MEMENTO

III.

After carefully reassuring Ally she would be back soon and with supplies to perform the exorcism, Erica flew out of the house after making Ally promise to gather some holy water from the school's worship center which she said she attended mass at. Drew followed her, jaw slackened as he attempted to process all the events that had just come before him.

"An exorcism?" he called after her as she strolled down the street ahead, ignoring his slow pace. "Do you even know how to do that?"

Erica stopped walking but kept her back to him. "Of course, I know how to do an exorcism," Erica assured him, jutting her chin out.

"Really?" he demanded, finally catching up to her. "Because when we did our séance, you didn't finish your Lord's Prayer."

"So, I need to brush up on my Latin," Erica muttered, narrowing her bronze eyes at him. "Big deal."

"How can you insist on doing this when, a few moments ago, you weren't even sure of what was behind that door?" Drew pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. A car drove by beside them on the sidewalk, creating a breeze that fluttered his dark hair.

"I'll do some research," Erica retorted. "You're really overestimating how hard this ghost stuff is."

"Or maybe you're underestimating what you're dealing with," Drew threw back. His azure eyes reflected nothing but distaste towards her.

"Maybe I am," Erica finally admitted, fist unclenching. "Does that mean I'm just going to let Ally and her sister get killed?"

"I'm just saying," Drew remarked, lips slightly parted. "You don't even know these people and you're willing to take on this- this demon for them. Maybe you should research them, too. They sure keep a lot of rooms in their house closed."

"So?" Erica sputtered. "The only room they haven't shown me is the attic. Besides, they don't know me well either. I don't think anyone would be ecstatic to show their house around to a stranger."

"How'd they find you?" Drew inquired, tilting his head.

"Through our school mailing system," Erica answered him proudly, nodding her head as if her attending their university indicated anything about her character. "Ally goes here."

"I've never seen her before," Drew informed her, eyebrow raised.

"It's a big school," Erica pointed out though she was growing less confident in her words.

"I'm just saying," Drew insisted. "You should do some research, too."

"Fine, I will," Erica assured him, attempting to step around him. "Now can I go home?"

"I don't understand how we're supposed to go home and pretend nothing happened, but," Drew began, twiddling his fingers before he could notice he was even doing it. "Yeah. Go ahead."

"You get used to it," Erica sighed, attempting a reassuring smile. "Just try to take your mind off it. See you around."

"Yeah," Drew murmured, shaking his head. "See you around."

*

The glow of her laptop screen illuminated her features as she scrolled through the results on her browser. Her vision had been flooded with visuals of symbols beyond her understanding and pale girls with heavy bags under their blank eyes.

Somehow googling the terms demonic possession would bring up much more than Erica could ever absorb in one night, going from one site to another until she could feel her eyelids beginning to droop. She ignored her body's fatigue, though, and printed out another source describing a case like Ally's and highlighting the steps they took to rid the household of this demon.