Music was created from melody, rhythm, and harmony. The recorded prayer lacked most of those elements, but Father Anderson still considered it a song.
The evil spirits would scream while he enjoyed listening.
Under Janet's confused gaze, Anderson opened the control application on his phone. All thirteen Bluetooth speakers had already been connected. He pressed the waiting play icon and sent the recording throughout the house.
The speakers activated at the same time. A unified recitation of the Lord's Prayer echoed from every room and hallway.
"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Inside the living room Ed quickly found the consecrated speaker hidden nearby. He looked toward Peggy and her children as the prayer continued.
"It's the Lord's Prayer. Father Anderson must have arranged this."
The tense Hodgson family relaxed slightly after hearing his explanation. The words filled the room with a solemn calm that pushed back the fear surrounding them.
"It's unfortunate that Father Anderson has most of the monitoring equipment," Ed said. "We can't see what is happening upstairs."
Lorraine reached over and squeezed his hand.
"He must have a reason."
Ed held her hand and nodded.
"I know."
Lorraine looked toward the speaker. There seemed to be a calming force inside the recording but she could not determine whether the sensation was real or imagined.
She obeyed Anderson's warning and kept her psychic senses closed. Searching for the source could expose her mind to the demonic nun again.
Upstairs, Anderson tossed his phone onto the bed and lifted the ShAK-12. Faint screams had already begun rising from different parts of the house.
Sacred energy was effective against every creature filled with corruption. Divine power represented purity and light. To evil spirits and demons it acted like a deadly poison.
The prayer continued while the screams grew louder. The most violent roar came from the play tent at the end of the hallway just as Anderson had expected.
The cries rose and fell until something cracked outside.
Anderson remained calm and looked toward Janet.
"Did you hear that?"
Janet listened carefully. Beneath the prayer she heard the familiar nursery rhyme that she and Billy often repeated. She had learned it to help her younger brother control his stutter.
"There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse."
Anderson heard it as well and silently approved of Janet's sharp senses.
The rhyme suddenly stopped.
A furious howl replaced it. Something tore through the hallway before striking the floor with a heavy crash.
"It came out."
Anderson looked toward the laptop beside the bed. One of the cameras showed a towering figure emerging near the tent. A long umbrella had pierced the wooden floor beneath it.
He checked the ShAK-12 once more and confirmed that it was ready. Then he turned toward Janet with a reassuring smile.
"I'll be back soon."
Janet hesitated.
"Father, can I come with you?"
Anderson almost refused. Yet Janet remained the center of the haunting and leaving her alone might give the hidden entity another opportunity to act.
"Stay close to me."
"Yes."
Janet jumped from the bed and moved beside him.
Anderson carried the ShAK-12 toward the door with the girl following like a small shadow. Outside, the destruction continued as something repeatedly struck the hallway.
A furious roar shook the second floor.
Wood splintered and one of the prayers suddenly became quieter.
Anderson's expression turned cold.
"You destroyed one of my speakers?"
He turned the handle and opened the bedroom door.
The dark hallway appeared before them. A monster stood beside the ruined play tent and almost reached the ceiling despite its hunched posture.
Its body was thin enough to resemble a skeleton. Long limbs bent at unnatural angles while it leaned heavily to one side. A faded red suit covered most of its body and a battered black top hat hid much of its face.
A crooked umbrella rested in one pale hand. Its fingers were withered and its nails curved like blades.
Deep wrinkles covered the creature's face. Loose gray skin hung from its bones while terrible eyes watched from beneath the brim of its hat.
The Crooked Man had stepped out of the zoetrope.
Janet froze behind Anderson. She had seen the creature in nightmares and shadows but had never faced its complete form.
The Crooked Man sensed her presence.
Its twisted body turned with unnatural speed. It raised the umbrella that had destroyed the speaker and thrust the pointed tip toward Anderson. The strike produced a violent rush of air that could have punched through steel.
"You don't waste time."
Anderson pulled the trigger.
Boom!
The heavy gunshot shook the house and startled everyone inside the living room. Fire erupted from the ShAK-12's muzzle as a consecrated 12.7×55 mm round struck the approaching umbrella tip.
An ordinary bullet would have been destroyed by the dark energy covering the weapon. Anderson's cartridge carried both sacred consecration and magical enhancement.
The impact tore through the umbrella from its point to the handle. Most of the bullet's power was consumed while breaking the supernatural weapon and the deformed projectile dropped to the floor near the creature's hand.
The Crooked Man opened its mouth and revealed rows of sharp teeth. Rage twisted its withered face as it released another deafening roar.
Dark power exploded from its body.
The hallway railing cracked beneath the pressure. The ruined play tent lifted from the floor and slammed into the opposite wall.