Chapter 13

Todd finished storing though the box that contained the photo album. He had learned a lot about the human Todd's family. Annette's son, Larry, married a woman named Sonja. In the 1990's, Sonja had given birth to a son whom was named Todd. Prior before Todd's birth, Sonja and Larry adopted a twelve year old girl. A girl named Cassie. Cassie's parents had ended up dying in a car accident. She had no next of kin to take care of her since her mom's side of the family didn't want her and the last member of her dad's side of the family passed away five years prior. Six months after Cassie was adopted, Todd was born.

"Let's see if I can still do this. It would best to learn more about this family besides what I learn through all the photographs that Annette has accumulated over the years," said Todd. He draws a large, perfect circle in the middle of the floor with some chalk he had found in one of the boxes. In the center of the circle, Todd draws a pentagram with strange symbols around it. "This is either going to work, work and I end up burned, or work and I end up feeling hung over."

Once the drawings was complete, Todd changes into his demonic form. Not the one that he was in when Annette first summoned him, but his true form. One in which few mortals had seen him in. With his clawed hands, he carefully picks up several of the photos he had pulled out of the photo albums. "Lets piece the past together...." Todd steps into the center of the drawing, the top point of the pentagram points at the top of the circle. Todd activates his demonic abilities and each of the five points of the pentagram glow. "Lets take a step back into the past..."

The entire attic suddenly goes dark. It was the type of darkness that made it so your senses didn't work right, like in a sensory deprivation chamber. Slowly light starts to return to the attic and Todd finds himself back in the past. Back when the human Todd had last visited Annette. Todd could hear childish laughter in the house somewhere.

"I'm going to come find you, Todd," said Annette. She walks down the hallway where the demon Todd was standing. She opens a closet that he was next to. "Not here, are you?" Annette closes the door.

Childish laughter could be heard again. "Getting warmer..." The laughter continues again.

Annette walks into one of the bedrooms and finds the human Todd. His little feet was sticking out from beneath the bed. "I found you, Todd." Annette pulls the young human Todd out from beneath the bed.

"You found me, grandma," said Todd.

The demon Todd watches the events unfold before him. Annette was happy. She was a bit younger, with slight less grey to her hair. "Now where I the turning point of Annette's past? The one which Larry chose to abandon his family..."

"I found the paints, Todd. Want to help me pain the flower pots today?"

"Yes, please," said the young human Todd as he stomps his feet excitedly.

"Settle down now, Todd. Now go change into an old shirt and an old pair of jeans. We do not want to make your father upset if you dirty your new clothes with paint."

The demon Todd watches Annette take the human Todd downstairs. "Maybe this could lead up to the events?" He heads downstairs and finds that sometime had past since he seen Annette head downstairs. He could hear yelling in the kitchen and heads towards the sources of the yelling.

Sonja and Larry had young Todd standing between them. His clothes were covered in paint splotches. But what caught the demon Todd's notice was that his finger nails were painted in bright colors, like he dipped his fingertips into the paint. "Annette how could you let Todd do this?!" Sonja yells.

"Mother he will not be raised like that!" Larry yells.

"Larry you cannot suppress Todd's creative mind. He needs to let his mind grow with each new experience. You cannot suppress his need to be creative! All children need that part of themselves to be whole," said Annette. She was fighting back tears.

"You let him paint his nails! I'm not letting my son turn into one of those people!" Larry yells.

"Larry Rogers Tucker I raised to better than this!" Annette stomps towards Larry. "I did not raise you to be like that. I raised you to accept people for who they are!" Annette slaps Larry across his face.

Larry glares at Annette, rubbing his face where she had slapped him. "I think we know when our welcome is worn out." Larry grabs human Todd by his arm.

Annette watches Larry and Sonja leave with her grandson. The front door slams close behind them. Annette falls down to her knees, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks.

The memory fades to black. After about ten minutes pass and the attic turns back to normal. Todd was back in his human form and the tips of his fingers were slightly burned. "Okay this spell went better than expected. Just didn't expect to see what drove Annette's family apart. Not sure how to process this." He cleans up the spell circle and puts the photos back into the box. "Now let's see what else I can find out about Todd. Still sad that his dad flipped out over the fact he painted his fingers with paint."

Todd picks up a stack of boxes and carries them over to where he was sitting earlier. "That's one thing I still don't understand about humans at times. They shun those who are different but when it comes to one of their own family being different," Todd sits down in the chair. "I'll deal with that issue when the time comes. Larry made Annette sad for too long."