The Banishing (25 page)

Melissa ran a hand through her dark hair and rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know the answer to that.”

“I do,” Father Owen persisted. “I really do.”

Melissa waited for the kettle to boil, then poured out the drinks. She carried them over to the table, handing one to the priest, who took it and smiled a thank-you.

She sat down across from him, taking a sip. “I’ve learned quite a bit since I spoke to you last. I went to see Richard Danvers.”

Father Owen raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Grace’s husband?”

Melissa nodded. “He’s in a psychiatric ward.”

“I’m not surprised at all, after what he did to Grace.”

“It was this house. Like the things Grace said to you, remember? I know that even priests have to be careful about making assumptions about things like that, but I’m telling you here and now. There is something in this house. Like you said, a possession or something. A demon.”

The priest said nothing, watching Melissa intently and waiting for her to tell more.

She held the hot mug in her hand and stared down at the drink inside. She watched her reflection shift and glide across the surface of the drink. “I read some notes Grace wrote. I have the book upstairs, actually. She…knew it, too. She was abused by Richard, but she knew it was the demon or whatever it was in this house making him do it. I know it sounds crazy or whatever…It’s all true. Grace saw things here the way I have. Shadows, things moving, and I found out more.” Melissa paused, looking up at the priest and hesitating. She was unsure whether to go on, unable to read the priest’s thoughts and feelings about what she was saying.

“Go on,” Father Owen pressed at last.

“There was a case back in 1989. A man called Sebastian Harping lived here, in this house. He murdered six women over the period of six months, and on the sixth day of December he used their blood and organs in some sort of satanic ritual to invite a demon into the house.”

The priest had paled, his eyes darkening. “I’ve heard of the case. The papers called it the ‘Case of the Beast’. I didn’t realize it was
here
.”

“It was. Whatever that…that demon is, whatever reason Harping had for bringing it here, I don’t know. I
do
know it’s still here, and it’s ruining my marriage.” Melissa laughed, suddenly. “Ruining my
life
, actually. I can barely think straight, anymore.”

Father Owen lifted his eyes, looking around the room. “These things happen. There are more things in this world than you or I could ever imagine.”

“So, do you believe me?” Melissa pressed.

The priest smiled but didn’t answer. “Is your husband here?”

“At work.”

“Does he know I’m here?”

Melissa shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t let that happen. I know he wouldn’t. Father, do you sense anything? Feel anything here?”

He chuckled. “I’m a priest, not a psychic, Melissa. I know demons exist, and even if I could sense anything, a demon is going to hide from someone like me. Not because I am great, but because the One I represent is great.”

Melissa nodded.

“Do you want me to go around and bless the house? Melissa, I fear that after the things you’ve experienced here, I’m in way over my head. I feel that if there is a case here, and we can document it, then we might be able to get permission for an exorcism. That might be the route to take.”

“I’m not sure I need the house blessing,” Melissa said, leaning forward. She took the last mouthful of her drink and looked into his eyes. “Grace wrote something. I don’t know if it will work or what it even is, but she seemed to think that something called ‘the banishing ritual’ might work.”

Father Owens’s face fell, and his skin went ashen under the kitchen light. His eyes widened. “Where did you hear about that?” he asked.

“I told you. It was something Grace wrote. Why? What is it?”

“What it is, dear,” the priest said, his eyes hardening, “is the worst thing you could do. The banishing ritual is just about the worst thing anybody could do to another.”

Melissa felt a surge of resentment. “I need your help, and if this banishing thing will work, I will try it.”

“Are you prepared to pay the price? The price is very dear. I don’t think I should even tell you. You are obviously in a great deal of distress. You’re not thinking straight as it is, and I—”

“I need help! For God’s sake! I will try anything. Just tell me!” Melissa saw the priest flinch as she snapped at him, and she felt a pang of guilt. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to go off like that. Please, tell me. I need to know. It might be my only option.”

“What about an exorcism? I told you, if we can build a case for that—”

“No time!” Melissa retorted. She felt a thread of anger rise within her, and she tried desperately to swallow it. Annoying the priest would do nothing. “There’s no time. Do you know how bad things are getting? The things Mark does to me…you wouldn’t believe it. I can’t wait. I will end up dead, I swear.”

Father Owen turned and stared out of the kitchen window. Rain still fell heavily, smacking noisily against the glass. The wind rattled against the house, battling against the walls and foundations of the building. “The banishing ritual is an old one. Goes back many years. There is a reason people don’t use it much. It means taking
your
suffering and passing it onto somebody else, and that is something I personally wouldn’t want to do. Each thing we do, it has consequences—both here and in the afterlife.”

“I know.” Melissa nodded, understanding what he was saying was true, but also knowing that she was desperate enough to try anything.

“The banishing ritual involves making a pact with the demon.”

Melissa shuddered against the words, feeling an icy shiver travel the length of her spine. “A pact?”

The priest nodded. “The demon wants a host. Somebody to control, to inhabit, in order to cause whatever pain and chaos it can cause. It is intelligent and can be bargained with. It wants you and your husband here to cause you both pain and to separate you. Therefore, it won’t let you go just like that. The only way it will let go is if you make a deal to bring it a new host. It‘s like a sacrifice of sorts. A demonic form of the sacrifice that Christ himself made for us on the cross.”

“A host? You mean bring it someone else to…possess?”

Father Owen nodded. “That’s the essence of the banishing ritual. You are banishing it from your life, from your husband, but it will only let that happen on the condition that you bring someone else into the home for it to carry on its...existence of evil. Demons love that. They love seeing the evil they can force upon mankind….the things people will do! People will do almost anything to save themselves and the people they love. Exactly the kind of desperation a demon would feed off of.”

Melissa felt numb. It all seemed so…implausible, ridiculous. “I don’t see how I could…I mean…what would happen if I moved away? With Mark?”

“Melissa, its hold on Mark is so strong, I doubt it would let him leave. I think...” Father Owen faltered, his eyes lowering to the floor. “I think it would rather have Mark dead than let him go. Demons will do anything, believe me. The power supply, so to speak, seems to be this house, where Sebastian Harping first summoned it from the bowels of Hell. It made its home here. I think you’d have to get Mark out and bring a new host here—where the demon first came into this world. That’s the only way I can see it working. Grace once looked into the history of this house... sometimes people who tried to pack up and leave have been hurt or even died, Melissa. It won’t let people go - not easily.” The priest’s voice trailed into uncomfortable silence, then he said, “I think it would break Mark’s mind, make him lose his sanity or...as I said, possibly kill him, rather than let him walk out that door. The demon will not want to lose, Melissa. It will remain here, keeping Mark with him...unless...”

“Unless I pass it to somebody else. Bring them here, into the home, you mean.”

“Exactly. Somebody you know, somebody you care about.”

Melissa looked up, widening her eyes. “Someone I care about? Why does it have to be that way? Are you serious?”

The priest leaned forward, placing one cold hand onto Melissa’s arm. “As I said earlier, evil enjoys evil. It does what it can to make you do things you never thought you‘d do...It delights in hurting people. In chaos. In tearing lives apart. I’ve read cases before, where people have done the Banishing ritual...in most cases it works, but it’s a cost no one can afford to pay. You are in effect handing over this living hell to somebody you care about.”

Melissa fell quiet, trying to steady the swirling thoughts in her mind. “I just don‘t know!”

Father Owen shook his head in disbelief. “I told you all of this, but I shouldn’t have, should I? Please tell me you’re not suggesting you’d really go through with that?”

“What choice do I have?” she looked up, her eyes pleading.

“Let God be the judge, then,” Father Owen said, shaking his head. He looked dejected, frustrated.

“Yes, let Him be the judge! Look where I am. The hell
I
am in. I didn’t deserve this. Mark doesn’t, either. You’re not married, Father. You don’t know. I love Mark with all my heart. He has been my best friend...Since my parents died, I’ve had no one, really...” her voice trailed off, and she wiped at tears. “I’m sorry, but yes. I will do what I have to do.”

“You already said Mark won’t move. You’d need him out to bring the new host in.”

“I have to try. Mark’s life could be in danger. His life—our marriage—is in my hands.”

The priest took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. “The choice is yours.”

“What is the ritual?” Melissa asked, desperate to know all she needed to know.

“What?”

“The thing I need to actually do? If I get Mark away and everything, and I manage to find somebody to take this place, what do I actually need to do? What
is
the ritual?”

Father Owen stood up and began buttoning up his coat. “You have to light six candles. You have to do it alone. Six candles. Call upon the demon. Just summon it. State your deal, what you want, and then you have to spill your blood, one drop on each of the six candles. Six is the Evil One’s number, as you know. You must let each candle burn down to the wick, don’t blow them out, because the candles are the symbol of the deal. On the table, place a piece of paper with the name of the person it can have. Or a photo. Sometimes, a photo can be more powerful. Once the candles are out, the deal is done, and the demon will wait for its next host.”

“It’s that easy?” Melissa said, standing up and following the priest into the hallway.

He paused by the front door and turned back to her. “I never said it was easy, did I? People have been more frightened by things they see and hear in that ritual than they were in the demonic haunting itself, Melissa. I say to you now, if you do this, may God be on your side, because you are paying a
very
high price.”

“For my marriage,” Melissa gasped, blinking away tears and fear suddenly filling her bones and blood.

“Even Grace obviously couldn’t go through with this,” Father Owen said, stepping outside. Rain pelted in heavy sheets across the air, and he put his hat on, waving goodbye as he went.

Melissa watched him go, then closed the front door behind him.

She knew what she had to do. Wouldn’t Mark do it for her?

She ran to find her mobile phone. She had to speak to Josh.

Chapter Thirty-One

Melissa sat quietly on the sofa, the mobile phone lying in her lap. She suddenly didn’t know what to do. It seemed to her, as she stared at the phone, that she didn’t have much choice.

The banishing ritual might stop the hell she was living through, might stop her husband from getting…worse, if that was possible.

Something had to change. It had to end.

Melissa lifted the phone, punched in Josh’s number, and waited for him to answer. After four rings, he did.

“Hello?”

“Josh, it’s me.”

“Hi, Melissa. I was going to call you, today. How are you?”

“Long story,” she said, unable to bring herself to say anything about what she had learned, about what she was about to do. She didn’t have the energy. Besides, Josh would laugh at her. Banishing rituals? Possession? He’d already shown that he was more than skeptical about it all, and she couldn’t hear that right now.

“I’m calling, because I need to see you, tonight.”

“You do?” he asked.

“Yes, are you free?”

“For a drink? For you, anytime,” he said with a breezy laugh.

Melissa fell silent. “Don’t. Please, I’m being serious. I need your help. Just be at my place at seven tonight. Don’t drink, because I’ll need you to drive.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just promise you’ll be there. Do as I say, and I swear I’ll owe you my life.” She meant it.

Josh sighed. “I can’t say no to that. I’ll be there.”

Melissa thanked him and disconnected the call.

Now, she needed to head into town, again and find some sleeping tablets.