WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and TDC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover #3, on sale now from DC Comics.
In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, fans were shocked to discover the curse was due to the Occultist, an older lady seeding out demons to possess people like Arne in hopes that the bloodbath to follow would give her souls to offer to the devil. It actually began with young Jessica, something Lorraine and Ed discovered whilst investigating the case in Boston, and now, courtesy of The Conjuring: The Lover #3, by David L. Johnson-McGoldrick, Rex Ogle, Garry Brown, Mike Spicer and Becca Carey, Jessica's possession is made even more heartbreaking.
Lorraine used her sight beyond sight to see Jessica stabbing up Katie -- the same number of times as with Arne gutting his landlord. This proved the cases were connected with Lorraine's vision that showed Jessica falling off a cliff. It wasn't known why it happened but Lorraine could tell Jessica became a victim of the dark overlord.
Now, The Lover's details Jessica's past and why she went after Katie, revealing she actually had romantic feelings for Katie and was ashamed. With Katie taking a year off from college, Jessica is struggling at Danvers without her bestie in her life. Issue #3 shows flashbacks of Katie giving Jess a bracelet so they'd never be apart, which Lorraine also saw manifest in her visions.
It turns out this isn't a token of friendship in Jess' eyes, it's a symbol of love and a totem she's clinging to not to feel alone. However, the Occultist is actually the librarian at her school, wreaking havoc from the shadows and breaking her mind using xenophobia. The Warrens always maintained demonic possession needs to unlock a door inside people's heads, and the Occultist uses voices to taunt Jess about being gay.
She uses the classmates, Jess' family and the idea Katie might not be a lesbian to haunt Jess, who keeps seeing horrific beings. Jess hallucinates and almost stabs her roommate, Tammy, with scissors as well, forcing her to move out and label Jess a freak. Simply put, the Occultist is turning Jess' fears against her and using the fact the real world won't accept her to hurt the teen. Once the librarian gets Jess to accept she's a monster, the possession will be complete.
The icing on the cake comes when Jess pushes a monstrous version of the librarian in front of a bus, not realizing it's the boy who likes her, Kyle. The issue ends there with him about to be hit, leaving fans wondering if she's hallucinating or if it's a dream.
It's been quite a psychological bender thus far, making Jess think she's an abomination while also showing how deceptive the Occultist is. She's even found befriending Jessica and gaslighting her in a special room in the library where she has demonic tomes, informing how she became so adept at invoking Satan. The movie made it seem like she learned from her priest dad, but now, it's clear the librarian has been scouring the world and collecting books to become an expert in the dark arts. And sadly, Jess is low-hanging fruit in what's fated to become a tragic love story.