The pain in his head throbbed and seemed to only get stronger. Jon stopped thinking about getting medicine for it, fearing he might overdose or have an allergic reaction due to the may tablets he had already taken so far. As soon the discussion about the video was over, Jon followed Emmy to the kitchen, asking if he could get a sampling of the late snacks she had prepared.
He went back to his makeshift station with a plate half-filled with potato fries and ranch dip. Jon could still function. His only job was to monitor whatever inputs came to his laptop. The laptop did most of the work, he only needed to watch and listen. As usual, on investigations with Cain, his laptop was strained to the last bit.
When he was halfway through his plate, the laptop played sounds the recorders upstairs were picking up. It let out a garbled mechanical voice that meant nothing and sounded like pure nonsense. Jon pursed his lips.
The software recorded the audio feed and played any sound that was above the threshold he set up. Both the analog and digital recorders recorded raw, but only the digital one was transmitted via the set up he made in real time. Being digital, it was not supposed to pick up gibberish. That and the software levels were set to a certain sensitivity.
He tried researching for the issue and ways to troubleshoot it on his laptop, but the connection was weak. Jon finished his plate in a hurry and removed his phone from the cable connected to the laptop then headed outside. He met Cain on the porch who nodded to him before heading inside.
Jon understood what that nod meant. He headed out, just a little beyond the destroyed truck to see if he could get a better signal. He found a spot that was just a little faster than when he was inside. His eyes darted back to the house as he waited for pages to load.
He saw Cain checking and fiddling around in his laptop. With all their time spent together, Cain was more or less familiar with his tools. When Cain left the laptop, Jon knew what was coming next.
Busy night.
Whenever children were involved, Jon was always thankful it was Cain he was with. He had a knack for connecting with children and making them feel at ease. It was important, Cain had told him many times, to build a connection with them, especially if they were the targets.
A page loaded and Jon quickly scrolled down to find it had none of what he was looking for. It was just an overview of the software with a bunch of words he was searching for spread throughout the article.
Freakin’ SEO shit.
After several minutes of waiting for pages to load and getting to a page only to find the same kind of clickbaity writing, he decided to check on his channel instead. Deciding the comments were not worth replying to, he pocketed the phone and decided to head back inside.
The moment he looked up, Jon was struck with a crippling pain from the back of his head that his vision blurred immediately, and everything seemed black and white as the pain subsided. He was seeing bright spots after and hand to put a hand on the truck to stabilize himself. He felt like his brain was pulsing.
~0~
“That is right, we’re going to do a prayer to make this house even better!” Cain replied to Jean, making his voice sound more cheerful.
“What is it for, this lessing?”
“Blessing. It’s like a prayer to ask for more gifts and make the house livelier and happier.”
“But I’m already happy here,” Jean reasoned, “Not Gina though, she’s bored.”
The older sister elbowed the little one lightly. Emmy chuckled.
“So, you like it here? Why?”
“Oh, because there’s so many trees and plants and I can take care of the flowers.”
“Ah, you like plants huh?”
“A lot!” Jean answered enthusiastically.
Adam liked the little girl’s disposition. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and she was quite conversant for her age. It bothered him, however, that none of the girls talked about anything weird at all. No one questioned what happened to the house or why they were trying to go running out in the morning. It was as if they did not even remember it.
Cain decided to drop hints. Children, given enough background, were quite good at connecting the dots in his experience and there was no better way to have people realize certain truths than making them connect the dots themselves. As the conversation progressed, it was obvious the children were not connecting anything. Either that or they were deliberately ignoring his hints, something he thought was highly unlikely. Cain decided to take a direct approach.
“Gina, I was wondering, how do you feel about blessing this house?”
“It’s fine, I think.” The girl answered, shrugging.
“When you say fine, what exactly do you mean? If you don’t mind elaborating.”
“Well, you said it is supposed to make things even better for us, so why not?”
Cain blinked at that reply. The addition of the word ‘even’ stood out like a sore thumb to him. The girl was answering him directly and was not giving him any other openings to ask more questions. He decided to go for the jugular.
“By the way, I can’t help but notice your bruises. How did you get them?”
“I fell in my sleep. From my bed.” Gina answered.
“Ah, I see. You remember that?”
“No. But that’s what I think happened because when I woke up, mom was beside me.”
“Ah. Well, we will be doing the blessing in a few minutes. I’ll just have some things prepared. Matt, Emmy? Can you join me at the kitchen table for a bit?”
“Sure, sure.” Emmy answered. “Gina, Jean? I have some snacks prepared if you want to take them now.”
The little girl shook her head.
“I’ll have some after the praying is done.” Gina answered.
“What about me?” Matt asked, pretending to be hurt.
“Mathew Millar, you can lick the pan after everyone’s done.” Emmy quipped.
Jean giggled. The adults left for the kitchen table and Cain signaled for Jon to follow them.
“May I?” Cain asked, gesturing to the snacks.
“Help yourself.” Emmy answered. “Jon, you want more?”
“Nah, I’m good now. Thanks.” Jon answered, massaging his temples with his fingers.
“You still have a headache?” Matt asked. “That’s about half a dozen tablets now.”
“Yeah, I think I’m gonna take a pause on the tablets. I don’t think it’s helping. But I’m good, I can manage.”
“You sure?” Emmy asked.
“Pretty sure. Besides, all I have to do is stand up right there and make sure everything is recording.”
“Matt, Emmy,” Cain started as he filled a small plate before sitting down, “you noticed anything about the children?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’d tell you, but It would be better if you realize it yourselves.” He answered.
The couple was silent for a few breaths, but Matt could not resist and spoke again.
“Sorry Cain, when it comes to my children, I’m blind. Might as well tell me what it is.”
“They’re not talking about it… Matt! They’re not even asking questions!” Emmy gasped, a hand flying up to her mouth, eyes wide as saucers.
“Wait, wha- I thought you spoke to them and told them something.”
“I didn’t! Once we all calmed down, that was it. We sat until they arrived…”
“It’s like they don’t even remember.” Cain spoke up. “But’s that’s not the weirdest part of it, if you don’t mind me saying. You can take your daughter’s explanation for her bruises, and you can accept that the experience was probably too much for them that their brains just refused to accept it.”
“Like… that repressed thing? I thought that takes time.” Emmy asked.
“Not always, although it also doesn’t happen often. My point is, you can take all that, I can take all that even. What I can’t believe is none of them even asked about the mess or mentioned it. Or even why there’s a bunch of cameras and recorders if we’re just going to do a blessing. The older girl is old enough to know the difference. That’s what bothers me right now.”
“It’s like they’re…” Matt could not finish his sentence.
“Glossing over everything.” Emmy finished for him.
“This is why I brought you both here. As I told Matt earlier, we have to expect the worst now.”
“What do you mean by that?” Emmy asked.
“That a demonic possession is about to take place. If not tonight, then very soon.”
Emmy gasped and paced then clung to her husband.
“The thing I’m going to attempt tonight, that starts with the blessing we will all do, is all about preempting it. Cleaning up the space so to speak. I need you both to be ready. Sometimes when I do this, things tend to get hairy.”
Matt was nodding but Emmy’s look, and the emotions she was giving off told Cain she had not yet recovered from what she heard.
“Just to add to what Cain said,” Jon piped in, “if the possession or possessions is about to take place tonight, it will be tougher to deal with.”
Cain nodded at Jon’s statement. Their time working together showed in times like the one they were facing.
“Wait, that does not sound right.” Emmy protested. “What do you mean possessions?”
“I’m afraid that all of you show signs of being infested and oppressed. Those are the first two stages before a possession. I was leaning towards the older girl but after seeing the video, I cannot rule out the little one too. And, of course, the both of you due to your own individual experiences.”
“Fuck.” Matt muttered under his breath.
Emmy’s confusion was mounting. Her brows threatened to permanently fuse together.
“So does that mean… there’s more than one- you know?”
“Both are possible although it is more common that a bunch of demons possess one person than one demon possessing a bunch of people at the same time.”
“If it was the latter? What does that mean?” Matt asked.
“It means we are dealing with an entity that is so powerful I cannot make any guarantees. For your lives’ sake, and your children’s, and ours, follow everything I say. Our lives will depend on it. It also means I cannot guarantee I’d be able to restrain you all in time.”
“Even with my help.” Jon added.
Before anyone else could speak, Cain followed Jon’s statement immediately.
“Speaking of that, Matt, are you handy with ropes and knots?”