Exorcist of the American Nightmares

The confirmation of the actor relieved everyone on set considerably. After all, each live broadcast was a guaranteed payday for those present.

All eyes shifted to Lainey, who was seated on a chair, ready to be tied up.

"It's all on you, darling."

Drew squatted in front of her, offering a supportive glance.

Lainey, seated with her hands on the chair arms, responded with a radiant smile.

Drew chuckled, first inserting a wireless earpiece into Lainey's right ear, explaining, "I'll give you cues through the earpiece."

Lainey nodded: "OK!"

With confirmation, Drew then picked up the chains from the ground and began tying her hands to the chair arms.

"Are you ready, babe?"

Lainey nodded again: "I'm ready."

"Good!" Drew exhaled lightly, stood up, and called out, "Ready! Everyone take your positions!"

He glanced at the clock hanging on the pillar; only a little over a minute remained.

"Max, the opening lines are yours," Drew said, looking towards the expressionless Max, who nodded with a mysterious smile.

With that, Drew left his spot to take control of the entire operation from the equipment area.

As Drew departed, Max turned to Lainey and asked, "Why do this?"

Lainey, slightly puzzled, still smiled and replied, "It's beneficial for everyone, isn't it?"

"Well, you're mostly right, but there's one thing you got wrong," Max said indifferently.

"Not everyone, just me."

Lainey was taken aback, not understanding Max's meaning. She wanted to ask more, but Drew's loud call interrupted her.

"Ready!"

Lainey looked in that direction, then back at Max, who had already turned to face the camera. She closed her mouth, suppressing her confusion, but inexplicably, she felt goosebumps rising on her bare arms.

"Countdown! Ten, nine, eight...three, two, one!!!" Drew began the countdown.

"ACTION!" Drew shouted and pressed the broadcast button.

Thus, the live broadcast began.

The waiting screen transitioned to the live feed.

The first scene was a montage of Father Max performing exorcisms, followed by the live set.

Facing the camera and reading from the teleprompter, Max began, "Good evening, my followers! Welcome to my exorcism live stream. I am your guide, Father Max, and your servant in this mortal world.

The woman behind me, Lainey, was sexually abused by her father and beaten by her mother. To escape her suffering, Lainey turned to drugs, and eventually, the enemy of God took advantage of her weakness to invade and possess her body.

Yes, our poor Lainey is currently possessed by a demon from hell. Her soul is tormented, but tonight, in front of everyone, through your prayers and my guidance, we will expel this evil demon and free Lainey from its clutches."

This introduction sparked lively discussions among the viewers.

"Victims of abuse are indeed more vulnerable to demonic possession because weakness is what demons thrive on, of course. Demons also relish the sins of the mortal world, as these sins are proof of their existence."

This comment in the live chat stirred up a lot of discussion among the audience.

"The excitement is higher than before," Drew noted, looking at the soaring engagement data, his previously gloomy mood instantly clearing.

He glanced at Lainey, who was now lowering her head in her bound position, and picked up a handheld mic, whispering so softly it wouldn't be picked up by the boom mic.

"Darling, act like your body is itching terribly, but you can't scratch it."

As the instruction buzzed in Lainey's right ear, she began to shake her head and twitch her body dramatically, though for some reason, she felt incredibly tired.

"Very good, very good. Now, act as if something fierce is emerging from within you, as if you are trapped in a nightmare you can't wake from, and your consciousness is being slowly squeezed away."

At this, a flicker of real fear flashed in Lainey's eyes. As these words echoed, it seemed as if something truly was manifesting in her mind.

"Very good!" Drew, watching the feed, saw his girlfriend twitching and performing phenomenally, as if truly possessed, and couldn't help but praise her.

"Well done, darling, now it's time to cry out to Max for help!"

The next moment, Lainey began to struggle violently, her face contorted in pain. She stared at Max with bloodshot, bulging eyes and cried out.

"Max! Max! Help me! It feels like there's something inside my body."

Her fearful expression and these words were so convincingly performed that not only Drew but also a sound technician off-camera and Luciano, who was waiting to cue the props, were startled, instinctively stepping back.

"Shit! This is spooky!" Luciano swallowed nervously, despite there being nothing to swallow. "She's acting so well, what's going on?"

"Darling, when did your acting get so good?" Drew was momentarily stunned, but then quickly focused back on the screen.

Indeed, Lainey's performance was genuinely sending chills down the viewers' spines.

Back in New York, Saxton, who hadn't been able to contact Father York and had decided to watch the livestream again, furrowed his brows before turning to Emiliana, who was also watching.

"Do you think this is real or fake?"

Emiliana, too, frowned thoughtfully, "Hard to say, but it does look similar to what I've seen before."

With eyes that could see what others couldn't, plus her background in paranormal exploration livestreams, Emiliana had seen a lot.

The entity that Lainey seemed to be portraying in the livestream was indeed reminiscent of real demonic possessions she had witnessed.

Suddenly, she felt something off and instinctively pulled out a crucifix from around her neck, looking to her boyfriend, Saxton.

"Indeed, your crucifix is getting warm," she noted.

Saxton understood her meaning, nodded, and took out his own crucifix, then taking Emiliana's, he said, "This means..."

Both turned their attention back to the livestream.

By now, the broadcast had moved to a new phase.

Lainey's portrayal had escalated to a chilling spectacle, causing all viewers to hold their breaths despite the seeming normality of her twists and turns.

"Help! It's inside me!" Lainey cried out from her chair.

"I can feel it!"

While the livestream audience watched in alarm, Drew, experiencing it live, licked his dry lips and couldn't help but signal Max to start the exorcism.

Max, with a stoic face, picked up a crucifix and a stole from the high table and approached the still-twitching Lainey, pressing the crucifix to her forehead.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

He began the exorcism prayers.

As he did so, Lainey bowed her head, her hair falling forward to obscure her face.

"Very good, very good," Drew whispered into the mic, "The audience is scared of what they can't see."

Then, speaking to Max, "Max, keep it up! Let's get the comments rolling."

Max, maintaining his solemn demeanor, put away the crucifix and, standing before the bowed Lainey, spoke in a low voice.

"Child, tonight, you will witness the miraculous power of prayer, and be healed through my words and the holy fabric brought from the Vatican."

He draped the stole around the neck of the silent, motionless Lainey.

"Lord, have mercy, Father, have mercy."

As these words fell, Drew looked towards Luciano, who was sweating profusely near the props control.

Being closest to Lainey's terrifying performance had shaken him.

Still, he was alert and knew what to do next; he pressed the switch controlling the lights.

Instantly, the lights flickered eerily.

This stirred another surge of comments in the livestream.

"It's like a demon's doing."

"As everyone knows, in movies, demonic presences often cause this kind of electromagnetic interference."

"The lady's performance scared me, but this light show is just funny."

Back in the broadcast, Max naturally continued to act in response to the props, looking up at the ceiling and speaking to the camera.

"This electromagnetic interference heralds the demon's second stage of possession."

He explained while taking out a small bottle filled with plain water, pretending it was holy water, and sprinkling it towards Lainey.

"I command this unclean spirit, by the sanctity of the holy water and the divine, to state your name and obey my every command."

Just then, the makeup artist, unsure what was happening, stared at Lainey seated in the chair and suddenly saw something that made her face turn to fear.

Lainey began to contort, and a white smoke emerged from her body.

This made Drew instinctively look towards Luciano, satisfied with the effect.

"State your name, demon! In the name of the Father!"

Max spoke calmly.

Lainey's head shook wildly, emitting a ferocious animalistic growl.

"Fantastic! Darling, I didn't know you could make such sounds."

Drew was thrilled, immediately praising her.

Just then, a sudden, jarring sound disrupted the livestream.

"Shit! What is that, what the hell?!"

Drew frowned, looking towards the source.

It was the sound technician, Chris, dropping his boom microphone to the floor, then staring at the twisting Lainey with a terrified expression.

"Chris!

 What are you doing!"

Drew called out urgently.

However, Chris seemed not to hear Drew's shouts, backing away as if trying to escape from Lainey, then without looking back, he left the set.

"Fk!"

This ignited Drew's fury as he quickly checked the livestream comments.

Sure enough, the viewers were puzzled by the sudden disruption.

"Hey! Luciano, pick up the microphone!"

Drew, resigned, began to wrap up, taking over the props control himself.

Luciano hurriedly grabbed the microphone.

"Continue!"

Drew looked towards Max.

Max picked up the bottle again and sprinkled it towards Lainey.

"Evil from hell! State your name now! In the Lord's name, I command you!"

As Max spoke, Drew prepared to press the smoke effect switch.

But Lainey emitted a burst of red smoke even faster.

Drew's hand froze over the control, staring blankly at the rising red smoke from Lainey, perplexed.

He hadn't pressed the button yet; why was there red smoke coming from Lainey, and why was it different from the planned white smoke?

Drew instinctively looked towards Luciano, thinking it was his mistake.

But all he saw was a similarly confused Luciano.

This meant the red smoke was not a mistake but an unplanned effect.

Drew furrowed his brows, looking back at the set.

Suddenly, a faint sobbing sound made his body tremble.

It also left the livestream audience dumbfounded.

In those soft sobs, they sensed a primal fear.

Even Saxton and Emiliana's breathing became heavy without them realizing.

"Something's not right!" Saxton said gravely as he watched the livestream.

"I need to speak with Father York, get him to watch this."

"Didn't you say Father York's phone was out of signal earlier?" Emiliana asked.

"I'll try again." Saxton pulled out his phone, determined.

Meanwhile.

Father Augustine, along with a group of clergy, hurried onto a plane headed directly to Los Angeles.

After identifying the real suspects, he had already seen tonight's broadcast.

"A demon has manifested!"

While walking down the aisle, he spoke to a group of priests following him, instructing one of them in a low voice.

"Tell our colleagues in Los Angeles to take control of the situation before it escalates."

"Understood."

Someone responded.

Despite this, Father Augustine's expression was grave.

Who could have anticipated that a demon would choose a livestream host? This meant that many people would directly witness the descent of a demon, potentially shattering many people's worldviews.

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