The Godoy Exorcist

Alexander was helping Henry Thompson adjust and set up the cameras. These cameras were simply gigantic compared to the modern ones Alexander remembered.

It had been a major headache to carry this heavy equipment, and an even bigger headache to set it up in a way that wouldn't block the walkways. The motion and heat sensor camera had three main components: the camera itself, a metal tube—which Henry claimed was a motion sensor—and a square box that served as the heat sensor.

The camera had a strange shape to Alexander, but Henry mentioned that these were the same cameras used for making big movies, which explained why they were so expensive. The motion and heat sensors attached to the cameras weren't available to the general public, as they were primarily used for military purposes.

'Do Joseph and Mary have contacts in the military?' he wondered.

After finishing the camera setup, he was exhausted, sweaty, and hungry. To make matters worse, there was a teenager who wouldn't stop talking to him and a preteen who kept staring at him intently.

Alexander briefly looked into the living room, where mattresses and sheets were scattered around. Since the family had started taking this supernatural threat seriously, they had all chosen to sleep together in the living room.

'This brings back really bad memories…'

Stepping outside, where Katherine was talking to Mary, Alexander quickly adjusted the creases in his suit and wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. 'For us exorcists, appearances are always important. People don't see the supernatural, but they do see you, the one claiming to handle it. Always look presentable!' Jason had once said.

"Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Black. The cameras are set up, and Mr. Black is spreading the Bibles upstairs. If you don't mind, could you point me to a bathroom so I can freshen up?" Alexander asked politely.

Katherine jumped to her feet, startled, but visibly relaxed when she saw Alexander. "Of course, Mr. Godoy. On the second floor, third door on the left, there's a bathroom. Please, feel free to use it."

Alexander nodded in thanks and was heading to his car to grab a clean suit when Katherine spoke again. "Mr. Godoy, do you think that… never mind. I'm sorry for interrupting. Maybe I just need to rest a bit."

Mary had a worried look on her face, and Alexander simply gave Katherine a reassuring smile, hoping to ease her nerves. He knew what she was going through—he'd been there himself.

But his policy was simple: never get involved. He didn't want to know the family's backstory, what they thought, or who they were as individuals. His job was to investigate, identify whatever was afflicting this family, and then go home.

Taking a deep breath, Alexander reached his car, trying to push away the stray thoughts swirling in his mind.

_________

The day passed without any significant events. Joseph slept during the day, as he would stay up at night to monitor any photos captured by the cameras.

Mary and Katherine quickly became friends, while Henry spent the day trying to talk to Madeline, who, in turn, was trying to talk to Alexander.

Jason and Megan watched TV without a care in the world, while little Junior ate, slept, woke up, and played.

Alexander found the way the Black couple conducted their investigations disconcerting. They didn't try to distance themselves from the Miller family; on the contrary, they were actively trying to bond with them—completely different from how Jason had taught Alexander to handle things.

Night fell, and Maxwell, who had slept all day, woke up, ate, spoke briefly with his family, and returned to sleep in the couple's bedroom.

"I apologize on behalf of my husband. He has been under a lot of pressure since... since things started getting strange," Katherine said, her tired eyes giving away a forced smile.

"You don't need to worry about that, Katherine. I can imagine the suffering your family has gone through. Don't worry," Mary said with a kind smile.

Outside the house, next to the van, Joseph spoke with Alexander and Henry.

"Henry, you'll take the first watch with me. Alexander, please sleep in the van. In case of any emergency, I'll need to count on you. Do you have all the necessary items?"

"Yes, everything is in my briefcase," Alexander replied, patting the case lightly.

"Mr. Black, do you have any idea what it might be?" Henry asked.

Henry was 20 years old, had an unremarkable appearance with light brown hair, average height, and a well-built physique. He had been assisting the Black couple for three years, ever since his older brother, the previous assistant, had died during an investigation.

"It's hard to say, Henry. Mary didn't sense anything wrong all day, and Alexander didn't see anything either. No cursed objects, no demonic seals, nothing. That's why tonight is so important. We need to quickly determine what this entity is to come up with a plan to deal with it," Joseph said seriously.

_____

The night passed, and despite the difficulty of falling asleep, Alexander didn't notice anything alarming. Aside from some muffled arguments between Joseph and Henry, nothing happened.

The Miller family had slept well, as far as Alexander could tell from their conversations. Even so, none of them seemed particularly happy, with small disputes breaking out here and there.

'It must be nice to have the whole family together like this...' Alexander thought.

The children left for school, Katherine went to work, and Maxwell was supposed to take care of Junior, though he didn't seem too enthusiastic about it.

Maxwell still appeared a bit out of sorts, but Alexander had little time to dwell on it, as he found himself mediating the arguments between Mary and Joseph.

"Mary, I'm telling you we should investigate the forest behind the house. We've already searched the entire house more than once and found nothing!" Joseph said.

"And I'm telling you, I feel something strange in the house. Don't you trust me?" Mary frowned.

Joseph looked conflicted, as if he wanted to say more, but Alexander decided it was best to intervene.

"We can split into two groups. Henry and I will go to the forest, and the two of you can search the house once more."

Joseph merely nodded, while Mary seemed like she wanted to say more but ultimately just sighed.

The day passed quickly, with Alexander finding nothing in the forest, and yet again, the search of the house proved fruitless. Night soon descended, and heated conversations filled the Miller household.

Katherine argued with Madeline, Jason and Megan fought over which TV program to watch, and Junior cried loudly.

Used to silence, Alexander found all the noise unbearable and decided to go to bed early.

During his shift on that night's watch, nothing was found.

______

Alexander didn't work during the morning and afternoon of the following day. He went to the nearest town to rest his mind for a bit.

Jumping from one case straight into another, constantly on alert and always prepared to face an entity capable of destroying an entire city, wasn't healthy for anyone's psyche.

Walking through unfamiliar streets, he noticed shops, couples, and children heading to and from school.

He had lunch at a diner, exchanged words with women who subtly tried to flirt with him, and took in the scenery of the small town. He ended the day by visiting the local library, where he managed to borrow two books to read during his downtime.

The day had been absolutely pleasant for Alexander. Silence and peace helped him establish short-term goals and revisit his long-term aspirations.

As soon as this case was over, he planned to buy a large house, get his twin sister out of the damned asylum their parents had put her in, rescue his younger sister from their abusive father, and live a better, simpler life together, leaving their painful past behind.

However, when he returned to the Miller household, what he saw left him completely stunned.

Henry and Joseph were fighting on the front lawn, throwing punches wildly.

With considerable effort, Alexander managed to separate them, dirtying his suit in the process. Just as he was about to yell at both of them, he heard screaming coming from inside the house.

Rushing in, he found Madeline and Megan arguing over who had seen him first, Mary trying to stop Katherine from hitting Jason with a branch, and Maxwell standing idly with Junior in his arms, making no effort to mediate the situation.

It took over two hours, but Alexander finally managed to stop all the arguments in the house and piece together what had happened.

Joseph and Henry had fought because Henry blamed Joseph's incompetence for his brother's death.

Madeline and Megan had argued over who would end up with Alexander, which left him completely speechless.

Katherine had wanted to hit Jason because he got into a fight at school and was expelled.

A long discussion followed, and the Miller family asked the Black couple, Henry, and Alexander to leave their home.

____

"Since you arrived, everything seems to have gotten even worse." Those were Maxwell's words.

Joseph, Mary, Henry, and Alexander went to the nearest town, where they spent the night.

Alexander couldn't understand why everything was going so strangely wrong.

He thought it might be due to an obsessive spirit, a curse, or something of the sort, but he found nothing.

As he tossed and turned in the hotel bed, he even considered that his powers had stopped working, but he could still clearly see the curse on the Black couple, so it had to be something else.

Alexander sat up on the bed, restless and sleepless.

Turning on the lamp beside the bed, he opened his suitcase and pulled out a book with a worn leather cover.

"The 72 Pillars of Hell and Their Hordes, Author Unknown," Alexander murmured.

He read a little but soon grew bored of it. Picking up one of the books he borrowed from the library, he saw the title of one of the greatest classics the world had ever witnessed: Sherlock Holmes. Alexander was soon immersed in his reading.

As he read, Alexander pondered the events of the past week. He flipped through the book absentmindedly, not paying much attention, as the beginning seemed quite ordinary, when he heard a scream.

Quickly leaving his room, he went to the room next door, the Black couple's room.

"Joseph, Mary? Are you okay?" he asked urgently.

There was no answer, however. When he was about to break the door down, Joseph opened it with a serious expression.

"We need to talk," Joseph said.

Alexander didn't enter immediately. His years of training kicked in as his eyes scanned the now-crowded corridors. He glanced into the room and saw Mary sitting on the bed with her hands on her head. Seeing nothing strange, he finally relaxed a little.

"Alright," Alexander nodded.

As soon as he entered, Henry arrived shortly after, holding a recorder in his hand. Everyone was still in their sleepwear, but only Mary had covered herself, while Alexander was too restless to focus on that at the moment.

"I... I had a vision," Mary said weakly.

She briefly glanced at Henry, but her eyes quickly shifted to Joseph and then fixed on Alexander.

"What's tormenting the Miller family... is probably a demon... a high-ranking demon," she continued.

"Shit."

'Could my luck get any worse?' That was all Alexander thought before his mind went completely blank.