One thing that was going to be hard for me to prove was showing that Lucy had more strength than she should have. Her being tied to her bed made it all the more difficult, but knowing what I knew about Lucy, keeping her unrestrained was not an option. The tape of the ladder was a start, but it wasn’t perfect. We needed something else.
Then there was the problem of getting Lucy to say something to me besides sexual innuendos.
I wiped the back of my neck with my hand. “Jesus Christ.”
Never in a million years did I ever think I would be dealing with something like this. I wanted to say that it felt like it was too hard, that I wanted to give up, but that wasn’t true. I wanted to save Lucy. I was just lost as to how.
Maybe Lucy would speak to me if I made her mad. I needed her speaking something other than Russian. The church could find a reason to reject the Russian. If I could get Lucy speaking Latin or Greek, now that would be real proof.
###
I tapped Tabby on the shoulder when I entered the kitchen.
She jumped and turned around to look at me. “What?”
“You didn’t eat anything did you?” I asked.
“No, why?”
I exhaled, slowly. “Because, before something like this, it’s best to fast—just like you do with your witchy stuff.”
“Why?”
“Demons do gross things. I really don’t want to go into detail, but they do things that will really make it hard not to vomit if they so choose. I think also there’s something about fasting that helps you keep your head clear.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I know. It sounds like a bunch of bullshit. I know your stuff has reasons for fasting. I imagine they are somewhat similar. I’m trying to get used to it all. If it helps, I never thought I would have to fend off a soul sucker.”
She paused, thinking. “What about our strength if this takes a long time?”
“If what takes a long time? All we are doing is talking to Lucy today,” I said.
We left the kitchen and made our way to Lucy’s room. When we got to the hallway, I stopped. “If we do this exorcism, I can guarantee that it will take a long time. But you can take breaks. Usually, an exorcism session only lasts a couple of hours.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“The internet.”
“Boy, are we in trouble.” Tabby stepped back and let me knock on Lucy’s door.
“Lucy?” I said as I opened the door and entered the room. The room was still full of that foul odor. At the doorway, the room felt normal, but closer to Lucy’s bed, it was so cold I could see my breath. “Good morning, Lucy.”
Lucy looked at Tabby. “Who’s the cunt?”
I nodded towards Tabby. “Just a friend. We would like to ask you some questions.”
Lucy let forth a strange gurgling growl.
“What is your name?” I asked.
Lucy rolled her bloody eyes. “It’s whatever you think it is.”
I knew I could tread no further with that type of question. To do so would be doing an exorcism on our own, and I didn’t really want to do that.
“How are you feeling today?” Tabby asked Lucy.
“Ahh,” Lucy said. “What a kind bitch. I’m doing well, dearie. Did you like your present?”
“What present?” Tabby asked.
Lucy smiled, revealing her broken teeth.
“Your visitor.” Lucy laughed her choppy laugh.
“Now, Lucy. I have a question,” I said.
“And what is that, priest?”
“I’ve misplaced my cell phone, do you know where it is?” I asked.
“And why should I help you?” she snarled.
“It’s up to you,” I said. “I just thought I would ask in case you knew.”
Lucy smiled again, then focused her eyes on Tabby. “Why don’t you ask her, she’s the one you told to hide it from you.”
And there it was, proof. “Please, Lucy. Think of it like a game.”
Lucy’s eyes rolled back in her head and she farted so long I thought she would hurt something. The smell that issued forth was so foul that my eyes watered and the back of my throat burned.
“A game, eh? Well, maybe you should check the kitchen. Victoria’s pantry under the dried pasta.”
We left her then. I closed the door behind me. Tabby handed me her phone and I turned on the video feature so that we could have documentation of our finding the “lost object.”
As we got to the stairs, Tabby stopped. “Why does Tor like the kitchen so much?”
I shrugged.
Tabby shook her head. “No really? The kitchen is where Black died. Will told her that when he told you the story, right?”
“Probably before that. She didn’t seem shocked when Will told me the story.”
“Then why doesn’t the kitchen scare the shit out of her?” Tabby asked.
“Maybe because the kitchen doesn’t feel spooky. I don’t know.”
We stepped into the kitchen. Tor and Will looked at us oddly. I suppose we did look weird. Me leading, holding Tabby’s phone in front of me, and Tabby bringing up the rear.
I opened the door to the pantry and turned on the light. Like everything else to do with the kitchen, it was arranged immaculately, except for the bags of pasta. I held the phone forward and moved the pasta. There was my phone all right, but it was dented and the screen was busted.
I picked it up and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. The phone was ruined.
“I didn’t do that, Jimmy,” Tabby said.
“I know.”
###
We exited the pantry and I closed the door. I stopped the recording on Tabby’s phone and handed it to her. Then, I walked over to Tor and Will and set my ruined phone in front of them on the table.
“Lucy broke my phone,” I said.
Will paused. He seemed puzzled. “Wait what?” Will asked.
I nodded. “Somehow, she did it. One of the things I need to prove for someone being possessed is that they know the location of lost objects, so I had Tabby hide my phone from me. How, I don’t know, but Lucy knew Tabby hid it, and somehow she caused my phone to be broken.”
Tor swallowed hard. “Well, Jimmy, we’ll just get you another phone.”
I shook my head. “It’s insured. It’s just strange. This thing really doesn’t like me.”
Tabby laughed. “Of course not, Jimmy. You were a priest. Your reason for not being a priest anymore is a noble one. So you are a defrocked priest who is pure of heart. There isn’t anything in that book of yours that says you have to be an active priest to perform an exorcism, is there?”
“No, but the exorcist is supposed to be approved by the bishop, so I hardly think a bishop would grant permission for a defrocked priest to perform an exorcism.”
“Well then,” Tabby said, waving her arms with a flourish. “No matter what, you are a threat, Jimmy Holiday. You could possibly cast it out. Of course it hates you.”
Both Will and Tor became excited then. They sat higher in their seats, their legs were shaking and their eyes sparkled with energy.
“Then there is no reason to wait for the church,” Tor said, smiling.
I shook my head. “Oh, Hell no. We are not doing that. You forget, I know about as much about this as you do. We are getting the church involved.”
Will collapsed back in his chair. “And if the church ignores her?”
I slammed my fist down on the counter. “Ugh! We’ve been over this. If I can help her, I will, but I’m the last resort. Don’t you see, an inexperienced exorcist isn’t anything to be proud of.”
Will shrugged. “Don’t exorcists have to begin somewhere?”
I sighed. “Yes, but they have mentors to teach them the ropes. I’ve got a witch and a copy of the Roman Ritual. Not exactly prime stuff here.”
“What?” Tabby looked at me, eyes flashing.
I held up my hand. “No, Tabby. Don’t get riled. I mean, wh
at do you know about exorcism?”
“Not much.”
“That means you know as much as I do, or almost. You’ve seen the movies. All I have on you is this one little book.”
She laughed. “Well, if the word of God is only a book, the Salem witches should never have had a thing to worry about then.”
“Let’s just not talk about it anymore. I’m hungry. I’m tired, and I want to go get a new phone.”
Tor jumped up from her chair and pulled a package of Danish out of the pantry.
“Did you get what you needed from Lucy this morning?” Will asked.
I nodded. “One part of it. There are still three more things on the list, but it’s a step forward.”
Will nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
###
After we finished eating, Will followed me into the library to get rid of the broken chair.
The pieces were near the fireplace. The legs were snapped from the base in pointed, splintered ends. I rubbed my ribs.
“So what other things do you need to prove again?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. They had been asking this a lot, and it was time for it to stop. “I’d rather not say,” I said. “Honestly, that way if I’m asked if Lucy could have been influenced, then I can say without a doubt that there is no way she could have been coached.”
“But, don’t you trust me?” His eyes looked wounded—round and a little too wide.
I ran my hands through my hair. “Will, it’s not about trust. It really isn’t. Everything with the church is about perception. What they will look at is not only if Lucy possessed, but if it gets out, how it will look in terms of the perception of the church.”
“I thought the church was about helping people,” Will said.
I chuckled. “Oh they are, but they are about politics too. I should know.”
Will said nothing more. He and I took the broken pieces of the chair down into the basement and stacked them next to that week’s garbage.
I stood up straight and stretched my back. Then, I noticed something unusual. For the most part, “haunted houses” are creepiest in the basement. Here, the basement was quiet and warm. It didn’t feel threatening at all. The one weird thing was on the far wall. There were a couple of metal rings attached to the concrete with brackets. In the back of my mind, I remembered the crack of a whip. Black and his wife. It happened here. But still, the basement felt safe somehow. That I couldn’t explain.
I kept my thoughts to myself. I already had Will jumping from one conclusion to the next. It was hard to tell how he would feel if he knew what I was thinking.
We left the basement and went back into the kitchen.
“Jimmy,” Tor said. “I am going to get you a new phone. My daughter broke it, it’s only right.”
I looked at her, she seemed firm. “Tor, honestly, it’s okay. I already told you, I have insurance.”
Will came up from behind me and patted Tor on the shoulder. He turned towards me. “You might as well give it up, Jimmy. When Tor sets her mind to something, that’s it.”
Tor smiled. She walked over to the sink, put her hands in the soapy water and began to wash dishes. “Will is going to take you wherever you need to go to get a new phone.”
“Are the two of you going to be okay while we’re gone?” I asked.
Tabby laughed. “We’ll be fine. Tor and I already decided that we won’t leave each other alone the rest of the day. There’s just too much that’s strange here. Plus, this is bath day for Lucy, and I’m sure Tor could use some help.”
I nodded. “Just be careful.”
###
Will ushered me into the 4Runner soon after. There were things that just didn’t make sense about Will and Tor. One, why did they have a mansion, but an old car? It made no sense at all.
We got into the car. Will started the engine to let it warm up.
“What company do you use?” he asked.
“Sprint.”
Will nodded. “We got about an hour drive.”
“Is everything an hour from here?” I asked.
Will laughed. “No, there’s a Wal-Mart about a half an hour away. Not much else, but at least there’s a Wal-Mart.”
“Do you think you would have liked living in Sorrow’s Point if this hadn’t happened to Lucy?”
Will maneuvered the car out onto the main road. He looked like he was thinking. “I think so. It was out of the way, away from danger, or so we thought. It looked like a decent town to raise a kid in, ya know? We haven’t been able to do most of what we planned to do.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. There it was again. The denial. He’d either forgotten or pushed out of his mind what small town living was really like.
“In D.C., we took the metro most places. We used the car rarely. Here, we need a car all the time.” He scratched his hand. “We were going to get a new car after we moved, but I just haven’t bothered. Lucy takes up so much time.”
It was kind of sad. All his hopes had dried with Lucy’s illness. He was broken—a shell of the man he once was.
“When Lucy gets better, are you going to sell the house?”
Will sighed. “No way we can. This house had been on the market for over ten years.”
“Isn’t there something about nondisclosure of a murder? You might be able to get out of it… probably,” I said.
“If we’d known, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Tor still would have wanted the house. Hell, the Black family paid for a caretaker to keep up the grounds and make any repairs to the house as needed. No way we could afford that. If we would sell the house, it would probably take forever. So, we’ll be staying there.”
This was not what I wanted to hear. “Will, if that thing found Lucy to let it out once, what’s to say it won’t happen again?”
Will grasped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. “I don’t know what to do, Jimmy. If Tor and I give up the house, we’ll have to go live with Tor’s mother. Mom and dad died one right after the other not long after we moved into this house. Asking Mom about Lucy was one of the last conversations I had with her. There literally isn’t anywhere else for us to go.”
“You could stay with me,” I said. It flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. I couldn’t imagine what that would be like. A nightmare most likely.
Will shook his head. “That’s really nice, Jimmy, but I couldn’t do that to you. I just can’t see Tor surviving in that kitchen of yours.”
I laughed. “Yeah, somehow I don’t think she’d find my retro fridge groovy.”
Will shook his head, laughing. “You know something?”
“What?”
“Lucy would love it.”
Chapter Twenty Two
Development
Hours later, we were back in Sorrow’s Point. My phone was replaced with something fancier than I was used to. I didn’t bother trying to stop Will, he seemed to want to do something to make it all up to me. I still felt guilty though. If they were having financial problems, I didn’t want to add to it, and a fancy phone was an expenditure that just didn’t make sense.
We left the car in the front drive, walked up the huge stone steps and entered through the door. Will paused for a moment in front of me. I heard nothing. He walked forward and I followed Will as he headed toward the kitchen. It was a Hell of a sight. Bloody rags were all over the table. Tabby was holding a rag to Tor’s arm.
“What the Hell happened?” I asked.
“Tor was giving Lucy a bath in the bath tub. She seemed so complacent, Tor thought it would be okay. It was … until Lucy grabbed the razor,” Tabby said.
“Jesus Christ.” Will said. “Are you okay, Tor?”
She nodded. “I think I need stitches.”
I looked around. “And where’s Lucy?”
Tabby looked at me, her eyes wide. “She’s still in the bathtub.”
###
Will and I ran out of the kitchen towards the staircase and dashe
d upstairs. Will darted into Lucy’s bedroom. I followed at his heels. We got into Lucy’s bathroom. There was blood everywhere; it was spattered across the walls, in various places on the bathtub and all over Lucy herself. Where she wasn’t spattered, the blood was smeared as if Lucy had been rubbing it on her body. She was in the tub, playing with toys as if nothing was going on.
Will snatched Lucy out of the tub and I held the door open so Will could get Lucy dressed and into her bed. After we got her strapped in, I ran back into the bathroom and rummaged through cupboards until I found a clean wash cloth. I wetted it in the sink and walked back into Lucy’s room. I handed it to Will. Will got most of the blood off Lucy.
We left her alone and went back into the bathroom and cleaned up all the blood.
“Where did Lucy get the razor?” I asked after Will had closed the door to Lucy’s room. We headed downstairs.
He stopped in the middle of the staircase. “I don’t know… there shouldn’t have been a razor in her room. Tor shaves in our bathroom.”
I wobbled a little where I was perched above Will on the stairs. My balance sucks. “Strange isn’t it?”
Will nodded. “She has to be getting out of the restraints, but how I don’t know. She never leaves her bed on the tapes.”
Will finally began descending the stairs. I sighed in relief. I didn’t need to half kill myself by falling down the stairs.
“Does Lucy know where Tor keeps her razors?” I asked.
“Probably,” Will said. “Lucy used to beg to take a bath with her mommy.”
I nodded. “She could be telekinetic.”
Will stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “What?”
“You know. Telekinesis: the ability to move objects with your mind. If she isn’t getting out of bed, she’s bringing things to herself, or using something else or someone else to get what she wants.”
“How?”
I sighed. “Tabby said your house is built near a ley line—a direct power source that magical entities can use as a doorway to other worlds. This house, especially that room upstairs, is kind of a conduit for that line. I think Lucy is using the house to bring things in to help her.”