[Chapter 130: Facing Samara]
Francia's apartment was surprisingly simple. She once shared it with someone -- a friend she had mentioned before, someone who had died. Since then, she had been living alone.
"Here." Francia pulled a videotape from the TV cabinet.
Though it was 2004 and DVDs had become common, many people still relied heavily on videotapes. Many people continued to use VCRs.
The image quality of videotapes wasn't very clear, and they were bulky and took up a lot of space, but they were still widely used.
Daniel took the tape and asked, "Are you sure this is the one?"
Francia nodded. "Yes. There's a mark on it -- look."
Daniel carefully examined the tape but felt no trace of curse power emanating from it. Having dealt with curses several times, whether the Tanusha couple or the old woman from Drag Me to Hell, he was confident he could detect genuine curse energy.
This tape, however, was completely clean, appearing ordinary and unremarkable.
"Let's try it at my place," Daniel said, putting the tape away before heading home with Francia.
...
Back at Daniel's, the altar reappeared. This time, it held the videotape, adorned with prayer seals and red strings, lending an eerie mystique to the otherwise modern object.
By sealed authority, let hidden command go forth in silence.
Warden of Seizure, traverse all bounds and leave no refuge.
From every quarter, let the unclean be named and brought to account.
Let the bell of judgment sound—no spirit may conceal itself.
Daniel intoned.
By mandate, seize and present them. So ordered.
Suddenly, the flames on the two candles atop the altar shot high, extending a strange power. But after a long wait, nothing happened. No figure appeared.
"Of course," Daniel muttered. "Trying to forcibly summon Sadako/Samara with just this tape won't work."
He wasn't too disappointed; he hadn't expected much. There was only one method left. He had used it before against the Slender Man: to actively establish a connection with Samara herself.
Once that link was made, Samara would have no choice but to show herself, though it would also give her the opportunity to attack.
...
Daniel packed up the altar, took the videotape, and went to the TV. A VCR sat nearby.
"Mr. Cross, are you... really going to watch this?" Francia asked nervously.
Daniel shrugged. "Otherwise?"
Her eyes reddened. "But if you do, you'll face the same danger I did."
Daniel replied calmly, "If I don't, it won't appear."
Francia hesitated but said nothing more.
"It can't hurt me," Daniel reassured her.
He slid the tape into the VCR. "Turn your back. Don't look."
Francia usually obeyed him, but this time she didn't. She kept watching the screen as the images flickered to life.
"You..." Daniel glanced at her but said nothing else. He understood what she was thinking: since she was willing to risk everything for him, he would face this danger alongside her.
He couldn't help but smile faintly at her stubborn innocence.
The videotape's content was dull, filled with eerie and unsettling images but nothing remarkable. Soon, it ended.
Ding-ling -- the phone rang immediately.
Daniel checked the time; it was just past 6 PM. He answered, hearing a strange gurgling noise before the call abruptly ended.
Instinctively, a bolt of lightning burst from Daniel, dispersing the curse power trying to settle on him.
Still, he felt a certain bond had formed between him and an unknown entity.
"Guess that counts as a success," he muttered to himself. "But without curse power, can it still attack me? It should be able to, the Slender Man did last time. Maybe without curse energy, it'll have trouble tracking me down."
Daniel looked at Francia. After watching the tape a second time, her face was ashen, weighed down by a heavy sense of death.
...
Another seven days passed, bringing the calendar to October.
During those days, Daniel and Francia were inseparable. Yet Samara didn't show.
Daniel was growing annoyed.
This time, he used the same warehouse as before but had deliberately removed the TV. He wanted to see how Samara would manifest without a screen.
The warehouse had no TV, no reflective surfaces at all. Daniel even stored his phone in the System space.
Time ticked by.
Near the end of the seven days, Daniel searched carefully. There was no way for Samara to enter through reflection.
What then? Would she appear out of thin air without an entrance ritual?
That thought lingered as the final minutes passed.
Then, exactly on the seventh day, something happened that shocked Daniel.
He saw Francia frozen in place, eyes wide with terror.
Inside her pupils, a dry well appeared. A clawed hand crawled up the well's edge, followed by a head hidden behind long black hair. Slowly, as if climbing from the depths, the body emerged.
It advanced closer and closer.
Suddenly, a hand reached from inside Francia's eye into the real world.
Then, the black-haired head burst completely free.
"Damn it!" Daniel cursed, already gripping his thunder-etched ashwood Sanctum Blade. He swung down at the head with a crackling slash.
Lightning danced along the blade, but he missed -- the figure vanished from its spot and reappeared elsewhere.
Only then did Francia snap out of her trance.
Her face confused, she whispered, "What happened? It... came?"
She saw Samara too.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.
"I'm... fine," she stammered, still dazed.
Relieved, Daniel shifted his attention back to Samara.
Its method of arrival had stunned him. He hadn't considered that the entity could emerge from within a person's eye.
Suddenly, Samara's hair parted slightly, revealing a red eye filled with venomous hatred fixed on Daniel. The look said it remembered him well.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Magical energy surged through Daniel, neutralizing Samara's paralyzing heart-stopping ability.
Francia, lacking magical power, felt the seals on her body drain away under the strain.
Daniel grabbed his Dominion Rod and waved it sharply at Samara. "Go!"
Boom!
Lightning struck down, but Samara was ready. Before the blast could reach it, its form flickered and disappeared.
"Trying to run?"
Daniel snorted coldly.
As soon as Samara reappeared, more lightning bolts rained down, striking it squarely.
*****
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