“Father!”
At Ed’s call, everyone in the living room turned toward Father Anderson.
He acknowledged them with a slight nod.
From the moment he arrived, the others had instinctively begun looking to him for direction.
“All the adults, come with me.”
The five Perron daughters didn’t need to hear every detail of what was about to happen.
Anderson crossed the central hall and entered the dining room on the other side of the staircase.
Roger and Carolyn exchanged a worried glance before rising.
“You girls stay here,” Roger instructed.
The oldest daughter looked anxiously toward her mother.
She was the same girl who had been dragged across the floor in the video Ed sent, and the terror of the previous night still lingered in her expression.
“Mom?”
Carolyn forced a reassuring smile.
“We’ll be all right.”
The girl pressed her lips together and nodded.
Carolyn squeezed her husband’s hand, and the couple followed the others into the dining room.
Ed moved closer to Lorraine.
“What is Father Anderson planning?”
Lorraine remained calm.
“He intends to remove Bathsheba tonight.”
Ed released a quiet breath of relief.
Father Anderson rarely made promises he couldn’t keep.
If he said the case could be resolved, Ed trusted him.
The farmhouse was spacious, with the central staircase dividing the living room from the dining area.
A narrow hallway beyond it led toward the rear of the house.
Compared with the crowded living room, the dining room was plainly furnished.
It contained a long wooden table, several mismatched chairs, and an open view of the kitchen.
Anderson took the seat at the head of the table.
Ed and Lorraine sat together on his right.
Roger and Carolyn took the chairs opposite them, while Brad and Drew settled nearby.
Once everyone was seated, Anderson spoke without wasting time.
“There are several supernatural entities on this property.”
No one reacted with disbelief.
They had already witnessed too many impossible things to question him.
“Not every haunting is handled the same way,” Anderson continued.
“Some spirits can be driven out directly.
Others are victims trapped by a stronger presence.
In the worst cases, the source must be contained or destroyed before the rest can move on.”
Roger and Carolyn immediately stiffened.
They stared at Anderson, clearly afraid he was about to tell them the house couldn’t be saved.
“This case can still be resolved,” he said.
“I’ll perform the exorcism tonight.”
“Thank you,” Roger said, his voice unsteady.
“Thank you so much.”
Carolyn leaned against him as tears gathered in her eyes.
Anderson studied them quietly.
Whatever had happened inside the farmhouse had pushed the family close to collapse.
The exhaustion on their faces hadn’t come from a single bad night.
They had endured weeks of fear, helplessness, and relentless pressure.
“It’s my responsibility,” Anderson said.
He rose from the table.
“Sunset is approaching.
We need to prepare now.
By the end of tonight, Bathsheba’s hold over this house must be broken.”
The others exchanged serious looks.
A formal Catholic exorcism wasn’t simply a priest shouting prayers at a possessed victim.
The exorcist normally prepared through prayer, confession, and sometimes fasting.
During the rite, he used Scripture, holy water, sacred symbols, blessed oil, and direct commands issued in the name of Jesus Christ.
The purpose was to weaken the entity’s influence, protect the victim, and force the intruding spirit to release its hold.
In some cases, learning the name used by the entity could provide an advantage.
A name gave the exorcist something specific to confront and prevented the spirit from hiding behind lies, false identities, or the voices of its victims.
However, forcing out that name was dangerous.
A weak or inexperienced priest could provoke the entity without possessing enough spiritual strength to control the consequences.
The demon might retaliate against the victim, attack the family, or turn its attention toward the exorcist.
Any priest who confronted darkness risked carrying part of it away.
Father Anderson rarely relied on prolonged questioning.
He preferred to overwhelm hostile entities with consecrated objects, carefully prepared equipment, and enough magic to crush their resistance before they could retaliate.
Tonight would be no different.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, Anderson pulled a large backpack onto the table and opened it.
The contents immediately silenced the room.
Inside were layers of crucifixes, sealed bottles of holy water, blessed medals, medical supplies, and several coils of thick braided cord submerged in clear liquid.
Ed and Lorraine had seen Anderson prepare for exorcisms before.
Even so, they exchanged a resigned glance.
Brad and Drew looked far more confused.
Drew watched Anderson arrange the equipment.
“Father, do you really need all of that for one exorcism?”
“Exorcisms are dangerous,” Anderson replied.
“Being overprepared is better than being dead.”
He removed a coil of cord that had been soaked in holy water for ten days and handed it to Ed.
He then placed ten blessed crucifixes on the table.
“Take this cord and establish a perimeter around the farmhouse.
Hang the crucifixes at the four corners, the main entrances, and the most vulnerable windows.”
Ed accepted the equipment.
“To keep everything inside.”
Brad stared at him.
“You’re trapping the spirits in the house with us?”
Anderson continued searching through the backpack.
“Yes.”
Brad opened his mouth, but no response came out.
Lorraine smiled faintly.
She and Ed had reacted almost the same way the first time they witnessed Anderson’s methods.
Ed tapped Drew on the shoulder.
“Come on.
We need to finish before sunset.”
Drew looked at the holy-water-soaked cord, then back at Anderson.
“This isn’t how I imagined an exorcism.”
“It never is,” Ed replied.
The two men carried the equipment outside.
Anderson removed another set of crucifixes from the backpack.
“One for each person.”
He handed them to Brad, Roger, and Lorraine before returning to the living room.
Everyone, including the five Perron daughters, received a blessed cross.
Anderson made sure Carolyn and the children placed theirs around their necks properly.
“If a spirit approaches, the crucifix may become hot, vibrate, or cause the entity enough pain to reveal itself,” he explained.
“If that happens, do not remove it.”
He opened a bottle of holy water and lightly sprinkled each member of the family.
The girls flinched at first, but nothing unusual happened.
Anderson then used the remaining holy water to mark a wide protective boundary around the living room.
“This will be your safe area.
Once the exorcism begins, the Perron family stays inside it unless I personally tell you to move.”
Roger looked around the room.
“What happens if one of the spirits tries to enter?”
“It will regret the attempt.”
Anderson returned to the dining room and opened a second equipment bag.
He reached inside and pulled out the Winchester Model 1897.
The heavy pump-action shotgun looked almost oversized inside the old farmhouse, but it rested naturally in his hands.
Brad stared at the weapon.
Drew, who had just returned with Ed, stopped in the doorway.
Even Roger and Carolyn looked stunned.
Anderson checked the action before loading the shotgun with custom rock-salt shells.
His black clerical clothes, broad frame, and calm expression already made him difficult to intimidate.
With the Winchester resting against his shoulder, he looked less like an ordinary priest and more like a man prepared to declare war on Hell itself.
For the first time since the haunting began, the Perron family felt something stronger than fear.
They felt safe.
End of Chapter 9
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