Free The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren by Gerald Brittle Page A

him.
    " I saw the cuts on his chest too," Deirdre spoke up in support.
    "How many were there?" Ed asked.
    "Seven," said Lara. "Three were vertical; four were horizontal."
    "Did the cuts have any sensation?"
    "All the cuts were hot, like they were burns," Cal told him.
    "Did you ever have cuts or wounds in the same area of your chest before this incident happened?" questioned Ed.
    "No," the young man replied.
    "Did you lose consciousness before or after the attack took place?"
    "No," was his answer again.
    "How long did it take the wounds to heal?" Lorraine then wanted to know.
    "They healed up almost immediately," said Cal. "They were half-gone the next day, and fully gone the day after."
    "Has anything else happened since that time?" asked Ed.
    "No," came the joint reply.
    "Who did you first contact after the incident occurred?"
    "I contacted an Episcopal priest named Father Kevins," Deirdre told Ed and Lorraine.
    "Why did you decide to call him instead of a doctor?" Lorraine asked.
    "Do you think someone off the street would have believed where that claw mark on Cal’s chest came from?" Deirdre asked rhetorically. "Besides, we agreed the cuts weren’t half as important as how Cal got them. We wanted to know if this was going to happen again. Our problem was who to ask?"
    "Was there some reason why you specifically called on Father Kevins?" Lorraine questioned.
    "Yes. We trust him," said Deirdre. "He teaches nearby here, at a junior college, plus Lara and I both know him."
    "What did you tell the priest?" asked Ed.
    "The whole story—about Annabelle and how it moved on its own, and especially about Cal’s cuts," Deirdre replied. "At first we were afraid he might not believe us, but that was no problem—he believed us all right. Although," she finished, "he said he’d never heard of such a thing happening these days. At the time we were all scared out of our wits, and I asked him what he thought had happened to us?"
    "What’d he tell you?" Ed asked her.
    "He said he didn’t want to speculate," replied Deirdre. "But he did seem to feel it was a spiritual matter, possibly an important one, and said he was going to contact someone higher up in the Church—a Father Everett."
    "That’s what he did," Ed told her.
    Lara then asked the Warrens concernedly, "What do you think did that to Cal’s chest?"
    "Let’s discuss that in a minute," Ed answered. "First, to finish up, let me just ask you a few questions. Has this kind of thing ever happened to you before—to any of you?"
    "No," they told the Warrens.
    "Did the name Annabelle, or Annabelle Higgins mean anything to you in real life before this incident occurred?"
    "No," they again answered.
    "Although you never saw anything spiritwise in here, Cal said he felt a presence in the room before he got hurt..."
    "There is something in here," Lara stated firmly. "In fact, I can’t even stand to be here. We decided to get a new apartment. We’re moving out!"
    "I’m afraid that’s not going to help you very much," Ed said dryly.
    "What do you mean?" Deirdre asked, astonished.
    "To put it in a nutshell, folks, you inadvertently brought a spirit into this apartment—and into your lives. You’re not going to be able to walk away from it that easily."
    Ed’s statement was understandably troubling. Prudently, he and Lorraine remained silent and allowed the three young people to collect their thoughts.
    After a long minute, Ed spoke again. "We’re going to be able to help you, beginning right now. Today. The first thing I’d like to do is to call Father Everett and have him come over here. Then you’re going to have to understand what has happened and why Cal got that ugly claw mark on his chest. May I use the phone?"
    Ed had no trouble getting hold of the Episcopal priest who had been waiting for him to telephone. Lorraine, in the meantime, walked into the living room to discern the spirit presence that was in the apartment. After the phone call, the Warrens both returned to