Haunted

The exorcism of Eden Anderson

Harry

"So you have complete control?" John asks his stepdaughter, she nods as I squeeze her hand reassuringly.

"I believe she does," I nod.

"We can test that out if you'd like," James chirps as he comes down the stairs. "Father Erickson will be here shortly, if you'd like to take Donna outside for a few minutes I'll be happy to stay with Eden and her stepfather. Just please don't choke me again sweetheart," My best friend says to my girl with a wink.

"This is my colleague and best friend James Elliot, are you sure about this James?" I ask, my brows furrowed in concern.

"I talked to her last night and you were nowhere around, she was completely same and in control." He assures me and I nod before standing up, "only if you want to John." He says shrugging as Eden bites her lip anxiously. John nods as Donna shoots me a fleeting glance, I tilt my head towards the staircase and she nods in understanding.

"I'll be right back baby," I whisper to Eden as I pull her to her feet. I kiss her softly before following her mom upstairs.

"Can you pull up the feed from the camera?" I ask.

"Yes, of course." She assures me before leading me into her office, she sits down and opens her laptop. She clicks a few buttons and a window with a feed to downstairs opens.

"Is there sound?"

She clicks another button as I walk behind her to see them just as we left them, "Eden. I'm going to touch your hand alright?" James tells her softly, she nods and swallows hard as James takes her hand. His hand is steady as he brings her hand to his lips, no sign of fear or anything. "On Friday, I touched her hand lightly and she had me pinned up against the wall by my throat," James says to John as Eden looks down, don't be ashamed baby. It wasn't you, it was never you.

"I'm going to hug you now Eden, is that alright?" James asks gently and Eden nods, he wraps his arms around her and pulls him against his chest. Eden's form shakes as I chew my lip anxiously, "Shhh, It's alright Eden," My best friend soothes my girl as she cries into his chest.

Eden pulls away and turns towards John, "I'm so sorry dad- John. I'm so sorry for what I did, what they made me do." She sobs, John's face drops and instantly he pulls Eden into his arms. I look down at Donna to see tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry, I should have listened to your mother." John says softly as he calms her, "you're still my little girl. You'll always be my little girl Edie," he adds and I smile widely.

"Let's get back down there," I suggest and Donna nods.

When we walk back downstairs Eden is still in her stepfather's arms and I mouth thank you to James, John nods to me and kisses Eden's head before releasing her. She looks over at me, even tearstained she's absolutely radiant and that warm feeling returns to my stomach as a wide smile spreads across my face. She closes the distance between us and I forget that anyone else is in the room as I cup her face gently.

"I'm so fucking proud of you Eden," I whisper as she beams up at me.

"Such a romantic," she teases and I bite my lip.

"Oh, I'll show you romance baby." I purr before dipping her back and kissing her passionately.

"For fuck's sake Harold, put the girl down." James chides and Eden giggles against my lips as I stand her up, Eden smiles when she sees that John as his arm around Donna's waist as they talk softly.

The doorbell rings and James springs up to answer the door, "You ready for this?" I ask her and she nods, "It's just to make sure they're really gone and to bless you so that you cannot be repossessed." I assure her, her quietness concerns me but I know she's worried.

James comes down with an older man in black priest clothing, "Father Erickson. Thank you for being available on such short notice." I greet the priest who nods, he acknowledges John and Donna before turning to Eden.

"You must be Eden," he says as he holds his hand out. She gives him her hand and he smiles warmly, "You are not possessed my dear. Not anymore," he says confirming what we had thought.

"You just met me, how do you know?" She questions innocently.

"Your eyes, they are crystal clear but show a past of pain and torment. Your aura feels new and rejunenated, whatever you did worked but you could be weak so I'll be doing a protective blessing." He explains and she nods as he takes out a vial of holy water and a large cross, I back away as he mumbles a chant in another language. Eden's eyes flutter shut and the air in the room chills, I gasp when I feel my gold cross pendant heat up against my skin.

The priest continues the blessing as the house begins to shake, once it's complete it stops and he looks around. "I need to cleanse the house, there are two dark entities here that should not be here." He says, James offers to lead him through the house and the shaking begins again. Eden walks over to me and wraps her arms around my midsection as the rocking continues,  demonic growls and roars are heard from the kitchen and again from her bedroom as John watches in disbelief.

James and the priest make their way back down to the therapy room, wind whips around as he cleanses the two inside corners then pushes out towards the ceiling to floor walls. Eden screams as the glass wall shatters into a million pieces and it feels like all the air is sucked out of the room.

"There, the cleanse is complete." The priest says.

"Harry," Eden mumbles with her eyes wide. "Our tree." She whispers.

I look out to see the tree ablaze but only our tree, nothing else. We all look back to the priest who prays under his breath, "Looks like we need to bless the grounds as well."