Dream Child

Chapter Fourteen

"Baby," he whispered, gently shaking her.

She slowly woke and stared at him.

"I have to go to the store, but I don't want to leave you alone," he explained.

She nodded and he helped her sit up. While she went to the bathroom, he sat on the bed and sort of stood watch for her. Once she came out, they both dressed and went downstairs.

He offered her breakfast and as she ate, he explained what he found online and what he wanted to do.

"Do you think it will help?" she questioned.

"I don't think that it could hurt to try, we have to put some sort of protection here," he implored.

She nodded and finished her breakfast.

He sighed inwardly as she watched her move about; her previous fluid flow replaced by jerky and clumsy movements. She was more cautious about her surroundings, visibly afraid of the lurking, unseen danger awaiting in the shadows.

Amanda felt him watching her every movement; she felt he was observing her as if she was about to plunge into a nightmare in front of him. She was grateful that he was researching and finding an explanation for what was happening, but she wasn't sure if he was being sincere or pacifying her. Straightening her posture as tall as she could manage, she smiled at him and grabbed her purse from the wall.

Together they walked to the car and headed off to town.

Eric and Amanda found the items he was looking for and had stopped to have lunch. To anyone passing them by, they were a man and his pregnant wife out running errands. Things seemed normal; and for a while they both enjoyed each other, ignoring the invasive presence that was looming back at home.

Soon they headed back home again, and Amanda finally began to ask about what was going to be done with the things he had picked up.

"I read that the cumin seeds that we picked up can be mixed with salt to ward off evil spirits. What I was planning to do was to place these above the doorways in our house. The dill is for our room, the baby's room and the front door. From what I read and researched, this is will protect us from evil spirits and bad dreams as well as keeping people that have ill intentions from coming into our house. I am going to hammer a bag near the doorways in the rooms, just to be sure," he stated, feeling a little foolish that he was doing this.

"Oh," she replied, shaking her head.

"I just don't know what we can do besides this babe," he retorted.

"I wasn't saying anything was wrong with it, I just am surprised and glad that you believe me. I hope that these things can help, I will believe these will work. And I will continue to pray."

He reached across the space and grabbed for her hand.

Unexpectedly he pulled into a big church. He reached into the backseat and pulled out an empty jug and grinned at her sheepishly.

"Just one more precaution," he told her. "Blessed water."

He got out of the car and she decided to not go with him. She wondered what the priest would say, what he would ask Eric, or even if he would do it.

Eric slipped into the church, and inside of the cathedral was a pillar that had three basins around it, full of water. He searched around the church and did not see anyone visible at the moment, however, there were a couple of people sitting in pews kneeling and he could hear soft talking of them saying prayers. He chose the side of the pillar that was less open to the pews and dunked the bottle into the water. He murmured a prayer of forgiveness for taking from the church but asked that God would understand. Soon the bottle was full and Eric quickly screwed the lid on and walked swiftly back to the car and slipped in before anyone could see him.