Unclean Spirit (19 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

              It had been a long, but unexceptional, flight for Vincent Palmary and he had slept for the majority of the time. But he awoke now and began scratching his itching arms. He had no way of knowing that his plane was passing over Van Horn, Texas.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

              Mag, whom Vincent had apprized of his flight plans, was waiting at the gate when the plane disembarked. Truth be told, he had been relieved to get out of Van Horn for awhile. 

              "Narancsíz!" Mag exclaimed as he greeted Vincent. "What that on arms?" 

              "Hives. 

              "Let's get going. There's no time to waste!"

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

              Lukas had avoided going over to the Forsythe place since his return from El Paso. He told himself he was simply too busy to get over there, but he knew better. What he knew was that he was afraid. He had detected degeneracy in Paul Forsythe that had terrified him. 

              "Lukas, where are you?" Lillie called out as she placed the groceries on the kitchen table. "I ran into Charlie Toobin at the store and you aren't going to believe what he told me!" 

              "And they've called in an exorcist?" Lukas was shocked by what Lillie had told him had been going on at the ranch. 

              "Well, not an exorcist exactly, but something pretty damn close. 

              "Maybe you better tell me again what happened to you in El Paso." Lillie wasn't so sure anymore that a febrile state had been responsible for her husband's interpretation of the things he had experienced during his stay in El Paso. 

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

              The day had been oppressively humid, a sure sign that a storm was moving in. Luckily, Mag and Vincent made it back to Van Horn before the thunder, lightening, and rain started. They went straight to Saul's office. 

              "Lovely Miss Wanda! So good see you again. Are more beautiful than remember." As usual, Mag was ladling it on. 

              "Oh, Mr. Gehrke!" Wanda demured. 

              "Would like introduce friend, Vincent Palmary." 

              Vincent, picking up on Mag's lead, kissed the back of Wanda's hand. 

              "I am very pleased to meet you." 

              Wanda was beside herself with joy. Flattery was everything to a less than svelte middle-aged woman and having her hand kissed twice in the past few days was almost more than Wanda could bear. 

              "'scuse me. I'll just let Doc Feener know you're here. Please, have a seat," Wanda said as she headed off toward Saul's office. 

              Saul was surprised by the knock on his door. Wanda never knocked. "Come in."                "Doctor Feener, Mr. Gehrke is here with a man by the name of Vincent Palmary. I asked them to wait in the reception area." 

              Well, Mag's presence certainly explained Wanda's rarely used manners! 

              "Fine, Wanda, please show them in." 

              As Wanda turned to leave, Saul added, "You know, Wanda, Mag is single."

              That did it! 

              "YOU THINK YOU KNOW SO DAMN MUCH!" Wanda was not at all pleased that her employer was aware of her crush on the Hungarian. She slammed the door on her way out. 

              "That's more like it," Saul said under his breath. 

              The wind howled and the rain poured outside The Smokehouse where Saul, Mag, and Vincent had stopped for a late lunch. 

              "Mr. Palmary," Saul began, "despite the little bit of reading I've done and, of course, my association with Mag, I must plead ignorance when it comes to the supernatural realm. Could you give me a crash course in exactly what it is you do?" 

              "Simply put, Dr. Feener..." 

              "Saul, please," the physician interrupted. 

              "Thank you, Saul. And please, use my first name as well," Vincent smiled as he spoke and then continued, sans the smile. "I have been 'blessed' with something referred to as discernment. For some reason, God only knows why, I have the ability to recognize the presence of evil spirits, demons, if you will. You've noticed the hives on my arms? Well, they erupted during my flight into El Paso. The only time I get hives is when I'm in close proximity to diabolic entities." 

              Saul felt a shiver pass through him. 

              Vincent went on. "In addition, I practice what is known as deliverance which, in a nutshell, is essentially a synonym for exorcism." 

              "You're a priest?" Saul inquired. 

              "No, no, I'm not. Retired cop. While it's true that exorcisms are generally performed, if they're performed at all, by the clergy, any Christian can pray for deliverance. Clearly, the person who prays for deliverance must know what he or she is doing. I've heard horror stories about well-intentioned, but untrained, individuals who have caused harm to both themselves and the demonized individual secondary to their uninformed approach to the process." 

              "I don't mean to sound flip," Saul said, "but is there a special program of study or a 'How-To' book for people who want to pray for deliverance?" 

              Mag just rolled his eyes; Vincent answered Saul's question.

              "I'm not aware of any formal education for practitioners of deliverance, although there do exist a number of books on the subject. The Roman Catholic Church is pretty tight-lipped about anything having to do with exorcism. I do know that the
Rituale Romanum
,
the quintessential exorcism ritual, still exists so I assume that it's also still utilized by the Catholic priesthood." 

              "But that's not what you use?" Saul queried. 

              "Not in its pure form, no. There are a multitude of exorcism rituals, most of which are bastardized models of the
Roman Rituale
.
As a matter of fact, baptism is actually a exorcism ritual."

              "Not know that," Mag admitted. 

              Vincent continued. "You're not alone, Magyar. Baptism certainly isn't publicized as a demon-buster. But think about it, if not for baptism there might be many more possessed souls in the world! 

              "But, back to your original question, Saul. I cast out demons through the power of prayer." 

              "Prayer?" Saul wasn't sure he understood. 

              "Not the type of prayer you are probably familiar with. I don't pray to God during a deliverance and I don't ask Him--or Her--for anything. I speak directly to the Demonic and command It to depart. Of course, I do so in the name of Jesus Christ because without God's authority to back me up I have no power over the Demonic." 

              Mag saw the skeptical look on Saul's face. "Vincent, tell Saul about Wintermyer case." 

              "Up until about five years ago, I had only participated in simple deliverances that involved demonic infestations or oppressions rather than true possessions." 

              "Excuse me for interrupting," Saul said. "Infestation and oppression are the precursors of possession, right?" 

              "That's correct," Vincent responded. "The object of infestation is to scare the hell out of the person who has been targeted by the diabolical entity. Unrelenting terrorization typically weakens the Demonic's victim to the point that he or she can no longer fully exercise free will; hence, oppression. Then, once the Demonic is able to control both the individual's body and will, It has taken possession of the person." 

              "Sounds like psychological warfare," Saul posited. 

              "Precisely," Vincent agreed. "But true possession goes far beyond an attack on the mind." 

              "Is now spiritual warfare," Mag offered. 

              "Well put, Magyar. You see, Saul, a person who is possessed no longer has his or her God-given spirit; it has been replaced with the spirit of the Demonic." 

              "Wait a minute!" Saul was confused. "If an inhuman spirit moves into a person's body, where does the human spirit go?" 

              Mag and Vincent exchanged a meaningful glance before Mag finally responded. "Not know. Never thought about it." 

              "Never thought about it?!" Saul was incredulous. 

              "Neither have I," Vincent admitted, "and that's very embarrassing!" 

              "I didn't mean to..." Saul started. 

              "Please, don't apologize. You asked a very perceptive question that deserves consideration. Although I've never actually seen it happen, I've read that the human spirit moves out of the person's body from his or her right side while the inhuman spirit enters from the left. I have never, however, read anything about the human spirit's disposition. Damn, I guess I've always assumed that the human spirit stayed close to its physical counterpart because it had nowhere else to go. That must be the case because a successful deliverance expels the inhuman spirit and allows the original spirit to return." 

              "What do you suppose happens to the human spirit if the deliverance is unsuccessful?" Saul asked. 

              "That one easy," Mag answered. "Death is result of exorcism that not work, so human spirit go wherever all spirits go when body die." 

              "Death is the result of all failed exorcisms?" Saul didn't like the sound of that. 

              "Well, yes. Think about it: If a person is truly, totally possessed, he or she cannot survive the constant physical abuse the inhuman spirit inflicts upon the shell--the body--in which it has taken up residence." 

              "But why would the spirit want to destroy its own host?" 

              "Because it can, Saul. Understand, the Demonic doesn't die when its human reservoir does; it simply moves along to wreak havoc elsewhere. The Demonic exists to torture, to prove that It is powerful and capable of destroying what God has created. The Demonic is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient." 

              "Do you realize how sacrilegious that sounds, Vincent?"

              "That's just it, Saul. The Demonic is a sacrilege. It is the antithesis of God." 

              "Doc Feener? You okay?" The waitress inquired as she placed the lunch orders on the table. "You look a little green around the gills." 

              "What?" 

              "I asked if you were feeling bad." 

              "Sorry, I was lost in thought. No, Stella, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. 

              "Food looks good." Actually, the food didn't look good to Saul and he couldn't help but wonder if anything would look good to him ever again.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

              "You were going to tell me about the Wintermyer case," Saul reminded Vincent as the three men drove to Saul's house. 

              "Are you sure you want to hear about it?" Vincent asked. 

              "Might as well." 

              "I was called upon to pray for a young woman, Lara Wintermyer--not her real name, by the way; I believe strongly in the confidential nature of what I do--who was clearly possessed. When I first met Lara, she was literally crouching in a corner of her apartment, much like a frightened, but very dangerous, animal. Her skin was pulled so taut against her bones that it was almost translucent; there was little hair on her head and her scalp was covered with large patches of dried blood; the carpet beneath her was saturated with her own excrement. As bad as all of that was, it was Lara's eyes that unnerved me most. Her eyes were huge and wide-open and her irises, pupils, and sclerae appeared perfectly normal but she had no eyelids; it wasn't possible for her to close her eyes!" 

              That did it for Saul. He had to pull the car onto the road's shoulder in order to hear the rest of the story. 

              Vincent continued. "I knew I was in over my head, but I couldn't just desert Lara so I began to pray for her deliverance. From the moment I began, the entity inside Lara assailed me with blasphemes, profanities, threats, and ridicule. And although Lara never left the corner of the room where I had first seen her, her body slowly inched its way up the wall until Lara's head touched the ceiling." Vincent stopped speaking. 

              "Vincent! Don't just leave me hanging here!" Saul wanted to hear the rest of the story. 

              "Sorry, I was just flashing on how truly terrified I had been while I was in that room with Lara. 

              "After a total of eighteen hours of prayer, the demon was gone. Lara fell to the floor, looked at me and mouthed, 'Thank you,' and fell into a deep sleep." 

              "But how did you know that the demon was really gone?" Saul asked. 

              "I told you, I have the gift of discernment; I can tell when spirits are present.   Also, the hives that had covered my body from the moment I entered the apartment disappeared without a trace." 

              "And Lara? What became of her?" 

              Mag knew that it would be very difficult for Vincent to answer Saul's question so he responded, without his usual affectation. "Lara committed suicide ten days later." 

              "What?!" 

              Mag continued. "Lara did leave a suicide note. Apparently, she had sufficient memory of her possession to know that she could never go through such torment again." 

              "So, the demon won after all." Saul concluded. 

              "Yes," Vincent and Mag concurred in unison.