(A/N):
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The truck plowed through the cornfield, its massive tires crushing stalks flat as lines of fire carved glowing scars into the earth behind it.
-VRROOOOOMMM
Sparks rose into the night like falling stars, the roar of the engine drowning out every other sound.
Then—
The church came into view.
Its silhouette stood against the moonlight, old stone walls looming like a promise of salvation.
And waiting for it—The boys.
Dozens of them poured out from behind fences, trucks, and hedges—faces painted with sweat and madness, weapons clenched tight. Hooks. Chains. Axes. Baseball bats wrapped in wire.
Their eyes locked onto the flaming truck.
Excitement surged through them.
"There!"
"That's him!"
"THE MONSTER SHOULD BE INSIDE!"
They rushed forward—
Only for the ground to erupt.
WHOOOSHHH!!!
With a deafening WHOOSH, a wall of fire tore itself up from the earth, forming a blazing barricade between the hunters and their prey.
Heat slammed into them like a physical force.
The boys skidded to a halt, screaming, stumbling back.
-Ahhhh!!!
"...."
"...."
"...."
Some tried to push closer—
Only to recoil instantly, skin blistering, weapons dropping from numb fingers.
"No—no—!"
"It's too hot!"
"What the hell is this?!"
The fire refused them.
Then—
-THUD.
Both doors of the flaming truck opened at the same time.
The driver's side first.
Ghost Rider stepped out.
Flames rolled off his shoulders and skull, boots hissing as they touched scorched ground.
The firelight reflected off the stunned faces of the boys, turning their fear into panic.
Then—
The passenger door.
Saw Tooth Jack stepped out, who previously Jim.
The monster's heavy breathing echoed, chest glowing faintly with trapped heat.
His head turned slowly, eyes locking onto the church.
"...."
And for the first time—
There was no rage in them.
Only hope.
Without looking at the boys—without acknowledging the flames, the weapons, the screams—Saw Tooth Jack started walking.
Step by step. Toward the church. Toward the doors. Toward his freedom.
Ghost Rider watched him go.
"...."
'THIS IS IT. THE MOMENT HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO REACH ALONE.'
Behind the barricade, the boys screamed in fury and confusion.
"STOP HIM!"
"HE'S GETTING AWAY!"
"KILL HIM—KILL HIM!"
Ghost Rider slowly turned his flaming skull toward them.
The noise died instantly.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"THIS HUNT ENDS TONIGHT."
The fire flared higher.
Saw Tooth Jack broke into a run.
Stone steps cracked beneath his weight as he reached the church doors, hands shaking as he pressed them against the wood—Believing. Praying. Begging.
Behind him, the flames roared.
As the church doors creaked open—
-Creak
And the sight beyond them shattered everything Saw Tooth Jack thought he understood.
Dark, vein-like tendrils crawled up from the stone floor, binding the priest—his body suspended helplessly in the air, mouth open in silent terror.
The veins pulsed faintly, responding to Inadu's clenched fist.
Behind her stood Caroline, Gayathri, and Debbie—silent, watchful, prepared.
"...."
"...."
"...."
But Saw Tooth Jack didn't see them.
He saw him.
A man kneeling on the cold church floor.
Shoulders trembling. Hands shaking as they pressed into the stone.
Dan Shepard.
"Jim…"
His father whispered, voice breaking.
The monster froze.
"...."
The fire inside his chest flickered.
Dan looked up—eyes filling instantly with tears as he took in the towering, burning figure before him.
The pumpkin head, The jagged grin. The scorched skin.
Yet he didn't recoil.
He crawled forward instead.
"I'm sorry,"
Dan choked, pressing his forehead to the floor.
"I'm so sorry… I tried. I swear I tried."
Memories surged.
—Cornfields at sunset.
—Laughter at the dinner table.
—A younger Jim carrying Richie on his shoulders.
—His mother smiling from the porch.
Saw Tooth Jack's claws trembled.
"...."
Dan continued, voice cracking.
"I couldn't save you. They took you from us… and I let them."
He sobbed openly now.
-Sob -Sob
"If I could trade places with you—if I could take this curse—"
Saw Tooth Jack took a step forward.
Then stopped.
"...."
His breathing turned ragged.
He remembered shouting. Storming out.
Calling his father weak. Ignoring his mother's pleas.
He had been stubborn. He had wanted glory.
The monster lowered his head.
"...."
Pain—not rage—poured out in a guttural, broken growl.
-Grrr...
Then—
A hand landed on his shoulder.
-PAT
Flaming. Heavy. Certain.
Ghost Rider stood beside him.
'ENOUGH SUFFERING. THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS.'
With a firm shove, Ghost Rider pushed Saw Tooth Jack forward, guiding him fully into the church.
The doors slammed shut behind them with a thunderous BOOM, sealing the fire, the shadows, and the truth inside.
The boys outside screamed as the flame barricade flared higher, cutting them off completely.
Inside—
Dan looked up as his son approached.
Saw Tooth Jack slowly dropped to one knee.
The flames inside his pumpkin head—not gone, but restrained.
Dan reached out with trembling hands.
And for the first time since the Harvest began—Father and son touched.
"...."
"...."
Ghost Rider stepped back, flames crackling softly while thinking.
'THIS CURSE WAS NEVER ABOUT MONSTERS. IT WAS ABOUT GUILT. AND GUILT CAN BE BURNED AWAY.'
Inadu tightened her fist.
The dark veins surged.
-Ahhhhhhh!!!
The priest screamed as the contract hidden within his flesh began to tear itself free, black symbols bleeding out onto the altar.
Caroline narrowed her eyes.
-Frown
"End it."
The fire in Ghost Rider's skull burned brighter as he stepped forward.
The priest thrashed wildly, eyes bulging as the dark veins tightened, forcing his head upright.
"G–GOD SAVE ME!"
He screamed, voice cracking as he prayed desperately, words tumbling over each other.
"I REPENT—PLEASE—I REPENT—"
The flames reflected in his eyes grew closer.
Ghost Rider seized the priest's face with one burning hand.
The heat didn't scorch flesh—it exposed truth.
"LOOK. INTO. MY. EYES."
The moment their gazes locked, the priest's scream changed.
It was no longer fear. It was memory.
-AHHHHHHHH!!!!
The sound tore through the church, vibrating the stone walls.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Outside, the boys hunting in the cornfields froze mid-step—every one of them swallowing hard as the scream rolled over the night like thunder.
Inside the priest's mind—
—A candlelit convent.
—White corridors echoing with hymns.
—A man in clerical black, calm, smiling, wrong.
Father Sal.
He saw himself being welcomed as a guest.
Heard the words "miracle" whispered with reverence.
Felt pride when he was chosen to witness it.
Ignored the unease in his gut when the doors locked behind him.
Ghost Rider stood unmoving, flames roaring higher as he screamed inside the priest mind.
'YOU KNEW IT WAS WRONG... YOU FELT IT... AND YOU STAYED.'
The priest sobbed, choking on his own breath as visions continued to tear through him.
-Sob -Sob
—A young woman in nun's robes.
—Needles. Ritual prayers.
—Faith twisted into obedience.
Ghost Rider released him.
The priest collapsed, as his soul is burned as he fell lifeless.
Ghost Rider straightened slowly.
"FOUND YOU."
The flames around his skull settled, controlled but lethal.
He turned his head slightly—listening not to sound, but to sin.
'CONVENT. THE SAME PLACE SAL HIDES HIS LIES.'
Inadu's eyes narrowed as she felt the shift in the air as she asked quietly.
-Frown
"You found it,"
Ghost Rider nodded once.
-Nod
"YES."
After hearing the ghost rider's explanation Caroline exhaled slowly.
-Sigh
"So that's where he ran."
Debbie hugged herself, dread and determination mixing in her chest.
"Then that's where we go."
Outside, the flame barricade flickered—its purpose fulfilled.
Inadu stepped closer, her voice steady but grim as she explained about what she found.
"The contract was never written on paper, It was bound into the body of the Saw Tooth Jack. A living seal. As long as the vessel exists, the pact survives."
Ghost Rider nodded once.
-Nod
"THEN WE END IT."
He stepped forward.
Jim—still wearing the monstrous shape of Saw Tooth Jack—moved willingly, each heavy step filled with resolve rather than fear. His father took an instinctive step forward, hands trembling.
"Wait—please—"
Dan Shepard whispered, terror breaking through his voice.
"You said you'd free him—"
Ghost Rider did not turn.
"THIS IS FREEDOM."
He placed his burning hand against Jim's back.
There—etched deep into scorched flesh—were symbols, jagged and wrong, carved long ago by trembling human hands guided by something inhuman.
They pulsed faintly, reacting to the hellfire.
The moment Ghost Rider pressed down—
Jim screamed.
-Ahhhhhh!!!
Not in rage. Not in hatred.
In pain mixed with release.
The church shuddered.
Dust fell from the rafters.
Candles blew out all at once.
The air thickened as a black, tar-like substance forced its way out of Jim's mouth, spilling onto the stone floor like living shadow.
It twisted. Swelled. And rose.
The substance pulled itself upright, stretching into a new shape—another Saw Tooth Jack, but wrong.
This one was massive.
Broad shoulders. A hulking frame.
Its mouth split wider than humanly possible, jagged and burning from within.
Flames rolled across its body, not wild—but controlled.
The pumpkin head atop its neck burned bright orange, glowing like a furnace, something ancient and furious staring out through carved eyes.
Dan Shepard fell to his knees in horror.
"N–No… that's not my son…"
Inadu's eyes widened.
"The true bearer of the pact, The harvest's heart."
Ghost Rider slowly turned to face the towering figure.
The flames around him intensified.
"THERE YOU ARE."
The massive Saw Tooth Jack let out a deep, resonant growl—not animal, not human.
A voice echoed from it, layered and distorted, like many throats speaking at once.
-GROWL!!!
"THE CONTRACT IS MINE."
Ghost Rider's chain slid from his shoulder, links clinking softly as fire crept along its length.
"NO."
"THE CONTRACT WAS TERMINATED."
He stepped between Jim and the towering entity without hesitation.
"AND I'VE COME TO COLLECT YOUR SOUL BACK TO HELL."
Behind him, Jim collapsed to one knee, gasping—as his body burned and turned to ash as the symbols on his back faded, crumbling along with it.
Dan crawled to his son, remaining, tears streaming freely.
"I've got you, You're still here… you're still here…"
The massive Saw Tooth Jack reared back, flames roaring higher, preparing to strike.
Ghost Rider planted his boot into the stone floor.
-Thud.
The church groaned under the weight of power gathering inside it.
"THIS HARVEST—"
He raised his burning skull, hellfire blazing brighter than ever.
"—ENDS NOW."
A soft glow rose behind Jim's fallen body.
From the ashes of pain and rage,
Jim Shepard's spirit stirred—no longer twisted, no longer bound.
He looked once at his father, eyes clear and gentle, then upward as a pillar of warm light descended, wrapping around him like an embrace.
Jim smiled as he started to ascend.
Ghost Rider watched in silence as the light vanished into the rafters and beyond.
"...."
He turned his skull slightly toward the others.
"THE BOY IS FREE."
Inadu exhaled, relief mixing with sorrow.
Caroline closed her eyes for a brief second, whispering a silent prayer.
Debbie clasped her hands together, while praying her husband soul too should be soon ascended to heaven like this.
Gayathri bowed her head respectfully.
Then—The temperature spiked.
Ghost Rider's attention snapped back to the thing that mattered.
The original Saw Tooth Jack stood before him, flames rolling off its massive form, eyes burning with feral intelligence. It was no longer a vessel.
It was the pact itself.
The demon let out a guttural roar and lunged.
-RAAAAAAAA!!!
The church floor exploded beneath its feet as it leapt.
Ghost Rider moved.
The massive clawed fist missed his skull by inches and slammed into the stone altar instead—
BOOM.
A spider-web of cracks raced across the floor and walls, stone pulverizing under the sheer force.
Chunks of masonry rained down as the altar collapsed into rubble.
Ghost Rider skidded backward, boots carving burning grooves into the floor.
He straightened slowly, flames rolling off his shoulders.
-GRR...
"YOU HIT HARD."
He tilted his head.
-SNORT
"SHAME YOU HIT WRONG."
The demon snarled and swung again, faster this time.
Ghost Rider ducked beneath the blow, grabbed the creature's wrist mid-swing, and yanked, using the demon's own momentum to hurl it straight through a row of pews.
Wood splintered like matchsticks.
BAM!
The Saw Tooth Jack crashed into the far wall, embedding itself deep enough that the stone bent inward.
It ripped itself free with a furious bellow, molten cracks spreading across its pumpkin head roared.
"You cannot burn what was born of sacrifice! This town fed me for generations!"
Ghost Rider's chain ignited fully, spinning once around his arm.
"AND I EAT SACRIFICES FOR BREAKFAST."
He cracked the chain forward.
The flaming links wrapped around the demon's torso, searing straight through corrupted flesh.
The Saw Tooth Jack roared as it was yanked forward, boots tearing grooves through the stone floor.
Ghost Rider slammed his foot down.
The ground erupted in hellfire, locking the demon in place.
"LOOK AT YOU."
He stepped closer, flames reflecting in the demon's glowing eyes.
"ALL THAT FEAR... ALL THOSE LIVES.... AND YOU STILL THOUGHT YOU'D WIN."
The demon struggled, flames flaring wildly, but the chain only tightened—burning deeper, purifying with every second.
The Saw Tooth Jack roared, desperation twisting its voice into something feral.
-GRAAAAA!
With a burst of brute force, it lunged, wrapping both massive arms around Ghost Rider and slamming into him, claws locking behind his back.
The impact shook the church to its foundations.
Flames exploded outward as the demon dragged him close, jaws opening wide.
Jagged teeth clamped down toward the burning skull—
The instant they touched—
The hellfire inside Ghost Rider's skull detonated.
Not outward. Inward.
A blinding surge of infernal flame erupted from within his head, searing through the demon's mouth, flooding its senses with fire older than sin itself.
The Saw Tooth Jack screamed.
-Ahhhh!
It staggered back, clutching its face, stumbling like a wounded beast.
Its once-brilliant orange pumpkin head darkened rapidly—cracks glowing red, then black—the surface blistering, collapsing inward like something overcooked and charred.
Chunks of burnt rind fell to the floor, smoking.
The demon dropped to one knee, snarling in disbelief.
Ghost Rider straightened slowly.
Flames rolled off his skull in heavy waves, boots crunching forward over broken stone.
"YOU REALLY THOUGHT—"
He tilted his head, fire flaring brighter through the eye sockets.
"—YOU COULD EAT ME?"
The Saw Tooth Jack tried to rise again, rage overriding pain, but its movements were slower now—uncoordinated.
Ghost Rider yanked the chain tight, wrapping it once more around the demon's torso and neck, pulling it forward.
The demon clawed at the links, flesh burning where the chain touched.
"YOU FED ON FEAR. YOU FED ON BOYS WHO DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE BEING SACRIFICED."
Ghost Rider dragged the demon closer, flames reflecting off the blackened pumpkin head.
"BUT YOU BIT INTO THE WRONG DAMN HELL."
The Saw Tooth Jack roared again, weaker this time, heat distorting the air around it as smoke poured from its mouth.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Thanks for reading the chapter!
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