(A/N):
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As the lingering frost in the room finally melted away,
Ghost Rider's flames flickered once—
Then collapsed inward, devoured by shadows.
A burst of black smoke curled around his skeletal frame—
—and Jojo stood there in his human form again,
The hellfire extinguished but his eyes still sharp.
He exhaled slowly.
Sigh~
"...."
The room smelled of ice, ash, and fear.
"We're not staying here,"
Jojo said, voice low.
"This didn't start here. It started in Demonte Colony."
Caroline's brow furrowed.
Frown~
"...."
Inadu straightened, expression turning serious.
Jojo continued.
"If we want to end this…we go back to where it began."
Right then—
TING! TING!
TING! TING!
"...."
"...."
"...."
The wall clock shuddered violently and began ringing.
The three friends flinched in terror.
Vimal whispered,
"It's 12… midnight…"
Srinivasan stared at the pendulum swinging unnaturally fast,
Like some invisible hand was pushing it.
Raghavan swallowed.
Gulp~
"It—it's exactly the same time… the same hour… we visited Demonte Colony."
Jojo's jaw tightened.
Midnight.
The cursed hour.
The hour locked in Demonte's death.
He glanced at the three friends—
Faces pale, exhausted, trembling.
"Get up,"
Jojo ordered.
"You're coming with us."
Vimal stammered,
"W–why us? We don't want to see that place ever again!"
Jojo turned toward them, eyes narrowing.
Frown~
"Demonte didn't just haunt your apartment."
His voice grew quieter.
"He asked for you."
All three froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Inadu stepped in, her voice cool and sharp.
"Spirits like him don't waste energy,"
She explained.
"They choose their victims for a reason.He wants the three of you… for something."
Srinivasan's voice cracked,
"W-what something?"
Jojo looked him dead in the eyes.
"To make you servants."
The room went silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
A cold wind blew past, rattling the windows.
"Servants?"
Raghavan whispered.
"Like… like those things controlled Sajith?"
Jojo nodded once.
Nod~
"Demonte isn't acting alone,"
He said.
"That black mist, the curse, the husks—it all points to the same thing."
Caroline stepped forward, her expression grim.
"He's working for the same… god… the cannibals worshipped. even through you guys don't know what happened? cannibals name will make some sense of how serious the situation was there were in."
Raghavan's knees shook so hard he grabbed the wall for support.
Vimal whispered,
"He wants us… to be like them…"
Jojo's voice dropped.
"He wants to claim your souls.Make you part of his army.Offer you to the entity he worships."
Silence.
"...."
"...."
Only the ticking of the clock.
Tick! Tok! Tick! Tok!
Tick! Tok! Tick! Tok!
Jojo turned toward the door.
"Pack your things.We're leaving.Now."
Srinivasan didn't move.
"W–we're going to Demonte Colony… at midnight?"
Jojo glanced back over his shoulder, eyes turning faintly red—
and smiled without warmth.
"That's the best time."
He pushed the door open.
As they stepped out of the apartment.
Rain hammered down outside.
Thunder cracked across the Chennai sky.
Inadu followed him.
Caroline grabbed her jacket.
Behind them, the three trembling friends hesitated—
Until the clock stopped ticking.
Stopped completely.
Its pendulum froze mid-swing.
And on its glass face, a handprint appeared—
Icy wet inhuman.
Raghavan screamed.
Ahhhhh!!!
"...."
"...."
"...."
They ran out the door.
Because they finally understood—
They weren't going to Demonte Colony.
The wind howled like a starving beast as the car rolled to a stop.
The rusted iron gate of Demonte Colony loomed ahead—
Half-broken, half-swallowed by thorny vines.
Thunder cracked overhead, illuminating the moss-covered bungalow beyond it.
The three friends—
Srinivasan, Vimal, and Raghavan—
Stared out the window with shaking hands.
"...."
"...."
"...."
They had been here once before laughing…
Mocking the shadows…
Now, the shadows mocked them.
All three swallowed hard at the same time.
Gulps~
"This place…"
Vimal whispered, voice cracking,
"this place wasn't this cold last time."
"It wasn't awake last time,"
Raghavan murmured under his breath.
Srinivasan simply stared, petrified, muttering prayers under his breath.
Jojo stepped out first.
Thud.
His boots sank slightly into the mud,
The wind whipping his coat.
Caroline followed, then Inadu—
Her eyes narrowing at the oppressive aura pressing in around them.
Frown~
"...."
A low, constant vibration hung in the air,
Like the very soil was whispering.
Inadu inhaled once.
Her expression hardened.
"There's no doubt,"
She said quietly.
"This place has been drenched in sacrificial blood for years."
The three friends flinched.
Caroline stepped closer.
"How many… sacrifices?"
Inadu's gaze turned cold.
"Too many to count. This land is layered with curses—one on top of another. Murders... Madness... Black magic rituals…"
She touched a vine on the gate and pulled her hand back instantly and instinctly when she sensed someone tried to breach her mental strength and control her.
"…and something older or powerful. Something that didn't start with Demonte."
Jojo's eyes narrowed as he scanned the bungalow.
Frown~
"...."
The windows were pitch black.
No light.
No movement.
Nothing alive.
Yet the entire structure felt like a beast holding its breath before pouncing.
Wind slammed the gate behind them with a metallic...
KA-CHANG!
Raghavan yelped, grabbing Vimal's arm.
"...."
Caroline glanced at Jojo.
"Feels like we're walking straight into a demon's mouth."
Jojo didn't reply.
"...."
He walked forward.
Inadu stepped beside him, voice low.
"The aura here is identical… to the curse on Sajith."
Jojo nodded slowly.
Nod~
"I know."
Thunder shook the sky.
Raghavan's voice trembled.
"H–He said the god is coming… right? That thing controlling Sajith?"
Inadu didn't look at him.
"Yes."
"And Demonte… he's like a servant?"
Vimal stuttered likely wanted to confirm once again.
Jojo answered without turning.
"No. Demonte is a follower to that thing. Maybe even the first one."
All three froze again.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo stopped at the entrance of the bungalow.
The carved wooden door—
Half rotten, half burned—
Creaked open by itself.
Creakkk!
Black mist leaked through the gap like a serpent tasting the air.
Caroline muttered,
"Oh great. Doors opening by themselves. Always a good sign."
Inadu, eyes dark and sharp, raised her hand.
The mist recoiled as if slapped.
She looked at Jojo.
"This place… it's preparing for a ritual tonight. Whatever is inside wants these three alive. We need to stick close."
Srinivasan choked.
Chock~
"Wh–what ritual?!"
Jojo turned, looking each of them directly in the eyes little annoyed.
"How many times we need to tell...The ritual that binds souls to the god Demonte serves."
Lightning flashed.
Thunder exploded.
Jojo stepped into the darkness first.
"I'm ending this tonight."
One by one…
Caroline entered.
Inadu entered.
And finally—
Terrified, shivering, half-regretting every decision of their lives—
The three friends followed Jojo inside the cursed Demonte Bungalow.
THUNDER CRASHED overhead as Jojo exhaled once—
Sigh~
"...."
—and with a violent burst of black smoke and exploding hellfire,
He transformed.
Flames roared up his spine, skull igniting in a blinding inferno.
The entire front lawn lit up like a torch thrown into a storm.
GHOST RIDER STOOD AT THE GATE OF DEMONTE COLONY.
The three friends staggered back at the sight.
Caroline whispered,
"Well… there's no hiding anything now."
Inadu simply smirked.
Smirk~
"...."
Ghost Rider walked forward, each step crackling the wet ground beneath his flaming boots.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
The burning skull cast long shadows—
Shadows that recoiled,
Twisting away like frightened animals.
As they stepped into the bungalow—
WHOOSH!
Every shadow in the room was pushed back by the radiating hellfire.
Dark corners shrank like something was hiding inside them, afraid of the righteous hell flame.
The moment they crossed the threshold…
A voice began to sing.
A familiar voice.
A voice the three friends knew better than their own.
Soft.
Shaky.
Nervous.
"Sarigama… pa… sa… Unnale naan…"
It was Sajith's favorite song—
The one he used to hum whenever he was scared or stressed.
Vimal froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Raghavan's lips trembled.
Srinivasan whispered,
"No… no… no… he's dead… he died…"
Their eyes welled up, backs pressed together in terror and disbelief.
Suddenly—
SLLLLOOOOP…
Black ink began dripping from the ceiling.
Thick.
Viscous.
Alive.
It slithered down the walls like veins and then crawled across the floor,
Drawing a circle around them—
A boundary.
A warning.
Or a trap.
The floor glistened with the oily substance as it formed a perfect ring.
And then—
A candle flame flickered to life in the far darkness.
A lone, trembling light.
It moved closer, swaying unsteadily—
As if carried by a hand unsure of itself.
The three friends instinctively backed away…
…until the flame illuminated a familiar face.
Or what looked like it.
Half the face was untouched—scared, teary-eyed—
The Sajith they once knew.
But the other half of him…
…was grey.
Shriveled.
Cracked like dry clay.
Veins blackened like ink had replaced blood.
His lips quivered as he tried to speak—
"S… Si… S-srinivasan…?"
His voice broke, trembling with guilt and fear.
"Vimal… Raghu… I–I didn't mean to… I didn't… I couldn't… I…"
His knees buckled.
He clutched the candle like it was the only thing keeping him alive.
"It wasn't me… it wasn't me…"
Tears streamed down his good eye.
"I'm… I'm sorry… please… forgive me…"
The three were frozen between grief and horror.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Ghost Rider stepped forward slowly, flames flickering violently.
"YOU ARE NOT SAJITH."
Sajith's face twitched—
And for a heartbeat, the good half smiled unnaturally wide.
The smile split his cheek.
Ink poured from the cracks.
"B-but… they abandoned me,"
The voice whispered—
No longer trembling with fear.
"But I didn't abandon them."
The candle went out.
Darkness swallowed everything except Ghost Rider's flame.
The ink circle pulsed—
And the "Sajith" thing lifted its head.
This time its eyes were dead white.
And it grinned with a mouth too wide, too impossible.
"Finally…"it hissed.
"…you brought them back home."
The walls shuddered.
Something ancient moved deeper in the house—
waiting, watching, excited.
GHOST RIDER SLAMMED HIS BOOT ON THE FLOOR.
BOOOOOM!
Hellfire erupted in a blinding shockwave—
Spiraling around the three terrified friends like a circular inferno, a flaming cyclone.
Every inch of it burned with righteous judgment—
Orange, and deep red flames twisting like a tornado.
The ink-hands grabbing the three friends shrieked as the hellfire touched them—
SSSCCRREEEEEAAAAAAAAAM—!!
Dozens of voices—
Male, female, old, young—
Screaming curses in every language India had to offer:
"Saavugira di!"
"M— mother—!"
"Nash ho ja!"
"Poda dei!"
"Salaaa!"
"Dushman!"
"Kaafir!"
"Bhootni ke!"
"Pagal chor!"
"Gaandu!"
Voices from all the damned victims who had been sacrificed here,
Trapped in Demonte's servitude for over a century.
The ink hands ignited, withering into black smoke—
—but more kept appearing.
More victims.
More lost souls.
More sacrificed innocents.
The hellfire tornado spun faster, shielding Jojo's group as the room erupted in chaos.
Caroline hissed, her vampire eyes glowing.
Inadu raised her hand, dark veins spreading across her temples, ready to strike if needed.
Then—
WHOOM—
The entire colonial bungalow lit up,
Illuminated by the hellfire.
And now they could finally see them.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Dozens of hooded figures,
Standing in every corner of the house.
Each holding an old brass oil lamp…
Faces half-hidden in black robes…
Chains wrapped around their arms…
And hanging from their necks:
A reverse cross.
Their presence radiated malice.
Their whispered chanting layered over one another, a sickening chorus.
"A serva do rei…
Osso ao rei…
Sangue ao rei…"
Portuguese.
Prayers to the Blind Uncrowned King.
One hooded figure stepped forward—
The hem of his robe dragging across the ink-soaked floor.
His voice was hollow, echoing:
"YOU CANNOT SAVE THEM…"
Another stepped forward.
"THE KING HAS CLAIMED THEIR SOULS."
A third.
"THEIR FLESH WILL FEED HIS POWER."
Then they all raised their lamps—
Trying desperately to complete their protection incantation, muttering desperately:
"Proteja-nos… proteja-nos… Pro-Te-Ja-Nos!"
But the hellfire tornado ripped through the spell—
FWOOOOOOOSH!!
The moment their flame touched Ghost Rider's—
Their incantations evaporated in a burst of fire.
One by one—
THEY IGNITED.
Burning.
Screaming.
Thrashing.
Melting.
But still pushing forward—
Mindless servants with no fear of death, chanting through burning throats.
Caroline whispered, horrified:
"…They're not fighting us. They're trying to stall us."
Inadu's face darkened.
"These are not living men. They're puppets. Their souls were eaten long ago."
The hooded figures burned in waves—
Falling to ash—
Yet more emerged from behind pillars, behind shadows, from cracks in the walls—
Drawn toward Ghost Rider like moths to the flame.
Their voices now twisted, angry, enraged:
"BLASPHEMER!"
"INTRUDER!"
"FLAME DEMON!"
"HE DEFIES THE KING—KILL HIM!"
"STRIP THE FLESH—FEED THE GOD—AAAHHH!"
Suddenly—
A different voice rose above the burning chaos.
A familiar one.
From the ink circle behind them.
A voice they had heard in stories.
A voice whispered by the dead.
"Vocês não pertencem aqui…"(You do not belong here…)
Ghost Rider turned slowly as the air grew thick—
And from the shadows behind Sajith's ruined apparition,
The flames illuminated a new silhouette.
Tall.
Elegant.
Burned half-face.
Holding a long Portuguese rifle.
DEMONTE HIMSELF.
Not the husk from earlier.
A stronger form.
A projection fueled by the Blind King's power.
He raised the oil lamp higher—
His ruined eye glowing ink-black—
and he said:
"MEU REI ESTÁ ACORDANDO."(My King is awakening.)
The ground shook.
Ink spread like veins.
The house trembled.
The hellfire tornado roared louder—
And Ghost Rider cracked his flaming neck, stepping forward.
CREAK~
"GOOD."
His voice thundered through the burning hall.
"LET HIM WAKE."
Ghost Rider pointed directly at Demonte.
"I'LL SEND HIM BACK TO HELL."
The muzzle flash lit the mansion like lightning.
BAAANNNG!
The shot wasn't normal.
Nothing about it was human.
The moment Demonte pulled the trigger—
A black, corrupted bullet tore through the air,
Trailing tendrils of darkness like liquid shadow.
It wasn't metal.
It was a fragment of the Blind King's curse—
Forged out of devoured souls.
Caroline gasped.
"...."
"...."
Inadu stiffened.
"That's not a bullet…"
She whispered.
"That's a corruption shard."
The moment it touched flesh,
It would rot the soul—
Turn the victim into a screaming slave begging to serve the Blind King.
And the bullet didn't miss.
WHCK!
It struck Ghost Rider square in the skull—
Right between the nasal ridge of his flaming skeletal face.
The impact was so violent the flames flickered.
Ghost Rider's body snapped backward and—
THUD.
He fell hard.
Motionless.
The hellfire cyclone sputtered.
Demonte smirked, lowering his rifle with a predator's satisfaction.
Smirk~
"...."
His ruined half-face twisted in triumph.
He muttered in Portuguese.
"Finalmente… até o demônio cai diante do Rei."(Finally… even the demon falls before the King.)
Srinivasan, Vimal, and Raghavan whimpered behind Caroline—
"What… what happened…?"
"Is he dead?"
"That thing KILLED him!?"
Demonte lifted his lamp proudly—
But then—
His smile froze.
"...."
The flames around Ghost Rider suddenly pulled inward, like breathing.
Then—
The body that had fallen backward—
Stopped.
Mid-air.
As if someone pressed pause on reality.
Demonte's eyes widened.
Black ink dripped from his burnt eye socket.
Ghost Rider's body slowly rose—
Not forward.
Not sideways.
But exactly the same angle he fell—
Like time reversing without moving time.
Caroline's jaw dropped.
"...."
Thinking this guy took the bullet just to look cool.
Inadu whispered with a sigh and with a knowing smile on her lips,
"…Impossible."
The corrupted bullet was still lodged in the skeletal nostril—
Its dark aura writhing, hissing, trying to burrow in deeper.
Ghost Rider remained still for a moment.
Silent.
"...."
Motionless.
Then—
FFFFFWHOOOOOOM—
HELLFIRE BURST FROM HIS EYES.
The flames blazed brighter than before—
Pure judgmental white at the core.
He reached up—
Grabbed the corruption bullet with two flaming fingers—
And held it in front of Demonte.
The bullet trembled.
The corruption inside it squealed,
Like a tiny demon being burned alive.
Ghost Rider tilted his head—
And exhaled and started laughing at the funny face Demonte was making.
"...."
GAGAGAGAGA!
A single breath of hellfire.
FWSSSSSSS—
The bullet melted instantly—
Turning from a cursed shard into dripping slag—
Then into ashes—
Then into NOTHING.
"...."
"...."
"...."
He let the remains fall from his fingers.
The room trembled.
Ghost Rider raised his skull—
And stared directly at Demonte.
His voice thundered.
"YOUR KING…"
A step forward. The floor cracked.
"…CAN'T CORRUPT WHAT HE CAN'T CONTROL."
Another step.
THUD.
Walls shook.
"AND HE WILL NEVER…"
Hellfire surged up Ghost Rider's spine, bursting outward.
"…CONTROL ME."
Demonte actually stumbled back,
The first fear he'd shown since manifesting.
The hooded servants faltered—
The entire bungalow reacted—
The shadows recoiled from Ghost Rider like terrified animals.
Ghost Rider lowered his flaming skull—
And growled.
RAAAAAAAAAAA~
"NOW IT'S MY TURN."
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************
(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review and power stone!!!