There was a strange clacking that came from the room, it sounded like a drum roll only on resounding wood instead of drum skins.

Xander opened the bedroom in one smooth motion and ran in without any hesitations.

There was a massive back mass in the corner of the room as I came in. Xander honed on Eloim who was cowering in a corner, sobbing. Miki was trying to chase the mass away, but it was not working. The cats bolted the second we opened the door, and the strange clacking sound came from the closet door and was opening a few inches and slamming shot repeatedly, so fast that it looked like a blur.

A desk slid on the floor and landed between me and the boys.

Xander’s eyes widened in fear, at the realisation that the moment I’d be completely separated from them, I would become an excellent target.

He moved Eloim on his hip with one arm and in two steps grabbed me over the desk and hauled me over it with the force of the adrenaline and endorphins running through his veins. I was surprised by this, but I shifted mental gear rapidly, and I ran out with him, my hand in his, his grip painful, for I knew he was scared for having me ripped from him.

He went to the living room. It was day still. I didn’t even know ghosts were not limited to nighttime activities. Maybe we notice them more because there is no other distractions at night, and it’s so much more quiet.

Xander sat us on the coffee table, probably too primed to sit on the comfortable couch. I was next to him, and Eloim still in his arm.

“Take my phone and call Marcus. Put him on speaker.”

He had his arm around me, he wasn’t ready to let go of either of us.

He shifted his weight around a bit, to allow me to take his phone out of his pocket, and I did as I was told.

“Yes,” said Marcus.

“It started all over again. That medium you talked about, call him, I want him here right now, I’ll pay him, whatever is necessary,” said Xander.

“Are you okay, mate?”

“No. Call him. Now.”

After that he had me call the priest. During this time Eloim had grown quiet, he didn’t seem to be having a panic attack. I stroke his back a few times, and he seemed relatively okay.

Miki was at my feet sitting up straight up looking at the living room door very intently.

Xander had a similar conversation where he asked the priest to come back.

“Why did it not stick?” asked Xander.

“I’ve done a bit of research since our last encounter. It could be because of the attachment. She is connected to someone and not a place, so there could be limited results with blessing the house.”

“Could it be because of the religion? Enola’s maternal grandparents were Jewish, I don’t know about the rest of her family though.”

“I’m not sure but it could be possible.”

“Could the blessing be done by both.”

“I think so.”

“Do you have any contacts?”

“Maybe, give me an hour to make some calls and I’ll call you back with an answer.”

Xander wasn’t happy with this response, but it was better than nothing at all.

It turned up that waiting on a coffee table while doing nothing is really boring, and I managed to convince him for us to eat something. The rest of the day could become a long one.

We moved all three of us to the kitchen. Xander always stayed within arm length of me, and sat Eloim on the counter next to him, as we prepared lunch.

We ate in relative silence, installed a tablet on the table a little later to put on some cartoons to distract Eloim and the calls started coming in.

This time there were a few people aware of the urgency of the situation which steamrolled the process.

The priest had contacted a rabbi who would drive a few hours and they would come here later today. When Xander talked to Marcus and gave him the run down on the situation, not only had Marcus managed to get the medium involved, but he said he would be present, and knew an EMT who was open-minded and could be present in case of emergency during this process. Because one thing terrified us more than anything, was knowing that Enola was connected to Eloim, meaning he would have to be present for it to possibly stick. He was so young, it felt like terrible child endangerment from our parts to agree to this, but we also knew that not doing anything could have far more dire consequences than this.

We tried to keep our faces calm and serene in front of Eloim, but inside, it felt like a funeral march.

As the day rolled forward people started coming in. First it was Marcus who had taken the rest of the day off. He was extremely on edge about this whole thing and wanted professional there in case anything bad happened. We were both secretly happy of his decision. Around four, I decided to keep myself occupied and made food for everyone.

I liked cooking, I’ve developed this from my mother who would cook everything, and from scratch when she could. I learned with her very young, and it had been a stress coping mechanism for me since. Plus, there will be a lot of people here, and possibly for a while. It felt like the least I could do was to at least give them a proper meal.

This was the most beautiful kitchen I’d ever had, and I was proud of it. And the accessibility to everything made cooking a smooth experience, I focused everything on these little facts. There are times where we forget about the good, to focus on the bad, but this will not dominate my life, not now, not ever, I told myself mentally, and decided to hum something as I tried to cheer myself up.

I believe that if you laugh long enough, even a fake smile can turn genuine.