My name is Martha, I am 18 years old.
Since I was very young, I never believed in supernatural stories until recently—rather, at the moment when I found a black book beneath the building where I lived.
Maybe I would have thought that I found that book, but I was never able to understand that the book had actually found me.
Things began to turn strange as soon as I found that black book.
I had a brother named Nathan. He knew much more about supernatural cases, so I told him about the possibility that the book might be cursed. As a lover of mixed martial arts, he was not interested in the book or in investigating it, so Martha decided not to look further into that book.
"Damn it, it can't be any of that…" Martha unconsciously gripped tightly the silver cross in the pocket of her jacket.
Only now did Martha feel inexplicably stable and continued looking at the church in front of her to the point that she was able to take calmer breaths.
"I never thought that lady from the bakery would be right." Martha, who had received the cross as a gift, did not imagine that that very night she would be able to sleep more peacefully.
Thinking about all the changes that occurred when she received the cross, Martha took a deep breath. Just because of those changes, she knew that the owner of that silver cross was a rather young priest who was in this church.
Unlike other priests who appear in the news abusing their authority, such as that priest who threw a party in the temple and one of those celebrating there died of an overdose, this priest she had heard about was a very just one.
Many say that he has helped countless people; others think he is an exorcist priest and that his mission is to protect this city.
As for why Martha believes that Priest Jonathan is genuine, it is because of the silver cross. She knew that other crosses did not have that power, so she came here to know the reason for that difference.
Throughout the days after the encounter with that strange book, Martha felt that her home was becoming more and more terrifying and filled with a depressing aura to the point of imagining that her house was a time bomb that had reached its limits.
However, no one in the family seemed to feel anything. Both her parents and her younger brother could not feel anything, and that made her feel that something was wrong.
"Oh! Shit! It's shit, what a bad feeling… I must not be crazy, this is not in my head…" Martha remembered all this and stepped through the door with enough preparation.
She had to ask Priest Jonathan for help.
But before taking the second step, she was stopped by a strong man who came up beside her. Martha knew that this strong man was a priest of this church, but not the one she was looking for.
"Are you here to find Priest Jonathan?"
Upon hearing this, Martha had a bad feeling, so she asked, "Well, um, the priest still isn't here today?"
Indeed…
Thomas looked at the girl who seemed to be very cautious, but unlike other people, she seemed to truly need help.
"Well, I'm sorry, Priest Jonathan will not be coming to the church today."
Martha frowned unconsciously and tightened her grip on the cross in the pocket of her hoodie with her right hand.
"All right."
After saying that, Martha ignored the priest in front of her because she had seen him partying at night on some weekends, so she did not have much trust in him. Therefore, she turned around and walked away.
She did not believe that anyone could help her, because these kinds of things were too strange and unique. If she were not helped by a priest, she would have been treated like a madwoman if she told it.
This decisive attitude left Thomas stunned. He was also an exorcist priest, but it seemed that everyone trusted Jonathan more than what he could help with.
"Follow that girl and find out where she lives. She seems to be being tormented by a dark entity." Thomas looked at the men at the door, giving them instructions.
The two men nodded and left what they were doing. They quickly took off their cleaner uniforms and, after doing so, ran toward where Martha had gone, now dressed in more common clothes.
After running a certain distance and returning to walking, Martha took her cellphone out of her pocket and seemed a little hesitant when she remembered the phone number that the lady from the bakery had given her.
This phone number could only be used on extreme occasions, such as the one she was in.
"What if I have mental problems instead of this being something supernatural?" Martha asked herself this question and in the end decided to put her cellphone away.
She decided to forget it. After all, worrying things had not happened yet, such as receiving a direct attack from that dark entity.
After walking a few more meters, she arrived at a neighborhood where a building in terrible condition was located.
She hated this damn place. It was full of drunk people at night, talking pure nonsense and spitting everywhere, but at least she had adapted. Everyone knew that this place was only safe during the day.
Fortunately, they would have to move because this building was going to be demolished.
She walked toward the elevator where she looked at a girl named Bridget, who was her neighbor and, in a way, an acquaintance.
"This elevator is disgusting…" Bridget said in an annoyed tone.
Martha did not want to say anything because she was a little nervous, but even so she murmured, "At least it will be demolished…"
"That's the best part… By the way, have you heard those strange sounds in the middle of the night?" Bridget looked at Martha and asked, wanting to know her answer.
"No…"
"Hmm, how strange, I thought they were coming from your house…"
Martha just remained silent. Right now, she only wanted to throw that book away as soon as possible and wait for everything to return to normal.