Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (24 page)

I started feeling guilty. Maybe I
shouldn’t have shared so much information with them, but they
needed to know the truth.

Jennie straightened in her chair. “I
had a sad feeling when you were coming. I guess it was the spirits
making me feel that way.”

I nodded. “The dead move in and form
relationships with you. They don’t want to leave. Sometimes they’ll
do jumping. That’s when they try to get inside your body. Good or
bad spirits… it’s not good for the body, so don’t allow
it.”

Jennie’s eyes widened even
more.

I paused, then continued, “But that’s
not all. There’s another entity that crawls on the roof and slips
in through the windows. It wants to attach itself to you. It’s a
demon.”

My heart rate increased, my stomach
turned and sweat beaded on my forehead. This thing knew when I was
talking about it.

“
What can go wrong if it
gets her?” Ben asked.

“
If it gets in her, she’ll
lose her mind.”

I felt Mindy’s stare on me when I
answered the question. Was she wondering if I’d lose my
mind?

“
You have to leave, Jennie.
She’s made it clear how much danger you’re in,” Ben
said.

I shook my head. “She can’t leave. She
just has to fight it off. Jennie has to set boundaries and not let
it roam around this property or come into this home. You need to
seal the home.”

“
How do we do that?” he
asked.

“
Place salt all around the
house, then sage inside the house.” They looked slightly confused,
but I continued anyway. “I do this often in my home, but it doesn’t
always work. You have to keep fighting.”

They nodded, but I wasn’t sure they
fully understood. “I hope we gave you answers. You have to go
forward from here.”

Jennie squeezed Ben’s hand. “I have
the tools now. Thank you.”

“
Coming to terms with the
talent is hard but once you take control things will be much
better.” Cooper offered his advice.

Without warning, Jennie leaned back in
her chair. “I have to get out of here,” she said.

I’d noticed Jennie holding her head
and her face had grown red. With a loud thud, she fell to the
floor. We jumped up and rushed to her. When her eyes popped open, I
knew it wasn’t her. The thing had managed to enter her body. Would
I be next?

“
We have to help her,” Ben
yelled out.

I met Matt’s gaze and I knew what he
was thinking: this would make for good TV. I didn’t like that at
all. This woman’s life was in danger and it was no time to be
thinking of ratings.

“
Her arms are covered with
fresh scratches. They weren’t there a second ago,” Mindy
said.

Cooper pulled her back to the chair
with Ben’s help. “We must perform an exorcism on Jennie.” He looked
at me. “I can lead it with your help.”

“
What? I can’t do that. Have
you ever performed an exorcism?” I asked.

He shifted his gaze and I knew if he
said yes, he’d be lying.

“
Yes, I have,” he
said.

Liar. I wanted to tell him, but I
didn’t. This wasn’t the time for a confrontation, although Matt
would have loved for me to add more drama. I’d give Cooper one
chance to perform the exorcism, then I’d call in the priest who I
knew could help. To what extent Jennie was taken over by this
creature, I didn’t know, but the scratches on her arms were
undeniable.

Now more than ever I regretted
agreeing to do the show. I wished I was in Callahan’s arms right
now. I just needed to get through the day, then I could melt into
Callahan’s embrace. Or could I? I’d been warned to stay away. Not
to mention that I’d pushed Callahan away.

I sighed. “Okay. We’ll give it a shot,
but I don’t want to wait too long. If this doesn’t work, we’re
calling a priest.”

“
It’ll work. I’ll get my
Bible, holy water, and cross,” Cooper said.

It seemed as if he had come prepared.
Had he known something that I didn’t? Maybe he hadn’t told me
everything that he knew.

“
Is it really necessary to
do this?” Ben asked.

Cooper didn’t waste any time
answering. “Satan has sent one of his minions to your home. They
feed on fear and everyone in this room has plenty of it to give
them. Their sole purpose is to destroy and torment souls. The more
you allow them to stay around the more fearful you’ll be and the
more you fear the devil, the more he’ll hang around. They use fear
to overcome you and steal your soul.”

“
Will she be okay?” Ben
asked.

I tried to soothe his fears. “She may
have violent reactions at first, but I know she’ll overcome it and
we’ll get rid the evil spirit.”

“
I’ll be back in a jiffy,”
Cooper said as he dashed for the door.

He seemed a little too eager for this.
I thought he loved the camera a little too much.

When I glanced out the window, Elvis
was pacing the length of the front porch. I knew he wanted me to
hurry up and get the heck out of there. Still, Mr. Fine and Candy
Cherry were nowhere in sight. I guessed the ghosts of the house had
told them to stay away. I wished I had that kind of influence over
them.

While waiting for Cooper, I scrolled
through my camera to look at the photos I’d snapped. A few of the
shots were completely dark. But then I spotted one photo and I knew
that a demonic force had been trying to emerge. I noticed the
apparition in the photo right away. It was startling to see the
proof that the spirit had been there. Without a doubt, there was an
evil spirit in the home.

Jennie was still in a daze and not
really talking to anyone. I looked to her boyfriend and said,
“Believe it or not, the man and young girl are good spirits. They
are trying to hold the bad one back, but I’m not sure how long
they’ll be able to keep it at bay.”

He wiped away tears as I wrapped my
arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “I know it’s hard to see
with something attacking Jennie like this, but you have to stop
crying and be strong. Like Cooper said, it feeds on the fear. We
can’t give it any more energy.”

He nodded in understanding.

Trying to ease his apprehension, I
asked, “There was an old barn behind the house. Did you go back
there often?”

Ben nodded again.

I shook my head. “The evil spirit
likes to hang out back there, watching and following
you.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Well,
it’s obvious that something is telling us to get out of this house.
A lot of people have experienced stuff when they come here too.” He
shook his head. “I didn’t believe Jennie at first and I feel
horrible for that.”

Finally Cooper returned with religious
paraphernalia in hand. “We’ll do it in the living room,” he said.
“We need a lot of space.”

I placed my arm under Jennie’s and
helped Ben move her into the other room.

“
Do you think this is such a
great idea?” I whispered to Cooper.

He met my gaze. “Trust me. I know what
I’m doing.”

After we sat Jennie in the chair, I
turned to Cooper and whispered, “Jennie needs help. This thing is
attacking her and if we can’t help, we have to call someone who
can.”

“
It’ll be okay. Like I said
before, I know what I’m doing. I won’t let it get out of hand.”
Cooper motioned for Mindy, Matt and the cameraman. “Please,
everyone gather around Jennie. She needs our help, so focus on good
energy.”

When Cooper placed his hand on
Jennie’s shoulder, his face turned red. It looked as if he was
struggling to catch his breath. He grabbed his neck and motioned
for help.

“
Cooper,” I yelled. “We have
to help him. He can’t breathe.”

When Matt approached, Cooper pushed
him and Matt landed with a thud against the wall. Matt stumbled up
with a dazed and stunned look across his face.

“
Keep going,” Cooper
grunted.

When I touched Matt’s arm, he said,
“I’m fine.”

Cooper regained his composure and
placed his right hand on Jennie’s head, and with his left hand, he
held his Bible. “We’ll free her from the devil’s
clutches.”

Matt held the cross in front of
Jennie. It wobbled as his hand shook. When Jennie glanced at the
crucifix, she had to look away.

“
Remember, demons play
tricks. Just be prepared.” He looked to all of us.

A presence filled the room—the demon
had entered. Ben paced the floor. He was in full-on panic mode.
Jennie screamed and writhed, followed by hysterical laughter. You
could feel the battle in the room.

“
I’m not leaving,” Jennie
said. Her voice had changed.

Ben, Mindy and Matt looked on with
wide eyes. The air in the room was hanging over us like a heavy
blanket.

“
I command you to leave,”
Cooper yelled.

“
Leave me alone. It’s me,
Jennie.” Her voice had returned to normal.

“
She’s back. It worked,” Ben
said, rushing to her side.

“
No, the demon will pretend
that she’s not possessed. It’ll give us false answers to questions
and even pretend to leave,” Cooper yelled.

“
Well, then how the hell
will we know when it’s really gone?” Matt asked.

“
You’ll feel it,” I answered
for Cooper.

“
Are you sure we’re not
dealing with schizophrenia? Or some other psychological disorder?”
Matt asked.

Cooper didn’t answer, but continued
with his mission. “I command you to tell me if you were brought
here by a sorcerer’s magic.”

I hadn’t expected Cooper to ask that
question, but I wanted to know the answer. Would we get the right
answer?

“
Where are you from?” Ben
asked Jennie.

I placed my hand on Ben’s arm. “Don’t
believe all the demon says. Only ask questions regarding this
situation.”

“
Why?” he asked.

“
I learned the hard way. The
demon doesn’t need any more information. It’s like giving him your
address and inviting him to move in with you.”

Jennie’s skin was wet, but not only
from the sweat, but from being dosed with holy water. Cooper forced
the crucifix into her hand. Her arms fell to her sides as if she
had no strength to even hold them up. There wasn’t much fight left
in her.

Jennie spoke Latin, but I had no idea
what she said. This was why we needed a priest. I feared we were in
way over our heads.

“
Does anyone know what she
said?” Matt asked.

“
She doesn’t speak any other
languages,” Ben said.

“
I told you the demon can do
crazy things that you’d never dream possible,” Cooper said as he
continued holding the Bible next to Jennie.

“
Who is this demon?” Ben
asked.

“
We may never know who the
demon is. People come back to work for the devil. If they enjoyed
making deals with the devil when they were alive, then it wouldn’t
surprise me if a person came back now as a demon. It looks like
this demon wants to continue to haunt and torment your family as
much as he can,” Cooper said.

“
Yeah, and he adds other
people in just for kicks,” Mindy whispered. “It’s an added bonus
for him.” She stood by the entryway, ready to run at any
moment.

“
He probably had a sick and
twisted mind when he was alive, so I can imagine what it must be
like now in his hellish afterlife,” I said. “But I intend on
stopping him one way or another. He won’t win this battle, not if I
have any say-so.”

I held Jennie’s arm as she continued
to shake. Maybe Cooper was right. This demon could have been bad in
life and was now taking it out on anyone he could. I wasn’t sure
we’d ever find out. Maybe Cooper knew what he was talking about
after all. I figured Cooper was right about half the time. And as
long as that half the time was the time that counted right now,
well, that was all that mattered for me.

Jennie seemed to become more aware of
us. “It was her.” She pointed toward me. “It was her who brought
this demon to my house.”

I looked around as if to say: what did
I do? “It’s only the demon still talking.” I tried to brush off
Jennie’s statement.

Everyone stared, then focused their
attention on Jennie. Thank goodness. She began interacting with
everyone as she normally did. The demon was losing strength and the
air lightened. The cloud had lifted from the room. I let out a huge
breathe. Was this thing finally gone? Did that mean the dark shadow
following me would be gone too?

We drove to the local pizza place for
the wrap party. My heart wasn’t in it though. I would have rather
gone home, pulled the shades down, and gone to bed.

“
This is where you go for a
party? How lame,” Candy Cherry said.

Why hadn’t she been around when the
demon was attacking Jennie? She was full of hot air.