Chapter Text
The girls tell them everything. Lorraine exhales, hugging Judy while Ed swears about the car. Teenagers go home to take a shower and change clothes. In the end, last night was hard for them.
Then they sit at what was supposed to be a "party" for Judy's birthday, but no one comes. "Please," Ed brings them plates of already sliced cake, "We're going to have our own party, right?" He sits down at the table, and Judy stares at him. On his head he has a festive cap of golden color. "What?..
"Take that thing off, please," Judy says sadly, and the man sighs and takes it off his head.
The cap is placed on the table with a slight thud.
"It won't always be like this, I promise you. Sooner or later you will find those who will understand." Lorraine says encouragingly, looking at her daughter, and Ed adds: "And this young mister, Anthony, don't let him catch my eye… Soon."
"Ed..." Lorraine interrupts the sound of the doorbell.
They get up from the table.
***
Bob, Daniella and Mary Allen are standing near the basement stairs when Lorraine calls softly, "Daniela? I have something for you."
"For me?" - the girl asks quietly, and the demonologist nods his head.
Lorraine leads her to her and Ed's bedroom, away from the guests. With a glance, she asks her husband to make sure that no one enters the second floor. Ed looks at her knowingly, and remains to entertain the guys. They are climbing the stairs when cheers are heard below. Lorraine smiles. Judy deserved such a celebration. Being strange, unlike others is damn unpleasant, but now that has to change.
Lorraine sits on the edge of the cream-colored bedspread and says softly:
"Last night you all could have been killed because you put your desires above Ed's and my prohibition, Daniela. Judy told you not to go to that basement for a reason, because it's very dangerous. Imagine what would happen if you were a little less lucky." Lorraine is having a hard time making herself sound even a little strict. She clearly imagines all the horror that the children have experienced, and this makes her restrain herself.
However, the woman also understands that if she does not say it now, she will never say it.
"You know," she shakes her head, "there are artifacts from all over the world in our basement, and only God knows what they are capable of."
"Sorry," Daniela mutters. "I forgive you," Lorraine nods, "as does Ed. But you won't get off that easy."
"Y-yes, of course, anything." the girl answers quickly, and the demonologist has to interrupt her: "Hey, Daniela. I'm just going to spank you."
Daniella gives her a startled look.
"Yes, Lorraine, how long have you been telling barely familiar teenagers that you're going to spank them?" - the woman thought.
"You behaved frivolously, and you will be punished like a child." the woman continues, struggling with the desire to stop this whole performance. "Come on, Lorraine, get it together," she swears to herself. Daniela just stands in front of her, clearly not knowing where to put herself. The woman carefully removes the rings, dropping them into the pocket of a knitted vest. "Let's do it," she says softly. The girl nods silently.
Lorraine takes Daniela by the wrist, and pulls on herself. It turns out that the upper part of the girl's body rests on the bed, the priest is on the lap of the older woman, and her legs are in the air. Lorraine puts her hand on her hip, as if blocking any resistance. Although, she does not expect him from the girl. The demonologist is almost sure that Daniela has been in a similar situation before.
Lorraine herself received a good spanking only once. Being the most exemplary student in a closed school for girls, she persuaded her friends to run away to the cinema, for which she paid. "Miss Moran, how could you...!" the angry voice of the headmistress could still be heard in her head.
Lorraine barely refrained from rolling her eyes, remembering how Ed giggled when he heard this story. However, one young rebel on her lap forces her to return to the present.
She carefully lifts the hem of her purple dress up, and Daniela moves her legs uncertainly. The girl is breathing in fright, clutching the cream-colored bedspread with her hands.
Lorraine fiddles with the sleeve of her blouse for another minute, rolling it up so it doesn't get in the way.
Then she wraps her arms around the girl's waist, hugging her tighter, and says soothingly: "Daniela, I know you're scared. It is ok. I'm NOT disappointed with you, do you hear?"
"Y-yes, ma'am..." the girl answers a little strangled, and Lorraine continues: "I don't want to tell your mother about what happened here."
Daniela nods in agreement. "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble.."
"Nothing, baby."
Lorraine takes a deep breath, trying to gather her strength before getting down to business. She swings, and easily hits the girl on the ass.
Daniela jerks forward. "Why the hell does it hurt so much?" she thinks in surprise. Lorraine slaps her a second time and the girl kicks.
"Is it really just a hand?"
The heat from the third and fourth slaps seems to her like a bonfire, and this is just the beginning. She wonders how this frail woman, whom she thought was Lorraine, can spank so painfully. And the fifth blow, and at all, makes her jump up, pushing off from the demonologist's knees, and risking hitting her in the face. "Daniela, be careful." Lorraine says patiently, evading slightly.
A couple more blows, and she starts spanking in earnest. Daniela squirms on her lap, and even tries to slide to the floor. However, at the same time, the girl begins to cry.
She kicks, and tears roll down her face, falling and soaking into the soft surface of the bedspread. Lorraine just adjusts the girl on her knee, continuing to spank. What can I hide, she puts into these blows all the fright and disappointment that she experienced today. The woman herself could hardly hold back tears at the thought that the children could get into trouble at night while they and Ed were not at home.
Daniela has already come to terms with the idea that she will not be able to sit for the next week. In truth, that was exactly what she needed. Mom, after the death of her father, shut herself off from her and Anthony's work, and after all, Daniela really blamed herself for that accident.
She felt as if, along with her tears, a drop of guilt was flowing out of her, mercilessly gnawing at her lately.
Immersed in her sorrows, Daniela does not immediately notice that the spanking has already ended. And only when gentle fingers adjust her skirt, she begins to move.
The girl rises from the lap of the older woman, wincing and avoiding looking into her eyes.
"Daniela, look at me, please.." she hears a quiet voice. The girl looks up. Lorraine somehow looks at her sadly, and this makes the girl even more painful. She throws herself on the neck of the older woman. "S-sorry.."
"Oh, baby," Lorraine says, patting the girl on the back, "I've forgiven you. We've all forgiven you."
Daniela snorts: "But that's it... I let everyone out of the basement.."
"Yes, it's bad," Lorraine says seriously, "but they're all already locked in their places. You're only to blame for getting into our basement at all, despite the prohibition to enter. It won't happen again, will it? - the demonologist asks with mild reproach.
"Of course..." Daniela hides her face on her chest. The woman sighs again and begins to sway easily, lulling the girl to sleep.
She gently strokes her hair, and hears a quiet: "Thank you."
"Not at all, dear."
***
"The bathroom is down the hall and to the left," Lorraine says softly, "You can clean yourself up." the woman smiles sympathetically at the girl.
Daniela nods hurriedly, literally disappearing through the door.
Lorraine automatically smooths out the folds on the bedspread. The woman plunges into her thoughts.
She thinks about how hard it was for Edward when he punished their daughter in this way. In the past, when she tried to enter the same basement. "But Daniela is not even my child..." She didn't want to hurt her any more. She didn't want to hurt her at all, but it was necessary. Not Lorraine, but Daniele herself.
Daniela is lost. You can see it in her look, in her attempts to appear independent. Lorraine remembers with pain how she herself once, in her youth, was the same. And Daniela faced the world of spirits and demons too sharply, unlike Judy, who has been living in such an environment since birth. Although the woman's heart was still pounding with fear for her daughter's life, she couldn't help but feel proud. Her baby, sweet Judy, was able to stand up for herself that night.
***
Later, when Daniela is already returning from the bathroom, Lorraine gives her the photo from the locket, and the girl carefully accepts it. "Your father told me he misses you. And so that you stop reproaching yourself, because it's not your fault." Tears flow down Daniela's cheeks again, and the woman gently wipes them with her fingers. She hugs the girl to her for a moment, and then says in a more joyful tone: "Now let's go downstairs. I think the guys are already waiting."
They go down to the first floor, and join the rest of the celebrants to listen to Ed playing the guitar. Guests are sitting on the carpet, and colorful balloons are hung all over the living room. The sun gently penetrates through the windows.
Thus, until the evening, the Warren house is filled with only joy and fun.