The Pact of Bathsheba

The Perron farmhouse trembled under a gray sky as Cassian and Helen met with Ed and Lorraine Warren, summoned by Carolyn after the horrors of the basement and the attacks on Nancy. Ed, a man with a firm gaze and calloused hands, carried a suitcase full of parapsychological equipment, while Lorraine, with a serene face but restless eyes, held a notebook filled with notes. Carolyn greeted them with tears in her eyes, her voice breaking as she pointed to Nancy, who was trembling on the couch with disheveled hair after being dragged by an invisible force.

"Please, help us," Carolyn pleaded, grabbing Lorraine's arm. "Nancy was attacked last night, something pulled her by the hair, and me… look at my arms, these bruises won't go away. Cassian saw something in the basement; he says it's a demon. I don't know what to do."

Cassian crossed his arms, his crucifix glowing faintly under the dim light, and looked at Ed with respect but authority.

"I'm Cassian, from the Vatican. This is Helen, my support. What I saw down there wasn't human: a woman, a blurry demon, children chanting in corrupted Latin. I fought them, but there's something bigger here. Carolyn called me, and you've arrived. What do you bring?"

Ed placed the suitcase on the ground, opening it to reveal cameras, recorders, and his own crucifix.

"I'm Ed Warren, this is my wife Lorraine. We're paranormal investigators; we help families like this one. If there's a demon, we usually gather evidence for the church, but if you're from the Vatican, I suppose you're in charge here. What exactly did you see?"

Cassian took a deep breath, his grave tone resonating.

"I went down to the basement and entered another place: fire everywhere, a woman with dead eyes, a demon I couldn't see clearly, and children with twisted faces chanting to trap me. I used a blessed crucifix to escape, but they're here, waiting. I don't need permission, Ed—I can perform an exorcism now if necessary. Are you ready to fight with me?"

Ed nodded, his expression hardening.

"I've faced ugly things before, Cassian. I'm not an exorcist like you, but I know how to keep at bay what we can't see. If you say there's a greater demon, we'll go together. What's the plan?"

Cassian pulled out his Latin prayer book, his gaze sharp.

"We bring it into the light and destroy it. I have prayers that weaken it, and if it manifests, we face it head-on. Lorraine, Helen, investigate what this is—we need a name to bind it."

Lorraine stepped forward, her voice soft but charged with experience.

"I felt something when we arrived, Cassian, a heavy presence. Helen, do you have equipment to measure this? I want to look into the house's past—it might give us answers."

Helen nodded, opening her Vatican briefcase and pulling out a residual energy device and a directional microphone.

"I've got this, Lorraine. It measures vibrations we can't see, and I've already picked up spikes in the basement and around the music box April found. We can work together, check local archives or whatever you suggest. Where do we start?"

Lorraine gestured toward the house with a nod.

"Let's go inside, Helen. We'll check the house and ask the local diocese for anything they have on this property. If there's a name, we'll find it."

As Helen and Lorraine went inside, Ed looked at Cassian, adjusting his jacket.

"If you fought something down there and came out, you're tough, Cassian. What do I do if that thing shows up? I don't speak Latin, but I can hit."

Cassian patted him on the shoulder, his tone firm.

"Hit anything you can, Ed. If it shows itself, you distract it, and I'll exorcise it. Stay close—this is going to get ugly."

Inside, Helen and Lorraine reviewed documents brought by a local priest, their faces paling as they read. Helen pointed to a yellowed page, her voice trembling.

"Look at this, Lorraine. Bathsheba Sherman, she lived here centuries ago. Not only did she hang herself, she made a pact with something—a greater demon. It says she offered blood and cursed this land. Do you think she's the woman Cassian saw?"

Lorraine nodded, her eyes fixed on the text.

"Yes, I feel her. Bathsheba isn't alone—there's something stronger with her. Helen, record everything we can; this is bigger than I thought."

In the living room, Cassian and Ed were patrolling when Nancy's scream alerted them. They ran to her room, where the girl was rigid, pointing at the ceiling. A deep laugh echoed, and a figure materialized: Bathsheba, her cracked skin and sunken eyes floating with claws extended. Cassian raised his book, shouting:

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satánica potestas!"

Bathsheba swiped her claws, but Cassian dodged, rolling to the side as Ed struck her with a candelabrum, making her retreat. The entity hissed, its voice like shattered glass:

"You can't defeat me, priest… my master holds me…"

Cassian recited louder, his voice booming:

"In nomine Dei, discede a hoc loco!"

Bathsheba dissolved into black ashes with a shriek, her physical form collapsing into a smoking pile, but the floor shook, and a deeper, guttural laugh emerged from the basement. Cassian looked at Ed, panting.

"That was Bathsheba, but there's a greater demon behind her, a Praetor Infernalis. I knew it from a psalm I recited below—it made this place tremble. It's in the basement, waiting."

Ed wiped the sweat from his brow, his tone resolute.

"Then let's go after it, Cassian. I won't let it take this family. How do we kill it?"

Cassian put away the book, pulling out his blessed dagger.

"We weaken it first. If it's a Praetor, it won't die easily, but I can bind and expel it. Follow me, Ed, and don't separate."

They descended to the basement, but before they could act, Andrea's scream called them back upstairs. Cindy, sleepwalking again, was in front of her sister's closet, her hands opening a hidden panel. A portal opened, a black vortex reeking of death, and shadows of sacrificed children emerged, their skeletal faces and hollow eyes gleaming with malice. They whispered in unison:

"Domine meus, accipe eam… infernus eam vult…"

The shadows grabbed Nancy, pulling her toward the portal with skeletal fingers. Cassian ran, pulling a vial of holy blood from his bag and spraying it into the air, shouting:

"Sanctus sanguis Christi, claude hoc ostium!"

The portal sealed with a roar, the shadows dissolving into high-pitched screams that echoed off the walls, leaving Nancy trembling on the floor. Helen, with her recorder, captured the infernal shrieks, her voice shaking as she approached Lorraine.

"I got them, Lorraine. Those things… they were children, but not human. Bathsheba sacrificed them, didn't she? This is a nightmare."

Lorraine looked at her, her face pale.

"Yes, Helen. She used them to seal her pact. Cassian and Ed need to go to the basement, but this doesn't end with her. There's something bigger down there."

Cassian helped Nancy up, looking at Ed with dark eyes.

"The Praetor is down there, Ed. Bathsheba was its puppet, and these children are its bait. Let's go—we face it now."

Ed nodded, gripping a hammer from the equipment with a trembling but determined hand.

"I'm with you, Cassian. Let's get that damn thing."

The basement awaited them, a deep echo resonating from the shadows as the laughter of the Praetor Infernalis filled the air, a palpable terror promising to devour everything its invisible claws touched.