Ignoring Sparky's playful barks for a moment, the tip of Lief's fingers slid gently over the scratch paper, while the corner of his mouth curved unconsciously into a smile.
Victor... that damn miniature genius.
For any normal person, these concepts would sound like the delirious plot of a science fiction movie, but in that boy's privileged brain, fantasies were deconstructed and reassembled as rigorous and perfectly feasible engineering.
However, just when Lief was preparing to put away the sketch and close the agency, a strange sensation emerged from the depths of his perception, making the skin on the back of his neck prickle.
It wasn't a direct threat, but a wave of anguish.
Someone was on the other side of the door, a lost soul, anxious and burdened with fear, instinctively looking for a shelter to hide.
Someone needed his help.
Almost at the same time his intuition triggered, a slight commotion and hurried footsteps resonated from the hallway, and immediately after, the door was pushed with extreme slowness, as if the person on the other side feared what they might find inside.
A woman, who appeared to be in her thirty-somethings and was wearing a traditional suit, appeared in the doorway.
She had blonde hair that looked messy and although she wore light makeup, it didn't manage to hide the deep dark circles nor the vibration of anxiety and panic that emanated from every pore of her body.
She stood at the door, clutching her purse looking with lost eyes at the agency's strange decoration, the weapons on the wall and finally at Lief, who remained standing next to the workbench.
"Hello," Lief spoke.
The sound seemed to snap her out of her trance, swallowing hard, trying desperately to gather the courage necessary to speak.
"Excuse me... Y-You... are you the owner of this place?"
Lief nodded slowly, leaning both hands on the workbench in a relaxed posture so as not to intimidate her further, and observed her, capturing every detail of her body language.
"You could say so, I'm Lief Connor," he replied, tilting his head slightly. "But, if I may make the observation, ma'am... the expression on your face suggests that you are not here for a normal visit. You look terrified, as if you were being chased by something you cannot see. Am I wrong?"
The woman trembled violently, as if those precise words had touched an exposed wire in her nervous system.
Her psychological defenses, which were barely standing, collapsed instantly. Her eyes filled with tears all of a sudden and her breath broke into a sob.
"I... I don't know! I really don't know what is real and what isn't anymore! My name is Mia, and I desperately need help! Please, you have to help me!"
"Calm down, there is no need to rush. Breathe," said Lief, coming out from behind the table and pointing to a nearby leather chair with a welcoming gesture. "Sit down and speak slowly. I assure you that here you are safe, nothing that is out there can cross that door without my permission."
Mia walked obediently toward the chair and sat on the edge, with her back straight and her body tense as a violin string, unable to relax.
Lief waited patiently, giving her the necessary space.
Mia took a deep breath several times, wiping away her tears with her hand, and when she finally looked up, the terror in her eyes was lucid and palpable.
"It... it all started as something innocent, the day I bought a doll for my daughter as a birthday gift..." she began to recount, "It was an antique doll, a big rag doll. I found it in an antique shop and my daughter, Leah, liked it at first sight, so I bought it without thinking much. But... ever since that thing entered our house, things started happening... strange things."
Lief crossed his arms, leaning against the edge of his desk. "Impossible how? I need specific details, Mia. Noises? Shadows?"
"Movement!" exclaimed Mia, raising her voice with hysteria. "At first I thought it was my imagination or that Leah was moving it, but soon it was undeniable."
"I would leave it sitting on the living room sofa with its legs crossed before going to work, and when I returned, it would appear on my daughter's bed with its legs stretched out!"
"Several times we have discovered that it changed posture on its own, clearly a second before it was sitting, and upon looking again, it was standing, leaning against a chair."
She hugged herself tightly, rubbing her arms.
"That was already bad enough, but... but then things became terrifying. The night before last, I got up at midnight to drink a glass of water. When passing through the hallway, I saw light seeping out from under Leah's door. I thought she had fallen asleep with the lamp on, so I pushed the door to take a look..."
Upon reaching this point, her face lost the little color it had left, turning gray as she recalled the image.
"I saw... that doll. It was lying there and... A red liquid was oozing in its hands! It was like... like real blood! And not only that, we found notes scribbled with crayons on the nightstand, with handwriting that isn't my daughter's, saying things like... ['Help me']..."
Lief's eyebrows raised slightly, his interest was fully awakening.
A doll that physically moves, that manifests fluids like blood and that has enough intelligence to communicate through writing.
"I understand..." he said with a serene tone, processing the information. "And your daughter? How is she reacting to all this? Has she shown behavioral changes?"
"Leah... Leah says nothing is happening, she seems not to notice what is happening and she still likes it a lot, which terrifies me even more," Mia shook her head with pain and frustration. "But I'm about to go crazy! My husband and I, we both saw it and we are living in a nightmare! We tried to seek spiritual help first and called a local priest."
"And what did the priest do?" Lief inquired quickly. "I suppose he blessed the apartment."
"Yes, he performed some prayers and sprinkled holy water, but... he seemed scared," Mia confessed, lowering her voice. "He told us that the power of that thing is very dark and ancient, and that it is beyond his ability to handle alone."
"I see... then…"
Mia raised her head, and a trace of desperate hope shone on her face. "He said we needed the best in this field. He told us we should look for the Warren couple, saying they are the only ones with the ability to deal with something like this. In fact, I have already contacted them and, after hearing my case, they agreed to come. They said they would come today!"
Upon hearing that last name, a flash of recognition crossed Lief's gaze.
The only Warrens he knew and associated with the paranormal, were Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren, the only exorcists recognized by the Catholic Church.
If they were involved, the matter was serious.
Mia, oblivious to Lief's thoughts, continued with her story, wringing her hands: "After hanging up the phone with them, the fear didn't disappear, on the contrary, it became more intense. I returned to the living room and slumped onto the sofa with my mind blank from panic, and then... then I saw this door."
She pointed toward the wooden entrance through which she had arrived, her eyes wide.
"It appeared out of nowhere, embedded in the wall of my own living room as if it had always been there. And in that moment... I felt something strange, as if a will were guiding me. A voice in my head whispered to me: 'push it, enter, in there is someone who can stop this'. So, I came."
"I understand."
Lief straightened up, abandoning his relaxed posture and walked toward the weapon rack and took down his trench coat with a fluid movement, putting it on.
"Let's go. Take me to your house right now, I want to see that tenant of yours with my own eyes."
"Ah... right now?" asked Mia surprised.
"When else?" Lief replied with crushing logic. "Do you prefer to wait sitting here until that doll finishes demolishing your house?"
"..."
Mia was left speechless for an instant, but instead of feeling pressured, an immense sense of security washed over her.
This young man, who at first glance didn't seem much older than a college student, emanated a conviction and calm so absolute that they made the fear seem manageable.
"Fine! You're right! Let's go right now!" she nodded with excitement, jumping to her feet.
The transit was instant and disorienting.
Upon crossing the threshold of the door, reality distorted briefly, passing from the agency's environment to the living room of a conventional home.
However, despite the warm furniture and family photos, the air felt strange. Lief looked around and felt the unnatural cold, it was a somber atmosphere, something typical.
In a corner of the living room, he noticed a small play area for children full of colorful toys, but which at that moment was empty and silent.
"I asked my daughter and husband to go to the neighbor's house across the street to be safe," Mia explained in a low voice.
Nodding, Lief directed his gaze to the staircase leading to the second floor.
The source of that cold energy was pulsating up there.
"Where is the doll?" he asked, although he already sensed the answer.
"In... in my daughter's room, at the end of the hall," Mia replied, pointing upstairs, not daring to take a step toward the stairs.
He didn't need further directions, Lief began to climb the steps with a firm pace.
Mia hesitated for a second, torn between terror and responsibility, but finally gritted her teeth and followed him, staying close to his back.
Upon pushing open the door to the child's room, a blast of cold, much more intense and malevolent than the one outside, rushed over them.
The room was decorated in a childish manner: pastel pink painted walls, sheets with cartoon prints, and stuffed animals on the shelves.
But at that moment, all of that seemed like a mockery, wrapped under a grayish shadow that the sunlight could not penetrate.
In the center of the room, sitting on a small white wooden chair, was the doll.
It was approximately half a meter tall. It had golden blond hair styled with straight bangs and two braids on the sides tied with red ribbons. Its eyes were large, shiny, and glassy blue, but they lacked any warmth.
It had prominent cheekbones and was sunken in the center, and the blush on its cheeks didn't look like makeup, but an unnatural red, similar to a recent bruise after receiving a blow.
Its mouth was slightly parted, with the corners curved upward in a half-smile.
It wore an immaculate white dress with red decorations and a crimson sash at the waist.
In conclusion, the overall image should have been that of a cute girl, but the contrast with the evil emanating from its expression created a repulsive effect.
That was the doll Mia was talking about.
It was simply sitting there, but Lief could feel the weight of its "gaze" following them.
"When did you say the Warrens are arriving?" he asked without taking his eyes off the doll as he walked toward it.
"T-They... said they would arrive in the afternoon," Mia stammered, staying in the doorway. "They should... they should be arriving at any moment."
"Hmm..."
Lief stopped right in front of the chair and squatted down to be at eye level with the glass eyes.
"Since they are on their way, let's wait. It just so happens that I'm curious to see the legendary Warrens work, I want to see with my own eyes how they handle this thing."
Just at that instant, the sound of a car engine stopping in the driveway broke the silence of the house, followed by the thud of vehicle doors closing.
Someone had arrived.
Mia's body tensed, and hope lit up her pale face.
"It has to be them!"
________
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