The Manuel's Illusion (book 1)

Prologue

After all, we've seen and experienced there's nothing that can rattle us anymore. But this one, this one still haunts me to this day.

Amityville, New York
2022.

Two months before Lauren and I'd been involved, the garrets had fled their home in the middle of the night claiming that the house was haunted. The church called us asking if we could confirm the strange activity, that had been reported by the Garrets.

     The room was dark, the only light that showed was the candles they had lit. Camila and Lauren sat in the middle of the table, a recorder in the front of them. Witnesses sat beside them and the Garretts sat on the left side of the table.

     "Imagine yourself in a hallo of white light, it'll protect you," Camila says, she places her hands flat on the table.

     They nod their heads and close their eyes.

     A year before the Garrets moved in, a young man by the name of Gilbert Benson, brutally murdered his entire family in this house. We hoped to figure out if the actions were motivated purely by anger...or something demonic.

     Camila opens her eyes, she feels guided up the stairs. The first bedroom is open and a gunshot goes off. Camila heads to the second room where a teen girl sleeps, she reloads the gun and it goes off.

    Going to the last room, the two boys sleep peacefully. A shot goes off two more times. Camila takes a deep breath and falls to the ground. She opens her eyes and her breathing picks up.

     Camila looks around frantically. At the end of the stairs, she sees a little boy with glowing eyes. Camila hurriedly gets up and follows the boy taking deep breaths.

     Lauren opens her eyes and worriedly looks at her wife.

     "Ok Camila, it's time to come back now" Lauren puts her hand on her back and shakes her gently.

     "I can't... he wants to show me something" Camila responds holding onto Lauren's hand that was in front of her.

     Camila takes more deep breaths and follows the boy to the attic. The boy disappears, Camila looks around the room and takes in the smells of old wood and paint. She looks behind her, the family of the Bensons stood there. They point to the mirror, Camila looks at it and the sheet flies off.

    Camila walks to the mirror and then looks behind her, she looks back at the mirror and freezes. A nun stood behind her. Not a regular nun. A demon dressed as a nun. The nun had a long nose, dark grey skin, and bloody teeth.

     "WHO ARE YOU?!" Camila yells. To the side of Camila, the chairs that were stacked are thrown across the room. She turns her head, and the nun disappears. Camila looks back to the corner where the chairs once were.

     A big piece of wood stood in the middle of Lauren in front of it. The wood pierces Lauren in the chest. Camila screams.

     Camila finally opens her eyes, she was crying and looking for Lauren frantically.

     Lauren pulls Camila into her as the younger girl sobs into Lauren. Camila pulls away.

     "This is the closest I ever want to get to hell" Camila sobs again and leans into Lauren as Dinah opens the curtains.

     Camila and Lauren Cabello-Jaurgeui's investigation into the Amityville haunting sparked a media firestorm and catapulted them into the public eye.