“Holy fucking shit!” He remarked aloud as his anchors completely swarmed the entire first floor of the house.
With Vein Sight, he clearly saw the full picture. There were other unseen figures moving about in the space. He counted a little over two dozen, the bulk of them standing by the child that everybody seemed to be facing.
That unnerved him. One entity was powerful enough to have made him run away. Over two dozen was a disaster.
This doesn’t make any fucking sense!
The other demons who were mostly clustered around the child, whom he thought was the one who was possessed, were of a different build. While the one that had confronted him twice was tall, muscular, and impossibly wide, the other creatures were tall and wiry. Based on the power and hostility he was getting, he assumed that the creature who confronted him twice now, was the reason everything was as it was in that house.
I’m out of my fucking depth here, he admitted to himself.
He could not hear everything, but based on what he heard, he assumed that an exorcism was underway. He also assumed the demon was fighting it, based on the screams, the yelps, and the sounds of things crashing now and then. Based on his interaction, he assumed it was the hostile creature who was doing the possessing. Clearly, that was not the case.
The wiry figures were attacking the muscular one. groups of three attacked the lone creature. Every half a minute or so, a wiry figure died, only to be replaced by another. He noticed them walking through the walls from outside the house, with more of them arriving every minute.
Where are they coming from?
He wrestled with what he was witnessing. If the lanky figures were the ones doing the possessing, why was the muscled abomination fighting them? The fact was, he was sure it was the lanky figures that had possessed the child. That meant, however, that the other figure was in the good if that was the case. He could not reconcile that, based on his own experience, and the vibes he was getting. All the emotions he could read from the figures around the child, including the sub-vibes, pointed at a strong need to protect. The hulking monster however, oozed with nothing but malevolence and intent to hurt.
So… they possessed her so the other one cannot possess her again? How does that even work?
He turned his attention towards the sheer amount of emotions he was harvesting. Although the lone abomination did not seem to mind his anchors now, he also could not latch on to it. Everyone else, he already latched on to. Everyone else gave off strong emanations. The possessed child leaked the most, all of it was of the wiry figures.
As more and more of the wiry figures fell, they started to swarm the muscly creature more. At one point, he counted six. He saw that they resorted to using physical objects to attack their enemy. It didn’t help. The hulking abomination shrugged them off like they were made of sticks.
As his anchors were now all focused inside and around the house, he could only detect the arrival of other wiry creatures once they crossed his feelers. He could not help but admire and pity the wiry creatures despite being terrified of them. They fought for the right to their prey, like lions defending their kill, even as the arrival of their fellows started to thin out.
He saw, with his Vein Sight, all the people except the possessed girl and her little sister get thrown back violently like they were made of paper. He also saw the wide creature lurch and understood that the attack came from the lanky figures.
“You can be selective huh?” He muttered to himself.
Then, a group of the wiry figures about to enter the house turn and looked at him. Eight of them watched him as the fighting inside the house yielded more casualties on their side. The eight figures seemed to shiver as they walked towards him. They walked where his anchors connected to him. He was filled with a compulsion to run but held his ground for one reason – he did not feel any hostility.
The figure’s shivering seemed to accomplish one thing, show him their appearances. As they drew closer, passing through the lights, he saw what they all looked like. It was his turn to shiver.
~0~
“WE ARE ONE. I AM MANY. WE PROTECT THE CHILD!” The entities cried out in anger.
He was stunned for a few minutes. When he was able to, he got up and shook his head while squeezing his eyes shut. There was loud ringing in his ears. When he was able to focus, Cain was almost speechless.
Of all the people who were thrown back, he got thrown back the farthest. Cain was almost at the wall. It seemed to him that the force went in an arc as he saw Matt to his left, and Emmy a few feet to his right. But that was not why he was almost speechless.
It was the child. He remembered Jean was directly behind him. He remembered feeling weightless then falling but he did not remember hitting anyone. Jean was still there, standing and facing her sister.
I was pushed back hard, but I was not pushed that high.
He kept his puzzlement to himself. He knew that any shred of doubt that came out might be used by the demons, or demon. He still was not sure which one was which. Confusion was one of the tactics demons used. The frequent switching from the individual to the collective and back was one of them. Seeing the couple get up to their feet, he called out to them.
“Pray!”
Emmy approached Jean while Matt came to Cain’s side as he was still reeling, propping himself against the wall. Upon reached her daughter, Emmy checked on her and seeing that she was unharmed, began reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Matt followed suit as they approached the chair. Cain said his own prayers while the demons babbled on.
“I command you, spirits unclean, names or no names, I command you all, along with your minions that now attack this servant of G-”
“You are mistaken priestling! Are you not listening? Are you really stupid?” The demons taunted.
As they spoke, all the utensils that were still inside the drawers seemed to rattle.
“By the Holy Spirit, and the promised coming of the Lord, for the Judgement that comes, for t-”
“I am many. We are one. I protect the child.”
“I, who is a layman of the almighty, despite being unworthy; shall not allow you to be so emboldened as to harm in any way, this beautiful creature, this creation of the Lord, or any bystander, or their possessions-”
The demons roared in mocking laughter.
“Foolish! Stupid! We will never hurt the child. I never did! She is ours!”
The declaration affected Emmy who was visibly shaken and gasping aloud.
“Pray!” Cain commanded.
“Since you don’t believe, I will let you hear her!” The demons declared.
“Mom? Don’t worry! It’s okay. They’re friends.” Said Gina’s voice.
Torrents of tears streamed down Emmy’s face. Matt was filled to the brim with anger. Only Cain’s repeated calls to keep on praying held him back.
“Gina!” Jean shrieked, heading for her sister.
Emmy held on to her daughter’s hand. When Jean looked back, she shook her head to let the child know that it was not safe. Emmy tears flowed freely, her agony indescribable.
“See? The child is in good care! We protect her!” The demons taunted yet again.
As the demon’s spoke, Gina’s head kept tilting from one shoulder to the other, tongue flicking at Cain.
“Silence demons! You shall only speak when it is your names you utter. I comm-”
The only warning they got were the demons hissing. Cain was not able to finish his sentence as debris floated up as high as the ceiling and seemed to be pointed at them. Before anyone could react, it rained all around them. Emmy was not able to contain herself. She screamed as she pulled Jean close and hugged her, using her body as a shield. Matt bent down and raised his arms to shield his face. He grunted, gritting his teeth as he was pelted with the rainfall of debris.
Cain was not so lucky. The left side of his face was grazed by something that caused it to bleed. He felt the sting as the cut was exposed to the air.
“Don’t you see? Don’t you all see? You have no power here!”
“Let my daughter go!”
Adam did not need to wheel around to know who it was. The demons howled, laughing at Emmy’s request. Emmy had now let go and was starting to give the demons an opening to inflict more pain in whatever form they could dispense it. He wracked his brains for a way to salvage the situation while Emmy let out a stream of what seemed to be several demands but in truth, it was the same as the first – to let her daughter go. The demons cackled as she struggled to be heard over the raucous laughing.
“No!” The demons finally responded to her.
The power of their combined voices left Cain’s ears ringing while all manner of glass remaining, from plates to panes shattered.
“Why should we give her back when you failed her? We shall not!”