Mr. and Mrs. Devalcourt were completely content at the moment. Lying together in bed wearing only bed sheets while holding each other as close as possible. They were both on their sides facing each other, his arms were wrapped around her waist and back, her hands rest on his arms and shoulders, and both had their faces buried in the crook of their spouse's neck.
"Do you remember that time our parents caught us in bed together?" Charlie whispered to her husband.
"Yes." He answered. "You had slept over at my house much later than usual and when Mother came in to wake me up, there we were."
"We were only ten so obviously we had done nothing other than sleep but Daddy was still furious. He spent the whole day ranting about sins of the flesh and he almost forbade me to see you again."
"But do you remember what you said that made him change his mind?"
"Uh...No."
"Really? Because I do." He teased before kissing her neck.
"Al don't."
"You told him that if he wouldn't let us be friends anymore then you would run away and marry me."
Charlie hid her blushing cheeks deeper into his neck. He chuckled at the fact that even after all these years, she could still get so flustered when it came to their relationship.
"What a silly and adorable little girl you were." He said.
"Oh? And you weren't a silly and adorable little boy?"
"I don't recall saying anything so silly that day."
"No. You didn't say anything but if I remember correctly, as soon as I said that I would marry you, you almost passed out." She giggled.
"I...I was in shock."
"Oh sure and you were probably in shock when later that evening you shouted in your room repeatedly 'She loves me, she loves me, she loves me.'"
"How did you know that?"
"Your mother told me."
Now he was embarrassed over the past behaviors of childhood.
"Mother never could keep a secret."
"She also told me that when you were fourteen you swore before God that I would be the only girl you'd ever touch."
"Mother!" Alastor cried up to her spirit in heaven.
Charlie bit her lip to keep herself from bursting into a fit of laughter.
"She meant well Al. She was only trying to make sure that I knew you were a good boy and not like those dirty minded ones who wanted take advantage of me as my father put it."
"Sometimes I think she wanted you to marry me more than I did."
They laughed quietly to ensure that they wouldn't wake the kids.
"We should probably change into sleep wear in case the kids walk in." Charlie suggested.
They were so tired and didn't feel like getting up and getting dressed but they knew that if they didn't, there was a good chance that they could end up traumatizing their children for life. She slipped back on her night gown, he put on an old t-shirt and sweat pants, and the two settled back into each other's arms as they drifted off to sleep.
The night was mostly quiet but much later Carrie awoke to hear those strange voices again. She tried to block them out, she didn't want to talk to them but they just wouldn't give her any peace. She heard the sound of the television being turned on downstairs and nervously went to investigate. As before the TV screen projected only static and she could hear the voices much clearer from the device. But that didn't make her feel any less afraid.
"Go away." She said quietly. "I don't want to talk to you."
The voices spoke back to her.
"Because you scare me...You can't come in my house...Because you're in the TV, aren't you?...What do you mean the TV is just a window?"
Suddenly the TV started to shake rapidly, looking as if it was about to explode but the TV did no such thing. Instead wisp-like figures came flying out from the screen and surrounding the entire room. At first Carrie could only be still, not sure what to do but when one of those figures tried to grab her she ran upstairs and straight for Aaron's room.
The wisps followed her and slammed both the bed room door and windows shut. They were flying all around the room, making the most bone-chilling noises. Noises which woke Aaron.
"Carrie what's going on?!"
Aaron jumped from his bed and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Circuits, lamp lights, and electric toys started to spark. Light bulbs broke and vents burst open. Furniture shook as though an earthquake was taking place. The electricity in the house was going completely haywire.
"Carrie duck!"
Aaron grabbed his sister and ran for cover when he sensed that the ceiling could collapse.
It wasn't long before the strange occurrences awakened their parents who's first action was to immediately see to their children's safety. When they ran through the hallway they felt as if the floor was tipping them and they fell over a few times. They followed their children's screams to Aaron's bedroom and fought to open the door.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Carrie screamed in fright.
"Get us out of here!" Aaron shouted.
"We're coming!" Charlie cried to them.
"Damn it! The door won't open!" Alastor said jerking on the knob with all his strength.
"What do you mean it won't open?!" Charlie asked.
"It's like it's stuck!"
They heard the sound of more glass breaking from the other side followed by the children's terrified screams.
"Oh my babies!" Charlie shrieked.
"Stand back!" Alastor warned before he backed up a little ways and ran to break the door down.
Once the parents were inside the room the chaos ceased but everything was left in shambles and they couldn't see Aaron or Carrie. For a moment they felt their hearts jump right into their throats and they rapidly scoured the area. They checked the closet and under the bed but they weren't there.
"Aaron! Carrie!" Alastor shouted desperately. "Answer us!"
"Babies where are you?!" Charlie called in an equally desperate tone. "Where are you?!"
That's when they heard a creaking noise coming from the corner of the room. In that corner was Aaron's toy chest and the creaking noise was being made by the chest lid getting lifted up by a small hand. The hand was then followed by two pairs of frightened eyes popping up over the edge. Alastor and Charlie felt instant relief at the sight.
"Oh God be praised." Charlie said embracing her children. "Are you two alright? Are you hurt?"
"No Mom we're fine." Aaron said.
"Are you sure?" Alastor asked picking Carrie up from the chest. "You didn't burn yourselves anywhere? Did anything fall on your heads?"
"No Dad. We hid in the toy chest. I figured that was the best thing to use as a storm cellar or an earthquake and bomb shelter."
"Smart boy." Alastor hugged his son relieved. "My brilliantly smart boy."
"Dad what was that?" Aaron asked. "An earthquake or a storm?"
"I'm not sure."
"They're here." Carrie said. "They're here."
"Who's here?" Alastor asked the girl.
"The invisible people."
"What?!" Charlie said now getting scared. "Invisible people!? What invisible people?!"
"I think they're people. I mean I can't see them. I can only hear them and they told me that they were coming."
Charlie was always pale skinned but the very moment her daughter said those words, it was like her skin lost all color. Her body was trembling. She looked as if she was re-living a nightmare that she thought was long gone.
"Carrie don't listen to them!" She told her daughter. "No matter what don't you listen to anything they say! They're not real!"
"Charlie calm down." Alastor said.
"They're not real! Do you hear me?! They're not real! They're not real!"
"Charlie stop." Alastor leaned over and whispered firmly but gently into her ear. "Charlie I know you're scared right now but so are the kids. We have to remain calm in front of them or they'll panic."
She quickly regained her senses and understood what her husband meant. She couldn't go to pieces when she was scared like she used to. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a grown woman and a mother. A mother who needed to be strong and a reassuring for her own scared children.
"Let's all get dressed and get in the car, we're going to a motel."
"What about school?" Aaron asked.
"We're keeping you out of school today."
"Cool."
They dressed into clothes, packed up a few light-weight necessities, and drove off to the nearest motel. The car ride caused the kids to doze off only fifteen minutes after they left which gave their parents the opportunity to talk freely.
"It's not real right Alastor?" Charlie asked. "She's just imagining things like I did."
"Charlie I don't know what just happened but I'm sure it's not just a trick of the mind." Alastor said. "I know a child's imagination is very powerful but I don't think it's powerful enough to shake the house or cause electric disturbances."
"Alastor I'm really scared."
"I know you are. But it'll be alright."
"You remember how those voices made me feel? What they almost made me do? Before Daddy died he told me that he and Mom were wrong to tell me that the voices weren't real. What did that mean?"
Alastor pulled the car over and pulled his wife into his arms. He soothed her fears the best way he knew how by holding her and stroking her hair. Giving her whispers of how everything would be alright and that he would not let anything hurt her or their children. She stopped trembling but her voice still sounded so fragile.
"My father always warned me about demons. How they would come for people. Come for me. Please tell me that you don't believe what we just saw was demons."
"I can't tell you that Charlie because I don't know. But I do know that this was no earthquake or storm. This is something not natural and I think we need to consider calling someone."
"Call someone? Who?"
"About a year ago I heard that one of my clients thought the ghosts of all the animals he killed were haunting him and he actually called in people who studied these kinds of things."
"Wait there are people who study animal ghosts?" His wife asked skeptically.
"Paranormal activity actually. Anyway my client gave me the newspaper add for their services and I stuck it in my desk. I could call them."
"Are they legitimate?"
"I have no idea but we have to call someone and I believe that if we call anyone else they'll think we're crazy."
"I guess we could give them a try."
"I'll stop by my office on the way to the motel and get the add."
"I hope they're professional"
"Darling they're scientists, of course they're professional."
...
In a horribly disorganized apartment bedroom, at ten o'clock in the morning, a phone on a nightstand was ringing. A sleepy groan was heard as a hand slowly came out from under the covers of a bed and struggled to reach the phone. When the hand finally grabbed the communication device the appendage brought it to the mouth of a woman who had yet to be fully awake.
"Hello?" The woman droned. "Is this about the rent? Steve I told you you'll get the money...Wait a minute you're not Steve. Who is this?...Yes this is Professor Vagatha RamÃrez, what do you want...Services?...Services?! You're a client?!"
Sitting up from the bed in an instant was a Latin American brunette who quickly tried to fix her appearance even though she couldn't be seen by the person on the other line.
"No! No! You didn't catch me at a bad time...What can I do for you Mr...What did you say your name was again? Mr. Devalcourt, yes. Again what can I do for you?...Uh-huh...Really?...You mean it?...Hold on, this isn't a prank call is it?...It's not?...So you're serious?...Would you excuse me for a moment?"
She moved the phone away from her face.
"Angel!" She shouted.
A fair-haired Italian man sat up from the other side of her bed.
"What?! What?! I'm up! I'm up!" He said disoriented.
"Get out of bed! Get dressed! And wake up Husk! We finally have a client!"