Day 10 dawned with an eerie stillness in the Diaz-Buckley household. The weight of the previous night's events hung heavy in the air as Eddie, Buck, and Christopher gathered around the breakfast table. The room, though filled with the smell of freshly made pancakes and eggs, felt cold and detached—like the house itself was aware of what had transpired the night before.
Christopher was quieter than usual, his eyes downcast as he pushed his food around his plate. He hadn't spoken much since he'd woken up, and Eddie noticed the dark circles under his son's eyes—signs that the strange visit from Emily and the woman had deeply unsettled him.
"So, about last night," Eddie began, glancing at Buck before turning to Christopher. "You said you saw Emily again, right? And a woman with her?"
Christopher nodded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Yeah… she said Ken is bad, that he's… dangerous."
Buck leaned forward, his face serious. "And this woman, Chris, she was trying to help you?"
Christopher looked up, meeting Buck's eyes. "She was. She told me to stay away from Ken, and then Emily warned me about the doll again."
Eddie exchanged a concerned glance with Buck. They had to take action—this wasn't just Christopher's imagination anymore. The pieces were falling into place, and they were dealing with something far more dangerous than they initially thought.
"We need answers," Eddie said, his voice firm. "I'm going to contact a paranormal investigator to come to the house tonight. We can't keep waiting for things to get worse."
Buck nodded in agreement. "And we should contact the Bartholomew County Jail too. We need to know more about the Adamski family—and who this Ken is."
Later that morning, Eddie made the call to a paranormal investigator, explaining the strange occurrences they had been experiencing—the doll, Christopher's imaginary friend Ken, and the ghostly apparitions. The investigator, a man named Trent, listened intently before agreeing to come to their house that evening to discuss the situation further.
"The activity you're describing sounds intense," Trent said over the phone. "It's possible you're dealing with an attachment or residual energy. I'll bring my equipment, and we can talk more in person."
After hanging up with the investigator, Eddie and Buck turned their attention to the Bartholomew County Jail. When they called, they were surprised to be put through to a cop named Jack Adamski—a man who immediately recognized the names Jennifer and William Adamski.
What Eddie and Buck didn't expect, however, was the chilling revelation that followed.
"Yes, Jennifer and William were my parents," Jack said, his voice tight over the phone. "And Emily… she was my daughter."
Buck, who had been pacing the living room during the call, froze mid-step. He shared a wide-eyed glance with Eddie as the cop on the other end began explaining the dark history behind the Adamski family.
"Emily was a normal girl, at first," Jack continued. "But after my mother gave her that doll for her birthday, everything changed. It started small—Emily talking to herself, saying she had a new friend named Ken. At first, we didn't think anything of it. Imaginary friends aren't unusual for kids."
"But then," Jack's voice cracked slightly, "Emily started acting strange—disconnected, almost like she wasn't herself. My wife and I went to visit my parents—Jennifer and William—and left Emily with them for the day. They seemed like the perfect grandparents, but it turns out they were far from it."
Eddie felt a cold knot tighten in his chest as Jack's story continued.
"Under that doll's influence, Emily started talking more and more about Ken. She said he was always with her, that he 'protected her.' My mom must've gotten wind of the strange things going on, and instead of helping, she… she did something terrible."
Jack paused, and the line crackled with a heavy silence.
"My mother started abusing Emily, dragging her to the closet and locking her in there for hours—sometimes days—at a time. She told Emily it was to 'rid her of Ken,' but it only made things worse. The last time I saw my daughter alive, she was already lost—taken over by whatever that thing was."
Buck leaned against the counter, visibly shaken by the story. Eddie, too, felt his stomach turn.
Jack took a breath before delivering the final, horrific part of the story. "One night, my wife went back to get Emily from my parents' house. When she got there, Jennifer and William refused to let her in, claiming Emily wasn't 'well enough' to leave. My wife knew something was wrong and forced her way inside."
Eddie's grip on the phone tightened as Jack spoke, his voice low and filled with pain.
"She found Emily locked in the closet, half-starved and terrified. Before my wife could get her out, my parents—Jennifer and William—they attacked her. They stabbed her repeatedly, right in front of Emily, and locked them both in that room. Emily drew pictures on the closet wall for months, depicting what had happened, until she eventually passed away in there, alone."
The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Eddie could barely process the horror of what Jack had just told them. His heart raced as he imagined the torment Emily had gone through—locked away, her mother murdered, and her only companion being the sinister presence of Ken.
"My parents were arrested after Emily's body was found," Jack continued, his voice breaking. "They were convicted of child abuse and homicide and sent to prison. But I've never been able to shake the feeling that Emily—her spirit—was never at peace."
Buck and Eddie were both in shock. Jack's story explained so much—Emily's connection to the doll, her warnings about Ken, and the strange events in their house.
"We… we think Christopher is seeing Emily," Eddie said quietly, his voice trembling. "And Ken."
Jack was silent for a moment before he replied. "If Christopher is seeing Emily, she's probably trying to warn him. That doll—Ken—it's not just an imaginary friend. It's something darker."
After the chilling conversation with Jack, Eddie and Buck immediately called Bobby Nash and Athena Grant-Nash on FaceTime, sharing the horrific revelations about the Adamski family.
Athena's face was tight with concern as she listened. "That poor girl," she whispered. "And now her spirit is trying to protect Christopher from the same thing that consumed her."
"We've got the paranormal investigator coming tonight," Buck said, running a hand through his hair. "But it feels like we're running out of time."
Bobby's voice was calm but firm. "Stay strong. You're doing everything you can. Keep Christopher safe, and see what the investigator says tonight."
After ending the call, Eddie and Buck sat in silence, their minds racing. The pieces were falling into place, but the horror of it all felt too much to bear. They knew now that the doll—and Ken—were tied to something far darker than they had imagined. And they weren't just dealing with a haunting; they were dealing with a dangerous, malevolent force.
As the day wore on and the evening approached, the house felt even heavier, as if the very walls knew what was coming. They had the answers they sought—but now they had to figure out how to break the cycle of horror that had ensnared both Emily and now their own son.
The question lingered in the back of their minds: Would they be able to save Christopher before Ken took him too?
The investigator would be there soon, but would it be enough? Or had they already ventured too far into the darkness?
