mirror.”
O’Dell raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He got the large oval mirror out of her bag and crept over to the door.
He took a deep breath. His heart was pounding in his chest—lub dub, lub dub. He grabbed the doorknob and jerked open the door.
A huge black cloud filled the room. It glowed with a eerie purplish brightness. The smell of the thing drifted towards him. He gagged.
“Mr. O’Dell!”
He jerked his head around and saw Mrs. Williams motioning for him to hand her the mirror. He handed it to her and could have sworn that the black mass had eyes that stared at him.
He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. He didn’t care what she did, just as long as she took care of that thing.
Sleep would be a long time coming from now on.
Chapter Eighteen
To Begin is to Try
Present
Tabby laughed. “Nothing here is normal, is it?”
“And just think, you haven’t even met Lucy yet.”
“I know, Jimmy. I know.” Tabby shook herself. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. If, and I mean if, Lucy is possessed, then we can recapture the demon in the mirror. If she isn’t, we’ll simply seal up this room and put that mirror inside.”
“Seal the room, you mean with wax?” I asked.
“Basically, and wards.”
I could just imagine how much of a mess that would be if and when we got the church involved. “Let’s wait and see if Lucy meets the requirements for exorcism. That’s what her dad wants anyway.”
Tabby smiled. “All right, let the church decide, but here’s a good question for you. What if the church washes its hands of the whole thing and Lucy really is possessed?”
She brought up a good question. The church would probably have notes from the local priest about his recommendation to the psychiatric hospital. If she really was possessed, the church could look at everything harder, and the church was anything but infallible.
“I guess if the church wants no part of it, we’ll have to try ourselves—if Lucy’s possessed,” I said.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked.
“Well, I figure we probably will be about on the same playing field. I mean, most of the priests who are the diocese exorcist in areas over here have never even performed an exorcism. It’s a title in name only, at least that’s what I read online.” I paused for a minute, thinking. “So, the way I see it, if they’ve never done an exorcism before and neither have we, then it’s about the same odds.” I ran my hands over my arms. It was cold near the room.
“You know,” she said. “It’s almost like an old joke… an exorcist and a witch walk into a bar…”
I chucked her lightly on the shoulder. “Shut up. Besides, I’m not an exorcist.”
Tabby laughed at me. “Jimmy, I think from the moment you heard about all this, you’ve wanted to do it. Maybe you were meant to do this.”
“And if it all goes bad?”
“Maybe that’s meant to happen too.”
I shook my head. “I can’t see how it’s meant to happen for a little girl to die.”
She smiled. “Jimmy, kids die every day, and this little girl is sick. It could happen.”
I can’t explain the feeling I got then. It was a mix between trepidation and empowerment. “Then it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Tabby looked at me. She was skeptical, but she said nothing, almost as if she wanted to avoid a fight.
“So now what?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I guess we can go back downstairs and wait for news. I don’t know what else to do.”
Tabby grabbed something else from her bag. She began writing all types of symbols on the door to the attic room. I realized she had a piece of chalk. She moved so furiously that I could see sweat running off her neck.
”There,” she said. “That should help.”
“What is it?”
She put the chalk back in her bag. “I just warded this door to keep anything else from coming from the portal in that room.”
“I thought we were waiting to see if
O’Dell raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He got the large oval mirror out of her bag and crept over to the door.
He took a deep breath. His heart was pounding in his chest—lub dub, lub dub. He grabbed the doorknob and jerked open the door.
A huge black cloud filled the room. It glowed with a eerie purplish brightness. The smell of the thing drifted towards him. He gagged.
“Mr. O’Dell!”
He jerked his head around and saw Mrs. Williams motioning for him to hand her the mirror. He handed it to her and could have sworn that the black mass had eyes that stared at him.
He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. He didn’t care what she did, just as long as she took care of that thing.
Sleep would be a long time coming from now on.
Chapter Eighteen
To Begin is to Try
Present
Tabby laughed. “Nothing here is normal, is it?”
“And just think, you haven’t even met Lucy yet.”
“I know, Jimmy. I know.” Tabby shook herself. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. If, and I mean if, Lucy is possessed, then we can recapture the demon in the mirror. If she isn’t, we’ll simply seal up this room and put that mirror inside.”
“Seal the room, you mean with wax?” I asked.
“Basically, and wards.”
I could just imagine how much of a mess that would be if and when we got the church involved. “Let’s wait and see if Lucy meets the requirements for exorcism. That’s what her dad wants anyway.”
Tabby smiled. “All right, let the church decide, but here’s a good question for you. What if the church washes its hands of the whole thing and Lucy really is possessed?”
She brought up a good question. The church would probably have notes from the local priest about his recommendation to the psychiatric hospital. If she really was possessed, the church could look at everything harder, and the church was anything but infallible.
“I guess if the church wants no part of it, we’ll have to try ourselves—if Lucy’s possessed,” I said.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked.
“Well, I figure we probably will be about on the same playing field. I mean, most of the priests who are the diocese exorcist in areas over here have never even performed an exorcism. It’s a title in name only, at least that’s what I read online.” I paused for a minute, thinking. “So, the way I see it, if they’ve never done an exorcism before and neither have we, then it’s about the same odds.” I ran my hands over my arms. It was cold near the room.
“You know,” she said. “It’s almost like an old joke… an exorcist and a witch walk into a bar…”
I chucked her lightly on the shoulder. “Shut up. Besides, I’m not an exorcist.”
Tabby laughed at me. “Jimmy, I think from the moment you heard about all this, you’ve wanted to do it. Maybe you were meant to do this.”
“And if it all goes bad?”
“Maybe that’s meant to happen too.”
I shook my head. “I can’t see how it’s meant to happen for a little girl to die.”
She smiled. “Jimmy, kids die every day, and this little girl is sick. It could happen.”
I can’t explain the feeling I got then. It was a mix between trepidation and empowerment. “Then it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Tabby looked at me. She was skeptical, but she said nothing, almost as if she wanted to avoid a fight.
“So now what?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I guess we can go back downstairs and wait for news. I don’t know what else to do.”
Tabby grabbed something else from her bag. She began writing all types of symbols on the door to the attic room. I realized she had a piece of chalk. She moved so furiously that I could see sweat running off her neck.
”There,” she said. “That should help.”
“What is it?”
She put the chalk back in her bag. “I just warded this door to keep anything else from coming from the portal in that room.”
“I thought we were waiting to see if
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