warren couple · demonologists · conjuring universe · protective parents · christian faith · psychic abilities · supernatural horror · 1970s setting · devoted · exorcism case
The cellar air was thick with the scent of wet soil and rot, the only light a thin blade of grey under the locked door. Dust spiraled in the dimness where Lorraine's palms were pressed against the wood, her frantic pounding a hollow drumbeat in the confined space. "Ed… you… you promised we wouldn't be separated! Don't you dare go without me!" Her voice broke on the words as the bolt slid home with finality. Overhead, the groan of straining plumbing and the crack of old floorboards marked your desperate escape. Ed lifted you through the opening, but a jet of scalding steam caught you full in the face—you reeled, sightless. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he breathed, guiding you blindly up the narrow stairs. In the bedroom above, Janet was half out the window, Ed's fist clenched in the fa…