After breakfast, Matt went to review the feeds from the two cheap cameras. He found nothing. There were no orbs or smoky hazes in any of them. Even at double speed, Matt took more than an hour reviewing them. Not even a mote showed up onscreen. He decided to continue his research instead.
Picking up where he left off, Matt was disheartened. There was nothing new. It was all variations of the same things he has already found and none of them offered any explanation or any real help. The closest thing that he could attribute to everything that has been happening to the house, to his family, were demonic entities. By the way the articles were phrased, if he was to believe them, the said entity or entities were out to destroy them.
Why though?
There was only one problem with this argument. It was something Matt has been considering since the possibility crossed his mind after the first day he went online looking for answers. There needed to be a target. The reasons were varied and the actual possibility was guesswork at best, but it did explain how the events just surfaced.
The common thread that seemed to encompass all of the examples online was that the target was, one way or the other, under some extremely stressful situation. Mostly, it came from trauma or abuse. Problems at home or at school. Bullying or being too strict in the case of parenting. None of them, as far as he knew, were remotely close to anything like that when it all began. Except…
No, it can’t be. She wasn’t even close to stressed.
He mulled it over. It could be possible, he reasoned, that the preparations leading up the housewarming stressed Emmy heavily. Matt could not reconcile this, he knew his wife and knew the signs when she was close to erupting. Stressed was the last thing she was when it all started happening. But, there was no one else who would fit the description. Matt, being on leave, considered himself the least stressed. Keeping that in mind and remotely entertaining the possibility that it might indeed be his wife, Matt began looking for special online listings.
She was the first to see things, he thought, recalling her story of the shadow that moved against the light.
Gina came to ask if she could use the laptop and he reluctantly agreed. He wanted to sit near her, but his daughter accused him of spying, so he kept his distance after a back and forth. She called him clumsy for bumping his noggin. He teased her about chatting with boys.
“Matt? Babe, come take a look at this.”
Matt turned when he heard Emmy call. He found her peeking out the door, motioning for him to go inside. He gave her a questioning look. Emmy answered by repeatedly tilting her head towards the house. Her face spoke of urgency.
“What is it?” He asked after getting in.
“Look, come.”
Matt followed her to the small part of the house they had designated as a study area. She leaned towards the glass pane, beckoning him to follow, and pointed outside. Jean was out, playing alone.
“Babe?” Matt asked, seeing nothing.
“Just wait a bit, okay? You’ll see.” She answered.
Jean was playing with her rag doll. She sat on a stool and the rag doll was opposite her, also sitting on a stool. It appeared to Matt that his daughter was looking at something on the ground. She was barely moving.
Then, she faced sideways and slowly nodded her head. Matt saw her mouth moving as she gestured. Her movements were animated, they somehow made sense in connection to her expressions and the movement of her lips. She was having a conversation. Matt’s left eyebrow raised.
He looked closely at her face and noticed that her eyes were following something as she spoke. Then, she turned her head to the other side, gazing up. Her face was turned away from them but due to her gesturing, Matt could tell that she was still talking. Her eyes also followed something. She was talking to two imaginary friends, not one.
“I thought she only had Princess Jessica.”
“Jessamine.” Emmy corrected. “She hates it when you get it wrong.”
The memory came back to him. The very same thing was happening when they were out tending to the plants. Electricity coursed up and down his spine. He did not like it that time too. There were some vague references to the same thing during his online surfing, none of them conclusive, most of them just saying it was normal up to a certain age. Emmy fixed him a stare, one that wanted an explanation after seeing him shake his head.
“I think I’ve seen this before. I dismissed it. She’s that age after all. But… this is not good.” He sighed.
“Imaginary playmates? Is that what you think it is?”
“I thought it was. I don’t think so anymore. That’s got to be one fuckin’ immersive imaginary world for her to act like that.”
“Matt!”
“Sorry. Listen babe, call them, okay? Jean’s not to be left alone. Ask Gina to share the laptop.”
“That’s gonna be a hard sell.”
“It doesn’t matter what you promise her babe, just… just get her to agree. Maybe ask her to teach Jean something, she seems to take to bossing her around pretty well these days. We’ll talk after.”
Emmy eyed him for a few seconds, watching his face. She went out to talk to Gina first. It took a while. Matt saw both Gina and Emmy gesturing to each other. Eventually, it was just Emmy doing the gesturing. Eventually, the older sister relented. As for Jean, as it turned out, was eager to learn anything. She joined her sister with a spring in her step.
“That seemed quick. Too quick. What did you bribe her with?” Matt asked.
“Nothing much, just a new phone.”
“Like new new?”
“What else is there?”
“New-ish?”
“Those things never last then you’d have to buy again.”
“Bummer, I had hoped I can use my new free upgrade for when it arrived.”
“You already ordered a phone?”
“Can’t say I ordered. It was just offered, some promotion. Free phone after I got the plan on mine updated to the highest tier with unlimited everything.”
“Matt! You were scammed, nobody sends phones for free! Definitely going to like a new contract or something”
“That’s what the rep said. I only asked for more, faster internet, unlimited, then threw in calls and texts. He had me on this…” It dawned on him after pointing out the details aloud. “Oh, I see. That bastard!”
“When’s it coming?”
“Less than a week I’m guessing.”
“Riigggght. So, now that we got that out of the way, talk.”