CARRIE

Chapter Forty-Three

Carrie slept until the next morning. I kept checking to see if she was awake. We all did, until we went to bed ourselves. Leah still slept in the guest room. The next morning it was like we were all in sync, we woke up at the same time. I opened my door to go check on Carrie and I saw my Mom and Leah in front of her room. We all stood in front of the room for a few seconds before bursting inside the room, she was already awake. She smiled as she saw us. “Hey” Leah said gently. She jumped up from the bed and I froze at first, she jumped on us and hugged us tight. “Thank you guys, I love you guys very much. And I’m sorry I scared you guys” She apologized. “Don’t worry about it” The three of us said at the same time. “I’m just glad you’re better now” I hugged her. Leah looked at her through one eye, “You are better now right?”. Carrie smiled, “Yes. Yes I am, thank you”. “So how was it? Did I do anything crazy?” She asked with a wide smile. We all laughed, “Well considering you were literally possessed, yeah you did quite a lot actually” I teased. “Do you want anything to eat?” My Mom asked her. She groaned a bit, “I am starving. Mom, I feel like I can eat an entire house” She laughed. My Mom’s tensed up face smoothened almost immediately, “Thank God, now I know my baby is back. Let’s go get you something to eat”. My Mom knew Carrie loved eating and sleeping, that’s why I noticed a shift in her mood when Carrie said she wasn’t hungry before. She looked much better and happier now.

We all went downstairs to eat breakfast, Carrie could walk on her own now. She was better. I sighed. I felt relieved, we were all worried. My Mom did not want to stress Carrie so she told her to stay in the living room and pick the movie we’d watch. Of course Carrie protested but my Mom was determined. After all she had seen Carrie go through, she was going to baby her for as long as it took. “I want a lot, don’t forget” She shouted from the living room as we served the food. “Don’t worry, That’s what I was planning on doing anyway. You don’t have to tell me” My Mom laughed. I chuckled softly, That was exactly what my Mom wanted to hear. That she could eat, my Mom filled up her plate for her. We didn’t usually eat in the living room, my Mom wasn’t a fan of it so we had gotten used to it, but, today she allowed us eat in the living room.cShe was actually the one that suggested it this time, “Let’s eat in the living room guys”. We all looked at her, like it was another person. “HUH??” We all shouted at the same time. She laughed, “What?”. “”Mom you never allow us eat in the living room, since we were kids” I said as I laughed. “Well, I change my mind for today. We’re eating in the living room today. BUT It’s just for today, like I said. I don’t want to hear anything about it after” She smiled as we trooped to the living room with our breakfast.

I handed Carrie’s food to her and she thanked me. She wasted no time in digging in. She sure was hungry, she was gobbling all the food up and for a while we just looked at her eat. My Mom teared up a little. Anyone that saw us at that period would wonder why we were looking that way because she was eating. What they wouldn’t understand is that days before, she could hardly eat anything. It was frightening. So now that she could eat as much as she wanted, anything she wanted, It was very nice to see.

After we finished eating, we cleared the dishes and we all sat down. “Should I stay home with you today?” My Mom asked Carrie. She smiled, “No Mom, you don’t have to. You already missed one day because of me, you need to go today”. She hugged my Mom and my Mom held her tight. “Okay. You be safe though, Barry take care of her. And if you need anything or anything happens, call me immediately” She went upstairs to her room to get changed. She came back downstairs shortly after and left for work. She gave Carrie a long kiss on her forehead before she left, and hugged me and Leah.

After my Mom left for work, it was just us three left. Carrie turned to me and Leah, “So what’s up guys? Did you guys find out anything about the books?”. I and Leah looked at each other. “No, just focus on getting better. You should not bother yourself with that for now. We don’t want you stressed”. She grumbled a little bit, “I’m fine. I’m not stressed, I deserve to know what’s going on. You can’t keep me out” She protested. “I understand that and I understand you. We’re not keeping you out, we’re protecting you. Okay I’ll make you a deal, when I’m sure that you are fine and not stressed, I’ll tell you about everything. I’ll get you up to speed on everything, okay?”. She smiled and agreed. We watched a movie, and she slept off after a while. When I was sure she was asleep, I signaled to Leah to meet me in the kitchen. We got to the kitchen and I told her about what happened yesterday. “What!” She shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?” She asked. “With everything that happened yesterday, where was the after I got back?” She calmed down and agreed, “I guess you’re right. So how exactly did it happen?”. I explained fully to her, “It happened when I went outside for a walk. I was barely down the street when I felt someone following me. He tried to hide as much as he could, but I noticed him. He must have known that I figured him out and there was no point hiding because he grabbed me from behind and started asking all sorts of questions and saying all sorts of stuff. He said he knew I broke into the house and he noticed two books were missing. He said he would be i touch. He also mentioned something about consequences. He said if I didn’t return the book there would be a lot of trouble. And opening the stone box had its consequences”. She listened to every thing I said and soaked it in, “What consequences could be worse than what already happened to Carrie” She hissed. “Do you have his number? Did he text you or how would he be in touch?” She asked. I just remembered I had not checked my phone since. I brought out my phone and checked my messages, “I think this is him” I showed the text to Leah. He texted Hi with an upside down smiling emoji. “Dude seems weird” Leah said and I laughed. I agree wholeheartedly. We were still laughing when I got another message from him. “Look I just got another message from him. He says he wants to meet”. I was about to ignore when he sent another message, it was an image this time. I opened it and it was an article that said if someone was possessed and it was exorcized. It could still come back later on. I showed it to Leah and she put her head in her hands after reading. “We don’t have a choice. Text him and ask him where he wants to meet”. I texted him and he replied almost immediately, 3:00 PM today, by the supermarket. I showed Leah and she shook her head, “Let’s just find out what he has to say about this”. I nodded and looked at her, “Sure, you stay with Carrie so she doesn’t get suspicious. I’ll meet with him and find out if he can help get rid of it totally”. She tried to protest but my word was final. I didn’t trust him, and he thought I was working alone so I wanted it to stay like that. That was the best thing I could think of.

Carrie woke up hours later and was her usual cheerful self. “Barry, let’s play snakes and ladders again. We never had our rematch after that time, or are you scared?” She teased. She loved teasing me, and to be honest this time I did not mind it one bit. I was actually happy she did, it meant she was back to her usual self. “As much as I would love to beat you AGAIN, I have some errands to run outside. When I come back though, I’ll beat you as much as you want in Snakes and Ladders. And any other game you want.”. She looked at me and smiled, “Any other game? Getting full of ourselves now, are we?”. I burst out laughing, “Whatever, I’m better now than I was before. So brace yourself”. “Alright I have to go now, I’ll see you guys later okay?” I kissed her on her head and hugged Leah. I winked at her and she told me to be careful. I got into the Car and drove off to the supermarket.

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I pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket. I was about to send him a text when He knocked on my glass. I jumped, how did he know my car. I unlocked the door and he entered, “How did you know my Car?” I asked. “Come on Son, I’m just observant. I know every car that has entered this parking lot and their drivers. I saw you immediately you pulled in”. I looked at him in surprise but shrugged it off to get to the reason I was here.

“Whatever, can we just get down to business? How can I get rid of the possession for good.” I asked. He laughed and I looked at him, I frowned as I looked at him. “Okay Okay, there’s a spell, you recite the spell and give the person that was possessed holy water to drink and she’ll be fine”. I listened attentively, then I sat up when he mentioned a she. He was looking at me. “When did I mention the person possessed was a she?” I asked him. “Do you think I don’t know you’re not the only one that entered the castle, hmm? Do you think I’m dumb. I know there were two girls with you and one got possessed. The one that got possessed is your sister, is she not?”. How did he know this much about us? Was he there when we broke into the castle. I opened my mouth to ask him, but he answered before I even said anything. “You want to ask if I was there when you guys entered the castle? You could say that. I see everything” He laughed as he said that. “So who is the other person that is always with you when you come out in the night?” I asked. He looked confused, “Other person?” He looked puzzled. I would have thought he was joking, but his expression looked so sincere. “Wait, so you don’t know there’s someone always at your back when you exit the castle at night? I thought you worked together or something”. He appeared to be thinking about something for a minute, then his usual amusing look came back. “Oh I know who you’re talking about” He laughed but it was too late, I caught him. I know had a leverage over him. I smiled, “No you don’t. You had no idea until I mentioned it now. Here is how it’ll go. You help me and I help you, it’s that simple. You help me find out how to get rid of the possession forever and also help me solve what I was looking for in the first place, and I help you solve your mystery man”. He protested, “You asked for two things, I asked for One. That is not equal, or fair”. I had him in my hands now, “Doesn’t matter. Do you want to solve it or not?” He had no choice but to agree with my terms. “Alright then, I’ll be in touch. For now, find out what the spell is” I told him as he got down.

I checked around for anything he might have left, a clue or anything he could track me with. When I was sure they was nothing, I drove out of there and went home as fast as I could.

I got home and met Carrie and Leah playing board games. “I’m back” I smiled as I held out my arms. They both looked at me and continued their game. “Wow, Okay. Harsh”. They burst out laughing at the same time as I sat down. “Yeah that was very funny to you girls right? You hurt me with that” I did the puppy dog eyes and we all burst out laughing again. Carrie went upstairs to shower and Leah scooted over to where I sat down, “What’s up? How did it go?” She asked. “Yeah it was great, he’ll help us” I smiled. She looked at me, like she was confused. “That was easier than expected. How did you do it?” She asked. “Well you know the second man we saw behind him that night? Turns out he had no idea someone followed him. He tried to cover it up but it was too late. So he will help us find out how to get rid of the possession for good and he’ll help us solve my Dad’s whole mystery. In return, we’ll help him find out who the person following him is”. She looked at me, “And that’s all? Are you sure. And are you sure you can trust the guy?”. I laughed, “Of course I don’t trust him. But he needs our help too, so he’ll cooperate. That’s what I trust”. She looked at me, “You’re right. No problem then”.

“He said to give Carrie holywater to drink and recite some spells, he’ll give me the spells soon. That way, the possession doesn’t happen again. He also knew you guys were at the castle too, he knew Carrie was my sister and the one that got possessed. We have to be careful around him for sure” I explained. “Yeah, that’s what I said. We sure do” She went back to where she was before as Carrie came back downstairs. “Are you ready to lose Old Man?”. I laughed, “Don’t think I will take it easy on you this time. Get ready to lose little one”.

She ended up winning three times. By the time we finished playing it was night time. “Where’s all that bass now? All that talk only for you me to still beat you” She teased as she kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry, I allowed you have this one. I won’t be so kind next time”. She laughed, “Hush my boy, don’t try to cover up-. You lost. I beat you. Soak it in.”. She enjoyed teasing me, and I could understand. I did the same thing when I beat her, and I loved it. So I let her have that. “I’m starving, we should probably get started on dinner now, right?” I asked. They laughed, “Yeah I’m hungry too to be honest” Carrie said as she smiled. We went to the kitchen. “Wait why did you guys laugh?” I asked innocently. “Nothing Old Man, we’ll eat soon. You need to replenish your strength right?” She laughed. They both laughed as I looked on in confusion.

We finished eating dinner and we were watching Tv when My Mom got back from work. “Hey guys, how’s everybody doing?” She asked. She had some things in her hand so I helped her put them in the kitchen. “Carrie, how are you feeling now?” She put her hand on her forehead and hugged her. “I’m fine Mom, thank you”. “I got you guys something, Barry dropped them in the kitchen. I got three of you each something”. Leah and Carrie ran to the kitchen to see what it was. It was all ladies stuff for Leah and Carrie. They came back to the living room giggling, “Thank You” They squealed as they ran upstairs to try it out. I unwrapped mine and it was a baseball cap, I smiled as I put it on. “Thank You Mom”. “You’re welcome baby. How did it go? How did your day go? Did anything happen?” She asked all at once. “Mom Mom, Nothing happened. Everything was cool” I smiled. “Thank you Barry, I mean it”. I’m so proud of you”. I hugged her and we went upstairs to Carrie’s room. We peeped in Carrie’s room, “Hey guys, I see you’re enjoying yourselves.” My Mom said we entered their room. “Thank You, we love it”, they chorused at the same time. “I’m really tired guys, I’ll leave you girls to it. I’m going to bed. I’m hanging out with Jenny tomorrow”. They smiled and went ooh and aaah. I laughed and went back to my room to sleep.

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