𝔊𝔘ℑ𝔏𝔗𝔜 ~ 𝔇. 𝔗. | 𝔗ℌ𝔈 𝔇𝔈𝔙ℑ𝔏 𝔐𝔄𝔇𝔈 𝔐𝔈 𝔇𝔒 ℑ𝔗 (3)

one.

I still remember that night. Who wouldn't, am I right? I remember trash littering the floor, and scratches being ripped across the wall by the stairs. It was an exorcism and one that went entirely wrong at that. This case was highly unique, but it threw our family into something we weren't quite used to. 

I remember after it happened. Drew held on to Rose and me tightly as we all looked upon the frightened eight-year-old boy, David Glatzel, and the scene the demon inside him had created. I was horrified. The poor boy was eight and caused his entire family a bucketload of trauma. Dad called a break after a prayer, and we all dispersed.

"It's shitty, I know," Rose spoke softly as she pulled me into a hug.

"I feel horrible, Ro," I sighed.

"We all do. Everybody's safe now, though, Liz," Mom smiled and handed me a cup of coffee.

"I'm gonna need forty pints of ice cream when we get back home," I spoke. Drew chuckled softly from beside me.

"It's on me, isn't it?" he laughed.

"Oh, you know me so well," I giggled.

"Let me join you," Debbie, David's elder sister, mumbled.

"You got it, girl," I smiled as I neared the dinner table. Debbie, her boyfriend Arnie, Rose, Drew, and I all hit it off quite nicely. It felt good to get some friends out of such a rough experience I hated putting them through.

"You should get some sleep," Mom spoke to Debbie and David's mom, Judy. As Judy's husband Carl reached to pick up his son, Arnie gladly stepped in and took the young boy to bed.

"I could say the same for you. Well, us, technically. Basically, what I'm saying is I'm gonna go get my beauty sleep," Drew chuckled at his own dumb joke, making the rest of the table crack a smile at the least. That's what Drew was really good for. He always made everyone around him smile at any given moment. I said a quick goodnight to the family before joining my husband in climbing the stairs.

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow and this should all be over," Drew sighed as he climbed into our bed, given to us by the Glatzel's extremely welcoming family.

"I hope you're right, bub," I let out a sigh in response as I lay my head on his chest. He muttered an, "I love you." and kissed the top of my head whilst raking his fingers through my brunette hair. I gave an, "I love you." back before finally closing my eyes, and letting the sleep overtake me.

~°•~°•

I awoke with a start, muffled screaming flooding my ears. Drew was the first out of bed, throwing a shirt over his head before kissing my cheek. I followed suit, not bothering to change out of my pajamas as I ran toward the noise. Drew was most likely getting the camera ready downstairs as he wasn't in David's room. As soon as I arrived, I noticed that Father Gorden had already arrived. Arnie pushed me behind him along with Debbie and Rose. Before I even realized what was happening, Carl fell to the ground, glass sticking out of his leg. 

Debbie let out a scream and my hand attached itself to my mouth. I could see it. The thing that was inside of David was stringing him along like a puppet. As David kicked and screamed, Dad restrained him, and we got him to the top of the stairs when he grabbed the wall. Dad had to practically yank him along, the demon leaving scratch marks on the wall.

"My van or your parents?" Drew asked.

"Neither," I spoke, tears burning into my brown eyes, "Drew, we have to do this now." Father Gorden shoved everything from the dinner table to the ground before laying David on it. I stared in disbelief. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I stood beside my husband as he filmed the event, his hand softly grasping mine.

David began unnaturally contorting, and he foamed at the mouth as tears finally began to cascade down my face. Rose, also standing there pretty useless, pulled me in for a hug, trying to distract me from the ongoing terror. Then, all of a sudden, everything went silent. No screaming, no growling, just confused faces, and silence. I pulled myself from Rose's grasp as a cabinet full of dishes flew open, one hitting Father Gorden in the head, knocking him down, and another hitting me right in the collarbone. Pain flashed through my body as Drew yelled out my name. 

On instinct, my hand reached for the now-injured area, revealing blood soaking through my pajama shirt.

"Here! Keep the pressure there, okay?" Drew spoke, handing Rose a piece of the tablecloth he'd just torn off. Rose nodded and did as told, only making the pain worse. 

"First aid kit!" Dad screamed out. 

"Kitchen!" Debbie replied, her eyes glued to me. I nodded a silent, "I'm okay," as Drew ran off to go find it. David stood up after Arnie began to taunt the demon, and jumped on top of my Dad. I let out a scream as David muttered something I couldn't understand. Arnie ripped David off of my Dad and began screaming.

"Take me, goddammit! Take me!" Arnie yelled. I wanted to protest, but I couldn't. My throat dried and I just stood there, silently sobbing. Then, it stopped. Everything stopped.

"Dad!" I cried out, my feet finally allowing me to run toward my parents. 

"Call 911!" Mom yelled. Debbie ran to the phone as I stood up, stumbling around, drunk on my own thoughts, trying to find my husband even though I knew exactly where he was. He handed the first aid kit off to Rose when he came back into the room.

"Lizzie? Hey, hey, Liz, Liz, calm down, okay?" I sank to the ground as he gently wrapped his arms around my waist. He just sank down with me, smoothing my hair out of my face. "It's okay, baby, everything's okay."

But, nothing at that moment was okay.