Dragon's Den🐉(DDen)

|A Surprise Guest|

Peters read the first page, trying his best to keep calm as he read on.

My name is Misa Sonoda, and I am a twenty-seven-year-old Japanese woman. I moved to Britain from my home town in Kyoto in search of a fresh start. I regret making that decision, especially as my aunt warned me about it. As soon as I entered Britain, I noticed peculiar things happening around me.

I moved into an apartment in Chester, carrying only two boxes my mum helped me pack. She packed three of my most precious kimonos, an idol, and some incense. My friends told me about the religion the British practiced. They called it Christianity, but there were two types. One was the Catholics, and the other was the Protestant Church. I carried many charms with me. I moved the boxes into the house on my own.

The house was a two-floor building with a short staircase. My room was on the upper floor. After carrying the last box to my room, I went downstairs to lock the front door. I turned around, and a glowing red eye peered at me. A head stuck out from the staircase wall, blood dripped down from its neck. I realized that the head was from a little girl. She disappeared immediately, taking the bloodstains with her.

She would only stay there, not moving, just staring at me. It happened for 4 nights. The fifth night, she was nowhere to be seen. I tried looking for her under the stairs, but it was like she never existed. Everything went back to normal the next morning. I should have seen it coming sooner...

I went to the local park about a month later. The lush grass was surrounded by tall, evergreen trees and colorful flowers. Girls ran in the grass, holding up their dresses, while the men played chess. Photographers hung around different areas, hoping to find customers. A photographer approached me, and I asked him for some pictures. My mother wanted to see me after such a long time. I almost fainted. A Chinese man with a crescent tattoo on his neck held my hand in his.

The Chinese grinned, his sharp teeth unnerving me. His hair obscured his glowing red eyes. When I looked at it again, he disappeared. I gave the man a tip. He was a fantastic photographer and a nice man. Although I never saw him again, I was still afraid for his life. Ever since I moved here, I have had no peace.

I thought I needed medical attention. The man I found was a quack. He overcharged me, gave me chalk tablets, and he stole one of my kimonos. I cursed him with one of my charms. A few weeks later, I went to a renowned faith healer. My luck was terrible at that point. The day I was supposed to see him, he died. I received a letter containing his cause of death. He died at eighty-nine years old. I had many recurring nightmares after that day. In most of them, I dreamt of a dragon devouring my body. It crushed my bones, tore my flesh to bits, and sipped on my blood. It became too unbearable that I had to see a Catholic priest. The priest shocked me with his words. As soon as I entered the room, he flung holy water at the door. He told me that my problems lay with my ancestry.

He revealed many things to me. My mother went to a witch doctor in her village. He was very reputable, and he was famous for his rituals. I was barely a week old then. The man came to our house-

Peters turned the page to reveal the back of the book. The other pages were ripped off. A dark aura radiated from the book as he read. His hands shakily reached for the phone, so he could call Ross. They needed to find the identity of the writer and the origins of the book. While reading through the pages, he swore that he saw the edge of a shadow looming around the window on the door. That was scary enough on its own, but something else happened. While he read, a faint voice dictated the words for him in his mind. It was a female voice, and it sounded very frantic and scared. Ross picked up his call immediately, and they arranged to meet the next hour. To calm himself down, Peters sang hymns to himself.

Peters took a sip of water from the glass on his desk. The second hand of the clock ticked stiffly. Peters heard a light knocking on the door. Peters was a superstitious and skeptical man. Many times, being skeptical saved him. He would have been shot to death by now. He quietly rose from his chair. He peered through the mirrored glass.

Peters almost fainted as soon as he saw the face behind the door. The Chinese man grinned at him, shaking his bracelet in front of his face. Peters took a deep breath and calmed himself. A dark, cheery voice echoed in his head. "Good afternoon Peters. How are you?" The cross on the door repelled evil. The Chinese man tried to touch the door handle, but his hand festered. He groaned and nurtured his hand before turning back to Peters. "Open the door yourself!" Peters snickered at him.

"Get out!" The Chinese man hissed at him, then he vanished into thin air. Peters stood shocked, grateful for the cross, and happy that he was unharmed. He leaned back into his chair, waiting for Ross and the others to arrive.

Ross and the team were there in no time. Each person took a chair and sat down, anticipating what Peters would say. Peters tried to stop his hands from shaking. Yuuka brought a bright pink box of delicious-looking donuts. Ross took a chocolate donut with vanilla icing, Yuuka took a blueberry donut with chocolate icing, and Ronald took a wheat donut with blue icing and chocolate chips. After taking two large bites, Ross turned to Yuuka. "Sir, we have some information to share with you." Peters became excited. "Tell me what exactly?" Ronald handed him a sugary donut. "The Chinese man is a member of an ancient Chinese cult."

Peters became excited. "What cult is that?" Ross cleared his throat. "It's an ancient, powerful cult with large influence. It started in the Shaanxi Province by a childless couple. Through dabbling in the dark arts, they managed to summon a dark god. Its original name is unknown, but they called it 龙( pronounced Lóng), which means The Dragon. Not much is known about its members or activities. We do know that its reign lasted from 459 B.C and ended in 1453." Yuuka opened her handbag and pulled out a small, green hardcover book. A faint cloud of black smoke wafted from the pages.

Ronald guided Peters to a page with a red bookmark. Peters was about to open the page when Ronald shouted and smacked his hand away from the book. "Sir! We have to pray first! Look at the unholy cloud coming out of this thing!" Ross made the sign of the cross on his chest, and the others followed. The book emitted a thick, black mist. A loud, menacing cackle echoed in their ears. "I knew it." Ronald sneered. Peters cautiously opened the book.

Everyone was stunned at what they found.