By nightfall Courtney had managed to pull herself together and was ready to call Stomberg back. Or at least she's convinced herself that she could do so after nearly an hour of staring at her cell phone.
-Hey, Courtney. How are you?- Stomberg asked- You got me really worried there…
-Sorry, I just wasn't feeling well….- Courtney bit her nail nervously as she stared at her own reflection- Um, I wanted to call you… But I was just –
-You were too busy hanging out with Gill?
Courtney bit her lip not knowing how to respond. When she came home in the afternoon she was exhausted as well as slightly disoriented and had to come up with a lie quickly so her mother wouldn't ask too many questions. She immediately regretted calling Stomberg without coming up with a decent lie.
-Why did you lie?- Stomberg asked but all he got was silence- Look Courtney, I don't know what's going on in your life right now, but if you can't do the assignment…
Courtney cancelled out whatever Stomberg was saying and nearly dropped the phone as Bughuul appeared in the mirror, a few feet away from her. She turned to see that he was there in the flesh and didn't know whether she should hang up the phone or not. All she could do in that moment was stare at him.
She decided to hang up after all after, rapidly uttering "I'll call you later." to Stomberg.
-I do apologize for interrupting your conversation.- Bughuul paced a few steps towards Courtney- But I can see that you're better. You have yet to give me your answer…- he touched her face and she turned away in disgust- I was looking forward to having you make the sacrifice, but I'm sensing that you've already decided to let someone else get hurt…
-Why don't you just kill me instead?
-You know that I wouldn't do that. I'd rather have you in my realm with me, but some sacrifices need to happen first.
-And I'd rather die than be in your realm!- Courtney was surprised at the aggressiveness of her own voice.
Bughuul took Courtney by the wrist and pulled her closer, causing her to lose the confidence she had in a blink.
-You're forgetting yourself, Courtney. Don't let me remind you of what I can do as it could be harmful to your loved ones...- he let go of her wrist- I expect that you pay a visit to Ellison Oswalt tomorrow. I know he left you a way to contact him so don't try to make any excuses.
Courtney frowned.
-I thought you only took children…
-Oswalt's researching the Miller case and he managed to get a hold of the crime scene photos which allowed me to take a peek at his miserable life. I saw that he has a friend residing with him. He's about your age.
-Nathan? But who would he sacrifice? He doesn't even live with his father anymore.
-I'm sure he'll be more than happy to move back in with him once he sees the films. You need to make sure that he does.
-So if he does murder his father, then what? You take him along?
-You shouldn't be jealous, he'll only be there so I can feed.
-I'm not –
Before Courtney could finish her sentence Bughuul vanished and she sighed, now annoyed that he didn't let her finish. She was bound to him now and didn't know how she could break that bond. For now she'd just have to do what he asked her to and pay Ellison Oswalt a visit the following day.
Something strange happened to Nathan that night. He had a nightmare which hasn't happened since he'd left his father's home. He recognized Courtney there, a girl he only knew in passing. She was crying, holding an axe in her hand. "Please, just do it…", she said to him, "Please…". He wasn't sure what was it that Courtney wanted him to do exactly, but judging by the axe in her hand it seemed like she was asking him to end her life. "What is it that you want me to do?", he asked. There was no answer, only a scream. Nathan stepped back but bumped into someone. He turned to see a monstrous figure with empty eyes and no mouth. Courtney's screams became louder and the figure touched him causing him to start fading.
That was when he woke up in cold sweat. He saw Ellison standing before him.
-You look like hell…- Nathan said a few moments later, trying to get up- You'll die before you get to solve the case if you keep this up.
-You shouldn't worry about me. What the hell just happened?- Ellison asked- You looked like you were having a pretty bad nightmare.
-Yeah, well- Nathan got up- Sometimes people have nightmares, I'm sure even you've had your share of them.
-Do you wanna, um… talk about it?- Ellison asked even though he was visibly uncomfortable.
Nathan shook his head and grabbed the whisky bottle.
-No. I'd rather catch up with another friend.- he gestured with to the whisky bottle in his hand and took a sip from it as Ellison watched.
-Look, I don't like getting involved with people's problems, but -
-Then don't.- Nathan interrupted Ellison- I know this is already making you pretty uncomfortable.
-Regardless, I don't want to see you turn into an alcoholic. You don't take alcohol nearly as well as I do.
-Don't worry about it. I won't let the booze kill me until I'm done helping you with this case…- Nathan took another sip and put away the bottle- Speaking of which, how much did I help so far?
Ellison got up and took one of the photos.
-I've examined everything you got for me and the only thing that was never mentioned in the records was this symbol… - Ellison handed the photo to Nathan- It's not clearly visible but once you've had a good look at the photo it can be spotted. It seems to be the only thing that the cops have overlooked so far.
It took a bit but Nathan eventually spotted the symbol Ellison was referring to and it gave him a chill since that same symbol appeared in his nightmare.
-Do you happen to know what it is?
Nathan nodded away nervously and placed the photo back on the table. Ellison noticed that something was wrong.
-Either you're lying to me or you're just freaked out by the symbol – I'd bet on my first assumption.
-… You know, I could use some fresh air.- Nathan got up.
-Now?- Ellison frowned- It's nearly three a.m.
Nathan put his jacket on.
-I'll be fine. I'll just take a quick walk around the block. Won't be long. - he said and left before Ellison could do anything to stop him.
Ellison sighed and gazed at the picture on the coffee table. He took it into his hand and found himself staring at the symbol for quite a while until a shadowy figure with a single glowing red eye out of the corner of the photo caused him to drop it.
-Nathan?- Ellison inquired trying to catch his breath.
The room felt colder than before and he could've sworn that there was someone else in the room. He tried to shake it off as nothing more than paranoia but he felt like he was being watched. He glanced back at the picture and picked it up again, with his eyes locked on the symbol. He decided to take the magnifying glass from his desk and take a better look and that was when he saw a pair of empty eyes inside, with that glowing red dot, which caused him to drop the magnifying glass.
-Jesus!- he screamed and backed away.
Ellison ran to his bedroom and grabbed the baseball bat he had by his bed, then went to sit on the living room couch. He stared at the whisky bottle for a few moments and grabbed it, draining whatever was left in it, eventually letting himself drift off to sleep.