Chapter Thirty-Four

“Look at this,” said Xander, showing my arms to the men. “And this,” he said, lifting the back of my shirt, showing the skin there. “And that.” He moved my head around showing the bruises on my neck. “You’ve seen the bloody fucking statue, you can’t say there is nothing happening, or that this is not an emergency. She’s trying to kill her. She’s terrifying my son. This has to stop.

Eloim was sleeping on a sofa not too far from us, with a blanket covering is little frame. Xander had sat me on the priest’s desk and was giving them the rundown of what has been going on.

I didn’t mind, I just stood there, tire, exhausted, I didn’t feel like talking to be honest. I just wanted it all to end. I had fought my battles, so I let Xander fight his on. I knew how powerless all this made him feel, and that right now, it probably felt like he was finally doing something about it. I let him have it, he needed it.

I was eyeing Eloim, and it sounded like a really good idea to just lay down and sleep. I thought that statue would freak sleep out of me, but it turns out, that there is a limit to what the body can take, there is a maximum brain power stamina and mine had run out. The fatigue was not just physical, or even mental, it went beyond that, I was beginning to feel like even my capacity for emotions was running out of fuel.

The men talked. Marcus and the padre had eyes a little too wide. I guess mine would be too if I’d just seen what they did without any preamble.

“I need to sleep, Xan,” I said.

Xander stopped mid-conversation and they all turned to me.

“I’m done for the night.

Xander looked torn, as I knew he was not fond of going back either home or to his parents’ for the night, as we had no idea what could happen next.

“I have a few cots for people in need,” said the priest as he saw the dilemma fought behind Xander’s eyes. “It’s not luxurious but you’d have that you need.

I nodded. “Can you bring Eloim?” I asked Xander, unsure that I had the strength to do it myself.

“My not leaving the two of you alone,” he said.

“You can both sleep there,” said the priest, and we can convene in the morning.

Xander looked like he wanted to argue, but he hesitantly accepted, picked Eloim and carried him to the tiny room we would share. A second cot was put next to the first, the room was so small the we had to take out the side-table and the two little bed ended up pressed on either wall, which was fine as otherwise I would have been worried of the bed separating during the night and having Eloim fall between them and to the ground.

I would have preferred to have a change of clothes, or at least a change of underwear, but I was too tired for arguing. Xander went to pick Miki in the car, and he slept on the foot of the bed. He had been a good warning sign so far, and I was kind of happy to have him there with us.

Xander was as exhausted as me. I know he tried to stay awake for a little while, but I know he fell asleep not long after me.

The priest brought us food in the morning and we made our way to Xander’s parents first to give Eloim to his grandparents and we moved to our house.

The priest did a few prayers and went through various rooms drawing crosses on doorways and windowsills in holy water and holy oils. The whole thing was uneventful, and the house did feel a little brighter and lighter once it was done, but there we no special effects budget with our story, just a change in how the atmosphere felt—lighter—and that was it.

The priest finally bid us farewell once he was done, blessed us both, and wished us the best before he left.

Once that was done, we called Xander’s parents and they brought Eloim and the pets back here.

For the next weeks, Xander slowly returned to his regular work schedule. He didn’t want to travel just yet and did hire a few new employees and gave a few master classes online. He was actually excited in how things were going and it looked like, if things went according to plan, we might not be too tight with money for too long.

Eloim was doing better than ever and was slowly growing into a chatterbox which made Xander and I both proud parents.

My studio was done and I was spending plenty of time there. I had installed a section for Eloim with toys and his own art supplies, so that he could spend time with me here rather than to play alone. He was sleeping in his room again, on his own.

I had sold online five paintings already—mostly small one—but the prices and been good.

I ran to Xander’s office, knocked and slipped in quietly—I never really knew when he was on a conference call and I didn’t want to mess anything up.

He looked up at me, he wasn’t on the phone.

I flipped my iPad towards him and showed him an email I had received, while smiling like a five-year-old at Disneyland.

He looked at me curiously and took the tablet to read.

It took him maybe twenty seconds until his expression morphed to a broad smile.

“This is happening?” he asked.

“This is happening,” I confirmed. “I just sent the reply.

“That is great news. If things continue this way, you’ll become the breadwinner of this family.

I beamed, but as a thought came, I turned more serious. “Will this be a problem with Eloim? You’re busy a lot lately and you did say that you might leave for part of February, I might not be able to spend much of my days with him if I do this.

“I can check if my parents can take him, or get a nanny, or he’s doing so well lately, that maybe he could just go to daycare, make a few friends his age.

“That could actually be good for him. Maybe we could try to integrate him slowly.

He nodded. “But we’ll find a solution, a commission like that is not something you get every day, so I don’t want you to refuse it to stay at home.

I nodded happily and went around to give him a kiss. “Thanks. I’ll let you work now.

I got up to leave, but he wrapped his arms around me and dragged me down, half-sitting on his lap. I giggled, but we were interrupted by a massive ‘bang’ from upstairs.

You don’t lose months of built up instincts in a few weeks, we both bolted out of the office and ran upstairs.

Every single step we took was marked by Miki’s barks from above

As we approached, we heard the whines of the two cats, loud and menacing.

My stomach sank, knowing what it most probably meant.

Weeks. Weeks of tranquility. Weeks of quiet. Weeks of no apparitions, no banging, clawing, attacks, nothing.

Then, as we drew closer to Eloim’s room, we heard little terrified whimpers.

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