"Detective, the door won't open? I'll open it. George! George! What are you doing? For the Benevolent Father's sake, open the door!"
Mrs. Freeman tried to find the room key, but with a click, Shade had already opened the bedroom door.
Leaving the bewildered little girl with Mrs. Freeman, Priest Augustus and Shade rushed into the boy's bedroom together.
The room was not large. The thirteen-year-old blond boy lay on his side on the bed, his back to the door. Even the sound of strangers breaking into his room failed to make him move.
Shade hurried over, but the False Immortality spell had no effect on him; the boy was not seriously injured. Priest Augustus also stepped forward and, after turning the boy over on the bed, discovered that he was merely asleep.
"Child, wake up, wake up now!"
The priest called out anxiously, even gently patting the boy's face a few times before he finally woke.
But his opened eyes were filled with utter terror. He was not even surprised that strangers had entered his room.
"There's something in the house! Mom, I want Mom!"
He cried out incoherently. No matter how the priest comforted him, it was no use. It was not difficult to tell from his words that the boy had just had a strange dream, to the extent that he still could not distinguish the dream from reality after waking.
"I'm here! Oh, my poor little George! What happened to you?"
The middle-aged woman entered the room as well, holding her younger daughter's hand. Priest Augustus continued soothing the boy, hoping to get him to describe what had happened in the dream, while Shade returned to the bedroom doorway and looked at the empty living room outside.
This warm home suddenly seemed somewhat frightening.
"Can't you