Night had fallen over Lorraine Lambert's house, a dark veil that seemed to absorb the light from the candles still burning in the living room. Before the ritual to rescue Dalton began, Cassian made a difficult decision. At dawn, he drove Susie to a nearby church, a gray stone Gothic building where Father Malone awaited her. In the Jeep, as suburban streets passed in silence, Cassian kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his crucifix, his gaze fixed on the road.
"Susie, you're not coming with me this time," he said, his voice deep but gentle. "What we're facing in that house is too much, even for me sometimes. You're new to this; your gift has barely awakened, and I don't want you to break before you learn to control it."
Susie, in the passenger seat, looked at him with tired eyes, her backpack clutched tightly against her chest.
"But, Cassian, I want to help. Dalton is trapped, like the souls I saw. Can't I do something?"
Cassian shook his head, stopping the Jeep in front of the church.
"Not this time, Susie. I can feel what's coming—a strong demon, and something worse behind it. Your gift is powerful, but without control, it will do more harm than good. Father Malone will take care of you here—the church is safe. Pray, rest, and when this is over, I'll come for you."
Susie frowned, her voice trembling.
"And if you don't come back? What if something happens to you? I don't want to be alone again."
Cassian placed a hand on her shoulder, his gaze firm but warm.
"I'll come back, I promise. I've faced things like this before, and I have Elise with me. Stay here, and if you feel anything strange, tell Father Malone. He knows how to contact me."
She nodded slowly, stepping out of the Jeep as Malone emerged from the church, his cassock fluttering in the morning breeze.
"I'll take care of her, Cassian," the priest said, shaking his hand. "The Vatican gave me clear orders: protect her like a treasure. Go with God."
Cassian inclined his head, climbing back into the Jeep.
"Thank you, Father. Susie, see you soon."
With that, he drove back to Lorraine's house, leaving Susie under the protection of the church, her silhouette disappearing in the rearview mirror as the weight of what was coming filled him once more.
Hours later, inside the house, the air was charged with tension sharp enough to cut like a knife. Elise guided Josh through the astral plane, her hands trembling as she held his in the circle of candles. Cassian, Renai, and Lorraine surrounded the room, the crucifix in Cassian's hand casting restless shadows. In Dalton's bedroom, the boy's body remained motionless, but the echo of his struggle resonated in the air.
Elise whispered, her voice reverberating in the silence:
"Josh, you're in the astral plane. Find Dalton, follow his voice. What do you see?"
Josh, in a trance, murmured between gasps:
"Shadows… twisting doors… I hear him, he's screaming. A cage, fire… the demon is there, red face, claws…"
Cassian felt a sudden cold, a weight he recognized instantly.
"Elise, the Black Woman is near," he said, his voice sharp. "I feel her trying to cross."
Renai sobbed, looking at Cassian with panic.
"Is she after Josh again?"
Cassian raised his crucifix, his tone firm:
"Yes, but I won't let her. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, recede!"
A low growl echoed, and the walls creaked, splinters falling to the floor. Suddenly, Dalton gasped in his bed, his eyes opening with a choked cry as he returned to his body. Renai ran to him, hugging him as she cried.
"Dalton! You're here, you're here…" she sobbed, holding him tightly.
But Josh didn't wake up. His body remained motionless in the circle, his breathing shallow. Elise paled, her hands gripping his.
"Josh, can you hear me? Josh! Dalton is free, come back now."
Cassian felt a new weight, this time on Josh, and turned toward where he sensed the Black Woman.
"Elise, the Black Woman has him. She stopped him in the astral plane—I feel him trapped."
Elise stood, her voice trembling but determined.
"I'll go for him. I won't leave him there."
She pulled a small flashlight from her bag, an artifact from the astral plane that glowed with blinding white light, and closed her eyes, entering a trance as her mind crossed into the astral plane. In the room, the air grew heavier, and a chorus of whispers in blasphemous Latin began to resonate, a demonic chant that made the walls tremble:
"Domine meus, in tenebris regnabo, sanguis tuus meus erit!"
The voices were multiple, a choir of demons that seemed to emerge from the shadows themselves, shaking the windows and extinguishing the candles one by one. Lorraine screamed, covering her ears, while Renai hugged Dalton tighter.
"Cassian, what is that?" Lorraine shouted, her voice barely audible over the roar.
Cassian pulled a special cross from his bag, a relic blessed by the Pope, its surface engraved with ancient seals. He raised it, his voice cutting through the infernal choir:
"Domine meus, lux tua vincit! Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, discede!"
The cross glowed with a faint but powerful light, and the blasphemous choir twisted into a collective scream, their voices shattering like glass. The walls stopped trembling, but the echo of the struggle persisted, and Cassian felt the Red-Faced Demon manifest briefly, its presence like icy fire in the air.
"You won't take anyone," Cassian growled, sprinkling holy blood around the circle.
In the astral plane, Elise found Josh facing the Black Woman, her ethereal hands around his throat. The flashlight blazed, blinding her, and Elise shouted:
"Release him, now!"
The Black Woman shrieked, retreating from the light, and Josh broke free, running toward Elise. Together, they fled through the twisted doors of the astral plane, the Black Woman pursuing them until the light enveloped them completely.
Back in the room, Elise and Josh gasped in unison, awakening in their bodies. Josh fell to his knees, coughing, while Elise leaned on a chair, exhausted.
"We did it… the Black Woman is wounded, but not dead," Elise said, her voice hoarse.
Renai ran to Josh, hugging him along with Dalton.
"Thank you… thank you both. Are you okay now?"
Cassian put away the papal cross, his face darkening as an echo resounded only in his mind: "He is coming." The words hit him like a hammer, identical to those of the Praetor Infernalis in the Perron house months ago. He didn't hear them in the room—only within himself, a warning that the Red-Faced Demon had whispered into his soul.
"Elise, are you sure it's over?" he asked, his tone low but tense.
Elise looked at him, still recovering.
"For now, yes. The Black Woman retreated, and the demon didn't cross. But they're not defeated, Cassian. They can return."
Josh struggled to his feet, his voice broken:
"Return? I thought we stopped them. What else is there?"
Elise replied, her gaze fixed on the floor:
"The red-faced demon wanted Dalton, and the Black Woman wanted you, Josh. We stopped them today, but they're persistent. Something drives them—something we didn't see clearly."
Lorraine approached, her voice trembling:
"So, what do we do? I can't watch my family suffer anymore."
Cassian took a deep breath, his mind trapped in the echo of "he is coming."
"We strengthen this house, Lorraine. Rituals, seals, protection. Elise and I will handle it. But there's something else… something that demon summoned. I don't know what it is yet, but I'll find it before it arrives."
Renai looked at Cassian, grateful but fearful.
"Will you protect us? Even if it comes back?"
"I will," Cassian promised. "No one else will fall while I'm here."
Calm returned to the house, fragile and tense, but the echo in Cassian's mind didn't fade.