A bright ray of light awakened Clay and Claire early on a Saturday morning. Clay was pleased to see Claire smiling back at him.
“I think I need to change the sheets, babe. I’m lying in a pool of sweat.”
Claire noticed dampness on her side as well. Clay whisked the sheet back and wafted a horrible nasty odor. Claire detected the stench first.
“I think I’m going to be ill. What is that pongy smell?” Cough, cough. Claire’s eyes started to water.
“I don’t smell anything, but I’ll crack the other window to get some fresh air.”
Clay put on his boxers and tended to the window.
Claire was horrified.
“Clay! Clay!” she shrieked.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s you. It’s your back. The lower half is covered with oozing boils. You’re leaking.” Claire immediately ran to bathroom. She raised the toilet seat and buried her face into the basin with one hand on the handle.
Blech! Blargggg! Bleecccch!
Hinchingbrook Hospital
“Doc, I think I know what is wrong with me. This isn’t just stress. It’s more malevolent than that. This is some sort of curse of hex. I know it is.”
Clay revealed his secret. “I’ve signed a pact with a dark spirit.”
Doctor Kendrick responded with an assuring and comforting smile.
“Your test results were inconclusive, as we thought they might be. I consulted with our psychiatry department, and your symptoms are consistent with SSD, or Somatic Symptom Disorder.”
Clay was slightly relieved, but not completely convinced.
“What is SSD? Am I going insane or something?”
“No, you are not going insane. SSD is an anxiety disorder. It’s your mind, not a spirit inflicting ill upon the body. The distress you are experiencing is real, regardless of whether or not a physical explanation can be identified. These issues can also affect one’s sexual behavior.”
Clay stood. “That must be it, then; I think you hit the nail on the head. Everything you described is exactly what I’m experiencing. So I’m not cursed. I was so convinced I was. I’m so glad I met with you. This is great news. I can’t believe I bought into that. Whew.”
Doctor Kendrick concluded, “There is a biblical quote that I’d like to share with you that might help you process what SSD is. It’s Proverbs 23:7. Are you familiar with that scripture?”
Clay nodded. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Clay was prescribed a mild dose of Zanex to counteract his anxiety.
Halifax Bank
“Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for your deposit the other day. Now that we are current with your mortgage, we can renegotiate the loan to its former term of ten years. I’ll send you an email notification later today. Just remember, before you enter any contractual agreement, you’ve got to read the small print. Some contracts are binding, with significant penalties if obligations are not met. Have a nice day.”
Clay flashed backed to his encounter at the Brampton Estates. That same chill darted down his spine.
During the walk home, he embraced the notion of SSD as his diagnosis. He planned to take the medication as prescribed and follow the doctor’s strict orders.
Clay was pleasantly surprised to see Claire’s white Polo in the drive.
Claire was wearing her new eighteen-karat white gold earrings proudly.
“Clay, I bought you a new cufflink box to replace your old wooden one from the 1970s.”
Clay was very appreciative of the gesture. However, Claire’s next few words would turn his world upside down.
“I emptied the old box into the new one and I found this.”
Clay did a double take. “Where did that come from? It wasn’t in my old cufflink box. Give me that!” Clay demanded.
Claire realized Clay was incensed, but why?
“Calm down, Clay, it’s a tooth. Looks like a child’s tooth. It’s yours, right?”
Clay paced the kitchen floor with his fist clenched. He opened the trash and threw the anxiety medication away.
“Why? Why is this happening to me?”
Clay had upset Claire and caused her to cry. “What did I do?”
Clay saw her standing in the middle of the kitchen, very confused and hurt. He put his arms around her.
Clay then opened his mouth and showed Claire the gap where he’d lost the tooth.
“I don’t understand.”
Clay was teary-eyed. “I lost this tooth when I was eight years old.”
“Okay. So now I found it. What’s the harm in that?”
Clay held the tooth and looked at it with pure contempt.
“Claire, I lost this tooth during a fight. It was removed from his leg by the school nurse. It was never given to me after that. He had it.”
“Who?”
“Aaron. Aaron had it.”
“I don’t understand. Then how did it end up in your cufflink box?”
Clay broke his embrace and displayed a morbid smile.
“He’s back. Aaron is back.”
Clay was reminded of a conversation he’d had at the bank. He paraphrased it in his head: You can’t negotiate a new contract until you’ve met the obligations of the old one.
It made perfect sense. He needed to find two referrals to satisfy his debt. This was simple. Captain Steward was desperate and knew a buddy who was also interested. Clay was mad at himself for not thinking of it sooner. Maybe if he found her two people, his symptoms would go away.
Clay reached out to Captain Steward and set up a meeting at his house later in the week to discuss the matter. Clay was desperate and understood why Kevin had been so persuasive with him to make the appointment.
The Meeting
Clay’s back was wrapped heavily with Ace bandages to absorb the heavy drainage. He’d also dusted off an inhaler that had been prescribed to him in the summer for allergies caused by hay fever.
Captain Steward and Major Fernandez were promptly at Clay’s door at the precise time.
Clay overrode his conscience to make the sales pitch of his life. He desperately needed to remedy his personal situation. He printed off a copy of his latest bank statement and had the VA’s letter on hand as proof of his success.
“The way I look at it, I was screwed,” the captain told Clay. “I supported my sergeant for issuing a lieutenant colonel a DUI. I didn’t know he was up for colonel, but it shouldn’t have mattered. What’s right is right. I’ve always backed up my troops when they were in the right. But I see where being principled got me—it got me tossed out on my ass. Ten years down the drain over a stupid ticket. Now, it’s all about me. Time to get paid. They owe me.”
Major Fernandez told a different story.
“I hit twenty years in the Marines next spring, and I could retire. But if I retire, then my soon-to-be ex-wife will get half of my retirement. She never worked a day in her life. Why should she get half? That is insane. But I did my research; I can forgo my retirement and claim disability. Her attorney can’t go after my disability; that’s all mine. My ex and her attorney can go to hell.”
“Sign me up,” Captain Steward insisted.
“Me, too!”
“So does she do house calls or do we come to her?”
“Ah, I don’t think she does house calls,” Clay responded, somewhat on edge.
“Is she a hypnotist or what? How does it work? What’s her name again?”
Clay became immediately defensive.
“Don’t say it,” Clay warned.
Both officers took notice of Clay’s change in demeanor.
“Say what?”
Clay stood. “Do not repeat her name in this house, please.”
“You mean Nefertiti?” Major Fernandez laughed.
Clay exploded.
“Get out! Get out of my house, now!”
The two officers were completely shocked at Clay’s meltdown.
“All I said was her name. What’s the big deal?” the major
asked.
Clay opened the door. “I asked you not to mention her name in this house! Why? Why would you do that? Go, the both of you. And for the record, stay away from her. You will regret it for the rest of your life and maybe even longer.”
Clay spent hours on the computer as a distraction. Sometimes he played online card games and sometimes he indulged in his new addiction.
After spending most of the afternoon on the Internet, Clay decided to contact Kevin, who happened to be a friend on Facebook.
Clay accessed Kevin’s page from his friend list. He was stunned at all the posts on his page. There were hundreds of recent posts over the last few days. All were condolences to his family. Apparently, Kevin had passed away in the last week.
Clay was in shock. He felt completely numb. He remembered just speaking to Kevin. Kevin had admitted to Clay that he was in perfect health.
Clay scoured his Facebook page to see if there was a mention of the cause of death. Nothing. Clay convinced himself that it was likely some sort of accident and nothing paranormal. But he had to know for sure.
Clay sent a text message to a colleague at the University and inquired.
He got a response.
Heart attack.
Clay recalled a conversation with Kevin.
“I get fourteen hundred dollars every month for…chest pains related to PTSD. They fell for that bullshit.”
Clay then thought of Kevin’s friend Tony, who had also vouched for the results.
Apparently, Tony had not shown up for work for over a week and had disappeared from the face of the earth.
Clay began to tie the events together and concluded that both Kevin and Tony had succumbed to spiritual warfare. Despite Kevin having kept his end of the contract by providing two referrals, he had still lost his life.
Clay realized the harvesting of souls had begun. There was nowhere to run; there was no escape. All of Clay’s fabricated claims at the VA office had manifested, except one.
Clay knelt down in front of the sofa and pleaded for his life.
Please forgive me, Lord, for I’ve sinned. I don’t want to die and go to hell. If it’s not too late, please save me.
Clay and Claire were deciding on what movie to see at the cinema. Clay made his preference very clear.
“No more scary movies. I think I’m done with that, forever. Let me check my phone to see what’s playing.”
Clay couldn’t find his phone anywhere.
“Clay, just call yourself on the landline. I’ll go upstairs and listen for it.”
Clay called his mobile from his home phone. He heard the phone ringing in the receiver.
Someone answered.
Clay: Hello? Who is this? Hello?
White noise.
Other party: Cough, cough, cough. Hello? Hello? I can’t hear you. Sorry, this is a really bad connection. Whoever you are, thank you. You just saved my life.
Click.
Claire came downstairs to see if Clay had found his cell.
Clay froze in place, like a statute. He looked troubled.
“Hey, I didn’t hear anything upstairs. Clay…? Clay! You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”
Clay returned to a coherent state.
“I just called my cell phone and someone answered, someone under extreme duress.”
“Who was it?”
“It was me.”
Chapter 10: Immortal Combat