“Here’s why I think that’s what happened. If, there was only one demon, or even a group of them with one purpose, just like we usually see, the chances are it would only possess one. Meaning, it-”
“It would only harass one, and all the rest will be collateral.” The bishop finished.
Father Anton nodded and paused to give the bishop time to connect things.
“That means, there were at least two groups of demons there. My gut tells me the other one was a lone demon, and the on the other side, the one that possessed the children, were the other group.
That explains why the parents needed to die, and Cain had to die. And his friend would have also died had he not run away, though, God bless his soul, I think it would have been better if he just died.”
“I get most of it but not about the part where everyone, well, almost everyone needed to die.” The bishop admitted.
“Let’s take the testimonies of those who knew them. Nobody will say that the father was capable of such abuse. But there was abuse. So, what happened?”
“Tony, that’s a long stretch because I can also argue, that based on those testimonies, the father could not have been possessed, well enough to do such a thing.”
“You’re forgetting the interview, Bob. The day they held the housewarming? What he did after everyone left?”
The bishop eyed his friend with a questioning stare as he tried to remember, having no luck, he opened a drawer where folders containing the transcribed recordings placed. The bishop leafed through the pages and exclaimed.
“You’re really making this a tough sell, Tony. There’s even less cases of people being possessed just by drinking.”
“I am aware,” Father Anton replied, “but it’s not zero, is it? The bits and pieces captured when the wife was screaming pointed to it, at least. Although there’s very little captured on the first floor that is useable as everything was trashed.”
“Fine, say I accept this. Father drinks, gets possessed by one demon, goes and abuses his child without even knowing. Good demons come in, assigns themselves guardians, I still don’t follow.”
“That’s plain to see from that point, isn’t it? Come on Bob, you’re smarter than this.” When the bishop shrugged, Father Anton continued. “It’s a battle of attrition from that point, isn’t it? The child is already traumatized, the father has been possessed once. Now a group of demons comes to protect the child.
But we both know demons are not dumb. They know it’s about numbers. So, both sides try to oppress anyone else they can oppress so they could possess them when needed.
At this point, I am willing to bet my station that the demon that possessed the father had no other designs except chaos. I think it’s one of the lower sex fiends. Whether or not the other demons were working on the parents too, I don’t know. But I am convinced they did, while working on the children as well.”
“This thing doesn’t make any sense, I’ll be honest. If this was the case, why would the demons antagonize the parents to the point that they were easy to take over if they weren’t taking over themselves?”
“Hard to say really, I’ll be honest too. But, if I had to make a guess, I think it was the other demon’s work that made Cain’s friend lose his marbles. Remember Cain’s report? Earlier in the day?”
“They passed out?”
“Yes, and conversation captured and the notes Cain took says that after that, Jon had a headache that wouldn’t go away. Also, let’s not forget, that the youngest child was heard screaming no before Cain passed out.
And, the father reported seeing his child’s eyes go black… just like what the mother said in the interview, from what happened to them the night before.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll grant you that. So, let’s say the father was already compromised and the display with Cain’s friend going crazy was just a way to push it further. Why push the father?”
“I don’t think there was much choice. Cain’s friend acted out, the child got spooked, demons took over to prevent her from being possessed by the other. It was all pride between demons after that.”
“So, the father lost his marbles too after learning about what he did, then gets possessed. Mother goes ballistic and kills the father. Why did the demons have to kill the mother too?”
“She was compromised. She was the next one likely to be possessed. You heard the audio of the demons’ claims. She was fighting her own shame too. That’s aside from all the things she’s been subjected to until that point.”
“This is a mess. This is a mess.” The bishop repeated, staring at his notes. “It’s all supposition. We don’t really know what happened.”
“That’s the only thing I can think of, Bob. Everything else does not make sense to me. It’s like you said, had it been you or me, we would have likely gotten it wrong too.”
“I really wish your apprentice survived. There’s a lot I don’t get and there’s one thing in particular that bothers me. The demons possessing the child, they sounded afraid. I mean, not the tone of course. The words. It comes, that’s what they said, then they seemed like they were asking for help.”
“And it seemed they got it.” Father Anton added. “Something about it taking form and ending the form alerted me to that possibility. Really wish the cameras didn’t topple. All we see are either walls, feet, floors, or ceilings. It’s a miracle the laptop survived.”
“Are you gonna be okay, Tony? You were close.” The bishop asked after a time.
“I’ll manage.”
“No one can know about this.”
“That goes without saying. I’m ready to take the fall if it comes to it.”
“We deny everything. We’ll say he went without our blessing, which is close to the truth. If it comes to it, we have contingencies for things like these.”
“Speaking of contingencies, I think it will be in our interest to keep an eye on the children for some time.”
“I’m already making arrangements for that.” The bishop answered. “Something about them doesn’t add up.”