He Makes it Full of Strife

by corndog007

After the case in London, Lorraine continues to experience disturbing visions in her own home. She finds herself haunted by the past and isolated from the one person who could belay her fears. Will she be able to figure out the cause of these visions in time, or will this new terror rip apart the family she holds so dear? Takes place after The Conjuring 2.

Lorraine woke to sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. Sleepily, she rolled over and reached out to find the other side of the bed was empty. She sat up quickly, scanning the room for any sign of Ed. He should be there. Her mind flashed with images of a broken tree and a sinister smile. Lorraine jumped out of bed and hurried downstairs. Only when she found Ed standing over the stove did her heart cease its hammering inside her chest. She breathed in relief as she leaned against the doorway watching Ed cook. She knew it was irrational to worry the way she did. They'd defeated Valak and Ed had survived. She remembered grabbing his arm just before he fell through the open window, yet she still feared he was gone if she woke in the morning without him. She couldn't shake this feeling that she'd wake up and find that he'd died in that house. Usually, she had no problem leaving cases behind. She could take comfort in knowing they had banished the spirits and helped a family, and that was usually enough to ease her mind but something in this case still lingered. This time it felt like the case had followed them home, and that was a thought that terrified Lorraine.

"Morning Hon," Ed's voice pulled her from her spiraling thoughts. Lorraine smiled wanly at her husband. She met his eyes and they sparkled with joy. Ed was obviously not affected by the lingering effects of their previous case as she was.

"Morning," she murmured. Ed flipped the spatula in his hand.

"I was just making you breakfast," he said, "I thought I'd bring it up to you in bed." Lorraine giggled at his joy, almost forgetting the haunted thoughts that had plagued her moments ago.

"Sorry," she replied, "you weren't in bed. I had to find you." A darker look crossed Ed's face for a moment before he smiled softly and dropped the spatula.

"I'm right here," he said as he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug. Lorraine breathed in his familiar scent, unaware of how much she had needed to hold him, to make sure he was real. Maybe Ed had seen it. He always seemed to know what to do even if he didn't understand what was happening. Lorraine smiled as she pulled back and looked into his eyes. Ed ran a hand over her cheek.

"Why don't you go sit down? I'll bring it out," he said. Lorraine hummed her agreement before walking out to the table. She had barely sat down when Ed returned with a cup of tea.

"Thank you," she murmured as he disappeared back into the kitchen. She sipped her tea silently, willing herself to focus on the peacefulness of the morning. She saw the sun shining outside the window and smiled at the vines of flowers that trailed along the sills. However, none of this could lift her spirits as much as the young girl who came skipping into the room a second later.

"Good morning, Mom," Judy chirped as she threw her arms around her mother's neck.

"Good morning darling," Lorraine said, beaming. Judy plopped down into a seat beside her and craned her neck around to peer into the kitchen. "Dad's almost done with breakfast," Lorraine said, earning a guilty grin from her daughter. Lorraine laughed just as Ed came back in with a plate laden with eggs and bacon.

"What are you two up to?" he asked jokingly.

"Nothing," Judy said quickly, earning a laugh from both her parents. Ed left and quickly returned with two more plates. The three of them sat down to eat breakfast together. Lorraine smiled as she listened to Judy's tales of school and her friends. It made Lorraine happy to see that Judy was still able to make friends despite their line of work. She knew it had been hard on all of them, especially after Amityville, being seen as frauds and cooks. Lorraine had always felt guilty about the way their work affected Judy socially. She wanted Judy to be able to make friends and be accepted, but she knew that while Judy stood by what she and Ed did for a living, many people would malign and ridicule her as they did to her and Ed. Judy finished her breakfast and kissed them each on the cheek before heading out to school. Lorraine pushed her eggs across her plate absently after Judy had gone.

"Hey, you ok?" Ed asked, reaching for her hand. Lorraine squeezed his hand and smiled. "You look like you're a million miles away," he said softly. She simply shook her head.

"Just thinking," she said wistfully as she glanced at the door where Judy had exited moments before. Ed didn't press for any more details, a courtesy Lorraine was grateful for. They simply sat at the table holding each other's hands, and for now that was enough.

Lorraine wiped the sweat from her brow as she sat back on her heels. She looked across the yard and saw a school bus pull up. She stood up from the ground and went to greet her.

"Hi Judy," she called as Judy approached the house.

"Hi Mom," Judy greeted as she came and gave her a hug.

"Careful, I don't want to get dirt on you," Lorraine said as she held her dirty, gloved hands away from her daughter's nice school clothes.

"I'm going to do my homework," Judy said as she released her.

"Alright, I'll be in soon," Lorraine said with a smile. She turned back to the garden and resumed pulling weeds. Nearly an hour later she was finishing up when she yanked at a particularly large growth. The weed did not budge from the ground though it was no larger than any of the others. Lorraine cautiously gave another hard tug and watched in horror as the end of a noose spring out of the ground behind the roots. Lorraine gasped as she scurried back, releasing the plant in the process. She gasped for breath as she looked where it had landed. Before her sat a weed, no different than any of the others she'd pulled this afternoon. Lorraine stared at the weed with her brow furrowed.

"You okay, Hon?" Ed said, causing Lorraine to jump. When she met his gaze, he looked concerned.

"Yeah," she said dismissively. Ed frowned.

"Are you sure? You seemed distracted at breakfast too," he said as he knelt down to her level. Lorraine sighed and looked away. She hated when she worried Ed like this. She saw so much that it was normal for her to be disturbed by cases and occurrences that Ed never gave a second thought to. She knew that it was an occurrence that concerned Ed, because he was helpless to protect her or prevent her from seeing what she saw. Her first instinct was to dismiss his concern, but something in her gut told her he should know.

"I might have seen something, a vision," she said. Ed was immediately more attentive as she continued. "It's probably nothing, but for a moment I thought I saw a noose at the end of one of the weeds." Ed's brow furrowed immediately.

"What about this morning?" he asked. Lorraine ducked her head, embarrassed.

"That was nothing… I was scared," she said quietly, "when you weren't there. I know that it's over and Valak is gone, but when I woke up alone… and you weren't there… I had to make sure." Tears had sprung into her eyes, and Ed quickly put his arms around her.

"I'm right here, Hon," he soothed, "you saved me. Did you have the vision again?" he asked. Lorraine shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ed. I just… I don't know how to let this one go," she murmured into his shoulder. Ed stroked her hair and shushed her.

"It's alright," he assured her, "we'll get through it. Together." Lorraine nodded and stood up, brushing the dirt off her pants. Ed stood with her still looking at her like she might fall apart at any moment.

"I'm alright," she assured him, "I just need some time. You're right. We'll get through it." Ed smiled and kissed her chastely on the lips. He then helped her gather up her gardening supplies and led her back into the house.

Judy was lying in bed with a book when Lorraine and Ed came to her room. As they entered, her parents could hear her humming a playful melody. As they walked through the doorway of her room, she began to murmur some words.

"There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile, and he found a silver sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, who caught a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house." Lorraine froze as she recognized the melody, and Ed seemed to notice it at the same time.

"Where did you hear that, Judy?" Ed asked. Judy jumped slightly as she noticed her parents' presence in her room. She stammered for a moment, but she didn't actually say anything coherent. Ed raised his brow as he came to sit on the edge of her bed. "Judy?" he asked, a little more sternly. Judy ducked her head in shame.

"The little toy in the artifact room was playing it," she said nervously. Ed stiffened immediately as did Lorraine.

"Judy, you know you're not supposed to be in there," Lorraine said, more concerned than angry.

"I don't ever want to hear that you've been in that room again, Judy," Ed added more sternly than his wife, "do you understand me?" Judy nodded. Ed seemed appeased by Judy's clear remorse for having been in the room. "Alright, time for bed," he sighed, "goodnight sweetheart." He gave her a kiss on the forehead before heading for the door. Lorraine followed suit and kissed Judy on the forehead. She then pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Goodnight Judy," she said, "I love you so much." Judy squeezed tighter as she replied.

"I love you too, Mommy." Lorraine smiled warmly at her before following Ed out the doorway. Ed pulled the door closed behind them as they exited their daughter's room. Lorraine rang her hands as she walked down the hallway towards her own bedroom. When they had both entered and closed the door, Lorrain turned to her husband.

"Ed, I'm worried about Judy," Lorraine said immediately.

"What about her?" he said.

"You heard her singing that song. It's too dangerous having these things in the house. She's getting older and more curious, and I'm scared that something is going to happen," she said. Ed sighed.

"Judy knows she wasn't supposed to be in that room. We just need her to understand how dangerous the relics in the room really are. She can learn to be responsible," he soothed her. Lorraine shook her head vehemently.

"No Ed. We can't watch her every second, and you know it's not just a matter of her being responsible. If something happened to Judy because of something we brought into this house… I'd never forgive myself," she said, her breath hitching on the last words. Ed came over to sit beside her on the bed.

"Lorraine," he said, gently rubbing circles on her back, "I know you've been shaken up by this last case, but we're fine. You, me, and Judy are all okay. Nothing is going to happen to us, Lorraine. Okay?" he said. holding his hands on her shoulders. Lorraine sighed a shaky breath. She nodded.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm sorry. You're right." Ed smiled warmly.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything," he said, "I just wish I could do more to ease your mind." Lorraine smiled and leaned back into his strong arms.

"Hold me," she said as she curled up into his embrace. Ed happily obliged and they fell asleep like that in each other's arms. Outside their window, a shadow flitted across the wall and disappeared below their front door.

The next day, Lorraine was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. She couldn't help but feel on edge from the events of the previous day. Ed was right of course. They were all fine, and she knew that this case had indeed gotten to her more than usual. How could it not? She shook her head as she tried to expel the images of Ed being impaled upon a broken tree from her mind. As her eyes refocused on the mirror, she saw a face behind her. She whirled around but there was no one there. She turned back to the mirror and saw the same face again, only this time she recognized it. It was her own face, but it was pale and sunken in. She squinted at the sickly figure, and it mimicked her movements. Lorraine turned around again, but again, there was no face. She looked back in the mirror, and it too was void of any extra images. Lorraine furrowed her brow as she touched the mirror where the image had been. She was not unaccustomed to seeing visions, but she didn't often see visions of herself. It unsettled her, and she wondered if it was a warning or if she simply imagined her likeness in the spirit. Lorraine chose to ignore it for now, but she kept a mental note of the occurrence in case it turned out to be something more. The visions that scared her were usually the ones that took over her whole body and revealed something terrible about someone or something that was destined to happen. This didn't feel like a great warning. It was more like a message, but what did it mean? She wandered out of the bathroom and didn't feel any lingering presence, so she elected to move on with her day. She walked downstairs to find Ed leaving.

"Where are you headed?" she asked. Ed stopped and looked a little guilty. Lorraine immediately crossed her arms knowing that she wasn't going to like his answer.

"Lorraine, I know you're going to want to come, but it's just a meeting with Father Gordon. Let me do this alone. Just take it easy for a day. Please," he said quickly, obviously trying to cover all he wanted to say before she interrupted.

"I don't need to take it easy for a day, Ed," she argued. Ed sighed.

"Lorraine, please," he said rather tiredly, "I know you want to continue what we do, but maybe it's time for a break. I'm not saying we need to turn down cases, but it's been a rough couple weeks. Maybe you let me take this meeting and just relax. Please Lorraine, I don't want to make anything worse." Lorraine sighed. She wanted to argue, but even she knew that she hadn't been the same since they'd gotten back from London. Ed knew as well as she did how haunted she was by the premonition of his death. It was a very possible reality that she did her best to ignore when they went on cases. Being confronted with it over and over again was more than her nerves could take.

"Alright," she conceded. Ed seemed surprised but smiled so happily that she couldn't be bothered by his shock. She smiled as he hugged her.

"Thank you," he said softly into her ear. Lorraine smiled more to herself than to him. She often argued when Ed tried to protect her from the work they did, because she knew that her gift was vital to their work, but it still felt nice to give in once in a while. She liked seeing Ed happy and this was one instance where it may be in their best interests.

"You'll tell me all about it when you get back," she said. It was definitely a statement and not a question.

"Yes ma'am," Ed said jokingly. Lorraine laughed before kissing him goodbye. Once Ed was gone, Lorraine looked around the house. The phrase 'idle hands do the devils work' came to mind as she found herself lacking in any direction for the afternoon. Ed had said to relax, but Lorraine was quite sure that she would not be able to relax alone today. She found herself missing Ed as soon as he had left the house. That was the trouble of working so closely together. She was hardly ever without him and was made uncomfortable by his absence, especially after this last case. Lorraine hugged her arms around herself as she meandered into the study to work on some materials for their next set of lectures.

Over the next few days, Lorraine experienced multiple visions, but none so worrisome that she felt any action needed to be taken. She had, one afternoon, thought she'd seen a butcher's knife in her hand when she'd really been holding a spatula. She spent one morning going through boxes in the basement where she'd sworn she heard rushing water only to find that the basement had been silent the whole time. The most frightening occurrence had been four days after the vision in the garden, when she had been walking across the street to retrieve the mail. It had been early in the morning and the light was dim at best. As she pulled the letters out of the box, she heard the rev of a car engine. A black sedan came screeching around the corner and was headed off the road straight for Lorraine. She shrieked as she dove to the ground and waited for an impact that never came. She slowly started to raise herself up when she felt a force pressing upon her from behind. Lorraine flinched as she waited to be crushed by the vehicle, but instead she heard a concerned voice.

"Lorraine! Lorraine, what is it?" Ed asked as he tried to pull her up off the ground. Lorraine realized that it was Ed's hand on her back and quickly scrambled to stand up. She spun around, trying to locate where the car had gone but it was nowhere to be seen. "Lorraine?" Ed asked again. She turned to face him and saw the concern etched on his face.

"Where…" she asked, still glancing around for any sign of the vehicle, "there was a car."

"A car?" Ed asked, trying to understand what she had seen.

"I was getting the mail and a car came around that corner," Lorraine explained, indicating to the road where the car had come from, "it was coming toward me and then… I don't know." Ed's brow was furrowed.

"There was no car, Lorraine," he said tentatively, "I saw you the whole time. You were at the mailbox and then you dropped to the ground screaming. It must have been a vision." Now it was Lorraine's turn to be confused.

"It didn't feel like a vision," she murmured as she looked up into his eyes, "it felt real." Ed's expression suddenly looked less like concern and more like pity. Lorraine hated seeing that look in his eyes. Like he thought she was crazy. Like he didn't believe her. Lorraine shook her head as she pushed past him toward the house.

"Lorraine!" he called after her, but she was already in the house. She went upstairs and immediately got in the shower. She was grateful Ed did not follow her or try to press the matter. When she was done, she went straight to bed to avoid having to see that expression on her husband's face again. She heard him come in after she'd curled up under the covers. "Lorraine?" he asked softly. She thought about answering him and confiding in him all the visions she'd had over the past few days, but in the end she was too scared. Instead, she stayed silent and listened as he shuffled around the room and eventually slipped under the covers next to her. "Goodnight, Lorraine," he whispered as he kissed her cheek, assuming she was asleep, "I love you."

The next night, Lorraine, Ed, and Judy were gathered in their living room to watch a movie. Lorraine was curled up in the crook of Ed's arm and Judy was sitting on his other side. Lorraine smiled as she relished being able to spend time with her family, all together and whole. The lights were dimmed, and Lorraine could feel her eyes growing heavy with sleep. As she drifted in and out of sleep her attention was caught by static from the television. Lorraine sat up and saw that both Ed and Judy had fallen asleep. She smiled softly and turned back to the television. She tried to turn it off, but the static remained on the screen. Lorraine furrowed her brow as she approached, but just before she touched it the static stopped. The room fell silent, and Lorraine heard the faintest melody coming from somewhere in the house. It was the same melody Judy had been humming nearly a week earlier. Lorraine crept through the house, following the sound to the basement. When she reached the room, she did not recognize it at first. However, as she looked around her eyes landed on a wall of stacked wooden chairs, and she suddenly realized where she was. She remembered this room from her vision, and her blood ran cold. She turned toward the chairs warily and sure enough they were blasted apart before her to reveal another room on the other side. However, this time the room contained, not Ed, but a broken tree trunk. It was the same broken tree trunk she'd seen outside the Hodgson's house in London. She'd only taken a step towards it when a body fell from the air and was impaled upon the sharp end of the trunk. Lorraine let out a piercing cry as she recognized Ed's empty eyes staring at her from upon the stake.

"Lorraine!" Lorraine blinked and she was back on the couch. Ed was sitting beside her, but he had moved so that he was facing her, and his hands were on her shoulders. Judy was standing behind him with a terrified look on her face. Lorraine's hand flew to her mouth as she suppressed a sob. Ed was still looking at her for some kind of answer, but she just leaned back into the couch and focused on breathing deeply. Ed seemed upset by this, but he didn't question her. He simply shifted so that he was closer to her side and ran a soothing hand up and down her arm. When Lorraine had recovered enough to speak, she met his eyes again.

"I saw it again," she whimpered. Ed looked confused.

"Saw what?"

"I saw you die," she cried, her voice cracking as she spoke. Fresh tears sprang into her

eyes and this time she leant into Ed for comfort. He obliged by putting his arm tightly around her while he stroked her hair with his other hand. This did not last long however, because as soon as Lorraine had answered Judy let out a gasp. Ed turned to face Judy who now wore a horrified look on her face.

"You're going to die?" she asked in a mousy voice. Ed pulled his arm out from around Lorraine and pulled Judy onto the couch with them.

"No," he said firmly, "I am not going to die. Your mother had a vision of the past, but she prevented that reality." He turned back to Lorraine now with an encouraging smile. She was not comforted by his assurance that she'd prevented his death. The vision was too real. "Was it the same as before?" he asked, trying to get some sort of response from her. Lorraine was still trying to grasp everything she had seen when she answered.

"Yes," she said tentatively, "it… it was the same tree and the room with the chairs, but there was no nun." Ed smiled.

"Then there's nothing to worry about," he said, "there's no nun, because it's gone. You saved me, Lorraine. I'm here and I'm fine." He turned back to Judy as he said this in an attempt to quell both their fears. Lorraine just stared at Ed's face, unable to stop herself from imagining it upside down on a tree.

"This felt… different, Ed. It was… different," Lorraine tried to explain. She knew it wasn't the same vision, but the more she tried to explain this new vision the less of it she remembered. It had to have been different. Ed had died, yes, but it had been different. There had been a tree, but that had been there in the last vision. Ed being impaled felt different, yet that's exactly what had happened in all her previous visions. She looked helplessly at Ed. He was holding Judy, who looked more frightened by the minute.

"It wasn't, Lorraine," he said more firmly than before, "we've already seen that tree and prevented that from happening." He turned to Judy now. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about. We just need to be strong for Mom. Can you do that?" Judy nodded as she nervously turned to her mother. Judy reached out her hand to hold Lorraine's and squeezed it. Lorraine looked from her hand to her daughter's face and smiled. Even without knowing what was going on, Judy was so sweet and caring. Ed interrupted their exchange by lifting Judy as he stood up.

"Alright then, let's get to bed, huh?" he asked as he set Judy down. Judy turned back to her mother.

"Goodnight Mom," she said.

"Goodnight," Lorraine replied rather absently. She watched her daughter leave the room with her husband and frowned. She couldn't help feeling a rush of jealousy at the way Ed had dismissed her fears and visions to comfort Judy. Lorraine immediately felt guilty about this and hugged her arms around her body. Maybe Ed was right, there was nothing going on. Maybe she was going crazy. Maybe she was putting Judy and Ed in danger by hysterically clinging to these visions of his death. She'd seen the tree and she'd seen the demon. Both were gone now. That vision meant nothing. It was impossible. Then why was she still having it? Lorraine was not on the couch when Ed came back down after putting Judy to bed. When he made it to their bedroom, she was already asleep so he quietly got ready for bed. If Ed had walked to the other side of the bed before laying down for the night, he would have seen the tears streaming down Lorraine's face. He may also have seen a shadow on the wall behind her with no figure to cast it.

Lorraine slept less and less every night after that. She still had visions of things where they shouldn't be, usually instruments of pain or death. She still didn't know whose death they were meant to inflict, Ed's or maybe her own. The biggest change was that she no longer felt she could confide in Ed. She was too afraid to hear him tell her it was nothing. She was afraid he would think she was going crazy. He was the only one who never had, and she couldn't lose his faith in her. She couldn't bear to live without his support and his love. So she kept these things bottled up inside her, letting them tear her apart from the inside. She withdrew into herself. She didn't go out of the house anymore and she barely interacted with the people inside it. Her mother had left in a fury days before because of Lorraine's lack of communication. Ed tried to get Lorraine to open up, but it only made her push him away further. He knew her better than anyone, and she couldn't afford to let him see through her walls. She'd distanced herself from Judy as well, afraid to scare her like she had a week ago. She hated when the work she did had a negative effect on her daughter. She never wanted to burden Judy with the things she saw or the evils she and Ed faced. Judy was still innocent, and Lorraine was desperate for her to stay that way. Lorraine's attention was pulled away by the front door opening. She sat up in bed and quietly crept to the door. Before she'd even reached the stairs, she could hear voices.

"She barely eats. She hardly sleeps, and she won't talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering her. I don't know what else to do," Ed said. Lorraine frowned. He sounded genuinely concerned, although his concern could be that she was going crazy.

"And you don't think it's this Valak?" Father Gordon's voice asked.

"No, I saw her vanquish Valak that night. He's gone. I'm afraid that the visions of my death she saw were so traumatic that she can't let them go. It feels almost like it did after Maurice's exorcism. She even saw the same vision of my death." It wasn't the same, Lorraine thought, though she couldn't remember why. She was as mad at herself as she was at Ed, probably more. If she could only explain exactly what she saw, he would believe her. "I thought it couldn't hurt to have you bless the room again, just as a precaution."

"Of course," Father Gordon replied quickly.

"I just don't know what to do," Ed said, "she keeps pulling away and I don't know how to bring her back." She could hear the hitch in Ed's voice as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ed," Father Gordon said. Lorraine listened as their voices faded down the hall. She peered down the stairs after them and saw them disappear into the artifact room. She wanted to go speak to them, but she'd heard the pity in Father Gordon's voice the same way she heard it in Ed's. She didn't need both of them treating her like a wounded animal. She wasn't broken. She didn't need fixing. Lorraine crept back up the stairs before they could come back out and see her. She returned to her bed where she'd spent nearly all of the past six days and wept.

Lorraine sat at the desk in the study as the light started to grow dim. She was trying to work on material for the lectures but found it impossible to focus on anything. She found herself taking the key to Annabelle's case out and turning it over in her hands. She thought about the doll sitting only a few rooms away. Could a blessing and a lock really keep that evil at bay? Lorraine had begun to question if any of her and Ed's work really meant anything. Were they really helping people, or were they just causing more harm by interfering? Or were they putting their own family in too much danger in the process? Lorraine knew that Ed was worried about her. He'd been following her around trying to get her to open up. She couldn't. She ran her finger over the jagged edge of the metal. Footsteps approached from the hallway. Lorraine threw the key down on the desk and looked up. Ed entered the doorway and looked at the papers before her. He sighed.

"Lorraine, please take a break. You can't keep going like this," he pleaded with her. Lorraine was irritated by his insistence on her relaxing and taking it easy. He'd been doing it all week. He acted like he was walking on eggshells when he was around her. She missed her Ed. The Ed that was eager to tell her about new cases, and who's eyes lit up when they heard something on a tape that shouldn't be there. She missed the Ed that trusted her and didn't treat her like a china doll that could break at any moment. Ever since the exorcism of Maurice, she felt like he wanted to distance her from cases. In the beginning it was to protect her, but now she was sure he wanted her to give it up all together. She had these visions for a reason. This is what she was meant to do, and God wouldn't give her more than she could handle. She needed to do this work. He used to understand that. She stopped a tear from rolling down her face as she looked at a man she felt she hardly recognized. It seemed they both felt that way these days. Lorraine pushed the paper aside.

"I was just putting together some materials for the lectures," she said, her voice thick with irritation, "there's nothing dangerous about that." Ed frowned.

"That's not what I'm worried about, Lorraine," he said softly, inching toward her, "I know that something's been bothering you and I wish you would talk to me about it. I don't know how to help you if you don't tell me what's going on." She was silent and Ed began to look a little desperate. "Lorraine, please," he begged.

"I don't think you can help, Ed," she said.

"Just let me try, Lorraine," he pleaded, encouraged by her response, "please Lorraine, we're a team. Let me be there for you." Lorraine suddenly felt angry. If he had wanted to be there for her, he would have believed her that her visions were new. He wouldn't have brought Father Gordon into the house behind her back. He wouldn't have told Judy there was nothing to worry about because there was.

"You can't," she said more firmly as she stood up and brushed past him out of the room.

"Lorraine!" he called as he followed her down the hallway, "Lorraine, stop." He followed her to the kitchen where she began pulling food out of the cupboards. "Stop," he said gently as he put his hand over hers to prevent her from grabbing anything else.

"I have to make dinner," she said.

"Lorraine, we have to talk," Ed insisted, "we can't keep living like this." Lorraine turned away to avoid his gaze. Ed opened his mouth to speak again, but he was interrupted by a voice from the door,

"Mom, when is dinner?" Judy asked from the doorway. Lorraine turned to her quickly and smiled.

"I was just about to start cooking. Sorry, it'll be a little late tonight," she said.

"That's ok. Thanks," Judy said as she skipped out of the room. Lorraine looked at Ed with a raised eyebrow and he sighed as he removed his hand from hers.

"I'll make it," he said. Lorraine rolled her eyes and huffed.

"I'm not incompetent, Ed. I can still make dinner," she bit back. Ed's eyebrows shot up, taken aback by her harsh tone.

"I didn't mean that," he said, "I just thought you could-"

"I know," Lorraine snapped, "relax, get some rest." She threw the spoon she'd been holding down on the counter and stormed out of the kitchen. She made her way back to the study, determined to do something, anything, other than relaxing. She didn't think she could relax now if she tried. She went to sit at the desk but froze as she looked at the surface. Everything was in exactly the same place she had left it except one thing: the key to Annabelle's case. Lorraine glanced around the room to see if it had fallen off the desk. It was nowhere to be seen. "Ed?" she called. Maybe he had seen it on the desk and grabbed it. "Ed?" She received no answer. Lorraine went back to the kitchen, but Ed was nowhere to be seen. The ingredients for their dinner were sitting out on the counter, but he was not in the room. She went to see if he had put the key away, but it was not in its spot. Lorraine turned slowly. There was only one place left to look. She slowly opened the door to the artifact room. She heard a creaking noise from the other side. Lorraine tentatively walked into the room until they fell upon the Annabelle case. In front of it stood Judy. The key was in the keyhole and the door to the case was open.

"Judy, no!" Lorraine cried as she rushed toward her daughter, but before she could get to her Annabelle's arm swung out from behind Judy. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Lorraine watched the knife in Annabelle's hand descended toward Judy's neck. Lorraine's insides screamed but she could not make herself move any faster. She could not get to Judy in time. The knife plunged into the flesh of Judy's neck and ripped across her throat. Suddenly, everything sped up. Lorraine was on the ground in seconds, holding her daughter's lifeless, bloody body. A strangled scream escaped her lungs as she clutched the girl to her chest. Lorraine could think of nothing. All she could do was scream.

"Lorraine!" She barely registered Ed's voice though when she did, she ignored it. Nothing mattered but Judy. "Lorraine!" A force spun Lorraine around and suddenly she was standing face to face with Ed. "Lorraine, what happened?" he asked anxiously. Lorraine looked at Ed and then the room around them. They were in the study. Lorraine raised a hand to her face and found it drenched with tears. One thought penetrated the disorientation of her mind.

"Where is Judy?" she asked, her head darting around the room.

"What?" Ed asked.

"Ed, where is Judy?" she said louder as she spun around and raced out the door.

"Lorraine, wait," she heard Ed call as he followed her up the stairs, but Lorraine had a one-track mind. She threw open the door to her daughter's bedroom and looked around wildly. The room was empty.

"Judy!" Lorraine called as she threw open the door to Judy's closet. Ed entered the room behind her and glanced around. He too was disturbed by Judy's absence.

"Judy?" he called as he walked back out of the room. Lorraine followed him closely.

"Judy!" They both searched the house and the yard and found no sign of Judy. Lorraine ended up back in the study and her heart stopped cold. The key wasn't on the desk. She turned and ran to the artifact room and threw open the door. The room was silent. Lorraine slowly approached the Annabelle case. It was closed and Annabelle was inside, but as Lorraine studied it more closely her breath caught in her throat. The key was still sitting in the keyhole where Judy had left it. Lorraine didn't see Ed enter the room behind her. She didn't hear him ask what was wrong. All she saw was that key and Annabelle. Lorraine screamed as she dropped to the floor. Ed was by her side in a second, but he could do nothing to stop her gut wrenching sobs. All he could do was hold her as she shrieked and sobbed, unaware of what had caused her to do so. It was the worst he had ever seen her. Eventually, he could make out a few words between the sobs.

"Judy, no… no!" she shrieked.

"Lorraine!" he said, taking her by the shoulders, "what happened to Judy?" Lorraine's cries were caught in her throat as her eyes met Ed's. Tears filled her eyes again as she whimpered in his arms.

"She… I'm so… no," she moaned as she tried to explain to Ed what had happened.

"Lorraine, please," Ed begged. She could see the terror in his eyes, "where is Judy?"

"Annabelle," Lorraine cried. Ed waited for her to continue. "Annabelle k-killed Judy." Lorraine immediately dissolved into tears again, but Ed did not catch her in his arms this time. He was frozen on the spot, his eyes locked on the key in the case. He slowly stood up and walked over to the case. He took the key out of the case and pulled on the door. It was locked. The key hadn't been turned.

"Where did it happen?" he asked in a hollow voice. Lorraine was still weeping on the floor and Ed came up to her and turned her to face him. "Lorraine, where did it happen?" he asked more desperately. Lorraine gasped for breath as she turned to the case.

"There," she breathed as she pointed to Annabelle. Ed got up and went back over to the case.

"She's not here, Lorraine. Where is she?" he asked, turning back to her. Lorraine shook her head.

"It was right there," she cried.

"That's impossible, Lorraine. Judy's not here. Annabelle is still in the case. We just have to find her," he said as he headed toward the door.

"She moved the key," Lorraine cried after him, "she opened the case and she killed her."

"Stop it, Lorraine!" Ed shouted. Lorraine's eyes went wide as she looked at her husband. His eyes immediately filled with regret, but he did not approach her. "I'm going to find Judy." Ed left Lorraine alone in the room. When he was gone, she collapsed back down onto the floor. She cried there for hours. It was her fault. She'd left the key out of Judy to find. She'd brought Annabelle into her home in the first place. Her job, the very work that defined her, had taken the most precious thing in her life away from her. All the good she'd ever done meant nothing to her if it cost her child. Judy. Her only child. Lorraine wept as she held her arms tightly around herself, wishing Judy was there to fill them. She saw the shadow that crept up the wall and loomed over her. She even saw the crooked smile that flashed before her eyes, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

Ed returned hours later to find Lorraine in the same spot he'd left her in. She had fallen asleep on the floor, tear tracks still etched into her cheeks. Ed gently leaned down to pick her up. As he lifted her, he noticed how pale she was and the dark circles under her eyes. She barely looked like herself. He knew he probably looked terrible as well. Both sported red rimmed eyes and tear stained clothes. He'd spent the whole evening calling people and searching the neighborhood for his daughter. By all accounts, Judy had disappeared. He'd involved the police, but at this point there was nothing more he could do. When it was all done, he'd gone back to find Lorraine, but she wasn't in their room. He felt terrible when he found her still on the floor of the artifact room. He should have done something. She said there was something more, but she'd never mentioned Judy. He had no idea that her visions meant Judy was in danger. Why hadn't she warned him? He lifted Lorraine off the ground and carried her up to their bedroom. He couldn't give up hope, not yet. Lorraine had been nearly incoherent when she described what she saw, and without a body Ed wasn't going to stop searching for his daughter. Judy was alive somewhere; he just knew it.

Lorraine awoke in her bed. She sat up slowly and looked around the room. It looked much the same as it had the past two days. Sun filtered through the window to illuminate Ed's side of the bed which was empty again. The rest of the room remained spotless save the crooked man that hovered in the corner. He'd taken to following Lorraine around, not that she'd been anywhere outside the bedroom since it happened. She didn't have the strength to fight it or even to tell Ed, who had not seen the crooked man once. She assumed his presence was suitable punishment for letting her child die, for bringing evil into her home and endangering her innocent daughter. Lorraine stared duly at the crooked man who simply smiled his crooked smile back at her. He seemed very pleased by the events of the past couple days. Ed was rarely home. He was always out looking for Judy, but Lorraine knew the truth: Judy was dead. She killed her. As if summoned by her thoughts, Ed entered the room tiredly. He clearly hadn't gotten any sleep, but he did his best to hide it.

"Lorraine," he said gently, "you have to eat something." Lorraine didn't even react to his statement. She stared at the corner, but the crooked man had gone. "Lorraine please. You can't sit in bed forever. Come help me look for her… anything." Lorraine turned to face Ed but still didn't respond. He was unnerved by the lifelessness in her eyes. "Lorraine, please," he begged as he knelt by the bed and took her hands in his, "come back to me." Lorraine looked into Ed's eyes, and finally, she spoke.

"I can't live without her, Ed," she said in a weak voice. Ed tried to speak but she had already turned away back to the corner. He knew it was no use trying to get her to do more. He'd been trying since Judy had gone missing. He had to find Judy and soon, for all their sakes. Ed left the room. Lorraine turned back to the corner, but the crooked man had not reappeared. She felt uneasy in his absence. He usually appeared as soon as Ed left, and she needed his constant reminder of the tragedy she'd wrought upon her family. She couldn't allow herself to relax. She had to be punished for what she'd done. Suddenly, a tinkling tune drifted through the house and up the stairs. Lorraine sat up as she strained her ears to listen.

"There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile." Lorraine was out of bed in an instant at the sound of Judy's voice. She rushed down the stairs and followed the tune to the basement. When she entered the basement, the music stopped and the room was empty. On the floor before her sat a bloody knife, the same bloody knife Annabelle had used to slit Judy's throat. Lorraine dropped to her knees and hugged herself tightly as she began to sob. From the darkest corner of the room, the crooked man emerged. He loomed tall over her with his face shadowed by his bowler hat. He stepped out in front of Lorraine with his gangly legs, and his arms slowly came out from behind his back. In his hand he held a noose. He offered it to Lorraine. While he did so he chanted a darker verse of the poem she had heard Judy recite not long ago.

"Everything was worthless, she heaved a great big sigh

And she went and found a rope and tied it to the sky

Upon a chair she stood her eyes were blank and dead, without another thought she went and hung her head." His raspy voice grated against her ears and sent a shiver up her spine. Lorraine couldn't tear her eyes away from the rope. Maybe it was better this way. This was her punishment for Judy's death. This was why he'd been following her. If she was gone, she wouldn't have to see the disappointment in Ed's eyes. The hurt and the blame couldn't hurt her if she was dead. This was the reason she'd seen Judy's death and he hadn't: so she would know it was her fault. They were her visions. It was her price to pay. Lorraine tentatively took the rope from the crooked man, and he smiled. He stepped out of the light, and she saw a chair set up behind him. It stood directly under a thick ceiling beam. Lorraine knew what to do. She took the rope and threw it over the beam. Her hands shook as she tied the rope off. She paused after tying the rope and stared at the chair. She wavered as she looked back toward the doorway. The crooked man stepped in front of her eyeline and herded her toward the chair. Lorraine obeyed the pressure from the crooked man and stepped up on the chair.

"Lorraine?" she heard Ed call from up the stairs. She stopped on top of the chair and looked up. The crooked man growled. Should she call back? Should she let him stop her? But what if he didn't? Maybe Ed would agree with the crooked man. After all, it was her visions that had cost him his daughter. Tears streamed down Lorraine's face as she grabbed the rope and pulled the loop over her head. As the rope settled around her neck, she heard the basement door swing open. "Lorraine?" Ed called again as he descended the steps. Lorraine froze as she watched him come into view. The crooked man had crouched in front of her chair as if to guard it. As soon as Ed's head came into view, his eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Lorraine, no! What are you doing?" he yelled as he raced down the steps. Ed stumbled at the bottom of the stairs in his rush to get to Lorraine. His eyes were filled with terror as they met those of his wife. Lorraine's breath caught in her throat, and she found she could not speak. "Lorraine," Ed called more softly as he approached her. He was intercepted by the crooked man who towered above him with a threatening growl. Ed scrambled back to avoid the grim specter. Lorraine's brow furrowed as she watched Ed retreat. Why was the crooked man still here? She'd done what he wanted. He'd never stayed to haunt Ed. It wasn't Ed's fault.

"Leave him alone," she commanded the crooked man with a shaky voice. The crooked man turned back to her and growled but took a step away from Ed.

"Lorraine!" Ed's voice redirected her attention. "Please, Lorraine, come down," he begged, "you don't have to do this." Lorraine made eye contact with Ed again. Tears filled her eyes.

"Ed," she breathed. The crooked man stood menacingly between them, but they only had eyes for each other.

"Why are you doing this?" Ed asked desperately. Lorraine choked back a sob.

"It's my fault," Lorraine sobbed, "My visions… I brought evil into our house, and now… Judy." She let fresh tears fall from her eyes as she teetered on the edge of the chair.

"Lorraine, no!" Ed shouted as he tried to get to her again. The crooked man shrieked and sent Ed tumbling back toward the wall. Ed grimaced but kept his eyes firmly on his wife. "None of this is your fault, Lorraine. We both take risks when we bring conduits into our house. I should have been more careful too. I should have taken your visions more seriously. I'm sorry, Lorraine. I'm so sorry." Lorraine shook her head.

"It's my fault," she continued to sob, "Judy is dead because of me. I have to do this."

"No you don't," Ed insisted, "if Judy is dead it is by a power far beyond our comprehension. You can't do this to yourself, Lorraine. Judy wouldn't want it. She loved you, Lorraine. I love you." Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he spoke. "You said you can't live without her, but I can't live without the two of you either. Please, Lorraine, don't leave me." Lorraine let out a strangled cry. She wanted nothing more than to run to Ed and let him envelope her in his arms. She wanted to feel his touch and know that he was really there. But she couldn't forget the image of her daughter's bloody corpse laying in her arms. She looked down and noticed that the knife was gone.

"It's gone," she said softly. She looked up at Ed, and he was watching her intently. "The knife. I saw the knife Annabelle used. It's gone." Ed looked to the spot on the floor she had stared at and then back up at Lorraine. He seemed afraid to look away from her for too long, as if she might step off the chair as soon as he looked away.

"Lorraine, come down and we can figure this out. Maybe the knife wasn't real, and maybe the vision wasn't either." Lorraine considered this. It made sense that if the knife disappeared it wasn't real, and neither was Judy's death. Lorraine was afraid to hold out hope that Judy was alive, yet she couldn't ignore the possibility, however small. "Just come down, Lorraine," Ed begged again. Lorraine nodded shakily and lifted her hands to remove the noose from her neck. Ed visibly relaxed and let out a sigh as he watched, but his relief was short lived. As soon as Lorraine reached to remove the noose, the crooked man shrieked and the noose was pulled tight around her neck. Lorraine felt the noose close around her throat and stood on her toes to keep the rope from cutting off her airway.

"Lorraine!" Ed screamed as he ran forward. The crooked man stepped toward him and threw him back against the wall. Ed slid to the ground as the crooked man rounded on Lorraine again.

"There was a crooked man," he hissed at her, "who had a crooked smile." The crooked man smirked as he ran a finger over Lorraine's cheek. She tried to flinch, but the rope around her neck was so tight that she couldn't move away. He circled Lorraine as Ed staggered up from the floor. The crooked man waited until Ed tried to approach Lorraine again, and then grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

"Ed!" Lorraine cried as Ed cried out in pain. The crooked man turned back to her with his lopsided grin.

"He didn't do anything," she shouted at him, "leave him alone." The crooked man simply grinned at her as his hand tightened around Ed's throat. Lorraine lowered herself off her tiptoes letting the rope tighten more around her neck. This seemed to get the crooked man's attention. He released his hold on Ed's neck as his eyes lit up with anticipation.

"This is what you want," Lorraine said, "if I do this, you'll leave him alone?" The crooked man was transfixed on Lorraine now, his eager eyes drinking in her despair.

"There was a crooked man," he whispered. Lorraine glanced back at Ed who was coughing in the corner as he tried to stand back up. She looked back at the crooked man with a determined gaze.

"He goes free," Lorraine insisted as the crooked man approached her.

"No Lorraine!" Ed shouted, suddenly his eyes were bright with hope "You can't. It's what he wants. That's the end of the poem. He needs you to do it. He's here for you, Lorraine. Not for me and not for Judy. You can't let him win." The crooked man shrieked and threw Ed back against the wall again, but Ed was not deterred.

"Lorraine, you have to stay strong. I have an idea and I need to go, but I'll be back. Promise me you'll stay strong," he begged.

"I promise," Lorraine squeaked. Ed looked pained as he left her there in the basement. He returned moments later with the crooked man carousel toy they'd gotten in London from the Hodgson's case. Lorraine saw that the walls that should have borne the image of the crooked man were blank. Ed set the toy on the floor and slowly cranked the handle. They all listened as the tune began to play.

"There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat who caught a crooked mouse, and they all lived together in a little crooked house," Ed chanted along with the song while inching around the room, staying far enough from Lorraine to avoid any more of the crooked man's attacks. Lorraine craned her neck to watch Ed, but she was stopped by the rope around her neck again.

"Ed," she called fearfully.

"Stay strong, Lorraine. Don't give in," he said to her, then he turned back to the crooked man. He continued chanting where the toy had stopped as he scanned the room as if searching for something. "But the crooked man was sad and once he had a thought. Why should he be crooked when others they were not?" Ed finally found what he was looking for. He pulled a rope out of a box and quickly tied a loop on the end. He threw it up over the rafters as he continued to chant. "Everything was worthless. He heaved a great big sigh. And he went and found a rope and tied it to the sky." The crooked man appeared to cringe at this line, and Ed took the opportunity to make his move. He ran toward Lorraine; confident the crooked man would follow. Sure enough, the gangly figure rushed toward him right into the noose he'd hung from the ceiling. Ed pulled the rope hard, and it caught the crooked man around the neck. The crooked man shrieked as it struggled to escape from the noose. Ed pulled hard on the other end of the rope as he tried to inch closer to Lorraine. "Upon a chair he stood. His eyes were blank and dead. Without another thought, he went and hung his head. The story's not yet over for this tale is mythed and old. Go hide under the cover. There's something not yet told." Ed pulled tight on the rope and slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. He turned and met Lorraine's eyes, and she nodded in understanding. He tossed the knife and felt the crooked man pull wildly against the rope. "There was a crooked man," Ed yelled as he fought the spirit, "who had a crooked smile. And if you've lived his life, he'll send you through a trial. He lives for your torment. He makes it full of strife." Lorraine finally cut through the rope with the pocketknife. The crooked man howled as Lorraine stepped off the chair to safety and rubbed her hands over the rope burn on her neck. "And he won't be content until you take your life," Ed finished, making direct eye contact with the crooked man. The crooked man was suddenly silent. Without pause, his body went limp and his neck snapped on the rope around his throat. Ed released the rope, and the crooked man's body fell into the toy. The specter disappeared and the crank stopped spinning. Ed stared at the toy and saw that the image of the man had reappeared on its walls. He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Ed's attention immediately redirected to Lorraine who was sitting on the floor.

"Lorraine," he said as he pulled her up into his lap, "are you alright?" Lorraine wept into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she cried, "I'm sorry Ed." Ed shushed her as he ran his hand over her hair.

"Shh, you're okay. Everything's going to be okay," he soothed her. For a moment, there was no sound but Lorraine's soft crying.

"Mommy?" a voice pierced the silence. Lorraine's head shot up as she recognized her daughter's voice. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to locate the source of the voice. She allowed Ed to help her stand.

"Judy?" Lorraine called hoarsely.

"Mom!" Judy called again, and Lorraine was across the basement in an instant. In the corner of the room stood a doorway to the room where their water heater was located. Lorraine threw the door open, Ed right at her heels, and looked inside. Sitting on the floor beside the water heater was Judy. Lorraine flung her arms around Judy as soon as she laid eyes on her. Judy clung to her mother just as fiercely and wept into her blouse.

"Judy, oh Judy," Lorraine wept as she held her daughter close, "you're alright. Are you hurt?" Lorraine pulled away to look Judy over. Judy shook her head as she held tight to her mother. Ed had entered behind Lorraine and was now sitting on the floor with them as well. He was gently running his hand through Judy's hair as Lorraine held her in her arms. Lorraine planted a kiss on Judy's forehead as she continued to mutter soothing words under her breath. She could feel the tears still running down her cheeks, but she was too preoccupied with Judy to wipe them away. Lorraine felt whole again for the first time in days, maybe even weeks. Once Judy had calmed a bit, Lorraine lifted her up and carried her out of the basement. Ed hovered behind them the whole way up to Judy's bedroom as if they might disappear if he looked away. Lorraine gently laid Judy down in her bed and wiped the tears from her daughter's eyes. Judy's eyes welled up with fresh tears as she looked up at her mother.

"I'm sorry," she cried, "it was my fault. I touched the crooked man toy. I turned the crank. It's my fault he got out." Lorraine's brow raised as she realized what had happened. She leaned down and kissed Judy's forehead again.

"It's all over now," she said soothingly, "all that matters is that you're safe now. That's all that matters." Lorraine smiled softly, relishing in the ability to look upon her daughter's beautiful face again, alive. Judy reached up tentatively and touched the angry, red marks across her mother's neck.

"He hurt you," she said softly. Lorraine reached her hand up to cover the marks and grabbed Judy's hand with her other one.

"None of that matters. He's gone," she said, "he's gone, and he'll never hurt us again." She turned back to Ed who nodded as he inched closer to Judy.

"Rest now," he said softly, "we'll discuss it all later, but right now I think we all need some rest." Judy nodded obediently as she laid back down on her sheets. Lorraine stared at Judy, unwilling to let her out of her sight so soon. Only when Ed grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door did Lorraine look away from her daughter. Ed shut the door softly behind them. Lorraine stayed there for a moment staring at the closed door until Ed turned her toward him. His concern was etched into every line on his face. Lorraine smiled softly as she caressed his face with her hand. Silently, she led him back to their bedroom and shut the door. Now that they were alone, Ed could not keep silent any longer.

"I'm so sorry, Lorraine," he said, his voice cracking, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. I should have believed you and I never should have… I shouldn't have left you alone." There were tears in his eyes, and it pained Lorraine to see him so distraught and full of regret. However, even Ed's torment could not keep the smile off her face. Judy was alive. Her family was whole again. She had everything she could ever ask for right here. Any struggles of the past few weeks faded to distant memory as she thought of all she had gained in the last few hours. Lorraine approached Ed, her smile still firmly in place.

"It's alright, Hon," she said soothingly, "we all made it out alright." Ed fingers traced the rope burn on her neck the same as Judy's had. Lorraine caught his hand and placed a kiss upon his fingers. "It doesn't hurt," she said. "How can anything hurt me when I have my family alive and whole again?" Ed couldn't help but smile along with her. He leaned forward so that his forehead rested on hers and took in a deep breath.

"I don't deserve you," he said remorsefully. Lorraine pulled back to look him firmly in the eye.

"No, Ed," she scolded him, "we deserve each other. And we deserve the beautiful little girl sleeping down the hall there. And we deserve all the happiness that God sees fit to bless us with. If this has taught me anything it's that God has a plan for us Ed, and he's not going to let us sink now. He wants us to be happy." She kissed him softly and stared into his eyes again. His eyes still shone with unshed tears, so she smiled. "You make me so happy." Ed let out a shaky breath and a few more tears slipped down his cheeks.

"God, Lorraine, I could have lost you," he breathed.

"But you didn't," she replied firmly, "you saved me." At this, Ed pulled her close and she happily obliged. Ed kissed her forehead, and Lorraine smiled and finally relaxed after two weeks of harrowing visions and Ed's insistence. After a moment, Ed began to lead her toward the bed. He sat down and pulled her close so that she lay curled up into his side. Once they were comfortable, Lorraine spoke again.

"How did you know the end of that poem?" asked softly. Ed sighed.

"I did some research on it that first night Judy sang it. There's a whole urban legend surrounding the idea of the crooked man, so I wanted to be prepared and keep an eye on things," he said, looking guilty.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lorraine asked. Ed grimaced.

"I didn't want to worry you. I thought if anything was going to happen it would be to Judy, so I didn't want to worry you until I had more. I'm sorry Lorraine, but you were already having visions of my death and I didn't want to make it worse," he said apologetically.

"But you just dismissed it," she said softly, "like… I was crazy. Like you didn't believe me." Ed sat up straighter in bed, his eyes filled with horror.

"Lorraine, no," he said earnestly, "I was trying to protect you. I didn't want you to worry unless there was something to worry about. I've never doubted you." Lorraine let a tear fall from her eye as she avoided his gaze.

"I thought…" she paused to correct herself, "he made me think you didn't believe me. That's how he got to me," she said tentatively, "I had visions all the way up until I saw Judy die, but I stopped telling you about them because I was so afraid of what you'd say. You thought they were still about your death, but they weren't. They were about mine." Ed looked stricken by this information. If he hadn't been feeling guilty before, he certainly was now.

"Lorraine," he stammered, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, Lorraine." Tears fell from his eyes as he hugged her. She stroked his hair as he continued murmuring apologies.

"Shh," she whispered, "it's not your fault Ed. He used both of us to hurt each other. You didn't know he was after me, and I'm so glad that your first instinct was to protect Judy. You were there when it mattered, Ed." Ed calmed and looked back up at her. She smiled softly and he returned the gesture.

"How do we move forward now?" he asked. Her smile broadened.

"The way we always do," she murmured, "together."