The Door

I hesitated, but went in without comment, climbing into the bed. I didn't want to upset him more by resisting or asking him not to do what I knew he was going to do.

He immediately came down next to me, moving over the top of me and yanking my leg up as he stared down into my eyes. I could feel the fury rolling off of him, his want to punish me more and his anger at knowing I was right. He had not been clear enough.

He slammed his cock into me, holding himself deep inside me as I bit back a cry. Immediately he stilled my voice, but not the rest of me as he looked down at me, watching my face as I looked up at him in fear and pain.

'I should be rid of the human male,' he said, pulling back and ramming in again, making my whole body jerk upwards. 'So it is only me you may come to.'

'I will never be with him before going to sleep again!' I said quickly, putting my hands up on his chest pleadingly.

He thrust in again, making me wince in pain and yelp out silently. 'It will be my arms you crave. My bed. You will come to me without fail again and again, spending your time with me.'

'You're hurting me!'

'As you have hurt me! Never come to me this way again!'

I cried out as he rammed again, hard enough to bruise my pelvis with his. 'Please! I didn't know!'

He half snarled as he took me by the throat and put his face in mine, almost close enough to kiss me. 'Be mindful, human Elodie. Do not hurt me again.'

'I will! I will be mindful! And I won't hurt you!' I cried, holding his wrist in my hands.

He pressed himself to me, keeping his hand on my throat as he moved closer, pressing his jaw and lips to my temple. I turned my face to his neck quickly and he moved more easily. He made love to me, but I could feel his smoldering anger and hurt. It was soon forgotten as pleasure began riding up again and I lost myself to it.

I could feel his own pleasure winning out over his low mood and I knew the connection had to do with how we had been bonding as I slept. I came, clutching him and whispering his name and he was close behind me with a soft sigh of release.

He pulled me against him, pressing our bodies together almost like normal, but instead of our hands touching, his arms were around me. It felt different. More intimate.

He let me drop away into sleep.

When I woke, it wasn't halfway, to Sigur, it was to Logan, rolling to turn his alarm off.

"Mmm, baby, how'd you sleep?" he asked, yawning and flopping over next to me to look down at me. He grinned at me and leaned in to kiss me. "God you are beautiful. You ready? You sleep ok?"

"Yeah, I slept ok," I answered softly, then pulled him down for another soft kiss. "We... can never do that before I go to sleep again. After, or in the morning, but he was angry that I came to him after being with you."

"Oh... ok. Let's get dressed babe and we'll talk in the truck, ok?" he said guardedly.

I got dressed and hurried down with him, letting him hold my hand. He picked me up and put me on his seat, then held me there so I couldn't scoot over yet. "I texted Tay. Told her we were working on things. She says she's not super mad about you trying to ghost me, but she was upset that you were going to ghost her too. Her feelings are really hurt."

"I wasn't going to ghost her, I was going to say goodbye and tell her... you just beat me to it."

"Anyway, she is kind of cooling off right now if you wanted to text her later or something. She'd probably love to throw you a housewarming."

"We'll see," I said with a forced smile. I scooted over and he got in, heading to the church.

"Babe," he said softly. "This is gonna suck, but there is one other thing we have to talk about."

"What's that?"

"I talked to someone, told them about what happened to you. A doctor."

"Oh..."

"He said some things that made a lot of sense. About trauma and hallucinations and imagining things... doing things to yourself while thinking it was being done to you..."

"You think I am crazy?" I asked softly.

"No, babe, but you have to think about it. It kind of makes sense, right? No one else saw anything, only you can see this guy in your dreams..."

"What about my eyes that night? In the pics and with you?"

"Reflection? My imagination after what you said to me? The TV reflecting or something. Babe, I'm not saying I don't believe you, I do... but if there was another explanation, wouldn't that be a good thing? A few pills, a chemical correction and you'd be fine?"

"I'm not crazy!"

"No, baby, no. It's just something to think about, you know? One explanation among many?"

"I can prove it," I said, crossing my arms and looking out my window. "I will show you. Hurry up with this."

He sighed and pulled into the church and around the back. He led me into a small building off the church and two men were in there, sitting and talking. They stood up when Logan brought me in.

"Hello, I am Father Augusta and this is Bishop Lansing. I called him down to oversee this morning. You are Elodie Yost?"

"Yes," I answered, feeling ridiculous.

"And you are Logan Middleton?"

"Yeah," Logan answered, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Have a seat and tell us why you think it is you might be possessed," the older man said, gesturing to a wooden chair. I noticed the chair had fabric restraints on the arms and legs.

"Are you going to tie me into that?" I asked calmly.

"It is protocol, just in case, but it is harmless. Do you fear the chair, child?"

I shrugged. "Not the chair so much as being tied down alone with a couple old men."

"Your young man will be staying the whole time. Can you tell me why it is you think you..."

"This is Logan's idea," I cut in. "I am willing to play along to ease his mind. Can we just do this?" I asked, sitting in the chair. I bent over and buckled my ankles in myself, then sat up, glaring at the two men.

Two hours later, Logan was helping me back into his truck, his cheeks pink. "Sorry El," he said softly.

"No big. You feel better now, right? I'm not possessed? Do you want to take my car or your truck? It's a long drive."

"To your house?"

"To proof. Actually, I want to take my car and you can follow in your truck."

"El..."

"Not because I am upset, I just want to have my car so I can unpack when I get to my house later. That way you can drive back if you want and you will have your own vehicle."

"El..."

"Come on. We can stop on the way and grab breakfast."

He sighed but took me to my car.

Fifteen minutes in, he started texting me about where we were going. Forty five minutes in, he was calling me. I knew he knew where we were going, so I didn't answer. I kept driving.

I pulled in to the old victorian and had to stare. The blue paint looked new, the same color as the door with dark, navy blue trim and white accents on the scrollwork and dowels.

Logan jumped out of his truck, I am sure meaning to yell at me for coming here, but he stared too. "El? Did... did you have this place painted?"

"No," I answered. "You want proof. Look around. Look at that tree."

"Holy shit! Wasn't that IN the house the other night?"

"Yeah. That's not all, come on."

I went up the steps and opened the front door. The repaired door. I stepped in and froze. The house was full. There was furniture that looked new and clean, but it was old fashioned. Rugs on the floor, vases full of fresh flowers on tables... it was amazing.

Logan made a shocked noise as he looked around.

"When I came back, it looked... less destroyed. Like it was repairing itself. Yesterday it looked like it was almost new, but empty. Now look. It's... as if it looks just like it did seventy years ago. Like it just took itself back to its own heyday. Look around. Go look in the kitchen. Could I have done all of this too, Logan?"

"I mean, if you had a crew of people working nonstop since that night..." he said breathlessly, walking through the house. The entire thing was beautiful and pristine. He opened the fridge and put his hand in. "It's cold," he said in surprise.

"Look behind it."

He looked and made a strangled noise. "It's not plugged in!"

"I really really really want a turtle cheesecake. Open the fridge."

He opened it and we both stared at the turtle cheesecake sitting there. I had known it was going to happen, I didn't know how I knew, but I had known.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?"

"What would you like? Tell me. Anything."

"Deep fried oreo like I got at the fair last year!"

"I want a deep fried oreo. Open it."

"Holy shit El! What the hell! How is this happening?"

"Do you still think I am crazy?"

"No," he said faintly, closing the fridge.

I turned and walked through the rest of the house, still completely amazed, then went upstairs. All of the bedrooms were fully furnished and looked ready to move into. I went up to the attic and stood frozen at the top of the stairs. All of the windows were clean and there were mirrors everywhere making the room more bright. It was a paint studio, full of easels, canvases, paint, tables. I turned on the light and it lit up brightly, giving the whole room amazing light.

Logan was behind me, one stair down, looking as gobsmacked as I felt. "This... this is for you, isn't it. He did this. He did all of this for you."

"Yeah."

"This is the house you bought, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Shit. Shit Elodie! Don't you see he has you right here close now?"

"No closer than he already was. He is in my dreams. You act like he is downstairs. He isn't. The door to the tunnel is there, but the tunnel is collapsed. Besides, he was miles from that door, the roots moved me in those tunnels for hours. They are nowhere near here."

"They?"

"The Daemones. All of them. He is one of many."

"El, are you sure this is a good idea? I think we should burn this place to the ground."

"They wouldn't let you, it's been tried. They tried to demolish it, burn it, everything. Nothing works. That's why I got it so cheap."

"El..."

"I told you not to freak out."

"You also said I could look and see if I liked it and freaking live here! Like I would live here in this... place! El... this place is terrifying no matter how nice it looks! The walls will eat you!"

I laughed. "Nothing here is going to hurt me. Or anyone else who lives here. They will make sure of that. This place is protected."

"How can you know that?"

"I just know. Let's go back down."

I followed him down to the first floor, then hesitated. I went to the basement door and went down, flipping the light on. The room was huge and empty, the shelves and tables one now too. I could see the door on the far wall and I went to it confidently and calmly.

"Elodie!" Logan said desperately, grabbing my arm and stopping me a few feet away.

"It's alright, Logan. I want to show you." I pulled away and opened the door, showing him the compact dirt wall behind it. "It's not there. See?"

"What if it comes back?"

"What if it does? I know it won't. Not until Halloween night. I have made up my mind, Logan. I am staying here. You can stay too if you want, and so can Taylor once she graduates, if she wants. Even Cooper. Six bedrooms, a house big enough we will hardly run into each other, a kitchen that never has to be restocked. It's up to you, but there is one rule. No sex between us after 4 PM, unless I wake up in the night."

"Because of him. He doesn't like it. This... is kind of messed up El."

"I know. I tried to do this without you, you didn't want me to. So this is me allowing you in. I wouldn't blame you for walking away, but I am not forcing you out. That's what you wanted, right?"

"El..." he said in confusion, looking around the house. "This... this is so fucked up. And look at this. It's so... fancy. Not like you at all. I see you as more of an industrial minimalist."

"Maybe for my studio, but I like lots of bright colors and textures. I like this house and the things in it. It feels... like home."

"Are you sure about this, El?"

"Yes, I am very sure about this. I am staying right here. It's your choice if you stay as well."

"I need to think about it El, but... I don't want you staying here alone tonight?"

"I will be fine. Seriously. This place is not going to let anyone or anything hurt me."

"You say that like it's the house that is doing all of this."

"No... not the house. The door. The door into their world."

Logan blinked at me, then swallowed hard, nodding. "I am going to go talk to Taylor and... probably be back. Ok? Keep your phone on and please answer it?"

"I promise," I said, smiling up at him.

He bent and kissed me quickly, then gave another stunned look around and left. I knew he was hurrying so he could get back. I was pretty sure he was. Maybe he just wanted out of there as quickly as possible.

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Logan pulled up to the Victorian house, his sister next to him, feeling sick and terrified. "No! No no no no no!" he yelled, jumping out and looking up at the trashed, old, broken down house with a tree crashed into one side. "Tay! It was different, I swear!"

"She still ain't answering her phone," Taylor said, looking around and hoping her brother wasn't losing his mind.

Logan ran inside, looking around. There was nothing but trash from the party. Nothing at all.

Elodie was gone.