is Nell," Shaun said. "She has nowhere to live and no one to take care of her. Can... can she stay here for the night?"

Madison was clearly stunned for a moment.

Then she laughed.

That smile was different from before; it wasn't mockery, it wasn't teasing, but that... "Are you serious?" expression.

"Officer," Madison said slowly, "this is a school, not a shelter for stray animals."

"I know," Shaun said.

"You know?" Madison raised an eyebrow. "And you still brought her here?"

Shaun took a deep breath.

"She encountered some things... that science cannot explain."

"I think if anyone in this world can understand her, it might be you guys."

Madison's smile faded a little.

Her gaze moved past Shaun and landed on Nell again.

Nell was still shaking, but she was also looking at Madison. The two women's gazes met in mid-air.

Madison's eyes narrowed.

It was a look that was hard to describe—not sympathy, not pity, but more like... confirmation.

Confirmation of something she saw through at a glance!