America Horror : Demon never sleep.

"Private detective — Soren?"

Half an hour later, inside a hotel room in Derry.

Beverly held the business card Soren had given her. She stared at the logo printed on it and read the name aloud with obvious hesitation.

"Devil May Cry? What kind of office is that? I've never even heard of it."

Half an hour earlier, they had turned around with the grim expectation of facing death itself.

Instead of Pennywise, they found a very young man with white hair standing behind them.

He introduced himself as a private detective who could solve their clown problem.

"Yes. Our office handles all kinds of jobs."

Soren sat on the couch, studying the only woman in the group.

Beverly had grown up with an abusive father who not only beat her regularly but also had other, much darker intentions. She had barely escaped that nightmare only to marry a man who turned out to be just as violent and controlling.

Out of the frying pan, straight into another fire.

Soren pulled his gaze away and glanced at the rest of the room.

"For example, finding lost pets, writing love letters for people, or handling messy family disputes—"

He said it casually.

"But our main line of work is hunting demons."

The others exchanged uncertain looks. If Soren didn't carry himself with such an unnerving presence, they might have wondered if he had just escaped from a mental institution.

They all turned toward Bill, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Bill had always been the unspoken leader of their little group, even as kids. As an adult he had become a successful horror novelist whose books sold very well. If anyone in this room knew anything about demons or the supernatural, it was probably him.

"Demon hunter…"

Bill repeated the words under his breath, then let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Look, man. We just saw some seriously weird shit in that restaurant, but that doesn't mean we're going to believe some random guy who shows up out of nowhere claiming he can kill it."

The others stayed on guard, clearly not buying what Soren was selling.

"Fine," Soren said, his expression unchanged. "If you think I'm joking, let's talk about something else."

He looked directly at Bill.

"Bill. Do you remember how your little brother died twenty-seven years ago?"

Bill's face darkened at the mention of Georgie.

On a rainy night all those years ago, his little brother had been dragged into the sewer by the clown. Bill had never seen him again.

Before Bill could answer, Soren continued.

"Or maybe we should talk about the friend who didn't show up to your little reunion."

The moment he said the name, the forced calm on several faces cracked.

"What happened to him?" Bill asked, staring hard at Soren.

Back at the restaurant, the fortune cookie messages they had pieced together had said: Stanley couldn't handle it.

They had been about to call him when Soren stopped them outside.

"Before I came looking for you, I did a little digging into your recent situations," Soren said, making up a reason on the spot.

"Your friend received Mike's call… and then he killed himself."

Soren's tone was calm, but to the others it landed like a bomb.

Mike was the Black man who had smashed the table earlier. He had stayed in Derry all these years, studying the clown and waiting for its return. Out of everyone here, he knew the most about Pennywise.

He was the one who had called the others back.

"That's impossible!" Beverly shot to her feet, eyes wet. "Stanley was the most level-headed person we knew. He would never kill himself!"

"This has to be the clown's doing! It's trying to mess with our heads!"

Another member of the group paced the room, refusing to accept it.

"I'm afraid it's the truth," Soren said evenly. "You can call and check for yourselves."

Bill's hands shook as he pulled out his phone and dialed. After a short conversation, his face went deathly pale.

He slowly lowered the phone and looked at the others, who were waiting in terrified silence. He gave a small, broken nod.

"He's dead. Cut his wrists in the bathtub."

Bill's voice was hoarse.

The words hit the group like a physical blow.

The monster hiding in the dark had just announced its return in the cruelest way possible. It hadn't even needed to show itself. It had simply used their fear to drive one of them to suicide.

"Now do you believe me?" Soren asked, breaking the heavy silence.

Bill took a deep breath and forced down the grief rising in his chest.

He looked at Soren and asked in a low voice, "Who the hell are you? How do you know so much about us?"

"And why did you come looking for us in the first place?"

"I already told you. I'm a demon hunter."

Soren stood up from the couch. "As for the rest, you don't need to know."

"So someone hired you to deal with the clown?" Mike finally spoke up.

He knew better than anyone how terrifying Pennywise was. If someone actually had a way to kill it, that would be the best news they could get.

"Hired me?" Soren raised an eyebrow. "I came here to handle some other business."

He was bullshitting, of course. Pennywise had been his real target from the start. But when easy money walked right up and offered itself, he wasn't about to turn it down.

Even if these people were broke, he could probably squeeze something out of them.

"As a legitimate business, I never turn down work that walks through the door."

"Since this thing is your problem… why don't you make it official and hire me?"

Soren leaned back into a more comfortable position. "Don't worry. My rates are always fair."

The room fell into a short, tense silence.

Outside, a light rain had started to fall, tapping against the window.

"Money isn't an issue," Bill said, lifting his head. His eyes were red.

"As long as you can actually kill that thing… for Georgie and for Stanley, we'll pay whatever you want. We'll find the money."

The others didn't argue.

For them, ending this nightmare was worth any price.

"Perfect. I like dealing with straightforward people."

Soren smiled faintly as a system notification appeared in his mind.

"Now all you need to do is take me to where the clown is hiding."

"Hiding place?" Bill looked confused. "What hiding place?"

"Twenty-seven years ago you beat it half to death. Don't tell me you forgot where it lives."

Soren frowned slightly.

Pennywise had a certain ability. If you managed to leave Derry, your memories of the clown and everything that happened in town would quickly start to fade. The farther you went and the longer you stayed away, the more completely you would forget.

He just hadn't expected Bill and the others to have forgotten this much.

After a moment, Mike let out a tired sigh and broke the silence.

"I know where it is."

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