The Conjuring
Part One—Chapter Four

The next morning everyone was in the kitchen. Conversations and pancakes were made as Dalton sipped his coffee. "For you." He heard beside him and he turned to see April holding a plate of pancakes.

"Thank you, darlin'." Dalton smiled at her and she smiled back before skipping away. Everyone was enjoying their morning but Dalton wasn't really paying attention until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Wanna help me with some laundry." Lorraine asked.

"Why not?" Dalton said and she chuckled before they both headed outside.

<><><><>

Dalton was hanging sheets with Lorraine when Ed walked out, wrapping his arms around his wife and whispering words in her ear that Dalton was thankful to have not heard.

"They have such a beautiful family, don't they?" Lorraine asked them both, turning around in Ed's embrace.

"Yeah, that little one, April, did you see her bring Dalton pancakes?" Ed asked and Dalton chuckled.

Ed and Lorraine got closer to each other and Dalton shook his head, "Okay, you two. Enough lovey-dovie for today." He said.

"You're just jealous." Ed chuckled, tightening his grip on Lorraine.

"Me? Jealous? I'm sorry, did April bring you pancakes?" Dalton asked playfully before answering his own question, "No, sir." Ed and Lorraine chuckled at his humor but didn't bother to separate from each other.

<><><><>

Dalton was looking through some footage when Lorraine rushed past him, yelling Carolyn's name as she scaled the stairs. He of course ran after Lorraine, making it to her when she was trying to open the bathroom door. "Watch out!" He warned her and she moved out of the way.

He body slammed the door and it flew open to reveal Carolyn, who looked like she was just about to open the door and in a daze. Dalton and Lorraine looked at her worriedly and Lorraine asked, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I woke up just feeling a little nauseous, that's all." Carolyn shrugged it off.

"I thought I saw—" Lorraine started, making Dalton whip his head towards her. But before she could finish Carolyn cut in.

"I hear Roger and the girls." She said rudely and walked away from them.

Dalton directed his gaze to Lorraine, who spent the next few minutes telling him what happened. When he heard the story he immediately grew cautious of Carolyn. He had been possessed before, more than once, and he knew what it was like.

Flashback

Dalton sat in a wooden chair, in the middle of one of the rooms in Maurices farmhouse. He was sweating profusely as he mumbled words to himself, some in Latin and others in Latin but backwards. Lorraine stood beside him with a very worried expression as she wiped the sweat away from his face with a white cloth. His eyes were white and the priest that chanted in front of him only made it hurt more.

"Come on, Dalton. Fight it. You're stronger." Lorraine said to him, hoping it would help but it only made things worse. Dalton's head snapped towards her so fast you'd think his head might fall off.

He stared at her with wide eyes and began to speak in Latin, "Non est fortis, non est fortis (not strong, not strong)." Dalton repeated the words until the corners of his mouth upturned and he smiled devilishly at Lorraine.

Dalton lunged forward and grabbed her by the arms, Ed panicked beside them but didn't want to hurt him. "No! Dalton!" Ed yelled. But it was too late because Lorraine let out a horrified scream as she stared into Daltons glazed over eyes. The demon inside of him showed her something that even Dalton didn't know about, she kept it to herself and will continue too.

End of Flashback

That night all the adults gathered in the front room and sat around a table. Everyone either looked stressed or exhausted, and Dalton was both. Everything was quiet until Brad's screams were heard from the other room, "E-Ed! Dalton!"

Dalton got to Brad first, trying to calm him down. "What's going on?" He asked.

"I saw someone! There was a woman dressed as a maid." Brad said as he breathed heavily. Before Dalton could respond a click was heard and a camera went off.

"Dalton, Ed, we're getting something." Lorraine said, pointing to the stairs. They all rushed towards them and saw Cindy walking up steps. Roger walked behind her, ready to take her back to bed but Dalton stopped him.

"Wait, wait. We need this."

"Why do we need pictures of Cindy?" Roger asked, still confused.

"She didn't trigger it. Somebody's with her." Dalton said quietly. They all watched her walk into the room with the wooden wardrobe, and the door slammed shut behind her. Dalton, Roger, and Ed all rushed up the stairs and tried to get the door open. Ed and Dalton slammed their bodies up against it as flashes shone under the door and camera clicks sounded throughout.

A few moments later the door gave out and they barreled into the room. Cindy was nowhere to be found and the room seemed colder than it was outside. Dalton could see his breath in front of him as he, Roger, Ed, and Brad searched around the room.

"Brad, get the UV light." Ed ordered the officer, who looked at him confused.

"The what?" Brad asked.

"Just ask Drew!" Dalton answered as he continued to look for Cindy, checking under the bed and behind the door. Brad nodded and went to get the UV light from Drew, stomping into the room moments later and handing it to Ed.

"Turn off the light. Get out of the way." Ed told Brad and the light flicked off as he began scanning the floor. Blue footprints appeared, leading to the wardrobe. Ed searched through the hanged clothes before finding handprints on the back of it. "Hit the lights! Dalton!" Ed said as he took the UV light off and went to sit it down.

"Yeah." Dalton responded, already knowing what he had to do as he crouched down by the wardrobe. He pulled the wooden board away to reveal a whole in the wall that he stuck his head through, looking around he spotted Cindy in the corner. "Found her." He told the others and helped her get out before Roger took her and wrapped her in a blanket, walking out of the room.

The family walked out but April stayed behind, clutching her music box tightly. "That's where Rory hides when he's afraid." She said, looking at the wardrobe that Dalton crouched beside. Lorraine followed her gaze, deciding she should investigate it.

So she climbed in the hole herself and looked around. It was dusty and loaded with cobwebs but she noticed a table-like board that a few toys sat on. Among them was a dark spot with no dust, signing that something had previously sat there.

Dalton watched her carefully from the hole in the wall, making sure nothing happened. She turned to him and asked, "Dalton? Could I have April's music box please?" Lorraine asked and he nodded, looking back at Ed.

"Hey, Ed. Hand me April's music box, would you?" Dalton asked and Ed hustled to get it, before handing it off to him. Dalton gave it to Lorraine and she sat it down on the empty space, noticing it was a perfect match. But that wasn't all she noticed as she leaned forward, grabbing a rope that hung loosely. She began pulling it up and at the end was a sight that made her gasp softly, it was a noose.

"Dalton—" Lorraine began as she stood up, but the boards broke under her feet and she fell through them.

"Lorraine!" Dalton yelled, trying to reach out but she was too far for him to catch. "No, no, no." Dalton ran out of the room and down the stairs, Ed was on his heels as they pounded on the walls in search of Lorraine.

"Lorraine! Lorraine!" Ed yelled helplessly.

Dalton was the first to hear screams come from the cellar and he yelled for Ed as he ran toward the door, "Ed! Come on!"

"Ed! Dalton!" Lorraine screamed from the cellar and they rushed to the stairs. Dalton got there first and barreled down the steps as Lorraine ran towards him. He glanced behind her and saw the hag-like demon with yellow eyes roar at them. As he stared at her the watch that Judy gave him started to burn his wrist, leaving a nasty mark.

Dalton ignored it as he pushed Lorraine in front of him and ran up the stairs behind her, receiving an icy breath on his neck. "Ed, Dalton, I know what she did! I know what she did!" Lorraine said out of breath as they settled down in the hallway. "She possessed the mother to kill the child. She visits Carolyn every night. That's what the bruise marks are! She's feeding off of her!"

Carolyn looked at her with wide eyes and Roger stood beside his wife protectively. Lorraine and Dalton looked at each other knowingly while Ed put the pieces together. Rattling from behind them broke their thoughts and they all whipped around to see the crucifix on the mantle, which Dalton had previously placed there, shake violently before falling on its back. And one by one the other crucifix fell to the floor.

"Uh...Nancy?" Christine said shakily and Dalton turned to notice strings of Nancy's hair begin to levitate, and moments later a whole chunk was grabbed and she was thrown around the room like a rag doll as she screamed for help. The girls screamed as Nancy was thrown into a glass door, making it shatter. Ed and Dalton tried to hold her down but we're dragged with her instead.

Lorraine ran in with scissors and cut the piece of hair that was being pulled. Nancy was freed and she hugged Roger as Ed and Dalton looked at each other with wide eyes.

<><><><>

Dalton sat on the steps of the church as he waited for Ed and Lorraine to finish with Father Gordon. Before they got there Lorraine had a vision of Judy in the water out by the tree. She panicked and called her mom just to find out that Judy was okay. But she didn't forget, she took it as a warning and so did Dalton after she told him and Ed.

Dalton sighed heavily as he looked down at his watch. He didn't know if he could live with himself if something happened to Judy and it only happened because they didn't back down off of a case. Things like that happened, Dalton had experienced it before with his brother.

Flashback

It was a cold October night and Dalton was on another case with the Warrens. He had spent all night isolated in the bedroom of a house that was clearly infested with something evil. He asked if he could stay alone, and with much persuasion the Warrens let him.

He was all by himself, standing in the middle of the room. Everything was normal, until there was an instant drop in temperature and goosebumps gathered along his skin. He glanced around the pitch black room, nothing but his cross chain necklace held tightly in hand as a way of protection from anything evil. The room developed a bad aura and his breathing hitched for a second as the tension rose.

Suddenly a broken chair leg was thrown clear across the room by an invisible force, colliding with Dalton's head in one quick pound. He fell to the floor with a yell, fighting for consciousness as he stared at his necklace that laid on the ground.

"Dalton! Dalton!" He heard the worried screams of Ed and Lorraine from outside the room. The door wouldn't budge and they pushed against it helplessly but to no avail it wouldn't open.

Dalton began to cough relentlessly, and he wouldn't stop until blood splattered on the ground in front of him. And as if a switch was flipped, Dalton's mind traveled elsewhere and his thoughts immediately wondered about his little brother, who lived in his parents' old house.

"Peter." Dalton whispered his brother's name with fear evident in his voice. He forced himself to stand up, ignoring his dizziness and lack of eyesight. "Peter." He said again. But his head suddenly snapped forward, staring into the darkness. A vision passed through his mind and his breathing became shaky as he blocked out all external yells or screams of his name from Ed and Lorraine.

The vision showed his little brother, Peter, standing in front of him with a blank expression. Dalton froze in his spot as he looked down at him, unable to move when suddenly Peter's skin began to grow paler and paler. His eyes turned black and his clothes became old and tattered.

"Dalton." Peter said with his child-like voice. And seconds later a knife plummeted through the side of his head, making him tilt his head sideways.

"No!" Dalton screamed, rushing forward to grab Peter but he started to disappear into thin air. Dalton moved his hands around the ground as he fell to his knees but Peter drifted away into a mist, the last thing leaving being his face. A face Dalton would never be able to get out of his head.

"No, no, no, no." Dalton whispered to himself as he broke down on the cold, wooden floor. He knew he should've taken this demon's warning seriously, but he didn't and he paid the price. Ed and Lorraine broke through the door and found Dalton on the floor. They were quick to comfort him but as Lorraine glanced around the room. In the darkest corner was the face of a boy with a knife driven through the side of his skull and his head tilted awkwardly.

End of Flashback

Dalton received a call that same day, informing him that his little brother, Peter, had passed away. It was a freak accident, he had tripped and fallen onto a kitchen knife that went through his head. Dalton never forgot about his little brother and he didn't make the same mistake again. He never shrugged a warning off again.

"Dalton?" Lorraine called as she and Ed walked out of the church. He looked up from the ground and smiled weakly at her. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Dalton nodded, walking with them to the car.

<><><><>