“Could this line be where this thing came from to begin with?”
I shrugged. “It’s possible. I think old man Black messed with a lot of things he shouldn’t have messed with. I really think he got himself possessed, and ate his family. Then, I think this thing kept causing problems, so the town stepped in and brought in the experts to bind it to that mirror. Apparently, it wasn’t bound good enough because it could still speak to Lucy, and got her to let it out.”
“How do you know that?” Will asked.
“I don’t. It’s just my current hypothesis. We should know for sure after the exorcism.”
We walked into the kitchen. Tor and Tabby were gone, Tabby must have taken Tor to the hospital, but I wondered why they didn’t just rush to the hospital in the first place. It just didn’t make sense to wait for us. I sighed. “They couldn’t leave Lucy,” I mumbled.
“What?” Will asked.
I looked up. “Nothing.”
We picked up the kitchen. Will grabbed some bleach wipes from the pantry and we cleaned the blood off the table. I sat down.
“You hungry?” Will asked.
“I could eat.”
Will pulled a frozen pizza out of the freezer and began preheating the oven. “It’s the only thing I’m allowed to make.”
I snickered.
“Hey, don’t laugh,” Will said. “I’m serious. Tor won’t even let me make macaroni and cheese.”
“You know, that’s really sad, Will,” I said.
He nodded. “It’s Tor.”
###
I was tired of feeling awkward, but that’s what this entire thing was. It was laughable really. Here was Will, the henpecked wonder and it was apparent that Tor expected him to save the day.
I stared out the kitchen window, wondering if this house had ever been happy. I doubted it. But it wasn’t really the house that was the problem, it was that upstairs room and what Black had unleashed in the house.
Three hours later, Tabby and Tor clomped into the house. Tor’s arm was wrapped in an ace bandage and she had a support board strapped to the arm as well.
“What’d they say?” I asked.
Tor sat down in the chair opposite from me. “They gave me a tetanus shot, and I have to go back in two weeks to get the stitches out. Thank God it was a disposable razor. It didn’t cut too deep. It just hurts like Hell.”
Tabby handed me her car keys. “You and Will go get her prescription filled. I’ll go clean that bathroom.”
I chuckled. “No you won’t.”
Tabby put her hands on her hips. “What are you talking about?”
I smiled. “Will and I already got Lucy in bed, strapped in, and cleaned the bathroom.”
Tabby looked stunned.
“While we’re out, want me to pick up something easy we can make for dinner?” I asked.
Tor smiled sadly. “Guess I won’t be cooking for awhile.”
I patted Tor on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll survive. Tabby can cook, and so can I.”
Will stared at me. “You can cook?”
“Sure, as a priest, I was on my own a lot. Believe it or not, I can make lots of things.”
Tabby groaned. “Oh my God, I haven’t had your chicken in ages.”
I laughed. That was one thing I had perfected over the years. An old housekeeper had given me her recipe for Chicken Paprikash years ago, and after some experimenting, I came up with an extra spicy version made with cayenne and paprika. “You all like hot food?” I asked Tor and Will.
“Within reason,” Tor said.
I nodded. “Okay, we’ll be back. Grocery store, here we come.”
Tabby punched me on the arm. “If the next thing out of your mouth is ‘Here I come to save the day!’ I’m going to hit you so hard you won’t wake up for a week.”
I snickered, took the keys and waved goodbye as I left the house. I never got tired of bugging Tabby. It was just too much fun.
###
The small local grocery store reminded me of an old time general store. The walls, while white, did nothing to chase away the darkness that the dim lighting permitted. I wandered the aisles. It was never easy to find your way around in a new place, and this was no different.
Will was over at the pharmacy, getting Tor’s prescription filled. I was left with the charge of getting everything for dinner, but the extra time gave me time to think.
Was the demon putting a spell over Will and Tor to keep them from seeing the obvious? Or was it Will and Tor’s own personalities that kept all of this going?
How Lucy got the razor, I didn’t know, but the soul sucker wasn’t far from my mind. Too much was going on and too much was interconnected.
###
Will hopped into the car as I pulled up in front of the pharmacy. It was weird. Will was just so nonchalant about it all. He didn’t seem concerned about Tor at all, of course, maybe I was looking too far into it. Maybe that’s how it is when you fall out of love with someone. I didn’t know a thing about that.
“Are you afraid to die?” Will asked me as we left the parking lot.
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “Not really, no.”
“Why not?” Will asked. “What if this is all there is? What if the only thing left is nothing?”
I laughed a little. He must be in denial. There was no other excuse for it. “Will, your daughter is possessed, right?”
“Yes…”
“Then you are contradicting yourself. How can you believe there is nothing out there after we die if you are afraid of demons.” I paused for a moment to let it all sink in. “There’s a line from an old movie that puts it as plain as I could ever say it, ‘If you are afraid of dying, you will see devils trying to take your life away, but if you have made your peace, the devils are really angels, taking you to heaven.’”
“What movie is that from?” he asked.
“Jacob’s Ladder.”
“Isn’t that a scary movie? I mean, you were all priestly when that came out. Was that allowed?” Will asked.
I rolled my eyes. “There is nothing out there that says that a priest cannot watch a scary movie. Is it looked down on if you watch Harry Potter? Yes, but you aren’t punished for it. The Exorcist is a little different though. It is banned by the church.”
“Aren’t the Harry Potter books banned?” he asked.
I chuckled. “Yeah, but I don’t think the movies are.”
“Tell me, how does that make sense?”
I laughed. “It doesn’t.”
Why he chose to bring all that up, I had no idea, but then besides his mother being an Orthodox Catholic, I reminded myself that I knew little of his religious upbringing.
“How long do you think Lucy’s exorcism will take?” he asked.
I looked at him. He seemed shakier than usual. “I don’t know. It depends on how powerful the demon is.”
Will wiped his mouth with his hand. He was so nervous he was sweating. “Can… can the sins of a parent cause a child to be possessed?”
So that was it? He’d done something and was afraid that something he’d done had caused Lucy’s possession. It was wild, his whole nasty demeanor was caused by simple guilt. It would be a good idea to keep all that in mind.
“It depends on the sin, Will,” I said. “If you’d say, hurt someone or beat them up, then no, you couldn’t have caused Lucy’s possession.”
Will swallowed.
I reached over and turned down the heat in the car.
“What is an example of a parent’s sin that could cause the possession of a child?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “Just about the only thing would be if you participated in a black mass and promised her soul to the devil.”
“Jesus Christ, do people do that?”
I nodded. “Very evil people, yes.”
Will sighed. He paused; his knuckles gripped tighter on the dashboard. “What about adultery?”
There it was, the admission I??
?d been waiting for. It accounted for Will’s attitude, it accounted for the tension between Will and Tor. What it didn’t account for was anything to do with Lucy. At least, it had nothing to do with Lucy being possessed.
I rubbed my chin with my fingers. “No, adultery does not cause a child to be possessed. Adultery will cause you to spend some years in purgatory to atone for your sins, but it does not cause demonic possession.”
I thought about it. If Lucy were older, it could be conceivably possible that Lucy could try to make believe something is wrong to get back at her parents for their problems, but possession is just something that doesn’t make a lot of sense in that scenario.
I felt like I was a bouncing ball, going back and forth between Lucy being possessed and the “logical” part of my brain questioning it. Maybe I didn’t want to admit Will was right. It didn’t matter though. My opinion wasn’t going to count. The proof is what we needed. And, maybe it was what I needed too. The truth was a few very insane people could pretend to be possessed to get attention, but their ruses would be discovered fairly quickly. What would Lucy gain by pretending to be possessed? I could come up with nothing. I guess I had to admit to myself that with everything that was going on, I did believe Lucy was possessed. Now, I just had to make the church believe.
“So, anything I did, didn’t cause Lucy to be like this?” Will asked.
“Not to my knowledge. The way I see it is that you stumbled on a house that Tor felt drawn to, possibly because it is so damn huge. Unfortunately, this house had a hidden past that your real estate agent really should have told you about before you bought the house. Then, something drew Lucy to the mirror. Even Tor admitted that.” I looked at Will. He was nodding. “So, I figure Lucy wanted to know if the mirror was black all the way through, or if it was just covered up, so she inadvertently released the thing, whatever it is and wherever it originally came from.”
Tears began to well up in Will’s eyes. “I love my little girl, Jimmy. I don’t want her to die.”
“I know, Will. I know.”
We pulled into the driveway of the house. I felt drained, but I think it was worth it. Will had gotten something huge off his chest. Honestly, he could use some therapy, and I’m sure Tor needed the same. Lucy needed a lot of things. I just wish I could give her the things she needed.
We stopped and unloaded everything from the car. Will paused and stared up at the sky.
“Looks like it might snow,” he said.
“Maybe.”
###
After dinner, Tabby and I washed dishes and Tor directed us where and how to put things away. I would like to have said it was because we were finally trusted, but I really think it’s because Tor felt so bad.
Her face was white and the corners of her mouth were pursed as if uncomfortable.
“I think I’m going to go to bed,” Tor said.
Tabby turned around from the sink. “Are you alright?”
Tor nodded. “Just hurting. I think I want to lay down for awhile. Get all that stuff as best you can. I don’t care anymore.”
We watched her go in silence.
“That’s not good,” Tabby said.
“No, it’s not, and after what I learned this afternoon, I’m not surprised.”
“Can you tell me about it?” she asked.
I shook my head. “It was never specified for me not to tell anyone else, but the subject matter alone makes it something I’d rather not talk about.”
Tabby nodded. “I think I can figure it out.”
“This is a very unhappy family.”
“Yeah. Too unhappy.”
###
I found Will in the living room. He was sitting alone, staring off into space. I knocked on the door jamb, Tabby close at my heels. “Mind if we come in?”
Will looked up. “Sure.”
Tabby and I walked in and sat down on the sofa. Will was nursing a beer. I could see the condensation dripping off the can and down onto the coaster.
“Tor went to bed,” Tabby said.
I rubbed my hand across the pile on the fabric of the sofa. “She said she was hurting, so she was going to go lay down.”
“I still can’t believe Lucy did that to her,” he said.
I believed Lucy did it. She’d almost knocked me off the ladder, brought in a soul sucker to come after Tabby, and I got hurt by said soul sucker. I had no trouble believing Lucy was capable of anything.
Will’s eyes narrowed. He must have figured my thoughts by his expression.
“It’s not that I don’t believe she actually did it,” he said. “It’s that I find it hard to believe that this is the same Lucy I’ve known for six years.”
“That’s the point, Will. Demons like to change the most beautiful things into the most profane things they can think of. I suppose, in a way, they do these things because they are not worthy of God’s love. If they make us like them, maybe they think God will no longer love us.”
I looked at Tabby. Her eyebrows were furrowed.
“Is it really so simple?” she asked.
I laughed. “Probably not, but it’s how I’ve always made myself understand it. I might be right, but my theories don’t mean much at all.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Will asked.
I took a breath. “Then I’m wrong. I wasn’t made perfect, and God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. Otherwise, there would be no reason for purgatory.”
“You should be a theologist,” Tabby said.
I shook my head. “It wouldn’t be the life for me. I like to help people. If I were a theologian, I would spend most of my time studying the word of God. I did that in seminary. God and I have a certain understanding. I believe in Him. I love Him, and I generally try to be a good person.”
“And what does God get?” Tabby asked.
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know what she was asking for, but I answered her as truthfully as I could. “He gets amused.”
###
“So who wants first watch?” Tabby asked.
It was almost midnight. It had been a long day, almost too long. Talking about religion always made me tired. “I guess I’ll take it. How are we going to do this?”
She smiled. “Two hour shifts. That way, we aren’t forcing each other to stay awake for hours on end.”
“All right, but after tonight, I’m finding us another option. We can’t keep working in shifts.”
Tabby paused. “Well, I could ward the library. Do spells that will make it so that the only people who can enter the library are those that wish no harm to come to anyone. If anything else tries to get past the ward, the ward will keep it from entering.”
“The ward on the room upstairs didn’t work. What makes you think this ward will work?”
Tabby scratched her head. “That room upstairs isn’t right. The difference is extreme. This library is a normal room in a completely un-normal house.”
“Okay.”
She glared at me. “You got better ideas?”
“No.” I felt sheepish. It wasn’t like I knew what I was talking about. I just knew from the minor experience in this house. Nothing seemed to work like it normally did, at least in terms of supernatural things. “At least it’s somewhere to start.”
She stared at me. “You make no sense, you know that?”
“How so?”
“Here we are, talking about me doing magic to keep us safe and yet you aren’t sure how an exorcism will work with a witch involved.”
I smiled. “It would help if I could understand your work, but I don’t understand a thing about it. I’ll be leaving you to your stuff, and I’ll do my best to get the church involved.”
“Whatever you say,” she said with a knowing smile.
“What do you need to ward a room?”
“Each ward is different. I think I have most of it. If not, I’ll go to the closest herbal store and get what I need. I think I about cleaned out Tor’s spice box the last time.”
/> “Is it going to be easy?” I asked.
“God, no, Jimmy. The materials are the easy part. Spellwork is where things get interesting.”
“Yeah, that’s where I leave you. I’ll take first watch. I’ll wake you in a couple hours.”
Tabby nodded. She hunkered down on her couch and went to sleep.
Nothing happened. We messed up our sleep for nothing, but honestly, I was relieved. I didn’t know if I had the strength to fight another one of those things, and I didn’t really want to find out.
###
Interestingly enough, I woke refreshed the next morning, even though I’d not had a lot of sleep. Maybe it was knowing that Tabby had something to try so that we could feel safe at night, or maybe it was that I was so damn tired. My sleep was a blessing. Either way, I knew it would be best to work with Lucy fully relaxed and energetic.
I looked around. Tabby wasn’t there; her blanket was folded neatly and draped over the back of the sofa.
I smiled when Tabby came into the library. She’d just gotten her shower, I could smell it. “Sleep okay?” I asked.
She put her stuff in her bag. “It was quiet. Almost too quiet if you know what I mean. I can’t help but wonder if this is the calm before something else happens.”
I laughed. “Or the beast is sated by Tor’s bloodshed.”
Tabby rolled her eyes. “Not funny, Jimmy.”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t being funny. So, do you need anything for your thingy?”
Tabby chuffed me on the arm. “I haven’t even had a chance to look, Mr. Smartypants. You are lucky I know you so well, otherwise I would have no idea what the Hell you are talking about.” She motioned with her hand towards the library door. “Go get your bath. We’ll tackle this after.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
###
When I walked into the library after my bath, I saw one Hell of a mess. “Um, what’s this?” I motioned towards the herbs scattered all over the floor. They were sort of arranged in piles. One looked a lot like basil, but there was a pile of brown stuff with stems, a pile of slightly brownish purple stuff, and a lot of piles of green powder.
Tabby smiled. “I’m in luck. Tor had just enough for me to do this.”