Maya stood between them, holding a can of soda like she hadn't just reappeared out of nowhere. Like she hadn't just defied every rule of physics—and sanity—they knew.
Samuel's mouth was dry. Danny's eye was twitching.
"See, it was not me drinking your soda all along!" Samuel said, still half-convinced he was hallucinating.
Danny nodded slowly, still staring. "I believe you now."
Maya smiled, took a sip, and then casually plopped down on the floor in front of them. "We need to talk."
Samuel and Danny exchanged looks, their nerves frayed like live wires.
"No shit," Samuel muttered, his voice a little hoarse.
Danny turned to Samuel. "Dude, pinch me. This feels too real."
Samuel raised an eyebrow, then slapped him across the cheek.
"Ow! I said pinch, not assault!"
"She's still here, isn't she?" Samuel said.
Maya just calmly sipped her soda.
Danny stood up abruptly and backed toward the door. "Nope. I'm out. I don't think I signed up for any of this." He grabbed the doorknob and twisted—nothing. He pulled harder. The door didn't budge.
Samuel got up too. "Try the window."
Danny bolted to the window and yanked it open. It didn't move. Not an inch.
They both looked at Maya.
Danny threw his hands in the air. "Okay! We get it! You win! Just... let us go!"
"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have messed with your kind. Please let us go. We beg you!" Samuel quickly added.
Maya blinked at them, confused. Then she sighed and stood up slowly.
"I'm not trying to trap you," she said softly. "The book does that sometimes. It wasn't me. I think the book wants you to listen to me."
Samuel blinked. "Wait, what?"
"I'm not... what you think I am," she said. "I'm not a ghost."
Danny, still pressed to the window, looked over his shoulder. "Then what the hell are you?"
Maya looked down at the Hell Book on the table. Her expression turned strangely wistful. "I've been bound to that book. For as long as I can remember, I've been... sleeping. Trapped. Watching. But when you started using it—when you opened it and started helping people by giving them solutions to their predicaments—I started to wake up. Slowly, piece by piece, I recovered a portion of my power. So now, I can materialize in front of you two."
Samuel's breath caught. "You were in the book?"
Maya nodded. "In a way. My spirit is tied to it. The more you use it, the stronger I become. My memories are fragmented, like puzzle pieces scattered in the dark. I don't remember much."
Danny rubbed his face. "Okay. Alright. So you're... what? A spirit?"
Maya tilted her head, then gave a small, proud grin. "Maybe I'm an angel."
Samuel raised a brow. "Seriously? Like a guardian angel? A good spirit?"
Maya shrugged. "I mean, I glow. That's got to count for something."
Danny crossed his arms. "So what do you want?"
She nodded slowly. "The book tells me I have a mission. I'm supposed to capture those evil demons. Banish them back to hell. Lock them up where they came from."
She paused. "But I don't remember everything yet. I have... amnesia. Most of my power is gone. Only by catching those demons can I recover my memory."
Danny slowly lowered his hands from his face. "You're telling us... you're like some demon bounty hunter? And the book is alive?"
Maya gave a small, sad smile. "Something like that. The book said it chose you two to help me since I'm not strong enough on my own. So in a sense, I need you both."
Samuel pointed to himself. "Us?"
"The book said that," she said simply. "If it were up to me, I might've looked for some warrior or someone macho. I don't know why the book chose two scammers like you. Anyway, you're the only ones who can see me. I have no choice but to depend on you."
Danny hesitated. "How do I sign off from this?"
Maya paused, lost in thought. "I don't think you can. Since you started using the book, somehow you've also become attached to it. Without the book in your hands, demons might start coming after you both endlessly. You'll be defenseless. You already banished one. The others can feel it. I think you're already part of this now. There's no going back."
Samuel leaned forward, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. "This is so messed up."
Maya stood again, her tone more serious. "Initially, I wanted to give you guys a choice by slowly explaining the existence of demons and the duty to capture them. And because someone was trying to act cool, things went south before I could tell you more details. You already performed a half-baked demon banishment. I'm not asking you to help me. We need to help each other now. Although I don't know everything yet due to my memory loss—I can feel the clock ticking. And the next demon won't wait until you're ready. They might come after you like you're their natural-born enemy."
Her words hit harder than they expected. This was something they never dreamed could happen to them. It felt like they had dug their own graves. The room went quiet again. The hum of the laptop. The faint hiss from the soda in Maya's hand. The silence that followed a life-altering decision.
Danny looked at Samuel. "Do we have a choice?"
Samuel glanced at the Hell Book. At Maya. Then at the flickering laptop screen still paused on a frame of them shouting at empty space.
"No," he said finally. "Tell me everything you know. We need to know what we're up against."
Maya went into deep thought again. Suddenly, her face lit up like she had an idea. She raised her hand toward the book. The book floated into the air and rested gently in her hand.
"This is actually not just a book. It's more like an artifact to help us banish demons. It also has another use. It contains knowledge of all types of demons—their strengths, weaknesses, and basic data. It was in book format since humans in those days used books as their main source of guidance. Hmm... in the last two months I've been staying with you guys, I've actually learned more about the current world. Maybe I can help you guys change this book into something more... usable."
Maya closed her eyes and placed her hand on top of the book. Suddenly, it began to glow and broke into magical fragments that started moving toward Danny and Samuel. Before they could react, the particles circled their left wrists and started forming into solid objects.
"What is going on?!" Danny panicked. His face turned red with alarm. Samuel tried to remove the bracelet, but it clung to his wrist like it had always been part of him. The bracelet looked ancient, yet still stylish—a dark gold with carvings that looked straight out of hell.
"Relax, don't panic. I tried to turn that thing into something you guys could understand. Now try dropping your blood on the bracelet," Maya said expressionlessly.
Despite the panic, they had no choice. Samuel slowly walked over to his desk, grabbed a penknife, and made a pin-sized cut on his fingertip. He passed the knife to Danny, who wiped off Samuel's blood with the corner of his shirt and did the same.
They didn't speak. Years of friendship made words unnecessary. Samuel gave a nod, and both of them let a drop of blood fall onto the bracelet.
The moment the blood touched the metal, a sharp pain exploded through their heads. It felt like thousands of red ants were crawling from the base of their necks, biting their way up.
Both of them screamed, crouching down, gripping their heads as the invading force dug in.
While our heroes dove deep into unknown forces, across the darkest corners of the world, many shadows and ancient entities felt something awaken. A source of power that could destroy them. Something within them whispered a single terrifying truth—The hunter has arrived.
To be continued...