Harly

Chapter Twelve (Edited 08/2021)

Something they really gloss over in horror films is the fact that when a priest is called in to check your house out for possible demons, it is incredibly awkward.

First off, Ella didn't want the kids to be around while someone walked through talking about demons. It was understandable, but that didn't make me feel any less on edge.

Norman came back, but he seemed more weary than normal. Which, normal in Norman's world was still pretty far from it. But he seemed plagued with a concern, and I just wanted this to be over with so I stopped tormenting the poor guy. He didn't seem to enjoy this anymore, he was just too far invested and didn't want to turn his back on us.

So here we were, Norman and I, camped out in the living room, not-so-patiently waiting for a priest or clergyman or whatever their official title was to come inside and tell us if we were even able to be saved.

Though, because of the uncomfortable silence between us, I was actually somewhat relieved when the guys from the church showed up.

I invited them in, feeling strange about it as it wasn't my house, but the second their feet crossed the threshold, they began to mutter in what I could only assume was Romanian.

One, who called himself Andrei, was the apparent 'main man' in terms of Romanian demon exorcists. He introduced himself and the others in English, his thick accent making it hard to understand him.

I couldn't imagine that it was a good sign they were muttering in a language foreign to me, especially from how hushed it all seemed.

Andrei, however, held a good face. He asked me to, again, describe the events recently. Tell him of any new ones. He asked for the box that I willingly forked over. He seemed pleased to find it in a good condition.

"I was afraid it would be shattered. The little girl who opened it must have had a light touch." I didn't really know how to take that. He made it sound like she was a witch who had opened it with some mystical power. But I had taken a golf club to that box once and didn't even dent it. I'm not sure how Lilly opened it. Maybe she was a witch.

The clergymen explored the home, Norman and I quietly following them. Several men themselves refused to enter Lilly's room, and almost all of them crossed themselves. Andrei was pleased to see the salt, but there had been a distinct line drawn through it where salt didn't cross.

"Lilly," I explained. I sighed, rubbing the temple of my head. "She's been going around, making lines in the salt. She refuses to admit it, but who else would do it, if... the demon couldn't?" Andrei nodded and we moved on.

They paused again at my room, the only room I asked them not to enter. I couldn't imagine Harly would ban Norman, but allow people from the church that bound him to the box to walk around investigating in there. The salt had been disturbed here as well. He looked back to me for information. "It's been an ongoing war. I resalt it every night. Every morning it's been disturbed. We had to put baby gates in front of the stairs, but it doesn't stop her." Andrei made a short burst of sound, like a chuckle maybe.

"How do you feel about drugging children?" He muttered, and I was too astonished to laugh. Noticing my silence, he looked at me. "What? Just because I devote my life to the lord... I cannot have a sense of humor?"

I quite liked Andrei, in all honesty. He made us feel slightly less terrified about the entire situation. His assurance that Harly would soon again be locked up was infectious, and we all felt a weight lift off our shoulders. Even after the clergymen had left, taking the box with them to 'recharge the spiritual energy,' I was relaxed.

Norman stayed for dinner that night to pass the news along to the rest of the family, minus Lilly, and we celebrated with a nice dinner El and I cooked.