Chapter 6
It took an hour for the car to reach its destination.
Emily was already waiting there.
She looked sickly pale from her illness, but the excitement in her eyes was unmistakable.
Sure enough, money can support people, especially the money that is about to arrive.
We were out in the suburbs, barely anyone around.
I didn't dare get too close, so I kept my distance.
But I was prepared.
I'd secretly slipped a listening and recording device into Alex's pocket.
I also brought a video camera to see what they were up to.
I zoomed in and started recording.
Over there they were ready.
Alex started a fire, burned some kind of charm, and walked Emily around it a few times.
Then, a shadowy figure appeared.
I quickly snapped a few shots.
Nice, the shadow actually showed up in the photos.
It didn't vanish.
The figure asked, "Are you ready?"
Alex and Emily nodded.
"Then let's begin," the shadowy figure said.
Then the ceremony began.
The figure asked, "Alex, ID number... Are you willing to trade ten years of your life for all of Rachel's savings? The person being traded, Rachel, ID number..."
The shadow hadn't even finished reading my ID number when Alex cut in. Alex was practically bursting with impatience, "Yes, Yes."
The shadowy figure didn't even flinch, kept going with that dead-serious tone.
Then the shadowy figure began chanting and casting the spell.
At that moment, I opened my mobile banking app.
The one cent in my account started to blur.
My vision blurred for a second.
The number turned to zero.
Meanwhile, Alex visibly aged-he looked years older in an instant.
His skin was a little loose.
The shadowy figure's voice was flat and emotionless, "The ritual is complete. The deal is done."
With that, the shadow vanished.
Alex was extremely excited. He immediately grabbed Emily and started looking at the phone.
His face was glowing as he opened the banking app.
But then, his grin froze in place.
He refreshed the page over and over, like he couldn't believe his eyes.
No matter how many times he checked, the balance stayed exactly the same.
It was still one cent.
Alex froze.