Ian stood on the stretch of road that had already returned to level ground, watched it for a while, then turned and walked over to the Hellcat. He pulled the door open and slid into the driver's seat.
The seat still felt the same as before, the steering wheel still held the traces of his many previous grips, and the dashboard lights were glowing normally.
The Hellcat's engine still purred steadily, the body trembling slightly, as if it, too, understood that the night in this block had been completely emptied out.
There was no longer any need to handle the situation the way he had just now.
"As you wished, you got to see demons." Ian raised the window again, pulled his gaze back from the rearview mirror, shifted gears, and stepped on the gas. The Hellcat drove smoothly out of that stretch of street, crossed the intersection, and merged onto a wider road, its engine note spreading through the night in an even rhythm.
The lights were still on by the hospital's side entrance, but that door had already been shut. The iron bucket was still sitting where it had been, its surface marked with water stains. The early morning wind blew in from the end of the street, carrying away the last few traces on the ground, as if nothing from this night had ever happened.
The black Dodge Challenger had already vanished at the end of the street, leaving only the fading sound of its engine, which lingered for a while in the night wind before dispersing completely.
In the distance, the hospital still glowed quietly, with no extra noise and no one knowing that, on this night, a group of cultists had once prepared to turn it into their own altar.
Ian parked the Hellcat in