PI: Paranormal Investigators

Possession

 

Frank paid for his coffee and thanked the teller with a smile, walking back out to the car. “So, where is this new case?”

“Inner Salem,” Jonathon said.

“Of course it is.” Frank rolled his eyes. “What are we looking at?”

Jonathon sighed. “Possible possession; abnormal activity from a couple’s seven-year-old. I know,” he said as Frank flinched, “that’s awfully young for possession. That’s why I said possible.”

“How abnormal is abnormal?” Frank pulled the top off his coffee and ate the whipped cream.

“Her eyes change color. Things fly around the room when she’s angry. Her hair has started to change color at the roots.”

Frank frowned. “You’re right, that sounds an awful lot like a possession.”

“The strangest thing about it is, they didn’t say anything about aggressive behavior. Strange behavior, yes. She doesn’t seem to recognize them a good part of the time, and she goes into hysterics a lot more frequently than she used to, but she isn’t attacking anyone.” Jonathon tapped the steering wheel with his thumb briefly. “It’s not normal, especially not for a possession. The demons that like to possess humans are usually… not happy or friendly at all.”

Frank laughed a little. “First of all, what we do is not normal.” Jonathon snorted at that, agreeing. “Second of all, when have we ever encountered a demon that was friendly?”

“Point, set, match,” Jonathon said. “Drink your coffee.”

The drive into Salem passed quickly, and Jonathon managed to find the apartment building without incident. Frank got quiet as soon as they entered the building, and Jonathon nudged him, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Frank said shakily. “Someone here is – terrified. Frightened to the point of violence. I can’t get any clear reading on their thoughts, which could mean they aren’t thinking clearly. And…” he shook his head. “Let’s just go.”

By the time Jonathon knocked on the apartment door, Frank was almost sheet white. The woman who had called them in answered the door cautiously. “Hello?” she said.

“Mrs. Clarke? I’m Jonathon, with the Paranormal Investigators. This is my partner, Frank. You said your daughter was behaving strangely?”

“Thank God. My husband is with her now, she – she wouldn’t stop screaming, a minute ago. And her eyes are green again.”

Frank had no doubts that the fear was coming from this apartment. It was like someone was playing a tape of a hysterical child on a loop, and it scraped at his brain, making the hair on the back of his neck prickle.

“What color are your daughter’s eyes normally?” he heard Jonathon ask.

“Blue,” Mrs. Clarke said. “And her hair is usually brown – it’s starting to grow out red at the roots.”

Jonathon paused. “Mrs. Clarke, I don’t want to alarm you, but it is possible that your daughter is a victim of demonic possession.”

“Oh my God,” Mrs. Clarke said, turning white and sitting down on her couch with a thump. “What – is there something you can do? You won’t have to… hurt her…”

“No, of course not,” Jonathon said. “Movies like The Exorcist are just movies. Real exorcisms are hardly ever violent, and when they are the vessel – that’s what we call someone who has been possessed – is never the target. It usually turns into a spiritual battle directly with the demon.”

Frank concentrated on projecting calm at the woman, but it was difficult with the hysteria coming from the back room. “Mrs. Clarke, is your daughter in the back of the apartment?” he asked.

“Hailey – yes, she is.” Mrs. Clarke looked a little more frightened. “Please just – help her, please.”

“We’ll do everything we can,” Jonathon assured. ::What do you think?:: he asked Frank silently, through Frank’s telepathy.

::I can’t think at all right now. That little girl is scared to death,:: Frank snapped.

::It’s coming from her?::

::I’m ninety percent sure.::

Jonathon opened the door to the bedroom slowly. “Hailey?” he asked. Mr. Clarke looked up from where he had his daughter cradled in his arms, frightened.

“She wouldn’t stop screaming,” he said. “What’s wrong with her?”

Hailey turned slowly away from her father and fixed wide green eyes on Jonathon and Frank. Frank reeled back against the doorframe, clutching his head, as her fear spiked again and she began to scream.

“Mr. Clarke!” Jonathon shouted over the screaming, and the rattling of the toys in the room. “What I’m going to ask you to do is difficult, but I need you to leave!”

“Hailey -!” Hailey pulled away from her father and tucked herself in the corner. Something flew across the room with a bang.

“Hailey will be fine! If you stay, you’ll get hurt!” Mr. Clarke hesitated another moment, and then ducked as a Barbie nearly hit him in the nose. He hurried out of the room with a last look at his daughter.

Frank slammed the door and reached his mind out to Hailey’s, trying to calm her. He recoiled abruptly. “Jonathon, that’s a human ghost possessing her, and the ghost is who’s so afraid!”

Jonathon dodged what had been a dollhouse before it had smashed against the wall. “Calm down,” he said, trying to keep his own voice calm. “We aren’t going to hurt you!”

“You will!” Not-Hailey screamed. Frank collapsed to his knees, holding his head again.

“Why are you so afraid of us?” he gasped.

“You’ll make me leave her body! And he’ll eat me!”

“Who will eat you?” Jonathon asked sharply.

“Him! The Nasty Man, the one who said he wanted to eat my soul!”

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Jonathon asked. “I promise I won’t let him get you.”

The things flying around the room stopped in midair. “Jorden,” the spirit inside Hailey said. “You promise?”

“I do,” Jonathon said.

The toys slowly settled to the floor again, and Frank breathed a sigh of relief as the fear abated. “Hailey doesn’t want me to leave,” Jorden said petulantly. “She likes having me here.”

“Can we talk to Hailey for a minute?” Jonathon asked gently.

Jorden frowned, but her eyes abruptly turned blue. Hailey stamped her foot. “Don’t you make Jorden go away! She’s safe here, and I like her! My parents can just have two daughters, that’s all!”

“Hailey, honey, this isn’t going to last,” Frank said. “Your parents are getting very worried.”

Hailey’s eyes flickered green for a moment, but Hailey clenched her fists and Frank distinctly heard her think at the ghost, ::Wait your turn, Jorden.:: “I don’t care,” Hailey said aloud.

Jonathon knelt slowly. “The Nasty Man will find out where Jorden is,” he said gently. “And then he’ll hurt you, your parents and Jorden.”

“But if you make her leave, she’ll just get hurt anyway!”

“No,” Jonathon said. “The way I do things, she’ll go straight to Heaven, and the Nasty Man won’t even sense her.”

Jorden took control again. “Do you promise?” she asked in a small, frightened voice.

“I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die, devil strike me if I lie,” Jonathon said soberly.

Jorden hesitated a moment longer, then nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m sorry, Hailey, but Heaven sounds like fun.”

Jonathon reached into his pocket for his opal, and laid his hands on the top of Jorden’s borrowed head. He cleared his throat and began to chant, slowly.

A shield rose around the three of them, and Jorden’s soul slowly began to pull out of Hailey’s body. She was a little shorter than Hailey, with short red hair and bright green eyes. Jonathon stopped his chant and pulled the opal away.

Hailey sniffed. “Goodbye, Jorden,” she said.

Jorden waved, and then her form faded from sight. Jonathon dropped the shield and pocketed his opal.

“Will I ever see her again?” Hailey asked.

“You will someday,” Frank said.

They exited the bedroom, and Hailey was immediately swept up by her crying parents. Mrs. Clarke began thanking Jonathon profusely, while Mr. Clarke turned to Frank, demanding an explanation.

“Hailey will tell you all about it. She probably can better than me,” Frank said. He put his hand on Hailey’s head. “You can tell your parents about this, sweetie, but you don’t want to tell anyone else, ever. You never know who could be the Nasty Man, if he can do that trick Jorden did.”

Hailey’s eyes got very big. “You mean, he can hide inside people too?”

“He might be able to,” Frank said. “So don’t tell anyone, promise?”

“Devil strike me if I lie,” Hailey said shyly, and Jonathon smiled.

They collected their check – their first decent pay in a long while – and got back in the car. Frank’s coffee was cold, and he made a face. “Cute kid,” he said.

“Mm-hm,” Jonathon said. “Really cute kid. I hope she turns out all right.”

Frank paused for a moment, and then smirked at Jonathon. “Devil strike me if I lie?”

“Shut up. It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

Short Story Navigation

PI: Paranormal Investigators

Trance
Winter in August
Possession

Stand-Alone

The Airport
The Threat