As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 32

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Su Fan,” Rachel said, offering a polite greeting.

While she subtly sized up Su Fan, he was observing her as well. Rachel wasn’t classically beautiful, more average-looking, but she carried herself with a sharp, professional air. Her pantsuit and heels, combined with tasteful makeup, added to her impressive demeanor. However, Su Fan noticed dark circles under her eyes that her foundation couldn’t fully conceal, and faint red veins were visible in her whites. Clearly, Rachel hadn’t been sleeping well—a classic sign of a spiritual disturbance.

They shook hands and sat down.

“Time is tight, so this café was the best I could do,” Rachel apologized.
“Don’t worry about the hospitality. I’m more interested in what exactly you’ve been through,” Su Fan replied, preferring to skip the formalities and get straight to the point.

As they spoke, a server brought over three coffees.
“Your espresso, mocha, and cappuccino. Enjoy.”
“Thank you.”

Rachel immediately took a large gulp of the espresso—not a sip, but a full-on gulp. The small, bitter shot is usually savored slowly, but she drank it like water, with a startling intensity. Wiping her mouth, she continued.

“Actually, the person who needs your help isn’t me. It’s the actress I represent—Miss Anne Hathaway.”

Even though Su Fan had guessed the client was likely a celebrity, hearing the name still surprised him. Anne Hathaway, who entered the film industry at 17, rose to fame at 19 with The Princess Diaries and won awards. Though still young and not yet a major A-lister in Hollywood, she was certainly one of the few young actors everyone knew by name.

So, she was the one haunted.

“She’s filming over there right now, but…” Rachel trailed off as angry shouts echoed from the set, a clear sign the shoot wasn’t going well. She offered a weak, bitter smile.

“Tell me everything you know,” Su Fan urged.
“Okay.”

As Rachel explained, Su Fan quickly pieced together the story. After establishing herself in the industry, Anne began taking on roles normally. Her solid acting skills and looks soon landed her numerous film offers. Everything was proceeding smoothly until strange things started happening.

It began one day on set: Anne’s sleep quality plummeted. She started waking up prematurely, her total rest time sometimes less than six hours a night. After countless nights jolting awake from nightmares, she finally broke down and confided in Rachel.

She revealed she’d been having the same terrifying dream over and over. In it, she stood barefoot on a small town street in her pajamas, surrounded by a dead, chilling silence. A twisted, sinister shadow crept toward her from behind in the darkness, getting closer each night. Paralyzed in the dream, Anne could only watch in horror as the shadow slowly engulfed her.

Hearing this, Rachel initially thought it was just bad nightmares. She comforted Anne and found her a therapist. But the insomnia didn’t improve; it got worse. Severe sleep deprivation left Anne emotionally unstable, exhausted, and gaunt. Rachel grew increasingly worried, helplessly praying for Anne’s recovery—even willing to pay any price herself.

Then, that very night, Rachel started having the exact same nightmare. They could even see each other in the dream. Together, they stood hand-in-hand on that dark street, like trapped lambs awaiting slaughter.

“You thought that, and actually said it out loud?” Su Fan interrupted Rachel’s story.

Caught off guard, Rachel paused before answering truthfully. “Yes, I did.”
“No wonder it latched onto you too,” Su Fan said, activating his Tongyou sight.

This time, he saw more. The dark energy clinging to Rachel was similar to what had plagued Jamie, but on a completely different level. While Jamie had been shrouded in it, Rachel was completely engulfed, wrapped head-to-toe in the oppressive black mist.

“It really happened like that?!” Jamie exclaimed, shocked.
Rachel sighed. “What’s done is done.”

“Anne and I were terrified, but felt utterly helpless. We could only comfort each other, pretending it was just a bad dream. But soon, we realized it was much more than that.”

Suddenly, Rachel stopped, shuddering as if recalling something truly horrifying.
“The shadow finally reached us, but it didn’t seem interested in killing us right away. I could feel its breath on the back of my neck, hear its evil laughter. Then, for some reason, Anne and I could move again. We ran like mad, but Anne tripped and fell around a corner. The shadow caught up to us… Thankfully, the crew woke us up just then.”

“We thought it was over, until Anne noticed a fresh wound on her knee.” Rachel’s face grew paler, her voice beginning to tremble. “The dream… it was real.”

Jamie’s breathing slowed. He knew they were dealing with a evil spirit, but he hadn’t realized it was this dangerous. A demon that could invade dreams?! How terrifying! No wonder Rachel was constantly drinking coffee… She was afraid to sleep, terrified of encountering that thing again! But this wasn’t a solution; prolonged sleep deprivation would lead to breakdowns, madness, even death.

“Do you remember any other details? Did you ever see its real face?” Su Fan asked, frowning.
“No…”

“Have you slept at all since then?” Jamie asked concernedly.
“Yes… we have,” Rachel slowly shook her head, a deeper fear surfacing on her face. “But we’ve forgotten…”
“Forgotten?!” Jamie was incredulous. Usually, terrifying nightmares leave a vivid imprint. How could they forget?

“I don’t know why… the memories of the nightmare are fading…” Rachel gripped her coffee cup tighter and tighter. “The recent times we’ve fallen asleep… trying to recall them just leaves a blank. I even feel like the details of the dream I just told you are starting to blur. The only proof we even entered the nightmare again is this…”

Rachel put down her cup, rolled up her sleeve, and revealed a bandage soaked with blood.
“If it weren’t for these new wounds appearing on our bodies, we wouldn’t even know when we had fallen asleep…”

Even if the memories were vanishing, the fear was now bone-deep. The unknown, the panic, the dread… these negative emotions and reactions were magnified infinitely, compounded by the pressure from the troubled film shoot. It was a miracle they were still functioning at all.

Rachel fought hard not to cry, but her voice trembled uncontrollably.
“We… have nowhere left to run…”