Protection

Exorcism

The light in the basement is flickering when Ed and Drew tie Brandon to the chair again. "Drew, get the book." Ed says over the groaning from Brandon. "Lorraine, Ivory, I want you two to leave for this." he says, casually turning in our direction. We're all aware of what Ed will have to do.

"I'm not leaving you." Lorraine says.

I nod. "I'm staying."

Just as Ed is about to speak again his wife interrupts him. "Arguing takes time. Time we don't have. Ed, we're staying."

He sighs frustrated but Drew is already coming back with the book Ed requested. "At least stay behind me." Ed demands before directing all his attention to Brandon in front of him.

He starts to say words in Latin, I don't understand them. Brandon is showing clear reactions to his words. "In the name of the Father, the Son, the holy spirit," Ed says while drawing a cross against his chest. Lorraine, Drew and I do the same.

Ed continues shouting latin words while he pulls out a vial with holy water out of his pocket and splashes Brandon with it. Brandon screams, but the sound isn't anything a human can fabricate. Everything in the basement begins to shake and Ed almost drops the vial in his hands.

"You need to stop this, you need to!" I hear a voice and somehow I want to listen. "Take the knife and stab Ed. Do it now!" the male voice says. I look towards the ground. I assumed my kitchen knife would lay there, but it's the one I nearly killed myself with earlier.

"Brandon, you can't give in. You have to fight it!" Lorraine yells over the screams from Brandon. I glance up to her. I don't want to do this to her, I don't want to kill her husband. But the voice is so convincing.

Brandon began to wail for us to stop. "Do it, now!" the voice says again.

Lorraine and Ed are both busy with Brandon, so I crouch down and pick up the knife. Suddenly my hand holds it so tight, I can't let go. My body isn't my own when I stomp towards Ed. I hold the knife up to ram it in his back, but someone grabs my wrist and pulls me back. "Ivory, what are you doing?" Drew yells. Lorraine quickly rushes to me and grabs both of my shoulders.

"Aren't her eyes black?" Drew asks. I look at him confused.

Lorraine glances at him. "Go help Ed." she orders. Then all her attention is on me again. "Ivory, this is not you. You have to listen to me." she tells me, but the voice speaks up again. "She's just like Ed. Go ahead and use the knife."

I look down to my hand, I still have a tight grip on the weapon. "Ivory, listen! This is the witcher, he's telling you things. You can't believe him, you have to believe me!"

"She's a liar. Don't you want to protect Brandon?" the voice says and something tells me I have to believe it.

Lorraine seems more and more desperate. "You have a strong mind, you can beat him. I know you can!" Lorraine tells me. "Snap out of it."

My hand drops the knife and I look into Lorraine's eyes. She moans in relief as she stares right back. "Oh, thank God." she says while wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Her warmth makes me relax, at least a tiny bit.

"Hold the chair!" Ed yells and Lorraine leaves my side again. I walk behind Ed again, this time without the knife, and watch as Lorraine and Drew hold onto the chair. Lorraine is talking to Brandon, a certain urgency in her voice.

Ed stops talking latin again and switches to english. "In the name of Jesus Christ, the saints and all the angels, I command you to reveal yourself!" he yells over Brandon's screams.

Suddenly it's not Brandon sitting in the chair anymore, it's the demon. There's a gross, red line on its throat. He's wearing dirty clothes over his dark gray, muddy body. I want to tear my eyes away, but I just can't. I don't know what's stopping me, but I can't look away.

The demon screams again and the whole room is shaking. There are items falling from the shelves, I have to step away to not be hit by a mug I've never seen before. It shatters to the ground along with other dishes.

Ed continues with the exorcism, saying more words I don't understand. The demon looks like it's in pain, if that's possible. But when I look at it I can't believe Brandon's soul is still in there.

In the blink of an eye the demon is Brandon again, but he doesn't stop screaming. I jump when the basement door slams. But it doesn't stay closed for look, it opens and closes in a rhythm of three.

Suddenly I get pulled towards Brandon. His hands are free and he uses them to grab my arms, holding me tightly. He's staring right into my eyes, it feels like he's looking into my soul. And I stare right back.

He's showing me things even though my eyes are still open. I can see Lorraine, sitting on the couch in a living room I don't know. She's holding a bell in her hand and in front of her I can see a lot more.

Someone, or more something, is walking up to her. I cannot describe what he's doing to her, but it's horrible. I want to look away, I need to, but I'm not able to. At the end I can see Lorraine looking right at me, but she's neither moving nor breathing. She's dead. Her blue eyes stay focused on mine.

I scream as I snap out of my trance. While continuing to scream I scramble away from Brandon and drop to my knees. While sobbing I lean closer to the floor. I'm more afraid of what I just saw than of what's happening right now.

Lorraine is quick to be by my side. She kneels down and grabs both of my shoulders in a protective manner, but I don't look up to her. I can't face her. She decides to hug me instead and I wrap my arms around her chest.

We don't stay in that position for long. I can feel a force. When I look up I can see a cabinet falling towards Lorraine and me. My eyes widen. I quickly push Lorraine away from me, but there's not enough time to save myself.