In a few days after Lena's disappearance, the police had new matter of investigation. It all began with the statement of vanishing of three women – Beth Hayes, Helen Carter, and Elizabeth Phillips. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Beth's parents, reported that their daughter and her two friend were invited by their ex-course mate, Lena Firth, to her house for a cup of coffee. And after that there was no sign of any of them. Sheriff gave an order to go to Lena Firth's house and interrogate her, as she was most likely the last one to see any of the women. Deputy and a few more police officers joined him, but deep inside deputy felt that something was not right with Lena herself as well. Was she alright? Or that demon finally got to her and got rid of her acquaintances too? In any case, they had to find out the truth.

Seeing a house surrounded with police cars, a crowd of onlookers began to gather around. Sheriff tried the door, but it was firmly locked. Deputy had tried to call Lena many times, but always got no answer. Her phone seemed to be turned off. That made him get seriously worried. The police first asked the neighbors if anyone had seen Lena Firth or someone else entering her house. One neighbor stated that yesterday evening the light was on in Lena's house, and around five o'clock, he saw three women entering the house. But that was it. Afterwards he saw no one else leaving the place. Police had to be sure, so they finally decided to break the lock and finally got inside. The house was empty and silent, and as deputy shouted out Lena's name, it was useless. It looked like nobody was home.

Sheriff ordered to split up and search all the house. He went for the living room while deputy checked the kitchen, and the two other officers went upstairs. The kitchen was empty, nothing out of order, but then a piece of paper on the table caught deputy's attention. Picking it up, he saw that it was a note from Lena, and it was addressed to him. He was going to read it, until...

"Jesus Christ! Oh, my God!"

It was the sheriff's voice from the living room.

Deputy put the note into his pocket and rushed to the living room to see what the problem was. But when he saw what sheriff was looking at, he couldn't help but turn away from the horrible sight. There, in the middle of the room, three dead women were lying on the floor in a row, their wrists and ankles tied together and mouths taped up. But that was not all. Each woman had some metallic thing pierced right through the heart. Generally, all this scene looked like some twisted vampire killing scene.

"Oh, God... Who could have done that?" deputy was in shock.

"I don't know. But it looks like we found the three missing women," sheriff said. "Now we need to find the owner of this house. I bet she committed these murders. The bodies are in her house, so no one else could be blamed for that."

"Yeah... I guess you're right," deputy agreed with sorrow in his heart. "I'll call the paramedics then. The bodies should be delivered to the morgue."

While deputy called the hospital, the officers came downstairs, stating that they found nothing out of ordinary on the upper floor. And still no sign of Lena Firth anywhere.

"Well, it seems that the criminal has escaped," sheriff sighed.

"The criminal? What do you mean, sheriff?" one of the officers asked.

"Take a look yourselves," he replied, inviting them into the living room.

"Damn it! Jesus..." both officers were beyond shocked. "Do you think the owner of this house did it, sheriff?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm more than sure of that. The fact that we found the bodies in her house, is the number one evidence of her guilt. Now, let's examine the bodies closer and the room as well while the paramedics are not here yet. And I'm afraid it will take hell a lot of time to search for Lena Firth. She could be anywhere at this moment."

No other traces were found in the house beside the bodies. When the paramedics delivered them to the morgue, the coroner stated in his report that all three victims were drugged by something, but no one could understand what exactly it was. It was some kind of substance, unknown to the science. All that could be identified that this drug paralyzed the muscles of the body, thus making the victims absolutely helpless in the hands of a killer. As for the drug itself... that was the main problem. No matter how much research was done, no one could find any chemicals that could be even remotely close to the composition of this mysterious drug. Once again, the investigation has come to a dead end.

***

At his home in the evening, deputy was having tea, unable to find peace of mind. With pain and sorrow he clutched a piece of paper in his hand. It was the note that Lena had left for him in the kitchen, and after he read it, the whole picture was finally clear to him. And the note said the following:

Deputy put the paper down, feeling his eyes getting filled with tears. So this is what that unholy bastard was after. He turned her into a merciless murderer and then took away. Tomorrow he will show this note to the sheriff, hoping that at least this would make him believe that the supernatural force is behind all these crimes. If only they could find a way to stop the demon... but this mission was close to impossible. But still deputy didn't lose hope. The must be a way. And he would do all he can to achieve his goal and also take revenge for what the demon did to Lena.

He hid the note back into his pocket and left the kitchen after finishing tea. Deputy lived alone in his house, but little did he know that he wasn't alone now. Despite that the heating was on, it was freezing cold in the house, which surprised him. He had no idea that while he was busy with his household care, a woman was following his every step, turning her ghostly pale face towards him and accompanying him with her lifeless gaze. Only the coldness could be a hint that something strange was happening in the house.

Switching all the lights off in the living room, the kitchen, and the hallway, deputy was on his way to bedroom, when suddenly silence was broken by some kind of strange noise, like something had been moved. Shivers ran down deputy's spine, as he now realized that there was something else with him in the house. He remembered Ellison Oswalt's complains of similar phenomenon, and now he himself was experiencing that. The next moment deputy felt blood in his veins grow cold and his face covering in sweat. There, in the dark, a faint whisper could be heard, and it spoke only one word:

"Deputy..."