Protection

1899

"Drew and I have already put up our devices and we have some evidence, but not enough. I don't assume it'll take too long now." Ed says while he glances at me through the car mirror. He's driving, Lorraine sits in the front with him. "I just wanna say I'm very sorry about what happened to you. Brandon is-"

"Who's Drew?" I interrupt him. I don't want to be rude, but I don't want to hear from my husband.

"A friend, also our assistant. You know, it's not really important. He's there to help." Ed informs me. "There's also an officer at the house. He's there to check if we do everything how we're supposed to."

When we arrive at the house, there are multiple cars parked in front of it I don't recognize. Brandon just casually greets me, like I've only come back from going to the supermarket. When I look around there are crosses on every shelf. "While they can reduce the activity of the spirit, they can also do the opposite and anger them." Lorraine explains slowly. "If it's a demonic spirit, like in your case, the second option is more likely." she adds while following me. "And we need it to be active to gather evidence."

I hum while I sit down in the living room. "That makes sense." I say. On the table are multiple screens and devices I've never seen before. All over the house are cameras and flashes setup along with presumingly movement detectors. But they don't trigger when I walk by, so it must be for the spirits.

"Ed told me they've all been sleeping down here." Lorraine says while gesturing to the three mattresses on the floor next to the couches. "It's warmer and more practical to handle the devices. But I'm not sure if there's enough room here, we could sleep upstairs in the bedroom. Only if it's okay with you. But no one should sleep alone."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." I say, trying to seem relaxed. But I'm really nervous when I think about it, but being that close to her sounds appealing to me.

We all gather in the living room, sitting down on the couches. "Okay, so, Lorraine and I will tell you about the history of this house so you may understand the spirits better." Ed says, exchanging a glance with his wife. "There are multiple spirits here, most mean no harm, but there is one that definitely does. It's from a witcher called Alastor who died in 1899 at 3:33AM. That's why the clocks stop at this time." Ed says before he looks over to his wife.

"There's also a spirit who's protecting you, Ivy." Lorraine says. My heart beats faster at the nickname she made up. "As far as we know it's the spirit of your brother Michael."

When I look over at Brandon he doesn't seem too convinced it's Michaeal, but right now I really couldn't care less.

It's already late, so after we all eat dinner Lorraine and I make, we gather in the living room again. Lorraine tells me all we can do is wait. Something will happen and then we have the evidence to be allowed to do the exorcism.

Outside the sun is already going down and eventually someone turns on the lights. It's really quiet considering so much has been going on the last few days. It worries me since so much happened and now it's just... nothing.

I'm really tired by the time the clock hits 10PM. Brandon, the officer I still don't know the name of and Ed are sitting in the kitchen, I can hear them talking. Lorraine sits next to me on the couch and Drew seems to be busy with doing something on his computer. Drew is nice, he looks a little young with his short black hair, but he seems to know what he's doing.

My eyelids are heavy and it gets to the point where it's too difficult to keep them open. I really try, but it's easier to give in. I can feel my head slide to Lorraine's shoulder and I think she wraps her arm around me.

The rosary is safe in my hand when I look up to the thing in front of me. It's the man I've been seeing for days. In my dreams and in real life. Something tells me it's the demon everyone's talking about. Alastor.

Only now I realize I'm in my own house. It's dark but the light on the outside of the front door just turned on. This way it's not that dark in the hallway. It's quiet when the muddy thing turns around and slowly walks to the basement door. Maybe I should follow it to know what it's doing, but my fear stops me. It's just a dream, well I assume it is, but still I'm afraid.

I jump when the front door behind me opens. It only makes sense since the light doesn't turn on automatically. A man I don't recognize steps inside. He's looking in my direction, but I don't think he's seeing me. He has short hair and the longer I look at his face the more I think I may know him. But then he walks into the kitchen and I don't have to think about where I know him from anymore. He takes a knife and walks past me into the living room.

Quickly I turn so I don't have to see him kill the cat. I can still hear it, the screams of the cat fill the room behind me, but they're not quite loud enough for the family upstairs to hear. The blood on the knife makes me feel physically sick, but I still follow the man upstairs.

Looking at him killing the children will be too much for me so when he glances inside the parents room I go inside. I shake the man's shoulder, but there's no reaction. Why is he not waking up? Why can't I interfere?

While wondering how long it'll take for the man to kill the children I walk out of the bedroom because I don't want to see the parents murder either. I don't know where to go so I think of what Lorraine told me.

Looking in a mirror probably doesn't make too much sense since I know I'm myself. I see it on the way my hands look and the rosary I'm still holding. I walk by the childrens room into the bathroom. When I turn on the light it looks kind of different than it does in reality. But I can still see a mirror.

I gasp in shock when I see a long, deep cut on my throat. There's blood streaming out of it I didn't see before because it was so dark. I try to control my quick breathing, but I don't think it's working. What's weird is, I don't feel pain.

So what in God's name is this?

Staying in the bathroom alone for too long is probably not the best idea, it's not what a vision is meant for. I walk back out. It's just in time for me to see the man from before unconscious. He's being carried by the man I tried to wake up.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you calling the police?" I ask the father but again he's not hearing me.

He drags him down the stairs. In his right hand is a knife, the knife the killer used. Confused, I follow them. When he opens the door to the basement I want to stop, but my body is not listening to my brain and I follow them down into the basement.

On the stairs I stop in my tracks. The family father is holding the other man by his neck and he's waking up. "I always knew what you were." he spits out, seemingly tightening his grip on the man's neck. "I pray you will haunt this house forever, your spirit won't ever find peace." he says before tightening his grip on the knife and slitting the man's throat.

All the air leaves my lungs. But I know what to do. I look down to my hands. The rosary is still in my right hand, but I glance at the watch on my wrist. It's just a few seconds after 3:33.