The Exorcist's House Resurrection, page 11
“So how is that any different than being possessed?”
“Because right now she still has a chance if she does certain things.”
“Are you suggesting an exorcism, Daniel?”
“God no. That would kill her. It’d be like trying to get rid of a brain tumor by shooting the person in the head.”
Nora was feeling more hopeless by the second. “Then what chance does she have?”
She thought of Maren as a baby in the daycare where one of the workers had died from getting stabbed in the neck with scissors. Her mind jumped to the Christmas when she’d had her first seizure and nearly everyone in their old neighborhood was killed by Nikki. Every horrific premonition she had since Maren had come into the world flashed before her eyes so fast she felt like she was going to throw up. Luckily, Daniel pulled her off the carousel of carnage right as she was getting sick to her stomach.
“Do you remember the priest you left a message for on Christmas?” he asked.
“Priest?…on Christmas? What are you talking about?”
Nora was genuinely perplexed by what she heard. Her entire life, she called the shots. Ever since her childhood when she would naturally become the group leader on school projects, she’d been obsessed with maintaining control and order over her own destiny. She’d be damned if she let anyone derail her plans. That was part of the appeal of meeting Daniel in college to begin with. She’d just broken it off with a pre-med student who was too much like her, although she didn’t realize that was the reason at the time. Back then she just “didn’t vibe with him.”
And then Daniel came along. He was smart, funny, good-looking, and genuinely listened to her when she spoke. If nothing else, Daniel Hill knew how to talk to people. She needed him to listen now because she felt totally out of control, and her fleeting memories scared the hell out her.
Daniel rubbed his still scruffy chin.
“Why do you still look the exact same?” she asked, staring at his five o’clock shadow.
“I don’t know. You don’t look like anything on the other side. You just are. You’re seeing a projection of me…the version of me you want to see.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t. I just made it up because good psychologists can do that on the fly. It comes with the degree.”
Nora smiled and then steered the conversation back on track, heading toward a destination she knew would break her heart.
“What about the priest?” she asked.
“Do you remember reaching out to him now?”
Suddenly she was standing back in her house in Cheshire, Ohio in the office on the night she saw the older, undead, version of herself hanging from that noose. She remembered what led to her going into the room. It was the arrangement of the Christmas tree ornaments on the floor. It was the way Maren had made her feel when she talked about seeing a monster.
“Yes. I left a message with…the church janitor. He said he would put a note on the priest’s desk, and he gave me his number. I called and left a message.”
“Nora,” he said, and she looked at him. “None of that happened.”
“What are you talking about? I remember it like it happened yesterday.”
Now she really felt out of control. Red flags and alarm bells were going off in her mind.
“You picked up the phone, but you never called anyone. You stood there, staring at the wall with your eyes rolled up as she whispered to you. Well, not she. It wasn’t our part of Maren. It was the parasite inside her. You’ve been in the well. Even though it was sealed by Father Marcus, anyone who went down there left with a little piece of that chaos tucked away in their brains.”
“What do you mean? I spoke with the janitor! His name was Howdy! He—”
“Nora. You didn’t,” Daniel said, grabbing her hands. “It only made you think you did so you wouldn’t actually reach out for help.”
Her eyes widened as she slowly shook her head, unable to process what he was saying.
“I guess that explains why he never called me back,” she finally said.
“It also explains why you never remembered to follow up with him.”
Daniel bent forward and gripped his stomach, wincing like he was having some sort of internal pain.
“What is it?” Nora asked, touching his back.
“I’m running out of time.”
“No, no, no. Daniel, please hold on. Don’t leave me. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me what to do,” she pleaded.
Daniel sat back up. “You don’t need me to tell you what to do. You never did. But we came here tonight to make sure you had all the information to at least make it a fair fight.”
Nora furrowed her brow.
“As Maren grows, so will the evil inside of her. If she feeds into it, she’ll eventually snap and lose total control. Then she won’t be our daughter anymore. She’ll become…something else.”
“I can’t wrap my mind around this. This is fucking crazy.”
Another pain made Daniel double over, breathing heavily.
“Hey,” he said, obviously hurting. “I’m the only one on this porch who’s qualified to say who’s crazy.”
The porch door opened, and Merle stepped out, still smoking his pipe.
“Ah, I see you’re feelin’ it, too,” he said to Daniel as he rubbed his side. “I can’t hold on much longer. Did you tell her everything?”
“What?” Nora began. “That my daughter was born half demon and could turn into some kind of evil monster if she doesn’t maintain control over it?”
Merle puffed his pipe and said, “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
Nora shook her head in disbelief.
“Should I tell her? How could an eight-year-old even understand something like this?”
“I talked to her,” he said. “She understood just fine. She didn’t think you would believe her. Poor girl’s been fightin’ a battle by herself since the day she was born and never knew no different.”
Both men coughed and spasmed at the same time, startling Nora.
“What did you say to her?” she asked.
Daniel reached down and pet Buck like it was the last time he’d be able to do it. Merle looked at Daniel and back to Nora.
“The demon can control other people—possess them, if you will—without ever leaving her body. It can plant things such as false memories in people’s minds, just to sow enough doubt and confusion to perpetuate its existence and for its own amusement, frankly. But it’s been manifesting as another entity—somethin’ outside of her body that only she can see. Here’s the best hope I can give ya. Have a talk with your daughter; she’s been waitin’ for it since the episode this morning.”
“What episode? The seizure?” she asked.
“It wasn’t a seizure, baby,” Daniel said. “She doesn’t have epilepsy. Those fits are when she’s having some kind of cognitive dissonance when the bastard is attacking her, and she’s fighting for control of her own mind and body.”
“It possessed your husband this morning after scarin’ the bejeezus out of her,” Merle said.
Nora looked at Daniel. “How did it possess you?”
Daniel laughed but quickly reined it in. “He’s talking about Dean. Your current husband.”
Nora broke eye contact.
“Nora, I love you, and I want you to keep being loved now that I’m gone. Dean’s a good guy. He cares about you and Maren. He needs to know what’s going on. There are going to be certain points in Maren’s life that will be crucial to how this all plays out—which side of our baby will come out on top.”
Buck started to whine, and it didn’t take Nora long to figure out why. The two specters who had been keeping her company were being called back to wherever they’d come from. Daniel got up and kissed the top of her head and stood beside Merle.
“She’s a strong girl. You know that, though. She’s resilient, too. But everyone needs to be aware of the situation. Just y’all and her knowing about the battle being fought inside her mind takes away a lot of its power. And like Daniel was sayin’, there will be times when it will lay dormant for years, just long enough for y’all to think everything is hunky dory. But never let your guard down. Shower her with love and stay vigilant.”
“We don’t get ready; we stay ready,” Daniel said.
“You have been dying to say that again, haven’t you?” Nora asked.
“Since the moment you walked on the porch.”
Their colors were fading, and a gentle wind began to blow them away like they were made of sand.
“Wait! Do I call a priest?” she asked.
“Hell no,” Merle said, struggling to talk. “The main thing is that you stick together as a family. Help Maren to control it. She can do it. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“I love you, Nora,” Daniel said.
“I love you, Daniel.”
“Enough lovey dovey,” Merle said as the two men disappeared at a quicker speed. “Get back in there and be with your family. Y’all have a big talk to be had tomorrow.”
She gazed at what was left of Daniel, and he smiled and closed his eyes, disappearing into the night. Nora felt something rub against her leg and looked down at Buck, watching as he walked back to the front door.
“Okay,” she said to the dog but also to the empty porch, just in case they could still hear her. “Lead the way, Buck.”
NORA OPENED HER eyes and stared at her snoring husband beside her. She sat up as soon as the memory of the porch popped in her mind.
How did I even get back to bed?
The last thing she remembered was watching Daniel and Merle disappear and then opening the door to let Buck inside. And now she was back in bed with no recollection of how she got there.
The good thing was that she remembered everything they’d told her. Well, the information they relayed about Maren was hardly good news, but she had a crystal-clear recollection of everything they’d said outside.
“Dean,” she said, shaking him.
His mouth hung open and he continued to drool a bit on the pillow.
“Dean!”
“Huh? What?” he said, sitting up even faster than she did. He wiped off his mouth and glanced around the room and then at her. “What’s wrong? What time is it?”
The sun was just coming up but was still bright enough to cast some rays on her sleeping face. The curtains were wide open, something she never did for that exact reason.
“It’s just after six,” she said, peeking at the digital clock beside her bed.
“That’s good. I thought I’d slept through my alarm.”
“Alarm for what?”
“To go get Kelsey. I was planning on getting up at 6:30. I wanted to take her to breakfast up there before heading back.”
You need to talk to Dean and Maren. You need to tell them about last night. That’s what Daniel and Merle said to do.
It sounded good in theory, but when she thought about finally telling Dean about everything she’d been through and what was happening in the present, it made her sick to her stomach.
“I’m gonna get the coffee pot brewing and take a shower,” he said.
Before she gave herself any time to think her way out of it, she just blurted, “Dean, we need to talk.”
He rubbed his eyes with his legs slung over the bed and looked back at her like he was gauging the seriousness of her tone.
“We do?”
“Yes.”
“Anything that needs addressed before coffee must be pretty important,” he said and turned his shirtless body around to face her. “What’s up?”
“It’s about Maren—” she stopped and shook her head. “Wait. It’s about more than that. God, where do I even start?”
She felt his hand on her thigh and looked at him.
“Do you want to have whatever this is after coffee? You seem like you’re still waking up.”
“No, it’s just a lot. And it’s serious.”
“Okay. I’m getting a little nervous here, Nora. Are we good?”
She stared back at him like he was crazy.
“What? Of course. This has nothing to do with us. I mean us like our relationship. I love you.”
Dean let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Then what’s it about?”
“Okay, here goes… You know how my husband and daughter and brother-in-law died in the fire at our old farmhouse?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Well—”
“Mommy!” Maren screamed from down the hall.
Nora and Dean glanced at each other and both leapt off the bed with Dean leading the way. As soon as he approached her bedroom, the door slammed shut, seemingly on its own. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it, but the door wouldn’t budge.
“Open it!” Nora yelled from over his shoulder.
“I can’t! And the door’s not even locked,” he said, moving to show her how the doorknob easily turned fully from side to side.
Something slammed against the door so hard the wood bowed outward. Dean jumped back. Nora saw movement at the crack below the door and gasped when she saw the eye staring up at her just before the face pulled back.
“Mommy, help me!” the little girl screamed.
There was another thud against the door and then a slap. Maren cried, and something else laughed.
“Move!” Nora said and grabbed the doorknob and turned.
She was fully prepared to drop her shoulder and plow through the door to get to her daughter, but it swung open as she practically fell inside the room. Once she caught her balance, she frantically scanned the empty room for Maren. Dean was right behind her, opening the closet, flipping the bed, but the little girl was gone.
“Where is she?” Nora said and then felt the breeze.
The closed curtains ruffled as the wind gently blew in. Dean beat her to them and yanked them apart to reveal a half-open window. He pushed it all the way up, and Nora looked across the open backyard. Maren was nowhere in sight.
The chain link fence that bordered the yard was over one hundred yards away from their house. Part of the allure of the property was that it sat atop the hill, overlooking the quaint city, and the nearest neighbor was a half mile away, which was exactly what they were looking for after the incident at the cul-de-sac.
A steady stream of warm liquid splashed on the top of Nora’s head like someone had turned on a water hose. She stepped out of the way and peered up just in time to see Maren urinate on her again as she clung to the side of the house.
“Drink it,” a demonic voice bellowed and laughed.
Dean pulled her back inside. Just as he was about to ask what happened, Maren’s body fell past the second story window and hit the top of the shingled patio below.
“Oh my God,” Dean said and looked out. “Fuck. She’s hurt, Nora.”
“Mommy,” Maren cried from outside.
The sound of her daughter’s voice snapped her out of the shock of what she’d just endured. She stepped up to the window and saw Maren wincing in the middle of the dented metal roof.
“We’re coming, baby. Don’t move!”
Dean had already hurried out of the room, and Nora sped down the steps behind him. He ran through the kitchen and out the back door.
“I’ll get the ladder,” he said and hurried to the shed.
Nora ran into the back yard and stepped back until she could see her daughter still lying there.
“We’re coming, Maren,” she said, “Just be still, baby.”
The metal roof bowed a bit as she moved. Nora watched her struggle to sit up.
“Honey, don’t move. You could have really bad injuries.”
Maren rubbed the back of her head. She winced and wrapped her arms around her legs, cradling herself.
Even though she was doing the exact opposite of what her mom had told her to do, Nora was relieved to see she wasn’t paralyzed. From the spot above the window to the patio roof wasn’t that far of a fall once she looked at it from this angle. The sound of her smacking against the metal had been scarier than anything.
Dean raced past her carrying the ladder. He placed it against the metal shingles and climbed up to see Maren now sitting up.
“How bad are you hurt?” he asked.
She looked at him then at her mom. “My head feels like the time I fell off my bike without a helmet.”
“We need to call 9-1-1,” Nora said.
“No!” Maren whined. “I don’t want to go to the hospital. Look, I can move everything. Nothing’s broken.”
“You could have a concussion,” Dean said. “You have to go, sweetheart.”
Maren’s eyes slowly drifted to meet his.
“You’re not my dad, so stop trying to tell me what to do.”
Dean dropped his head and turned back toward Nora who was heartbroken by what she just heard.
The small crater where Maren sat squeaked like it was buckling even more under her weight.
“We have to get her off of here,” Dean said to Nora. “Heaven forbid the roof—”
Maren kicked him in the face so hard he fell off the ladder and landed in the yard, unconscious.
“Maren!” Nora screamed and ran to her husband who wasn’t moving.
She peered up at her daughter who only stared coldly back.
“I’m not going to the fucking hospital,” she said and turned to climb down the ladder.
Nora gasped when she saw the bloody spot on the back of her head.
“Oh, my God. Your head is bleeding,” she said, breathing faster than ever as she glanced back and forth between the two people she cared most about in the world.
Maren kept descending. Nora saw that Dean was breathing, and his eyelids started to flicker like he was waking up.
“Don’t move,” she told him and then looked at Maren who stepped barefoot onto the grass. “I have to call an ambulance. Maren, you’re going to go sit on the couch. Dean, stay there.”
Nora watched as Maren stumbled her way through the back door and sat on the couch like she’d been told. The little girl put her hands in her lap and stared at the blank wall in front of her. As badly as Nora wanted to go check her wound, she knew she needed to get EMS out there as soon as possible. She hurried to the kitchen phone and called for help.
