The unfamiliar surroundings made him bolt upright. He immediately groaned in pain. Jon’s headache flared with the sudden movement. Emmy’s approach reminded him where he was.
“You alright?”
“Yeah. Just a headache. What happened?”
“You fainted. Your friend too.” Emmy answered.
“Uh. What?”
“Yeah. Seeing as you did not get to drink your coffee, would you some tea? Dinner should be ready soon and ma-”
“Sorry, hang on. Back up a little bit. We fainted? Cain fainted?”
Emmy nodded at him. His face became a picture of confusion. Jon has never fainted his whole life. Assuming it had something to do with the reason why they were there, Cain was the last person he would expect to faint.
“Yeah I… I think I’d like that tea.” He said, getting up. “And some pain relievers if you have… still have them.”
“I’ll have Matt check. I think we have some stashed somewhere. Sugar? Milk?”
“Just tea ma’am. Thank you.”
“Please. You guys came all the way here to help us. Just call me Emmy.”
“Thank you, Emmy.”
Looking around him, Jon noticed that it was a little cleaner now than earlier. He also noticed that the sun was almost out.
“Where’s Cain?” He asked, following Emmy to the kitchen.
“At the porch.” Emmy replied. “Babe? Do we still have some Tylenols?”
“Why what’s wrong?” Matt answered.
“Not for me. For Jon.”
“You okay there bud?”
“Got a bit of a headache.”
“Yeah, I think we have some. I’ll go and check.”
“Thanks Matt.”
He stood beside the table while waiting for Emmy to finish boiling the water for his tea.
“Mom?” Came a voice from behind him.
Jon turned around to see the eldest daughter get up from the sofa.
“Yeah honey?”
“I, uh…” The girl stopped.
“This is Jon, he and his friend Cain, are our guests.” Emmy said, introducing him.
“Hello Jon! I’m Jean.”
“Well, hi there, Jean-o.” He said, putting on a silly face.
The little girl laughed.
“Jean! My name is Jean. And my big sister is Gina.”
“Ah! So it’s Gina and Jean-o.”
“Nooooo! Jean!” The girl protested but laughed.
“Here you go Jon.” Emmy said, handing him his cup on a saucer. “You sure you don’t need anything else?”
“Yeah. Thanks again. I’ll go check on Cain, he’s outside yeah?”
“Yep.”
He nodded to Emmy then to the little girl. He also nodded to Gina on his way out. She nodded back.
“Mom, is food ready?” Gina asked.
“Soon hon, just a few minutes more.”
She just woke up?
~0~
“How do you feel now?”
“A little better. I still no answers though. Everything is just so…”
“Convoluted?”
“I guess we can say that. Everything I can think of always has a counter argument.”
“I’m not going to lie son, this is unique and highly concerning.”
“All of it is. I mean, the only other option is that all of them are going to be possessed.”
“It’s a possibility. For such cases, we do have records. A crowd of people in attendance being possessed has happened several times. But that does not explain the hostility towards you and your companion. It’s never happened to my knowledge. There’s a reason why there are stages. It weakens the constitution. You know this.”
“Or what the child meant when she screamed.”
“And that. And how she also fainted.”
“How did that happen again? I mean the sequence.” The priest asked.
“I felt the heavy presence, I saw the couple’s faces shortly after. I am not sure which one was first between the girl shouting and me feeling the pressure and pain in my head. I remember seeing Jon fall. Then, I was out.”
“Hmmm.”
Cain could hear the old man breathing on the other end as silence fell on the line. Although he could not hear it, he guessed that the priest was probably taking notes. If he was, Cain already knew what was coming next.
“You’re coming?” Cain asked.
“You better hope Bob’s in a good mood tonight.”
“If he’s not?”
“Well, I can’t let be alone there can I? The fact you’re still there tells me you’re not doing a retreat and regroup.”
“I… I don’t want you here Father.”
“Nonsense. Don’t give me that crap about my age again or I swear-”
“I won’t. I just want it known that I objected.”
“I will be there whether Bob approves it or not. First thing in the morning I’m leaving.”
“Can I ask you not to?”
“Are you kidding right now? This is starting to sound like it’s going to be one for the books Cain. There’s nothing you can do to keep me away.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. You’re treating it like you always do.”
“Which is?”
“An adventure.”
“I’m starting to think you’re the old guy between the both of us.”
“I am thankful for your guidance, Father. Always. I just wanted to air my objection.”
“Listen to me son, unless you are absolutely sure a possession is taking place, don’t push it. Promise me.”
“Now that you told me you’re coming? I promise.”
“Good boy. And remember, there’s no shame in running from the likes of these. Now, let me see if I can get ahold of that old bastard.”
“Father!”
“Oh, calm down. We’re friends. I mean it in a loving way.”
“A loving way…”
“See you tomorrow.”
Cain shook his head as he pocketed his phone. He could not remember a time when the goodly priest ever insisted against the Bishop’s wishes. Not that he believed the Bishop would turn this down. Cain knew the Bishop would want it dealt with and finished the soonest. It brought him a measure of relief to know that Father Anton still had his goofiness. To Cain, it was like a measure of the soundness of the old man’s mind. That and he was coming, regardless what the Bishop might say.
One for the books. You just want to be on record. Ha!
“Did I miss something?”
He turned his gaze to his right and was greeted by the sight of Jon holding a cup and a saucer.
“Turns out we both did. You alright?”
“Yeah, just a bit of a headache, nothing Tylenol can’t fix. You?”
“I’m good. No headache, thank God. Listen, do you remember anything? Moments just before you passed out? Anything at all.”
Jon paused mid sip to think, raising his gaze up to the newly darkened sky.
“Nope. Nothing. I was just there, like you. Then I wasn’t.”
“Feel anything? See anything curious?”
“Nah, man. But you did, didn’t you.”
“Yes.” Cain answered.
“So, I’m thinking we’re staying here for the night. Where did you want the equipment set up?”
“Same drill as we had before. But I want you to have a camera trained on each person while I’m interviewing. If you have one to spare.”
“I can do that. I think I have enough cameras. Probably take an hour, less if I get help.”
“I’ll interview the wife first then, so Matt can help you.”
“Sounds like a plan. But… it might have to wait a little bit.” Jon remarked.
“Because?”
“Because food is going to be ready soon and I’m guessing this family hasn’t eaten properly since this morning.” Jon explained.
“And they won’t be, well the couple, unless we oblige.” Cain finished.
“Mmmm hmmm.”