The small children's room was dark, with only a couple of candles burning, the flames of which flickered and trembled, threatening to go out. A thin, pale moonlight slipped between the drawn curtains, not causing the same relief and tranquility as the sun. The scream and crying were replaced by silence, eerie and ringing. The young boy's body lying in front of you seemed neither alive nor dead – exhausted, weak and painful, covered with bruises and scratches that, according to the boy's parents, he inflicted on himself. More precisely, not him, but the demon sitting in him.

It was strictly forbidden to perform an exorcism without the bishop's permission, but what could you do? This family needed help, you couldn't pass by. Besides, who would give permission to such a young, inexperienced exorcist? That's why you decided to do everything in secret, and the boy's family agreed not to tell anyone about what happened within these walls.

When the boy started breathing calmly and steadily, you realized that the session was successful – at least he didn't get worse, so everything worked out.

And you would have safely forgotten about this session if not for what happened next. After a couple of days, you started to feel terrible pain in your limbs, constant headaches. Then there was the voice that whispered something unintelligible while you were alone. Dreams became the peak. They were messy, full of strange symbols and signs, after which you woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and with chest pain, and couldn't sleep anymore. A night, two, three – and now you've forgotten the last time you could get a good night's sleep, bruises appeared under your eyes, and people around you began to worry about your health. Just like you, in general.

You already suspected what had happened, so you couldn't ask the bishop for help. If he found out about breaking the rule... You didn't know what he would do to you. So your second exorcism session was on you. Was it scary? Of course, because you've seen with your own eyes what happens to the possessed. But there was no way out.

Once again, the room is dark, once again only the candles are burning around you, once again the ringing silence, only your nervous, rare sighs are heard. You opened the book, picked up a rosary with a metal cross, sprinkled holy water on your face and began to say a prayer in a quiet, timid whisper, closing your eyes. At first, nothing happened, but after a long ten minutes, the burning sensation in your chest became stronger and stronger, until it became unbearably difficult to say a prayer. Your voice was trembling, and the rosary beads in your hands felt hot, as did the drops of water on your face, and it seemed as if they were about to burn holes in your skin, like caustic acid. Tears welled up from your eyes by themselves, and the voice in your head became louder and more real. The pain and fear became unbearable, because of the veil of tears you could not make out the letters in the book, and soon your eyes went dark, the candles went out at the same time, the rosary fell out of your hands, and you collapsed to the floor.

You didn't know how much time had passed, but you woke up abruptly, with your eyes wide open, as if from a nightmare. It was still dark in the room, your supplies were scattered on the floor, and the silence was even more oppressive on your ears.

"Did it work...?" you whispered to yourself, looking at your own hands. The pain in my chest has become less severe, but it has not disappeared.

"Almost, doll," a familiar voice rang out from a dark corner.

Dumbfounded, you looked around – a familiar voice, now it sounded too real to be attributed to hallucinations. In the darkness, a pair of eyes rolled up–cold, piercing, blue, like two pieces of ice. That look sent a chill down your spine.

"W-who are you...?"

"Who am I?" the voice repeated, laughing hoarsely. "You banished me yourself, and you still haven't found out who I am? What kind of exorcist are you?"