Chapter 12: The Four Return
In the original storyline, Kirsty was the next chosen one to open the box, following Frank.
Marcus thought he had captured the resurrected corpses beforehand and saved Kirsty's father.
Therefore, there wouldn't be the later scene where Kirsty went to the house to save her father, discovered Frank who had already been fed by Julia with three living people, struggled to steal Frank's puzzle box, fainted, was taken to the hospital, and then opened the puzzle box to summon the Cenobites.
Unexpectedly, after the plot was changed, the intermediary took the puzzle box directly.
Marcus quickly put the two hearts into a garbage bag, locked it in the briefcase, and placed the briefcase in the attic.
He didn't dare take these two damned soul cores to Pinhead. If he delivered them, Pinhead would definitely accept them, so he had to leave them here.
He threw the remote-controlled explosives from the briefcase into the house.
All of this was done within 10 seconds.
Marcus rushed outside, quickly jumped into the car, started the engine, and sped toward his apartment on Forest Avenue, running red lights.
Marcus drove with one hand, calming himself by touching the photo in his coat pocket. He picked up the phone and notified all the detectives to prevent anyone from entering the house, including the homeowner, with an extra reward of fifty thousand dollars for compliance.
Because Marcus had acted ahead of the plot to capture Frank, Kirsty hadn't seen him yet and was unaware that her uncle had returned from hell.
If she opened the puzzle box now,
she might be taken directly to hell. As the Hell Priest, Pinhead was extremely selective about the souls of mortals.
Kirsty's ability to dream and foresee her father's misfortune in the plot proved her strong intuition, which explained why she was being targeted by the intermediary.
Marcus currently had no way to change the intermediary's focus on Kirsty.
Marcus arrived at the apartment building's door,
reached out to open it, but there was no response. He kicked it hard, but the wooden door didn't budge.
The door was made of wood, and with Marcus's strength, a kick that should have shattered the door didn't cause any change.
Marcus glanced at the car in the driveway, turned around and got into the car with the engine still running, flooring the accelerator and ramming it into the door.
Thump!
The building entrance remained intact, but the car's hood was crushed and shattered.
Marcus was thrown violently against the steering wheel by the recoil. The airbags deployed, but fortunately, Marcus was already a supernatural entity and didn't care about the impact.
Inside the apartment, Kirsty woke up to find milk and burgers on the table.
Her face beamed with happiness. After washing up, she happily ate breakfast and then carefully dressed up, feeling excited about seeing Marcus at the pet shop later.
After finishing her makeup,
she found a patterned cube puzzle box on the table.
Kirsty didn't think much of it and picked up the puzzle box to examine it.
The puzzle box seemed to shimmer with starlight, a magical force drawing her closer. She spun it around a couple of times.
Suddenly, one section of the puzzle box automatically bulged upward and began to deform.
Kirsty was startled and was about to press it back when a current blasted her hand away.
The puzzle box began to deform and rotate like blooming flower petals, then burst forth with a gray light.
The bedroom walls slowly cracked open, forming a dark, long, and endless corridor filled with eerie energy.
Kirsty, filled with curiosity, slowly entered the tunnel, which resembled a subway passage.
From the depths came countless wails and strange cries, a cacophony of infant and adult screams, chilling to the bone.
After walking several dozen yards, Kirsty suddenly saw a deep black shadow filling the passage in the dim darkness ahead.
The shadow was shaped like a cocoon, its two thin upper limbs bracing against the walls, securing its suspended body, while its two lower limbs dangled naturally.
Kirsty took two steps closer, and the shadow moved.
She then realized it was a monster resembling a skinned lizard, hanging upside down in the passage, its blood-red head—the size of a table—below.
Kirsty turned and ran. The door behind her slowly began to close, and the monster roared as it chased after her.
Fortunately, the passage wasn't far, and she managed to rush back into the apartment before it closed, blocking the monster's path.
Kirsty frantically picked up the puzzle box, twisting and pounding it, but nothing worked. The puzzle box kept flashing with electricity.
The TV on the wall suddenly turned on by itself, flickering with static, the room dimming as if something was driving away the light.
Suddenly, like the tolling of a bell, the room went completely dark.
Blood gushed from the bottom of the glass of water on the table, filling it to overflow and spill onto the surface, shattering the glass and splattering blood everywhere.
Kirsty tried with all her might to open the bedroom door, but it opened outward, revealing complete darkness outside.
Standing in the doorway was a creature with dry, wrinkled skin, no eyes, and trembling, exposed teeth.
It grabbed Kirsty by the neck, binding her in place.
A ball of lightning appeared at the window, coalescing into the body of the Hell Priest Pinhead.
Butterball's obese figure appeared beside it along with another ball of electricity, slowly licking its lips.
"Oh, no!"
"This means you summoned us,"
the Hell Priest Pinhead said calmly and slowly.
"Who are you?"
Kirsty, bound and struggling, asked in panic.
"We are explorers in the further regions of experience."
"Demons to some, angels to others."
The Hell Priest replied quietly, standing still.
"It's just a misunderstanding, I...I didn't mean to open it."
"It's a mistake, please. You can...go back to hell."
Kirsty said in tears, panicked.
"No, we can't return empty-handed."
The Female Cenobite, with a hole in her throat, appeared from behind, speaking through the wound on her neck.
"You opened the box, so we came."
"Now you must come with us and taste our pleasures."
"Please don't cry! It's a waste of good suffering."
Pinhead finished slowly, about to activate the chains.
Marcus, outside the door, stared at the undamaged wooden door, gritted his teeth—there was no other way.
He took out the ice crystal orb he always carried from the spacious pocket of his coat.
"There is no sulfur and fire in Hell."
"Only the bitter winter!"
The words had barely left his lips when a fierce wind howled, a blizzard raged, the wind chasing the snow in rapid swirls, creating a storm that shook the courtyard to its core.
Taking advantage of the moment, Marcus pushed hard, easily opening the door.
His deduction was correct. The courtyard had also opened a Hell portal, allowing him to enter the inner realm.
The room was shrouded in darkness.
As the entrance door opened, light streamed in through the doorway, but only penetrated an inch, failing to dispel the darkness.
The Ice Cenobite, upon appearing, sensed the aura of the Hell Priest Pinhead and immediately vanished without a trace, leaving not a single snowflake behind.
The courtyard returned to normal.
(End of Chapter)
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