“Goodbye,” Ian said to Max as he grabbed the jacket that he had lent Max before parting ways. As Ian walked down the streets in the early night the colorful and small houses started to change into serialized and dull big family houses. 

When Ian entered his house it felt colder than usual, maybe because his parents were away on a business trip or maybe because he hasn’t had dinner at home, or maybe both at the same time. Ian didn’t bother turning the lights on and went directly to the bathroom. When he got in he turned on the heater before starting to undress, he shivered at the touch of the cold air touching his nude skin but the heater would solve that problem soon.

As the warm water soaked Ian completely he felt as if he was unfreezing, the numbed tips of his fingers felt alive again and the blood of his body was warm. 

When Ian got out of the shower the bathroom was warm and comfortable but as he opened the door the coldness of the corridor snuck into the bathroom making all the hairs in Ian’s body stand up.

Ian sighed, bothered and went to his room to put on some clothes to sleep. Before going to sleep he put his alarm on and checked that all the windows were closed, the house didn’t need more coldness.

***

Ian woke up in a halt after feeling a cold current of wind go through his back. “Didn’t I close the windows?” he thought to himself as he left his bed. When he finished checking all the windows upstairs he thought of going downstairs but decided against it, he wouldn’t have felt a wind-current from downstairs. 

As he was about to get into bed again a loud sound came from the kitchen. He grabbed a flashlight from one of his drawers before going to the kitchen. As he went downstairs the coldness of the house seemed to be stronger each minute that passed by. 

When he finally arrived at the kitchen he saw plates that were knocked over and broken on the floor. As he crouched to grab the larger pieces he saw something moving in the living room. He left the pieces on the floor and went towards the living room. 

Once in the living room he started to look around but he couldn’t see anything. As he was about to leave he felt the cold wind again. He turned around quickly and before he could even see something, a shadow passed quickly right next to him making him fall to the floor. 

Before he could get up he started to hear more noises but this time they were upstairs.

“What’s going on?” he thought as he went back upstairs. Once upstairs he looked around and saw the same shadow going into the guest room, as he made his way to the guest room he saw another shadow going into one of the bathrooms. “Are there more than one?” he thought as he walked into the guest room, finding it completely empty. Ian checked the bathroom too, only to find it empty too. As he was going back to his room the light of the corridor turned on. Ian turned to the closer switch and saw the shadow leaving. “Could it be a demon?” he thought as he turned the light off. His mind went back to when Logan told them that a demon attacked Kyle in his home, making it totally possible that a demon was the one behind this but unlike Kyle that had Logan there to help him, he was completely alone, well almost alone. 

When Ian finally accepted that whatever that was in his house was a demon he went quickly to his room to grab the rosary that Logan had given him earlier. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to exorcise it but he could call Logan, he just hoped that he wasn’t asleep. “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” Ian said as he made the sign of the cross with the rosary on his hand and watched how the golden barrier that Logan had taught them how to do appeared around him. 

“Ian?” Logan asked confused from the other side of the line as Ian was about to hang up.

“Did I wake you up?” Ian asked Logan, he didn’t want to bother him.

“No, no, I wasn’t sleeping,” Logan said quickly. “Why did you call me? Are you okay?” Logan asked him, he was confused as to why Ian was calling him that late.

“I think there’s a demon in my house,” Ian admitted. “I know it sounds crazy, maybe I’m just imagining things,” Ian started to blurt out when Logan didn’t answer.

“It's not crazy, if you think that there’s a demon then there’s a demon,” Logan said firmly to Ian. 

“What do I do?” Ian asked a bit relieved that Logan didn’t think that he was crazy.

“I’d tell you to exorcise it but I don’t think that you can do that, yet,” Logan started to say as he thought what Ian could do. “Why don’t you cast a barrier and send me your address so I can go and help you out,” Logan said after a couple of minutes of thinking. 

“Okay,” Ian answered as he sent his address to Logan.

“I’ll be there in like twenty minutes,” Logan said before hanging up. 

When Logan hung up, Ian grabbed a jacket and went to the front porch to wait for Logan, he didn’t want to spend a single moment more in the house as long as the demon was there too.

***

After almost twenty minutes Ian saw a black Toyota Corolla pull to his driveway. He watched the car with confusion until he saw Logan come out from it. He was only wearing a white tank top and gray sweatpants. 

“You drive?” Ian asked Logan once he was near enough for him to hear.

“Yep, but i prefer to walk,” Logan said to Ian as he shivered, the night was too cold and he wasn’t dressed properly. “You did what I told you,” Logan said as he pointed at Ian’s barrier, the cold was making his breath cloud in the air. 

“I did it before I called you,” Ian admitted as he looked away from Logan, he didn’t want to see his face because he knew he would say something embarrassing.

“You remembered what I taught you?” Logan said as he couldn’t believe it. “I’m moved,” Logan teased Ian. “Well aren’t you gonna invite me in? I’m freezing,” Logan said as he shivered more than before. 

Ian opened the door and quickly pulled Logan in. “Is as cold here as it is outside,” Logan said as he hugged himself to keep the warmth of his body. Ian took his jacket off and put it on Logan’s shoulders. Logan looked at Ian but didn’t say anything. 

“So, where’s the demon?” Logan asked as he looked around Ian's house. “Has anyone ever told you that your house looks like it came straight from a magazine?” Logan pointed out as he looked at Ian’s pristine house. 

“No, never,” Ian answered. No one needs to tell him, that’s what he thinks too.

As Ian guided Logan through his house to find the demon they heard noises that came from upstairs. 

“Did you hear that?” Logan asked Ian. Ian nodded in agreement and led Logan to the second floor. 

“There,” Logan whispered in Ian’s ear as he pointed to a moving shadow. “That’s the demon,” Logan clarified. 

“How do you know it?” Ian asked in curiosity.

“I feel it,” Logan explained briefly before going towards the demon. When he was a few feet away from the demon it came barging into Logan making him fall to the ground.

“That’s mean,” Logan said as he got up and watched the demon go through a wall. 

“Are you okay?” Ian asked Logan. 

“I’m okay,” Logan said. “We need to get rid of that demon,” Logan continued saying, annoyed that the demon made him fall.

“How are we going to exorcise it if it doesn’t stop moving?” Ian said making Logan have to think of a plan to get rid of it.

“Do you have an attic?” Logan asked after a few minutes of thinking. 

“Attic?” Ian asked confused.

“We are going to exorcise the whole house,” Logan said as if it was nothing. 

“The whole house?!” Ian exclaimed, shocked. “How are you going to do that?”

“Don’t worry about that just follow me to my car and lead me to your attic,”

As Ian followed Logan outside and to his car he asked him about his plan on exercising the whole house. 

“Do you know why haunted houses are haunted?” Logan started as he opened the trunk of his car. “Demons not only possess people, they can also possess objects and places,” Logan explained further when Ian didn’t answer. “I’m guessing that the demon here has possessed your house,” Logan continued as he handed Ian four figurines of crosses. 

“A demon has possessed my house? How is that even possible?” Ian asked concerned.

“Is not, someone summoned it,” Logan said seriously as he closed the trunk. 

“How do you know that?” Ian asked as they made their way back to the house.

“These kinds of demons only appear in abandoned and dirty places, they would never come here willingly,” Logan explained to Ian, still in a serious tone. “So, where’s your attic?” Logan asked once they were inside. 

“Follow me,” Ian said, making sure that Logan was behind him. “So, what are you exactly going to do?” Ian asked as he and Logan climbed the stairs to the attic. 

“We are going to use a ritual used to clean haunted houses, here it would be like using a nuclear bomb to kill a bird but that demon is way too energetic to go around following it,” Logan explained to Ian. “Why is your attic empty?” Logan asked once they arrived.

“We don’t have a lot of things,” Ian explained. “Did you say nuclear bomb?” Ian asked surprised when the conversation started to sink in.

“Yes, it may be going a bit overboard but no demon pushes me and makes me fall thinking that it would go unpunished,” Logan said in a humored tone with a bit of annoyance. “Okay, first let’s put the crosses,” Logan said as he grabbed one of the crosses that he gave Ian. 

“We have to put one for each cardinal point, so north, south, east and west, okay?” Logan said to Ian so he could put them too. 

“Do you mind if I draw on your floor? Is with chalk so don't worry,” Logan asked Ian, he was going to do it anyway but he didn't want to seem rude.

“It’s okay,” Ian said as he watched Logan. Logan drew a circle around each cross and then another one big enough to surround the four crosses. As Logan continued making more drawings the noises downstairs were stronger each time.

“Don’t worry about the noise, the demon knows we are going to kill it,” Logan said once he was done. “Now step out of the circle, careful of not erasing it, it would be dangerous if the ritual went wrong,” Logan said as he smiled, completely undermining the severity of the ritual that he is about to perform. 

Ian did as Logan told him and stepped out of the circle, careful of not erasing it and watched as Logan kneeled in the middle of the circle.

"O God, who is the source of all goodness and light, we ask for your divine protection and guidance as we face the presence of evil in this house. We pray that your holy angels surround this dwelling and that your grace and love pour forth upon it. We ask that you drive out all evil spirits and that you fill this house with your peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, we command any evil spirits to leave this place. May the power of his precious blood cleanse this house and protect it from all harm. We also pray for those who have been affected by the presence of evil in this place. May your healing and comfort be upon them, and may they find peace in your loving care. We ask all of these things through Christ our Lord, Amen." Logan said with both of his hands on his rosary and his eyes closed. 

A few seconds later four golden rays emerged from Logan’s rosary and towards the four crosses that they had paced earlier. The crosses started to glow gold and the lines made of chalk started to turn from white to gold, completely illuminating the attic in a golden mist. 

The house started to shake and the wood of the floor creaked, it seemed like the attic was having its own earthquake. As the attic shook a demon appeared in front of Logan, it was double of his size but Logan didn’t seem faced at all.

“Logan!” Ian exclaimed when it seemed like the demon was about to attack. Before the demon could even get close to Logan he stood up and stopped the hit with his bare hand, leaving Ian in awe.

When Logan opened his eyes they were completely red and he started to cry blood. Before Ian could react to the sight Logan raised his hand and the golden mist congregated on his fist, creating a sword. As the demon was about to attack again Logan swung the sword and cut the demon in half, making it disappear instantaneously. Once the demon was gone the sword and all the golden mist disappeared, leaving the crosses and chalk how they were at the beginning. 

As Logan’s eyes turned normal he collapsed to his knees and started to cough blood as a few tears of blood still fell from his face. 

“All done,” Logan said as he panted. 

***

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." 

Hebrews 4:12