I dropped my phone a little too hard on the table.
“What’s wrong, Jimmy?” Tabby asked.
I looked at her. “He called it Blackmoor. The only other person I’ve heard call this house that is the local librarian. It’s a name that has been used in horror films a lot.”
“But not when this house was built,” she said.
I stared at her. “Good point. At any rate, he’s supposed to be here at one. Where’s Will?”
Tor shook her head. “He hasn’t left the library. I guess he’s going to sleep the day away.”
“I’ll just be glad when I can sleep again.”
Neither one of them said anything about that. Unfortunately, just because the priest was coming today, that didn’t mean that anything would happen now. We knew we still had nights ahead like last night. How many? Well, that was anyone’s guess.
###
I guess Will finally woke up when he smelled lunch cooking. He stumbled in, sleep still in his eyes.
“That smells good,” he said.
Tor had decided to make homemade pizzas. Tabby and I had helped roll out the crusts.
Will sat down at the table and watched us all work. I couldn’t help but be amused. I had no sleep. Tabby didn’t get a lot, and here he was, the one sleeping the day away and he’s watching us work.
“The priest is coming at one,” I said to him.
That woke him up. He scratched the sleep out of his eyes. “I need a shower.”
“Better get it soon,” Tor said.
I left the rolling of dough to Tabby. “I’ll go with Will so he can shower,” I told Tabby.
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Will said.
I followed Will upstairs to his bedroom. Before he went into the bathroom, I grabbed his shoulder.
“Before the priest comes, we should copy everything just in case he wants to take the evidence with him,” I said.
Will smiled at me. “Way ahead of you, buddy. I didn’t edit anything either, just copied the entire discs. He can fast forward when he likes.”
I laughed. “That’s exactly the way it needs to be.”
Will had me actually come into the bathroom with him. To say I felt awkward would be an understatement, but it was a testament to exactly how scared he actually was.
“Do you think he’s going to help Lucy?” Will asked from inside the shower.
“I don’t know, but at least he’s investigating.”
“I’m sorry,” Will said.
“Sorry for what?”
“Letting you take up the slack. I know I’ve been next to worthless lately. I… I’m just not myself.”
“That’s no excuse, Will,” I said. “You are afraid of Lucy, afraid of all this shit with Tor, and you are afraid of yourself.”
“How am I afraid of myself?” he asked.
“Why else would you jeopardize your marriage. Actually, it’s probably more correct to say that you are afraid of being happy.” I sighed. “You know what I know?”
“What?” he asked.
“Last night, when that scary shit was going down, it was me that kept Tor out of danger. You sat in a chair. Through the whole thing.”
“I was scared.”
“And you don’t think I wasn’t? It was really shitty, Will. Really shitty.”
Will finished his shower in silence. My anger was somewhat abated, but Will really needed to step up to the plate. This was his family, not mine.
By the time we got downstairs, all the pizzas were in the oven. Will walked over to Tor who was wiping off the counter with a dishcloth and hugged her.
At first, she stiffened, but then she relaxed. I turned my head. This was a private moment.
###
When the priest arrived, we’d all been standing, looking out the front window like a bunch of kids waiting for Santa. It would have been funny if the situation wasn’t so dire.
Tor had the front door open before the man even reached the front walk.
“Father, welcome,” she said. “We’re so glad you’ve come back.”
He patted her on the shoulder and allowed her to lead him inside.
He was younger than I expected him to be. Not too much younger than myself. Grey just barely flecked his black hair. He was dressed in black with a brown canvas coat. Will took his coat.
“Do you want to see Lucy first?” I asked.
He nodded. “That would probably be best.” He walked over to me. “I take it you’re the friend?”
“That’s right.”
He looked at me and Tabby for a moment. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
He turned to Tor and Will. “It is best if I see her now. That way, when I ask my questions of her, I am not already biased.”
I stayed out of it then. There was no reason for me to do anything but wait downstairs with Tabby. We heard enough anyway. Lucy cussed at this man, and either refused to answer his questions or answered them in a rude and suggestive way.
“Is he going to believe her?” Tabby asked.
“Believe it or not, this is part of it. The possessed say foul things, do foul things. You’ve seen the old movies.”
She nodded.
“While some of the effects are fantastic, they really are pretty realistic. In fact, The Exorcist had several priests on staff as consultants.”
“Really?”
“Yup. One of them even wrote a book about possession after the movie came out.”
Then we heard a thud.
“I hope he wasn’t stupid enough to unhook her restraints,” I said.
The priest ran down the stairs. He stopped when he saw Tabby and I.
“Is she always like that?” he asked.
“Pretty much. Sometimes she’s very violent though.”
He nodded. “She threw her father, I don’t know how.”
“What do you mean?” Tabby asked.
“She threw him against the wall without even touching him.”
“So the restraints are still in place?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s possessed, but I have to see the signs.”
I nodded. Will and Tor came downstairs. Will was holding a towel to his nose.
“Want to watch the footage?” I asked Father John. He nodded. “The Father wants to watch the tapes,” I said to Will.
Will held up his finger for me to wait. He and Tor went down the hallway toward the kitchen. We were quiet for several minutes, just waiting. When Will and Tor returned, Will had tape on his nose and it had stopped bleeding.
“She broke my nose,” Will said.
“It could have been worse,” I replied.
“Yeah, at least Tor could fix this one.”
I nodded.
Will led us into the living room. Tabby walked with Tor back to the kitchen. I knew Tor didn’t want to see it again, but I had a feeling Tabby was kind of glad she had Tor as an excuse to get out of watching it a second time.
Will cued the DVD’s. Father John gasped at Lucy’s language prowess. The rest, he just watched in silence.
“This is very bad,” he said when we’d watched all there was.
“When do we hear if she gets an exorcism?” Will asked.
“Sometime soon,” the priest said. “I have to let the bishop see the evidence. After that, I should have some sort of answer for you.”
Will gave Father John the copies of the DVD’s. “Call anytime. We don’t care what time it is. Lucy needs help.”
The priest scratched his head. “I’ll do the best I can.”
With that, he left, scurrying out of the house like a mouse. The man was deeply scared, but it was enough. If he was scared, then the powers that be would pay attention.
###
We settled ourselves back into the kitchen. Tabby and Tor were eating cookies.
“Well, that was interesting,” Tabby said.
I laughed. “You’d be surprised. Priests are just like regular people. Many of
them are scared easily, that’s why they don’t want to learn about exorcism. Believe me, most priests are happy and relish in the fact that they will never have to deal with anything like that.”
“You’re so different,” Tor said.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re brave.”
“Well, bravery has nothing to do with the priesthood.”
Tabby smiled. “Jimmy has always been special,” Tabby said to Tor. “I saw that the moment I spotted him.”
“Why aren’t you together?” Tor asked.
Tabby smiled at her, then smiled at me. “We were too young, I guess. It just didn’t work out.”
I blushed. I hated it when I blushed. I hated talking about my love life.
Will was pretending to look at the newspaper. I didn’t need this on my mind on top of everything else.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’m sure there are better things to talk about than my love life or the lack thereof.”
Tabby laughed. “Jimmy, they were asking me, not you. If I want to talk about my love life, I can. You are just involved.”
I slunk down in my chair. I noticed Will still hadn’t turned the page of his newspaper.
“Okay, I admit it. I’m sunk. Talk about what you want, but I’m not sitting here listening to it.” I tapped Will on the arm. “Want to get out of here?”
He nodded, and we left.
###
We didn’t go anywhere special, just went for a walk outside. The gardens really were beautiful. They stretched down over the hills and around the house.
We walked for several minutes in silence. Then, Will stopped in front of a great fountain with what looked like a nude nymph in the center.
“How long do you think it will take the priest to get back to us?”
“I don’t know.” I scratched my head and looked at Will. “It could be sometime today, tomorrow, or sometime this week. I’m sure the bishop is busy, and it will take time for him to review the evidence. Then, he’ll decide if an exorcism is a good option for Lucy. Finally, we’ll get told when the exorcism will take place.”
“I don’t know how many more nights like last night I can take,” he said.
“You’ll just have to deal, Will. I don’t know what to tell you.”
What I really wanted to say to him was: Grow up! Was all of this scary as Hell? Most definitely, but he was letting his fear keep him from doing what needed to be done. I’d seen into his kind before, and in normal circumstances, it wasn’t such a big deal. But this was anything but normal.
“Is there anything I can do?” Will asked.
I nodded. “You can support your wife. You can be strong for your daughter, and you can keep yourself together. I’m getting tired, Will. Know what that means?”
“What?”
“It means that I need you to pull your own weight. Don’t forget, Tabby and I might still have to participate in Lucy’s exorcism. I’m going to need all the strength I can get.”
Will led us back into the house. I left Will with Tabby and Tor and went into the library to catch up on my e-mail. I jotted a quick note off to my boss in terms of an update on the situation, then I caught up on the rest of the e-mail. Most of it was spam and stuff left over from work. I hoped that by the time all of this was over, I would still have a job. Right now, Sorensen was being understanding— a few days from now might be different.
I was tired, so tired. I wanted to be over and done with this, but I couldn’t shake the fact that I felt like God wanted me to be a part of this somehow. I didn’t know if it was a test, or if there was some reason that my presence might help Lucy. I just didn’t know.
Finally, I shut down the computer and went back to the others. Being alone wasn’t a good idea in this house.
Chapter Twenty Seven
The Call
Just before I reached the kitchen, my phone rang. I just about jumped out of my skin. I scrambled for it, trying to dig it out of my pocket. I almost dropped it and managed to answer it before I was sure that it was going to voice mail.
I pressed the button without looking at the phone “Hello.”
“Mr. Holiday, I’m calling… I have some bad news,” The voice said. It sounded like the priest.
“Father?” I asked.
He coughed. “Yes, and please, call me John.”
I walked into the kitchen. The conversation that Tabby, Tor and Will were having ceased immediately.
“Okay, John. Is it okay that I put you on speaker phone?”
I sat down in the empty chair at the table.
“Yes, that’s fine,” he said.
I hit the button. “What’s going on?”
“The news I have, it isn’t good.”
I waited for him to say something else. He didn’t. “What’s the bad news, John?”
I heard him clear his throat through the phone. “Well, the exorcism’s been granted,” he said.
Tor gasped, then clasped her hands over her mouth.
“That doesn’t sound like bad news,” I said.
“No. I’m sorry.” He paused. “It’s going to be awhile before there is an exorcism.”
“But why?” Tor asked in a voice that was not unlike a squeak.
I heard him sigh. “Right now, in America, we only have about twenty-three exorcists. There’s supposed to be one for each diocese, but we just don’t have them.”
“Uh huh,” I said. “And how does this affect Lucy’s exorcism?”
“There’s a waiting list… I’m afraid the earliest I can think that Lucy will get her exorcism will be in about six months.”
“She won’t last that long!” Tor started to cry.
“Mrs. Andersen, please,” Father John said. “I’m doing everything in my power to change that. Times are… just that hard.”
“Is there any way you could do the exorcism yourself, Father?” I asked.
“No, Mr. Holiday. I’m afraid I don’t have what it takes.”
I got angry then. This paper pusher was standing in the way. A little girl’s life was at stake for crying out loud. “What do you propose we do for six months?”
“Well, if you could take her to Rome…”
“Father, can you imagine Lucy on a plane? She’d attack everyone in sight. Possibly end up getting shot.”
“It was a thought,” he said. “In Rome, all you need to do is make an appointment with an exorcist. It’s almost like going to the doctor.”
“None of that does Lucy any good,” I said.
I looked up from the phone. Will was holding Tor; her head lay on his shoulder.
“Well, Mr. Holiday. You could check with other religions.”
“Other religions? Like what?” I asked.
“I believe the Jews have their own form of exorcism. How well it works, I don’t know.”
I was really frustrated, but I didn’t know what else to do. Father John had tried, I guess. It wasn’t his fault that the best he could do was get Lucy on a waiting list, as ridiculous as that sounded.
“Well, keep her on the list,” I said. “Maybe God will work a miracle.”
“Maybe so,” he said.
I hung up the phone and looked up. They all were staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
It was Will who first spoke. “You have to do it.”
“I have to do what?”
“You have to do the exorcism,” Will said. He reached over and wiped tears away from Tor’s eyes. “You know Lucy won’t make it six months. Hell, I don’t even know if she’ll make one month.”
I knew it was true. There was no avoiding it now. The demon was doing something to Lucy, something I couldn’t quite understand, but whatever it was, it was making her sick. If I didn’t intervene, she could die; the demon could make sure of that.
“I’m not even a priest,” I said.
Tor looked at me. The waterworks hadn’t stopped. “The church said that. I don’t know anyone with as goo
d a heart as you have, Jimmy. Please, save my little girl.”
What was I going to say to that? She’d made this plea. Free will could really be a bitch sometimes. I wished that I could just be told what to do at times, but it never worked out that way. I wasn’t that lucky.
“All right, Tor. I’ll do my best,” I said, hoping I just hadn’t made the worst mistake of my entire life.
###
I walked out the back door. I just needed a break. Tabby followed me for some reason.
I walked around the house to the driveway and leaned against Tabby’s car. I looked up at her.
“What do you think would happen if I just up and left?” I asked.
Tabby stared at me and crossed her arms. “To you or to Lucy?”
“Both, I guess.”
She sighed. “Jimmy, you’ve seen Lucy as much as I have. She’s not well. Modern medicine is holding off what seems to be the inevitable. What happens if her organs fail again?”
I rubbed at my arms. Leave it to stupid me to go outside without my coat with snow on the ground. “Yeah, that isn’t something I want to think about.”
Fire leapt up in Tabby’s eyes. Her face was flushed. I’d just pissed her off.
“That’s just great, Jimmy. If you don’t do this, if you didn’t try, do you really think you could live with yourself by going back on your word? Let alone if you walked away and you found out Lucy died, waiting for that exorcism.”
“What if I make things worse, Tabby? I know absolutely nothing about doing this.”
Tabby snatched me by the arm and jerked me off her car. “You know what?”
“What?”
“Neither did the first exorcists. They laid their hands on the possessed and spoke to the demons until they got tired. Possession has to do with strength of will. You told me that. Your will just has to be stronger than the demon’s.”
“It’s a shame Lucy’s ‘Will’ isn’t strong enough to protect her,” I said. I was being a prick and I knew it, but I didn’t like being cornered.
Tabby shook her head. “Not everyone can be you, Jimmy. Believe it or not, you’re unique.”
“I don’t know how… So I have to do this thing?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
“And you’ll help?”
“If I can.”