something that I realized while (slightly) drunkenly rambling to my friend....
....is that the house demon would’ve been afraid of Rainer.
Assuming that the demon is bound to the house and couldn’t leave until it hitched a ride with Damien and Celine in their new body, thus leaving the DA alone, it would’ve been afraid of Rainer burning it down with the house.
It wouldn’t have been afraid of Mark, simply seeing him as nothing but smoke and manicured claws, nothing but constant bluffing, nothing but a harmless plaything.
But Rainer, oh it would’ve been afraid of Rainer.
It would’ve been wary of the hound made of angry magma and sharp claws. It would’ve been afraid of the hound made of sparks and ashes. It would’ve been fearful of the hellish hound whose teeth are mercilessly bared against the damned and whose lungs are filled with raging fire.
It would’ve been absolutely terrified of its potential end from the beast who, with one breath, could render the mansion to nothing but ashes.
But it was lucky, lucky because Rainer hesitated to speak. It was lucky because Rainer hesitated to act, unsure if the ‘strange presence was something Mark would simply shake off with time. It was lucky because Rainer hesitated.
It was lucky and Rainer wasn’t.
Now it need not fear them anymore. It need not fear the hesitant DA who resides within the mirror. It need not fear the hesitant hellhound trapped within the mansion it once called its matchbox prison.