Dwellings On The Past ~ (Lorraine's daughter)

What child?

"For the record, we're only allowing this because you're not experienced with your clairvoyance yet and should stay with your mom." my dad says while watching me pack some clothes. We will stay at the family's house for at least a night because of the long drive. My mom's standing right next to him. "Everything you'll do is observe and you won't do anything that could endanger you alone or at all." my mom tells me. "Do we have your word for that?"

"Yes, mom." I say, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes. Sometimes they're a little over protective. "Can you repeat it?" my dad asks. I raise my eyebrows at him. "Seriously?" I ask. He crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Seriously."

"I only watch and basically before I do anything I ask you first." I repeat what my mom said earlier. "Does that also apply if I wanna go to the bathroom?"

"Linda." my dad warns me. I hold my hands up quickly while trying to keep back my laughter. "Alright, alright. Sorry." I mutter while I watch my mom smile at my dad, a sparkle in her eyes. Even after 28 years of marriage they're in love as it is the first day.

"Okay." he sighs. "You ready?"

"Almost." I say, walking over to my night stand. I open the first drawer and pull out my rosary. My mom gifted it to me when I turned sixteen. "We can go." I announce while grabbing my backpack. I follow my parents downstairs and my dad puts my backpack in the trunk of our car. My grandma is already here and Judy's sleeping, so I can't even tell her goodbye.

"Linda, come back in one piece or I will murder your parents." my grandma tells me when I stop at the door to say goodbye to her. I smile when she wraps her arms around me. "I'll watch out for myself, don't worry."

"Alright." she says while placing her hands on my shoulders. "Goodbye Linda."

"Bye Grandma." I say before walking towards the car. My dad is putting the last things in the trunk while my mom is already sitting in the passenger seat. I get in the back of the car and lean forward to look at the map in my mom's hands. "You're doing the navigation, right?" I ask skeptically. "Dad would drive us to New York or something."

My mom laughs while she turns around to look at me. "Yeah, I'm doing it. You can sleep on the ride." she informs me while folding the map and placing it in the front of the car. "Linda." she says to get my attention. I look over to her. "Mh-hm." I mutter, signaling her I'm listening.

"You know I love you so, so much and you mean the world to me. And I could't deal with you getting hurt or worse. We don't know what we'll face in that house, so I'm just reminding you again to be careful." my mom says. I smile at her. "I will. Most of the times it's nothing spiritual though, right? It's just random noise in the house."

My dad just got in the car and heard the last part. "Mostly, yeah. But I'm afraid this time that's not gonna be the case." he says before starting the car. "Who's ready for a road trip?" he asks cheerily. My mom and I both laugh.

I hold down the urge to ask when we'll be there, considering it's only been minutes. I'm really excited for this case, I don't think I'll be able to sleep. "Mom, can you turn on the radio?" I ask because I'm bored by the all so quiet car. My mom just tells my dad a direction every once in a while.

"Hon, you're supposed to be sleeping." my mom tells me while looking at me through the rearview mirror. I stare back. "I can't sleep."

"Alright." she chuckles while clicking a button on the car. Seconds later the song "Let It Be" by the Beatles fills the car, it's only the beginning. While my mom laughs and I sigh we both listen to my dad singing along to the song. Same as me and my mom, he's not a bad singer, but it's always like this.

When the chores of the song hit my mom sings along as well, smiling at my dad. I laugh and join them as well. After all, it's a good song. I just hope my dad is still focused on driving.

Suddenly my eyelids feel heavy and I have to close them. Even though my eyes are closed I can see, but I'm not in the car with my parents anymore. It's really cold. When I look around I realize I'm back at that house. The one I was dreaming about last night. Just that this isn't a dream, I would wake up as soon as I'm aware of it. This has to be a vision.

I'm not really sure of what I'm supposed to do. It looks exactly like the last time. Maybe it's a little darker, but I can't really tell. "Hello?" I call, just like I did in my dream. Again, no one answers. But the front door behind me opens.

First I think the man who's entering sees me, but when I turn my head I realize he's looking at someone behind me. There's a woman, maybe around 40. There are big eye bags under her eyes, I can see them even though the light is so limited.

"Come on, Caroline." he says, his tone urgent. "We're going. Right now." he says and only now I see the two suitcases behind the woman, behind Caroline. "What about the child in the basement?" she asks. My eyes widen. What child?

"There's no child. Come on, we're leaving." he says and the woman follows him. The door closes and I'm left alone, confused by the two. I really don't know what to do now, but then I can hear a child cry. It's screaming for it's mommy. And I think it's coming from the basement.

"Fuck." I curse, really wishing my mom would be here right now. She would know what to do. But she's not here. I have to do this on my own. My steps sound really loud in the house. It's all I hear along with the cries of the child.

The basement door is at the end of the hallway when you enter through the front door. It's slightly open and there's a light turned on down there. While telling myself I'm not afraid and this isn't real - I'm absolutely terrified - I push the door open, really carefully. When I look down I can see a child sitting on the floor and it's crying. But more importantly, there's a lot of blood. The floor is covered in it and on the little child's lap is a woman. She's the source of the blood.

"Oh, no, no." I say while I rush down the stairs. I don't know if this is real. Or if it's real yet. But I need to help the two. When I look at the woman I realize she's dead. My gaze quickly finds the child.

I scream in horror when I see its face. It's the one of something that looks like a demon.