Serena sat curled up on the guest room bed, crying quietly. "Take me to Daddy," she whispered to the empty room.
The door opened gently, and two people stepped inside holding medical bags. Dr. Elena Rostova and Dr. Marcus Vance, pediatric trauma specialists.
"Hi, Ignis. Hi, Serena," Dr. Marcus smiled softly at the two children.
"Who are you?" Serena sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"We are doctors, sweetheart. We are here to treat your wounds," Dr. Elena said, pulling up a chair next to the bed. "We came from the child welfare department."
"What's that?" Serena asked, her voice trembling. "I just want to see my Mommy."
Elena exchanged a heartbreaking look with Marcus. She sat down on the edge of the mattress and gently took Serena's small hand. "Your Mom is in the sky now, watching over you."
"When will she come back?"
"She is not coming back to Earth," Elena explained softly. "She is an angel now. But if you close your eyes, you will feel her. She is always watching over you."
Serena began to cry again, her tiny shoulders shaking. "I miss her. I really wanted to see her."
"She is always with you, love," Marcus promised, gently rubbing her back.
Serena wiped her nose and managed a tiny, fragile smile. "Okay."
"Let's get you cleaned up," Elena said. She gently unbuttoned Serena's blood-stained shirt to check her injuries.
As the fabric fell away, Elena froze. All the color drained from her face.
"Who did this?" Elena whispered in sheer horror. She turned to her colleague. "Marcus... look."
Dr. Marcus stepped closer. His professional demeanor instantly shattered. "What the fuck..."
Serena's tiny back and shoulders were covered in deep, jagged lacerations and massive, dark purple bruises. The flesh was torn as if a wild animal with iron claws had flogged her.
"Who would beat a child like this?" Elena covered her mouth, her eyes watering. "This is too much. This is insane."
"What happened to her?" Marcus muttered, clenching his fists. "Why does a child have to go through so much pain? This is evil."
Elena gently laid Serena down on her stomach. Marcus patted the little girl's head. "I am so sorry, Serena. We will take care of you now."
Elena looked back at the ten-year-old boy standing by the door. "Ignis, please leave the room for a bit."
"Okay, ma'am," Ignis said obediently. He stepped out and closed the door behind him.
"Why did you send him out?" Marcus asked quietly as he unpacked the bandages and antiseptic.
"I don't want Ignis to see the wounds on her," Elena whispered, her voice shaking. "He is still just a child, too."
The Law of Men
Downstairs in the sitting room, Detective Jack O'Connor was pacing back and forth. Detective Frank Costello sat on the sofa, drinking a cup of stale coffee.
"What if it is a demon?" Jack asked, his voice low and serious.
Frank almost choked on his coffee. "Come on, Jack. We literally heard his voice on the phone."
"We saw a fucking demonic statue in that room, Frank!" Jack argued.
"And no judge in the country will ever accept 'a demon did it' as an excuse for murder!" Frank shot back.
"We have no physical evidence that he actually made that call!" Jack insisted. "Just the audio recording!"
"Audio recording is evidence!" Frank yelled.
Jack stopped pacing and pointed a finger at his partner. "Let's think logically. We saw a room flooded with blood. We saw a demonic statue. What if he isn't lying? What if it was staged?"
"Maybe he put the statue there as revenge against his cheating wife. A sick ritual," Frank shrugged.
"I find it strange. It looks too staged," Jack crossed his arms. "The girl called, and the very next moment, we hear Charles screaming about murder perfectly into the receiver? Something feels off. Something feels weird. I want the whole team to do a full investigation of what happened."
Frank rolled his eyes. "There were no cameras in the church BQ. How are we going to know anything else?"
"Get Charles to do a lie detector test! Something!"
"Look, I am an atheist," Frank stood up, his patience running thin. "I don't believe in the spiritual. And even if it is a demon, how are we going to protect the child? Putting Charles away closes the case."
"It is better than putting an innocent man in jail to be executed!" Jack snapped. "Look, here is the first major problem. The little girl told me she doesn't even know what 911 is. She didn't make that call."
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Frank frowned, but Jack kept going.
"And the second problem," Jack stepped closer. "That statue is fucking massive. You would have to climb a ladder or literally fly to reach those horns. I looked around that entire room. There was no ladder. There were no chairs knocked over. Nothing he could have climbed on. How does a starving, exhausted mechanic lift a dead weight woman twelve feet into the air and perfectly impale her on stone horns?!"
Frank went quiet for a moment. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, man. Demons are spirits, right? They don't impale people."
"The statue is a physical object!" Jack shouted in frustration. "You are not listening to me! It is physically impossible for Charles to reach that horn! No human can jump that high!"
Frank sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Okay. Let's end it. We will do a full investigation. Our crime scene team will go back inside the church tomorrow and try our best to map the physics of it. Are you happy?"
"Fuck you, man," Jack muttered. "I am just doing my job."
Frank walked to the front door. He opened it and stepped out into the night, closing it behind him.
Jack stood alone in his living room, staring at the floor. "I feel something off," he whispered to himself. "I shouldn't have gone into that room. I feel something dark."
The Purity of Children
Jack walked upstairs to check on the kids. He peeked into the guest room. The doctors were gone, and Ignis was sitting on the floor next to Serena's bed, talking to her.
"Are the doctors done?" Jack asked softly.
"Yes, sir," Ignis nodded. "They left not too long ago."
"They said I should give you this paper," Ignis added, handing Jack an invoice. "They didn't want to disturb your conversation downstairs."
Jack opened the paper, revealing their bank account number. "Oh, right. I forgot to pay them." He looked at the little girl, who was bandaged and wearing one of Ignis's oversized t-shirts. "Ignis, treat her right at all times. I'll be back."
"Yes, Daddy," Ignis smiled. Jack stepped out and closed the door.
Ignis looked back at Serena. "So... you miss your Mommy, right?"
"Yes, I do," Serena whispered.
"I am sorry to hear that," Ignis said sincerely. He carefully climbed onto the bed, mindful of her bandages, and gave her a gentle, comforting hug. "I will protect you. I am your big bro now. So where is this monster you were talking about? Bring him here! I am the King of the Universe!"
Ignis struck a ridiculous superhero pose.
For the first time since the bloodbath, Serena let out a tiny laugh. "You are funny."
Ignis grinned. He carefully grabbed her by the waist, avoiding her shoulders, and lifted her up, spinning her around before gently dropping her back onto the soft mattress.
"You are so tiny!" Ignis laughed. "You look like an angel."
Serena giggled again, the darkness in her mind retreating just a little bit.
"You look like all those tiny angels in the movies," Ignis added.
"What is a movie?" Serena asked, tilting her head.
"You don't watch movies?!" Ignis gasped dramatically. "So sad!" He quickly grabbed his tablet from the nightstand and sat her down next to him, propping the screen up. "Look at this."
They sat shoulder-to-shoulder, completely engrossed in the glowing screen, two innocent children finding comfort in each other.
The Void's Disgust
Outside the O'Connor house, hiding perfectly in the pitch-black shadows of the front yard, Azathoth watched them through the second-story window.
The God of the Void felt a sudden, sickening wave of pure rage. He ground his teeth, his red eyes burning through the dark.
"No sexual thought. No romance," Azathoth sneered in absolute disgust, staring at Ignis and Serena. "This is what I hate most. Children's love."
Azathoth gripped the bark of a nearby tree, the wood instantly rotting and turning to black ash under his fingers.
"I hate it so much," Azathoth hissed. "When a boy and a girl are together... and there is no lust. No dark desires. No manipulation."
He stared at Ignis sharing his tablet with the traumatized girl. It was an act of pure agape—selfless, unconditional, innocent human love.
"Just pure human love," Azathoth spat the words like venom. "I hate children. No twisted feelings at all. Just love."
He looked up at the stars, his hatred for the Creator of Light boiling over. "I fucking hate creation. I hate you, Astragel, for creating such creatures."
Unable to stomach the sight of innocent joy for even one more second, Azathoth vanished into the void.
The New Mother
Up in the bedroom, the movie finally ended.
"Wow," Serena breathed out, her blue eyes wide with wonder.
"I knew you would like it!" Ignis cheered. He pointed at her chest. "Your necklace is so cool, by the way."
Serena touched the glowing White Germ hanging around her neck. "Yes. My Mom's friend, Callen, gave it to me."
"Is it for your birthday?"
Serena's face suddenly saddened. The memory of the spiked whip flashed in her mind. "I don't know... it was before my birthday."
Ignis noticed her shift in mood instantly. "Are you sad? Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Serena whispered. "It's just that... I miss my parents."
"I'm sorry," Ignis said, hugging her again. He jumped up on the bed and started spinning her around by her hands to distract her.
Serena began to laugh again, a bright, musical sound. "Don't fall me down ooo! Please!" she giggled.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door. It pushed open, and Jack stepped inside, followed by a beautiful, kind-looking woman.
Ignis and Serena froze, standing on top of the mattress.
"Mommy!" Ignis cheered. "Mommy is back!"
Jack looked at his wife, Clara. "This is the girl I told you about."
Clara looked at Serena, her heart instantly breaking at the sight of the heavy white bandages peeking out from under her shirt. She looks so tiny and cute, Clara thought to herself. How could that monster beat her like that?
"Let's not make assumptions yet," Jack whispered to Clara, sensing her thoughts.
Clara walked over to the bed and gently picked Serena up, holding her warmly.
"Who are you?" Serena asked, staring at her.
"I am the mother of Ignis," Clara smiled softly.
"My own Mom left," Serena said innocently. "And she is not coming back. Do you know why?"
Clara looked around the room, fighting back her tears. "She sent me to take care of you."
Serena's eyes widened slightly. "So... you are my new Mommy?"
"No, sweetheart," Clara said, kissing Serena's forehead. "No one can ever replace your Mom. I am just here to take care of you."
The Evidence
Miles away, inside the cold, concrete walls of the central police precinct, Detective Frank Costello stood outside a holding cell.
Inside the cell, Charles sat on a metal bench, staring blankly at the floor. He looked entirely dead inside.
"Your interrogation starts tomorrow," Frank said through the steel bars. "All the best to you. But I'll be honest... our guys went back to the church. We found absolutely no physical evidence that a demon or anyone else did it."
Frank sighed. "Fuck. Obviously."
Charles didn't look up.
"If it really was a demon or a spirit like you say... then you are finished, Charles," Frank said, shaking his head. "The law is based entirely on evidence. And we have your voice threatening to murder her. That is all the law needs to put you in the ground."
Charles closed his eyes, accepting his dark, inescapable fate.