Harly

Chapter Eighteen (Edited 08/2021)

It's amazing how the human brain deals with grief.

Here I was, elbows deep in Norman's research, practically ignoring the looming fact that he was dead. Not even to mention what happened before his death. I had a one track mind, I couldn't bear the pain of thinking about both the tragic events that happened. I could barely focus on one.

So instead, I busied myself going through all of his notes, his diagrams. He was so thorough in his research.

It seems he suspected the church of something a long time ago. He never said anything about it, and I'll forever be curious as to why he hid that from me.

Did he think he was being too judgmental? Was there enough doubt that he didn't want to bring it up?

However the case, he managed to find plenty of things online that seemed helpful, even leaving handwritten notes on which ones he found the most effective. He had tested some theories and came up with a plan he had hoped would work in the long run.

It was both amazing and devastating that he put so much effort into this. I wanted to feel selfish and believe it was only because he just loved the supernatural so much that he went to these lengths, but I knew deep down he did it to save my family.

I saw the way he interacted with the kids when he came over. Even Lance, who was so scared of anyone he didn't immediately recognize, had warmed up to him when he found out Norman used to take karate classes. They had played in the living room for over an hour each showing each other their limited knowledge in karate.

Norman would have made such a good father somewhere down the road, and now that I got him involved in something like this, he would never get to be.

The second I felt my throat start to close up and tears threaten to fall, I shook away all thoughts of Norman and began to organize his notes until I had a pretty solid plan.

Andrei had a point about using items that held significant value to the host of Harly to draw him in. He knew when to stay away, and he knew we were onto him so I doubt he'd make an appearance any time soon.

But Andrei wanted to use the item to bind Harly to it after he had consumed Lilly's body and that wasn't a risk I had planned to take. She would only get sicker and sicker until she died. But with this plan Norman made, if it worked, we wouldn't have to wait at all.

The only problem is, I still didn't know what Lilly's favorite item was, nor my own.

And I also didn't account for the fact that El's house was still a crime scene, one I particularly didn't think I was strong enough to reenter.

I sat on the edge of Lilly's bed, taking the rare opportunity to talk to her while she was awake. Since she became ill, her days were mostly spent sleeping. They couldn't get food into her, it was immediately rejected. She was withering away in front of us and up until now we had no idea what to do.

"Lil," I murmured looking at her feverish face. She looked bad. It just pushed me to solve this sooner. "Lil, out of all the toys you own, your blankets, your things... Which is your favorite? Which would you like to have right now?" I could see she was thinking. She was thinking hard through the sickness to answer me.

Finally her answer came in a soft voice that was raspy from all the times she had been sick before. "Alice." She whispered.

"Alice?" I repeated back, turning to look at El. She stood up abruptly digging through her purse for her keys.

"Alice was a doll I bought her a long time ago. I thought she was done with it so I packed her away." She explained and I felt instant relief that she could find it and we could begin this. "What about you?" She asked and I nodded to the pile of Norman's research he left for me.