Dinner had been served moments ago, the family were now cleaning up their dishes while one of them took up the decision of wiping the table. All while the Warren's child sat all alone in the living room, toying with her chicken, who seems to have separation anxiety.

Georgianna went when the sun touched the sky once more, it had been a breezy sunset when the grandmother left. It was now beginning to darken, stars appeared all around the black filled night, and the sky could never have been any different.

Lia kept her gaze on Winston, the chicken had no problem adjusting to its new life, it was better than what it had in the pet store. She let her fingers roam and pet the smooth silk feathers, though you can ever hardly call it that. The chicken was far more different than any chicken you'd encounter, for it has fluffed feathers instead of their typical stiff silk ones, and they have webbed feet, as like that of a duck but more thick and well, chicken-like.

A breeze, so cold it made the hairs on Lia's nape stood. There it was again, that horrible feeling she thought was over, but it was back and now has come to face her once more. The back of her throat went dry, it felt like thousands upon thousands of sandpaper scratched the insides of her neck, but even blood couldn't salvage it dry.

Looking uneasily around the room, her ears picked up the laughter that resonated in the kitchen, her parents hadn't yet felt it, which was odd. A smell of pungent air reeked through the room, dead and rotten was a way to describe it, almost intoxicating.

Lia wrinkled her nose, the smell getting stronger and closer. Her hand made way to her chest, palms caressing the fabric of her clothes and stopped to where her heart remained closed with flesh. She took deep, short breaths ignoring the sting from the strong scent of carcass and tried remaining calm.

The lights above flickered, it almost looked like lightning though less reassuring and more...haunting. The girl could only stare at the bulbs with leveling tension, she pried her feet from feeling paralyzed, eyes darting from the ceiling to the kitchen entrance and back down.

Heavy pressure seem to settle on her ears feeling as though she was underwater, it had began ringing like church bells. Loud and pitched filled her hearing, Lia sat there now shaking and clutching both ears with her hands, desperately trying to avert the deafening tone of frequency.

Tick, the grandfather clock goes, counting down the seconds. Tock, it went, counting down the terror. Left and right the hands swayed slow, time stood like an unwelcomed guest waiting for something to occur.

The light flickered again, battling a force before shutting off completely. One by one the house lights went off until not a speck of power can be seen, the house was devoured in darkness.

Footsteps stomped beside Lia. A hand caressed her hair. Low, shallow breathing had invited itself to sit beside her. Non of which belonged to any of her parents.

Goosebumps decorated her arms, making her shiver with fear. She tried shouting, shrieking, anything that makes a noise but it only came out mumbled and blurbed. By now her blood ran cold, all the color was drained from her body and a force so strong held her bolted to where she sat.

Lia felt like passing out. The grip around her ribcage tightened its hold around the area, her eyes cried but no sound came out her lips. No matter how many times her pupils dilate, darkness still was in her vision field, not knowing something lurked right in front of her.

"Hey," A child's voice low, thin, and barely had any sound, whispered to her, "Wanna play a game?"

The power turned back on merely seconds, making everything clear and seemingly went back to how it was. Everything was normal again, it was merely a power outage...

or was it?

...

"You never let me help you," Lorraine sighed, eyeing Ed's hands that washed their dishes. The Warren couple had been in their kitchen, maliciously teasing each other about who cooks the best while doing the cleaning chore.

"You've helped enough. It is my turn to do the helping," To that, Lorraine frowned. She hasn't left Ed's side since earlier and the husband could only give her confused looks before smirking away.

She watched as Ed placed the last remaining dry, squeaky clean plates in their cupboard and closed the thing with a sigh of relief. Facing his wife, who was staring intently at him, Ed raised a brow, "What?"

She shook her head, "Nothing," Lorraine gleamed at him before looking away. The husband shrugged and dried the remnants of water off his hands and arms, before standing beside his wife yet again.

Lorraine quietly stare out the kitchen, feeling something odd. Her eyes noticed the flickering light and the seemingly damp atmosphere, "Ed, do you fee--"

For a moment, everything stopped. The lights completely had gone and the couple tried squinting their eyes a few times, each attempt failing. Ed instinctively held his wife's hand, feeling her squeeze back made him feel better.

They waited for a moment, and within seconds the power went back on. "I'll go check on our daughter," Not knowing why, Lorraine felt her stomach slowly dropping, she toyed with the jewelry on her finger trying to relieve the growing anxiety.

Lorraine finds herself staring at an empty living room, Winston was there but no signs of her daughter being in the same room as her. She didn't let herself panic, maybe her daughter went to the bathroom? Or perhaps her own room?

She called her name, only having silence as a reply back. Lorraine checked upstairs, her pace increasing each time until she stopped when she realized she had been going around the same spot calling her daughter's name but not having any answers back.

That's when the panic settled in, "Ed!"

...

A knock of breath ruptured her lungs, grunting at the sudden effect of air, and coughing up dry. Lia sits up from the ground, eyes blurred within seconds and instinctively rubbed her corneas. She looks around, pupils dilating from the sudden light the moon had given through the glass panes, and her face fell.

She was surrounded with artifacts on shelves, thousands upon them waiting for her demise. One single contact from her skin could make all hell break loose, she spun around hearing something creak. Her heart taking pace from the sudden thump from around the corner, eyes darting back and forth.

Pushing herself up, she heaved a sigh, looking around and examining the hundred trinkets of jailed spirits inside. The room always felt heavy, despite getting it blessed by a priest every month. The Warren couple made it their job to contain the evil where they know it cannot conjure, "All the evil in here, reminds me of all the good that's out there." Her mother once said, eyes gleaming particularly.

A shiver run up her spine and in instinct she rubbed her arms, ailing comfort from the sudden cold. Suppose she was imagining, but Lia couldn't deny the black shadow looming over by their rocking chair. There it was again, a creak and another followed, getting hasty and rough until it reached her ears in nothing but deafening screeches.

She rested her eyes on the wooden seat, legs trembling from what her eyes had seen. Back and forth it goes, faster and faster it rocked, Lia heaves on to catch her breath releasing a tormented sigh. She went white as a sheet, eyes threatening to spill with tears as she seemingly can't take her eyes off the terror.

From there, it starts to hum...slow and rough. Nails scratching on the damp wood as it let out a series of shrill melodies. Faster it rocked letting a husky chuckle, petting the hair of a doll Lia ought to know what shouldn't be there.

It turned around and looked at her, staring with those malicious hollow eyes and grinned from ear to ear. Panic, that was all the child could think of. Her hands were trembling non-stop and how her breath shivered terribly from the utter numbness, hadn't help with the panic she felt.

Scream, and so she did. As loud as her lungs let her, she screamed hard. Stumbling to the door, she pushes herself up the short steps before pounding her fists on the wooden obstacle. "Help! He-help!"

The closer steps it took, the grudge Lia felt came stronger. Her fingers grasped the knob, twisting and pulling the jammed up thing, desperately trying to get out. "Help! Papa! Please-"

Lia could feel it breathing down her neck and with one last attempt, she gave it her all. "Mama!"

A sharp pang came Lorraine's way, as if a sudden force so great punctured her mind like that of an arrow. "Ed! There's something wrong I-" She paused, a faint ring in her ear made her look up in worry. "What, what is it?" Ed watched as his wife held back her own tears and gasped again.

"She's in the museum," The Warren couple wasted no time rushing to the locked door of their artifact museum. With shaking hands, Lorraine tried weaving the knob with might but still failed. They could hear their daughter cry for help, each cry increasing in volume.

Ed push past his wife who was now sobbing, shouting affirmations to their daughter who seemed to scream in pain. He rammed through, grunting along the way when the door still held them no access, "Lia I need you to get back. Get back honey!"

A rush of adrenaline came and Ed once more pushed through, each attempt gaining them access. With one last mighty shove, the door finally bursted open.

Lia fell down on her knees, gasping heavily while crawling out. Her visions were blurred with tears and her mother wasted no ounce of any second to pick her up and cradle her close.

"Mama's here," The mother kissed the top of her head and cheek, closing her eyes and sigh in utter relief. Lorraine wipes the dried tears on her daughter's cheeks with her thumb, caressing the wide-eyed child close. She had been busy with Lia to notice Ed disappear through their museum, looking as if he was searching for something.

"There was someone in the room with Annabelle," Lia hugged her mother's neck tight, scared that she might disappear again. Her voice was rough and wispy, tired from the excessive crying she did. The mother could only hug her tighter and watched as her husband emerged out from the museum and bolted the door shut.

...

Lorraine slumps herself on the couch, sighing from what had happened. The couple had just tucked their daughter to bed in their bedroom, after protests and refusing to be on her own, they couldn't say no. "There's...there is something wrong,"

Ed made his way over to her and sat beside the clairvoyant. She was fiddling with her ring and Ed didn't miss the evident frown between her brows, "There is truly something wrong."

"Even I can't deny that," He sighed, closing his eyes shut for a second. Both parents were far more than worried, they were past that stage and it's most likely them being in paranoia. "My visions..."

"What about them?"

"It won't let me see, sense anything even. It's like they're not even there," Lorraine had her arms crossed, glancing at her husband who was deep in thought.

He kept quiet, debating something on his mind that only he can decide on. She watched him rub his stubble anxiously, eyes in a fixated glaze ahead. "You're not telling me something," She said, not prying her vision off him, "Hmm?"

"What is it?"

He cleared his throat and muttered incoherently, avoiding eye contact with Lorraine. "Ed, what is it?" He seem to pause before sitting up straight and faced his wife.

Ed un-clenched his fist, handing it over for his wife to see. At first it had come off as nothing but a black button, big enough for a pair on suits, but upon closer investigation it was an insect. A dead, shiny black fly was sitting on Ed's palms, it was as big as a full grown wasp and seem to be of a different species.

Lorraine glance at him in confusion, "It's just a fly?" She said, placing the dead thing on her own palms and examining it herself. "Have you seen a fly as black as night and as big as a female wasp?"

"No," She trailed, eyes scanning the limp insect. She had never been fond of insects, whether it would be butterflies, they were alright of course, but something about small tiny creatures bothers the clairvoyant.

"It looks like the one I painted," His voice low almost in a whisper, "Do you think...?"

Lorraine understood completely what he would say before he even trailed on his words, it's all in the eyes. The couple kept quiet after, storing the dead fly away in a plastic canister and headed to bed. Sleep was one of the things they were deprived of their job and they treat it as luxury the minute they get a chance for a nap, and after what happened in the span of hours this was what they needed more than ever.