The Devil’s Cage

No such thing as a ghost?

Elli and Cidney were shocked by Kieran’s words.

Kieran was sitting on the sofa with a stiff, calm expression.

Elli said, ”But the notice board outside stated that there have been cases of a ghost killer, and the way Debosky died…”

The little girl looked scared as she mentioned the article.

It seemed like Debosky’s death had made quite an impact on her.

”You wanted to say that the way Debosky died was similar to the articles?” Kieran finished Elli’s sentence for her.

”Yes!” she nodded.

”Seems like you really read the articles on the notice board, but did you check the gate thoroughly? The gate the dead man was hanging from in the article? If someone had really hung there and struggled to death, the paint on the gate would not have faded away that naturally. There would have been at least some sign of struggle on it!”

Kieran looked at Cidney and Raul. He noticed that both of them had gone stiff as sticks as soon as he’d mentioned the gate.

”The article said that he had been drunk! He must have lost any ability to struggle or resist!” Cidney rejected Kieran’s statement.

”Yeah, that’s right!” Elli nodded in agreement.

”Then what about the body? Did you guys see the drunkard’s body with your own eyes? Please don’t forget what you are here for!” Kieran added.

”Is this a part of Nikorei’s test?” Elli sounded shocked by Kieran’s words.

”I initially got here in the afternoon, but I chose to come back again at night, because I found some differences between the article’s descriptions and the gate. I went off to do some investigating, and what I discovered was very shocking. That press company shared a similar titled article with a couple of others, but there was no such case reported in the station, and there was no body like that in the morgue. The article was a joke the shaman played on us, but she could not have imagined that her joke would be used as a method for a reckless murder!” Kieran looked at Cidney and Raul again as he spoke. He could not hold back anymore and just spilled his thoughts out.

”Cidney, your appearance was too coincidental. Raul was suddenly hurt and a doctor with the appropriate medicine and equipment just appeared out of nowhere? Of course, a doctor would carry their supplies with them because of their occupation, but the medical tools you carried with you were meant to treat a very specific wound!”

”Raul, your methods were too rusty. You might have approached Debosky quietly and covered his mouth when you slashed his throat, but if you want to hang a man, you better use a rope instead of bandages! You used the bandages on your body to tie Debosky up and throw him down from the first floor, passing him over to Cidney. Cidney then moved the body to the gate and fixed the scene so it looked like the dead drunkard in the article!” Kieran stated his discoveries word by word.

Cidney and Raul were silent throughout the revelation.

Elli was shocked. She looked at the two of them with scared eyes and slowly moved closer to Kieran.

”This is only your side of the story! There’s n-”

Cidney was about to argue with Kieran, but Raul stopped him, revealing the truth.

”That’s enough, Cidney! 2567 saw through our tricks as soon as he found that bastard’s body!”

”No, not really! There’s one more thing I’d like to confirm. Raul, should I address you as a man or a woman?” Kieran asked.

”Wo... Woman?” Elli widened her eyes at Raul, who was wrapped in bandages and covered in a big trenchcoat. He didn’t look like a woman at all.

”Cidney is a normal guy, not particularly strong. He might have been able to carry a full grown man on his back, but not in his hands! Plus, Raul chose to slash Debosky’s throat instead of strangle him to death. This might have been because of his burns, or because of his inferior physical strength as a woman!” Kieran explained.

”Then how did he move Debosky’s body and throw it down from the first floor?” Elli asked in confusion.

”If you know how to use phosphorus and balloons to make ghost fire, how could you not know how to make a pulley? Take a closer look at Raul’s trenchcoat. Even though it’s a man’s size, it’s too big. Obviously, she’s hiding something underneath.” Kieran pointed at Raul’s unusually big trenchcoat.

Elli turned her attention to Raul.

”Just call me Raul! That fire was supposed to be some kind of exorcism, so I am no longer a woman! If you’re looking for the pulley, it’s in Cidney’s bag,” Raul confessed everything.

”But… But why? Killing people is wrong!” The naive little girl was caught off guard by Raul’s sudden confession.

”It was all because of that bastard, Debosky! Five years ago, there were a lot of unusual accidents happening in Raul’s hometown. No one knew how to deal with the paranormal until Debosky came along!” Cidney said in a hateful tone. His gentle face was filled with rage.

”Debosky claimed that Raul had been possessed by some evil spirit! He wanted to exorcise her for everyone’s safety! We thought he would finally save us from those malefic incidents, until he poured a bucket of gasoline on Raul!”

Cidney punched the floor hard as he said it.

‘I am quite the specialist in handling paranormal activity’. That phrase surfaced in Kieran’s mind as he saw Cidney punch the floor in regret.

”Does that mean solving everything by burning it?” Kieran thought. Debosky had been full of confidence about his abilities. Kieran laughed coldly at him from the bottom of his heart.

”And then?” Elli sounded captivated by Cidney and Raul’s story.

”I tried my best to save Raul. The person who had caused all the accidents was eventually caught by the police.”

”Do you have any idea how I felt in that moment? Watching that liar pour gas all over my lover and not stopping him right away? I’d even had a sense of hope in my heart as it happened! I thought everything was going to be fine!”

Cidney covered his face with both hands, sobbing as he choked out the words.

”It’s not your fault. We were too naive then,” Raul comforted Cidney, who was crying inconsolably, before turning to Elli.

”I think you can both guess what followed. I wanted revenge, and Cidney was the only one who would help me. We left our hometown and went searching for that bastard, but it seemed like he knew what he had done. He kept changing his name, eventually disappearing from sight. In order for us to find him, we had to become experts in the paranormal ourselves, just like you two. That’s when we received Nikorei’s invitation. When we came to the city, we found Debosky. This was finally my chance to take revenge! But who would have thought...”

Raul shook her head with a sense of self-mockery.

”It’s all my fault. I took advantage of Cidney’s guilt to force him into helping me get revenge. I killed Debosky! Cidney had nothing to do with it!” she said.

”No! It was my own decision to avenge Raul, she had nothing to do with it!” Cidney quickly appealed to Kieran.

They both were willing to take the blame rather than figure out a way to avoid punishment. From seemingly ruthless killers, they had become two pitiful souls begging for forgiveness.

”I don’t care about your business at all!” Kieran said calmly after taking a quick glance around. Everyone instantly fell silent.

”How could you, 2567?” Elli looked at Kieran in shock, as if she was meeting him for the first time.

Kieran revealed his intentions, ”I am only here to take the shaman’s test. I just happened to find an evil spirit!”

Kieran stood up from the sofa, flames burning bright on his legs.

The flames on his boots burned even brighter than the candles in the room, shedding light all over the living room.

The sudden brightness revealed a twisted figure in the room. Its throat was slashed and blood kept gushing out. It’s green paleish face was filled with hatred for the living.

It was the spirit of Debosky. He had appeared like a formless soul after his death.

”If you’re such a specialist in using fire to solve everything, then go repent your sins in Hell!”

Kieran’s right leg kicked out like an iron whip, lashing toward his target as Debosky’s spirit threw itself at him.

The fiery flames swept across the air and burned the spirit into ashes.

Everyone’s jaw dropped as they watched Kieran but his attention was fixed on the gate outside.