Protection

Demonic

"So, what exactly happened last night?" Ed asks while I hand him the butter. He has already set a recording device on the table and said his name, the people present, the date and the reason why he is recording.

As soon as I open my mouth to answer him Brandon speaks up. "Okay, listen, picture this. I wake up to someone hammering at the door, but Ivory is standing in front of it, not moving at all because she's terrified. So I stand up, because I want to check it and I tell Ivory to back up. But suddenly the door opens and they're like six hands holding it. And then the closet lifted in the air and I swear it felt like it was coming right at me, but then it smashed into the wall and I quickly closed the door."

Lorraine didn't look at my husband when he told the story, she looked at me, studying my reaction. I glance over to her, she tilts her head to the side. "Brandon, why don't you get the clock from our bedroom? I think they need to see it."

"Why don't you get it yourself?"

"It's better if you get it." Ed speaks up. Brandon stands up unwillingly and walks out of the kitchen slowly.

"I woke up to the hammering at the door. I thought it was Brandon at first, so I stood up to check it, but then he woke up as well. I realized it wasn't him so I backed away and that's when the door opened. There were two gray, wrinkled hands which were grabbing the door and the door frame. The wind was getting stronger and I think it was colder as well. There also was this smell of rotten meat. The closet part is true, but the door closed all by itself, my husband was laying in the bed the whole time."

"I don't think the door closed by itself." Lorraine hints. She listened to my every word, same as Ed. "Mind telling me the rest of that story later?" Lorraine asks, hearing the footsteps coming from the stairs.

"Not at all." I smile as Brandon walks back into the kitchen.

"Is that the first time all the clocks stopped?" Ed asks while taking the clock from my husband. While Brandon nods I shake my head. "No, I don't think so. I've been correcting clocks for days now, I just never realized they all stopped at the same time."

Lorraine and Ed look at each other, it almost seems like they're reading each other's minds. Ed nods and then Lorraine looks from my husband to me. "The rancid smell and some of the other things you told us usually indicate some type of demonic activity." she informs us.

While I just sit and nod my head, taking in the information, Brandon stands up abruptly. "What?" he gasps while holding his fist against his head. I'm just as shocked as he is, but I don't show it the way he does.

After finishing breakfast Lorraine helps me to wash the dishes, even though I told her multiple times she doesn't need to. "Have you ever been in that basement?" Lorraine asks while handing me the last plate. Ed and Brandon are down there, I told them I don't want to go, so Lorraine decided to stay with me.

I twist my head to the side, thinking. "I don't think so." I say. "I always felt... weird when I even walked past the door, so I kept my distance."

She leans with her back against the cabinet. "Ivory, do you hear voices?"

I almost drop the plate while putting it in the drying rack. "No, what do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about. I just saw these hands yesterday, nothing more."

The small smile on her lips doesn't fade, even when she talks. "Do you know why I am a demonologist, Ivory?"

I shake my head. "I have a gift, I'm a clairvoyant. Do you know what that is?"

"How could I not?" I chuckle while walking towards the exit of the kitchen. "Come on, I'll show you the bedroom where the things occurred last night." I say while she follows me up the stairs. "I've always been hearing voices, coming from inside me, like the back of my head. And I've always had weird dreams, but they came true often. But still, no one ever believed me. I just got told I was crazy. So I shut up about it. I still did my research, but no one would believe me anyway, it didn't matter what I said."

"But this is different, isn't it?" Lorraine asks while I open the door to the bedroom. "I believe you, Ivory. For a matter of fact, I know what you say is the truth."

I stop in my tracks. As I look to the mirror in the bedroom, opposite the door, I see a black figure, a shadow, behind me. It's on my back. I suppress the urge to scream and turn around instead. My breathing is quick, but when I turn back around the figure is gone. I look at Lorraine through the mirror instead and I see the small smile on her lips.

"Okay, I saw him. I admit it." I tell her before she can ask. The small smile on her lips looks adorable.

"It didn't dare to hurt you." Lorraine states as she walks inside the room. "Did it talk to you?" she asks while looking at the remains of our closet on the floor. The closet was there even before we moved in, so we didn't even use it.

"No, but today when you arrived here and yesterday someone or something else did." I admit as I sit down on the unmade bed. Normally I always make it, but today I didn't wake up here. "This may sound weird, but the voice told me it would protect me." I say while I make the bed. "When did it tell you that?" she asks.

I chuckle. "Not quite sure. It wasn't exactly a dream, I mean, I was awake. At the same time I was not though." I want to tell her more but suddenly my head hurts and I think I drop to the ground, I'm not quite sure. I don't want to close my eyes, but something tells me I have to.

I feel left alone until an arm wraps around my shoulders, maybe a person is sitting next to me. I can't know, because I don't see anything.