Jon was left to man his station, checking on his equipment as Cain and the family started. He was familiar with the ritual. He heard Cain call it a blessing when discussing with the family, but it was a cleansing rite. If it didn’t clean up the entity or entities hanging about, it would at least bolster the energy of the place, at least that’s how he saw it. Cain explained it to him before by saying that it made the area akin to a consecrated ground, giving him more to work with in case the worst happens.
It was a procession. It started from the living room and proceeded slowly. Cain led, reading from his missal, and the family followed behind him. Matt, Emmy, and Gina were given copies of the parts of the rite they were to read along. His job was to monitor any activity and alert Cain later, after the procession was done. It was going to take a while with the house having two storeys. Jon was not sure he could last.
His headache made his vision blurry sometimes. It was sporadic. Sometimes it blurred when the pain spiked, sometimes it just blurred. The only temporary reprieve he was getting was by pressing on his temples until it hurt then releasing it. He propped his elbows on the table while he did so, eyes closed more often than they were open. Whenever the pain spiked, the light was like daggers on his eyeballs. He fought the urge to cringe in pain every time.
He thought about the prospect of having to deal with a case of possession at night. Cain had long told him it was superstition, that it could happen anytime. But Cain also told him it happened mostly at night for one reason – people were tired. He definitely felt tired, the headache was not helping. It would be a disaster if he was not able to help because his headache was slowly starting to cripple him.
It would be a disaster if the possession took place this night.
~0~
After all these times? Demons?
He did not know how to feel about it. He felt a mix of excitement, dread, and curiosity. Demons and paranormal entities, their stories, were not new to him. There was a plethora of them back in his home country, especially when he was still younger.
He expected the entity to be something akin to what people call elementals, or spirits that live on rocks or trees. The procession he could see through the window told him otherwise.
Going by the stories and readings he knew there was a certain hierarchy to the so-called demonic entities. He recalled reading something about how most possessions are not actually demonic but were caused by other paranormal beings. Whenever something demonic goes to possess a person, they were always low level ones, something the book hinted at as to why exorcisms usually, when done properly, worked. He chuckled at the thought that higher ranking demons had better things to do.
If that thing…
He was brought back to the gravity of the situation. The thought of the creature being just a low ranking demon and yet somehow far above his capabilities did not sit well with him.
The fuck do I do now?
While deciding on an approach, he kept one anchor on the one person he had been curious about. He watched him come out, seemingly to make a call, then wincing in pain. When he latched the anchor, he found that the man indeed was in a lot of pain. The longer the time passed, the more pain he read off of the man. And fear.
Is it the dark? Are you afraid of the dark?
He laughed to himself. He grew up in a religious community. He knew the fears associated with the belief in gods and the paranormal. Pain, by itself was not of much use to him. But the rising fear, that, he kept an eye on.
~0~
The absence of anything untoward happening as they went up the stairs was a good sign. Cain led the family inside the master’s bedroom, the family joining him. They uttered a short prayer followed by Cain repeating the same invocations and commands.
As a trained exorcist, and a layman, Cain focused on the prayer. A distracted practitioner, especially on the preliminary phases like the cleansing rite they were doing now, could put everyone in danger. It was his experience that whatever entities were in a certain area, they all worked to distract those who performed the rite. His hunch proved true.
He started noticing shadows in the corners of his vision. As he was on the lead, his view was not interrupted in any way and because all the lights were on, the shadowlike things he was seeing did not make sense.
One crawled out from the master’s bedroom, some from the walls, others from the ceiling. Cain did not dwell on the numbers. For all he knew, they were the same entity. Or they could be many entities who sought to possess one of the people behind him, it did not matter.
He started to feel them too. If his hunch was correct, they were trying to influence him, make him falter. He had no doubt they will try to make him wonder, or pause. His hunch proved right, again. Cain began feeling old spots in different parts of his body. The only reaction he gave the entities was the raising of his voice every time he picked up on it.
The family, as far as he could tell, was unharmed. He was relieved by this. It was not uncommon for anyone who participated in the rite to be attacked, but save from him being prodded with cold touches, the family remained steadfast in their prayers. The longer they stuck to it, the better the outcome of the rite.
The stench of feces assaulted his senses as they neared Gina’s room. While the smell got stronger, other disgusting and acrid smells filled the air.
Cain turned around while continuing his prayer and looked at the couple behind him. Their gazes confirmed to him that he was not the only one who noticed the stench. He nodded at them and noted while the couple’s faces were in various expressions of disgust, the children appeared to be oblivious to the smells.
When they reached the room itself, Adam braced himself for the second part. The part where entities reacted. Barred from using holy water, he depended on his will, his cross, and his faith.
“In the name of our Father, God Almighty, Jesus Christ, I command you all to leave this house!” Cain boomed.
“In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I command you all to leave this house!”
He paused to regard any changes in the immediate vicinity. Cain continued when he felt nothing.
“In the name of the Holy Spirit, I command you all to leave this house!”
He took the lack of any additional activity as a positive sign and continued with the invocation as they exited the room. There was a noticeable drop in the strength of the smell. By the time they reached the kitchen, the stench had all but disappeared.
“In the name of the Almighty Father, God of this realm, of his son our redeemer and savior, Jesus Christ, and of the holy ghost,” Cain ordered in a thunderous voice, “I banish you all, I command you all, leave this house and bother this family no more!”
His conviction bled through that even as he raised his voice, he maintained its power. The prayer was finished. Jon looked at the group expectantly. Cain paused to listen for any sounds and look for any signs. The family huddled together, eyes darting around. Cain slowly nodded. Everyone started to visibly relax.
All eyes turned towards Jon when his laptop sounded off. A loud rumbling noise erupted. The house seemed to shake. It sounded like it came from upstairs.
Then, it was silent once more.