Devil's Kettle is located in a Midwestern state of the United States, situated in a temperate continental climate zone.
The mild four-season climate ensures abundant vegetation cover here.
At the same time, it is also very suitable for planting crops such as corn, wheat, cotton, and fruits.
In terms of economic value, Devil's Kettle, with its rich produce, is much higher than Medford.
Therefore, the permanent population here is also much larger than Medford.
As the evening sun faded, Mike parked his pickup truck in front of an old residential house.
Despite its appearance, this house was a two-story building with an independent large yard, which could even be called a small villa.
This was the home of Dennis and Kelly.
Hearing the engine sound from outside the yard, a middle-aged couple walked out.
After a year, Dennis still looked the same, only his hair was a bit sparser, and his beer belly was a bit rounder.
Next to him, the woman with soft brown long hair and gentle eyes was Dennis's wife, Kelly.
"You brat, why are you back so late? You made me worry for a while..." Dennis stepped forward and gave Mike, who had just gotten out of the car, a heavy hug.
Then, he carefully scrutinized him and said with a smile, "You've grown taller and stronger, that's great..."
His words revealed deep feelings of gratification.
Beside him, Aunt Kelly also stepped forward and hugged Mike, saying with a beaming smile, "Mike, why do I feel like you're getting handsomer and handsomer? You must have charmed quite a few young girls."
Aunt Kelly, who was in her early thirties this year, still harbored some girlish vivacity beneath her mature appearance.
Like her husband, Kelly also worked at the orphanage, mainly as a caregiver, looking after children.
Therefore, she naturally exuded a unique affinity that made people feel very comfortable.
After a year apart, the relationship between the three had not grown distant.
Afterward, Dennis was left outside to park the car, while Kelly took Mike to the room.
"Go wash up first, we'll eat in a bit." Upon entering the room, Kelly said with a smile, "Tonight's dinner is going to be a feast"
When Mike washed his face in the bathroom and came to the dining room, the table was already filled with food.
Roasted fish, flavored wraps, French fries, chicken platter, nut corn tortillas, raw walnut sauce vegetable noodles...
In addition to the main dishes, the fruit salad plate was also adorned with cherry tomatoes, small cherries, and mango cubes.
These ingredients were mostly locally sourced.
It has to be said that Devil's Kettle is indeed a good place.
Later, when Dennis returned after parking the car, Kelly had already been chatting with Mike by the dining table for quite some time.
"Dennis, we were just waiting for you to start eating." Seeing her husband enter, Kelly motioned for him to sit down.
Due to their work, both Dennis and Kelly were religious.
So, under Dennis's organization, the three completed their pre-meal prayer.
"Mike, try today's dishes, see if they suit your taste." After the prayer, Kelly urged Mike to start eating.
Mike, who hadn't had a proper meal for two days, certainly had a hearty appetite in front of the table full of delicacies.
Beside him, Dennis and Kelly, watching Mike eat with great relish, exchanged glances and simultaneously broke into warm smiles.
It is worth mentioning that Dennis and Kelly loved children very much and had always planned to have their own child.
However, due to the busy work at the orphanage, this plan had not yet been implemented.
Here, once Mike slowed down his eating, Dennis finally brought up the topic he was concerned about: "Mike, did you encounter any trouble on your way back?"
According to the normal itinerary, Mike should have arrived by noon today.
Even if there was a slight delay on the road, he should have arrived in the afternoon, not waited until it was almost dark to return.
In fact, before this, Dennis had suggested personally picking Mike up from Medford.
"I was delayed for half a day when leaving the Texas border, but nothing happened." Mike did not mention the cannibal incident.
Such matters, involving hidden secrets, meant trouble for ordinary people.
The less one knew, the safer one was.
"It's good that everything went smoothly..." Dennis believed Mike and changed the subject, asking, "How's your life over there? I heard you joined the school's football team and achieved good results."
"In terms of life, Connie and Cooper have taken good care of me. And I did join the football team and achieved good results in this year's spring invitational tournament..." Mike was very happy to share the trivialities of his life with Dennis and Kelly.
At the same time, he also brought up the matter of earning his own money.
"So that's it, I was wondering how you had the money to buy a pickup truck." Listening to Mike's narration, a smile unconsciously appeared on Dennis's face.
It was the kind of relieved smile one gets when seeing their own child grow up.
Actually, Mike had a bit of a selfish motive in telling them about earning his own money. He wanted to use this to prove that he was capable of inheriting the inheritance.
When he had almost finished introducing his situation over the past year, Mike asked as if inadvertently, "By the way, how is Needy doing now?"
Needy Lesnicki was Mike's classmate and also the good friend of the Demon Jennifer.
Having grown up with Jennifer, she greatly admired Jennifer's radiance and, in order to be as popular as her, this girl had intentionally imitated Jennifer for quite some time in her life.
From clothing and makeup to daily habits...
At the same time, the plain-looking Needy had also hated Jennifer because the latter was too outstanding, thus overshadowing her own light.
It can be said that Needy's feelings for Jennifer were very complex.
However, one thing was certain: Needy cherished Jennifer as a close friend very much.
Similarly, Needy, who deliberately accommodated Jennifer in life, also won Jennifer's friendship.
Then again, who would dislike an obedient follower?
It was under this relationship that when Jennifer was possessed by a demon, she never thought of harming her good friend Needy.
Jennifer even tried to share her abilities with Needy.
The ability of the Demon Body to remain eternally youthful held a fatal attraction for any girl.
Needy, who had been taken to the Abyss Altar by Jennifer, knew many of her friend's little secrets. Among them was Jennifer's desire for Mike's body.
So, after Jennifer disappeared and Mike returned safely, Needy suspected that her friend's disappearance was related to Mike.
Mike remembered that probing look vividly.
"Are you talking about Needy Lesnicki?" Hearing the question, Dennis thought for a moment and said, "Not long after you went to Medford, that girl was also taken away. Since then, there has been no news of her."
"I have some impression, Needy seemed to have been taken away by two Men in Black wearing black suits and sunglasses..." Kelly suddenly interjected.
Listening to Kelly's description, Mike could confirm that the people who took Needy were indeed the MIB.
But why was that? Just because the girl was Jennifer's friend?
"Did those two Men in Black say anything about Jennifer's matter?" Mike looked at Kelly and asked.
"Mike, I know what you want to ask. Jennifer's drowning was an accident, it has nothing to do with you. You don't need to care about what others think..." Kelly comforted Mike with concern.
Before Jennifer disappeared, many people knew that she had a date with Mike.
Therefore, after Jennifer died, quite a few people had pointed fingers at Mike, believing that he was responsible for Jennifer's death.
As a prominent figure in the local school, Jennifer had many followers.
"I'm not asking about that, I want to know if those two Men in Black said anything about the rumors that Jennifer was possibly possessed by a demon?" Mike got to the point.
"What demon possession? Didn't Jennifer just accidentally drown?" Kelly seemed to have forgotten the rumors of Jennifer being possessed by a demon and continued, "That child was such a pity, so young..."
The rumor that Jennifer was possessed by a demon and specifically ate men caused quite a stir in Devil's Kettle at the time.
However, Kelly now seemed to have no recollection at all, which was very suspicious.
Mike, having a suspicion, then asked Dennis to confirm Jennifer's matter.
As expected, he also forgot the rumor of demon possession.
At this point, Mike was certain that the two Men in Black who had visited Devil's Kettle had definitely used a memory eraser in the town.
Clearly, the MIB was deliberately covering up supernatural events from ordinary people.