Surprisingly, this night Lena slept peacefully. Most likely the reason for it was that she could count on help from the police. At least she knew she wasn't alone and somebody believed her. With the morning alarm came the new day. The first thing she did after getting up from the bed was peeking out of the window, just to make sure that no one was watching the house. Luckily, the strange creeper was nowhere to be seen. That was comforting. At least he didn't follow her footprints all twenty-four hours per day.

Leaving home, Lena noticed two police officers, one on the other side of the street and another one a bit farther away, both patrolling the area. Good, the deputy did what he promised and police was keeping a watch on Lena's house and the surrounding area. If anything happens, the stranger will not get away so easy this time.

The woman turned around many times on her way to work, trying to notice any signs of the mysterious stalker, but nothing was out of ordinary. She even didn't feel his presence and no paranoia of being watched. And so it continued for several days, like things have returned to normality. But Lena didn't relax just yet, this seemingly peaceful atmosphere might be like silence before the storm.

Oh, how right she was when thinking that! One evening, after the arrival home from work, Lena started feeling nervous again. Could it mean that the stranger was back on her tracks again? It is said that human bodies are able to pick up the bad vibrations, which is a sign that something is not right. Deputy advised her to stay inside at all costs, lock all the windows and doors and not to let anyone in, except for him and his colleagues. He would warn her in case he or any police officer was planning to pay a visit, so if there was no warning, she shouldn't open the door to anybody. The good news were that the deputy spoke to the sheriff and he approved the demolition of Oswalt house and also the Stevenson house, and this will be done already tomorrow, around three o'clock, starting with the Oswalt family home. What's more, sheriff had plans to contact his colleagues in other states where the murders happened and do the same to all other houses and burn all the places down if anything is left afterwards. As the deputy himself is a believer in supernatural kind of stuff, he said it is always good to be cautious, and no one should move into the house where such tragedies happened, especially the ones connected with occultism. This already sounds superstitious, but it is better this way. It is better to look funny then to allow another tragedy to happen.

Such future outlook was completely fine for Lena. Thus they maybe could put an end to this vicious cycle of death. This thought made her smile, despite the growing panic inside. She had a bad feeling that nothing will go as easy as she thought. Anyway, it was time to rest, as it got dark already and the night was approaching fast. Lena switched the light off in the kitchen and prepared to go to her bedroom, but... she didn't know why, which devil made her do it, but she walked to the kitchen window to peek outside. At that moment she thought her heart would literally jump out of her chest. There, in the backyard, he stood in his ghostly glory within the high bushes, his pale face clearly visible, illuminated by moonlight. Lena couldn't see his eyes, as they looked more like two dark spots, but it was more than clear that he was staring right at her. Lena jumped away from the window, panting heavily and covered in sweat, but the further, the more she desired to check again if he is still there. She nearly expected him to stand right in front of the window, but no, she was wrong. He was nowhere to be seen. Lena slowly moved to her bedroom then, as her phone was lying on a night table. She had to call the deputy and let him know that this creepy bastard was back and that he was in her backyard now. But just as she touched the phone, Lena heard a faint sound in the hall. At first she dismissed it as a hallucination, as the fear has large eyes, and her own mind could have played tricks on her. But she was quickly convinced in being wrong, as after a few seconds it was followed by a silent, but clear sound of footsteps. Now Lena was overwhelmed by pure, animalistic fear, and all she could think about was to hide in a closet, hoping that this someone, whoever he was, wouldn't find her. Phone calls could be forgotten now, as he would definitely hear her talking, even if she whispered. Lena could only wonder how the hell he got into the house, as the door and all the windows were firmly locked. All she could do at this moment was waiting.

The footsteps sounded rather slow and unhurried, but with each of them the sound grew louder and louder until Lena could clearly hear them in the room. It seemed that the stranger knew exactly where she was, as he deliberately approached her hiding spot. And as a confirmation of her suspicions, the closet doors suddenly were widely open and a tall figure of a man in black stood before her. Lena didn't manage to react as his large hand grabbed her by the throat and pulled out of the closet. That guy was definitely strong, as it seemed easy for him to pull an adult person by the neck out of a hiding place. Right in the next second Lena was pressed firmly to the wall. It was clear that she was not going anywhere in the nearest time.

Several intense minutes passed in silence while the creepy man obviously was studying the woman. Lena used this moment too and inspected him closely. He was dressed in black coat which seemed a bit old-fashioned to me and black pants, and underneath the coat the collar of a white shirt was visible. His hair was raven black, shoulder length and looked rather messy. But the most frightening were his very pale, in fact, greyish skin colour and the face, if it could even be called a face. The only part of his face than looked human was the nose, but the eyes... To Lena, they looked like two triangular-shaped black spots, and the mouth wasn't visible at all, just a smudged, long and dark spot instead. He looked exactly like in those photos that the deputy showed her. If it was a mask, it sure looked terrifying. But something told Lena it was no mask, but a true face of this... man. Or was he even human? He looked more or less like that, but somehow she doubted that he was one. And she also noticed that his hands had the same grey colour as his face. All in all, his general appearance was indeed grisly. It was... sinister.

"Hiding is useless, Lena," a deep, low voice rang out in her head. "You can't hide from me."

What the hell? How does he know what my name is? – Lena was beyond terrified.

"W-who are you? How do you know my name?" she asked in a trembling voice. Most likely he spoke to her telepathically, considering the lack of mouth.

"I know so much about you, Lena, I've been watching you for a long time already. And I know all the secrets of your dark soul."

What? My... dark soul? – Now Lena was confused. - What is he talking about?

"Confused, I see? Well, let me help you then."

The stranger then put the other hand on Lena's head while still holding her neck in his iron grip. She wasn't going anywhere in any case, but it seemed that he wanted to be sure of that. Suddenly a new understanding dawned upon her. Lena realized that deep inside she often wanted to do terrible things to people that she didn't like for one or another reason. Such things that only a true monster was able to do. She often fantasized how she would burn one of them alive, tear the other one's mouth apart, impale the third one, but do it painfully slow. In her mind, Lena was enjoying their suffering, their painful screams were like music to her ears. This is what he meant with the secrets of her dark soul. He was able to look behind the outer shell of Lena's human body and discover her true nature of a monster. Actually, it wasn't a new understanding, it was something he helped her to discover in the depths of her mind and realize what she truly was. And what is even more interesting – Lena felt all her fear of him fading into thin air.

"Do you understand now? This is what I saw in you. Your potential. That is why I followed you, letting you know of my presence now and then. I am so enthralled by you, Lena."

"Well, all right, let's assume it is so. But you still haven't told me who you are," she said, looking into his bizarre face.

"I am Bughuul, the devourer of children. I exist for thousands of years and feed on the souls of children to maintain my own existence."

Ah, so that's it. Now the whole picture of the murders was becoming clear, or so Lena thought.

"So you are behind each family massacre, right?" she couldn't help her curiosity. "There was always one missing child. You kill the families and take away one of their children, don't you?"

"Not really. I choose one victim and make him or her drug and then kill all the family before taking the child to my world where it is trapped for eternity."

Now Lena understood it. This is why the police had always run into a dead end during the investigation of these crimes. They will never find the killer and the children that vanished without a trace. Because the missing children are the killers, controlled by a demonic entity, this Bughuul. His name sounded strange to Lena, as she had never heard about it, but it didn't matter now. She was determined to find out what his intentions were.

"Okay, now be so kind and tell me why you are here. I highly doubt you came here just to say how enthralled you are by me," Lena grinned slyly.

"You're right," Bughuul replied, although nothing in his face moved, not even a nod of a head. "I have much more important reason for that. I have a task for you."

"What task?" she began blinking fast.

"It seems that after the last ritual, humans have become smarter. Now they will avoid these places like a plague, and the last place of the ritual is going to be destroyed tomorrow. And in the attic of that house is a box labelled "Home movies", containing the things for a new cycle. You shall go to that house and collect that box, bring it to your place and keep it hidden until I give further indications."

After what Lena had just heard, she felt like a bucket of ice cold water was poured on her. He wanted her to work with him? But why? Why does he suddenly need help?

"Wait a minute. Why do you need me for that? Can't you manage it on your own? If I understand it right, you were always working on your own," Lena said, not fully understanding the deal.

"One of the reasons is known to you. And now it's time to get to business, without asking the unnecessary questions. And, I'm afraid, you don't have plenty of options."

No options... It meant that Lena had to do it, whether she wanted it or not. And since when should a demon care about the wishes of anyone else, except for his own?

"One more question, and believe me, it's a necessary one," Lena had to clear the last things up. "The Oswalt family house is definitely cordoned off, not mentioning about being locked. How can I get inside and stay unnoticed?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it. When you are there, the house will be open for you. Remember – a box in the attic with a "Home movies" label."

"All right, so be it," she sighed, although it wasn't easy to do, as his hand was still on her neck. "I'll do it, since I have no choice."

"Good. Obedient girl, I like that," the demon's voice now sounded satisfied. "Precisely, you have no choice. You know where the Oswalt house is. Now go and complete the assignment. I will pay you a visit soon."

This time Lena just nodded in response, without saying a word. Bughuul, in turn, returned this gesture and finally let her go. As soon as she was free from his grasp, the demon vanished, like nothing has happened.

"Damn, this is just hilarious," - Lena said to herself. "I became an ally of some demonic entity, and he didn't care to ask whether I agree to do it or not." But she knew well that if she dared to disobey, the punishment would be very severe. So she dressed up in black pants and pullover, not forgetting to put a cap on her head to cover as much skin as possible. She had to go unnoticed, so the more body is covered, the better, so she could merge with the darkness.

And here she was, standing in front of the main door, ready for the most dangerous journey in her life...