House Call

It was a quaint house, by every definition of the word — small, cute, charming... and unusual. The cool-grey siding, bleached red shutters, bright red front door, and black shingle roof all seemed fine. It was the little touches that threw Martha off as she walked up the sidewalk to the front porch. A venus flytrap in a potted plant by the step. The skull of a deer with an impressive set of antlers mounted by the front door. The antique saw with a painting of a cave and the family name displayed on the railing. 

"Bell," Martha muttered as she climbed the steps, shifting her briefcase to her left hand. She straightened her white blouse, adjusted the waist of her slacks, and brushed her bangs out of her eyes for the umpteenth time. With a knock on the door, she stepped back and patiently waited. 

The door creaked open a sliver, and a pair of grey eyes peered out from inside the dark home. "Hello?" she said, her voice frail.

"Hi, are you Elizabeth? Elizabeth Bell?" 

The woman nodded, opening the door a bit more to reveal her exhausted, pale face. 

"I'm Martha Bishop. You submitted a request for an assessment." Martha smiled warmly and extended her hand to Elizabeth. The woman opened the door a touch more, then took her hand and weakly shook it. "Can I come in?" 

Elizabeth stepped back behind the door, pulled it open with her, and nodded toward the entryway. Martha stepped in, her eyes absorbing the bizarre decor in the dim light of the antique lantern that Elizabeth held. All the lights were out, the only light emanated from the sparse candles and lanterns around the home. Most of the furnishings seemed to be vintage or antique, and the floral wallpaper was peeled and cracked along the borders. 

"How long have you lived here, Elizabeth?" Martha turned to the resident in question, her hands folded in front of her while holding her briefcase. 

The woman was young, thin, and tiny. Just short of five feet tall, she looked like she could pass for a ten-year-old except for the crows' feet around her eyes. She was wearing a dusty pink bathrobe over blue pyjamas, and her black hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head. Her eyes were the most telling, though. They were so tired, weary... hopeless. 

"I grew up in this house. My parents died last year and left it to me."

Martha waited for Elizabeth to continue, but was disappointed as the woman continued to stare at her, shrinking in on herself. With a soft sigh, Martha stepped a touch closer and bent down, bringing her tall frame down to eye level with her client. "Why am I here, Elizabeth?"

The woman looked away quickly, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear. "I... I'm crazy. I'm just crazy, and this was a mistake-" 

"In my experience, no-one is crazy," Martha cut her off before she could spiral further. "They just can't understand what is happening. So tell me, what is happening? Why do you think you're crazy?"

"Um... It started a couple of months ago..." Elizabeth began, leading Martha into the living room and setting the lantern down on the coffee table. She motioned for Martha to sit down on the armchair, and so she did, noticing the dust that rose into the orange light as she did. "I was sitting in here, watching YouTube, and then this dog just came walking into the room and laid down in front of the fireplace." Elizabeth pointed to the brick fireplace on the other side of the room, hauntingly charming in the dim light. She turned back to Martha, her eyebrows pinched together in worry. "I don't have a dog." 

"What did you do?"

"I tried to shoo it out, but when I went to touch it with the couch cushion, it... it disappeared." Elizabeth stood by the couch, staring at the fireplace, her hands pulled to her chest, twisted together. 

"What was the next thing?"

The woman turned to her, her mouth agape. Shaking her head, she walked to the lamp in the corner of the room. It was an odd lamp, the shaft twisted in a spiral, and the shade was splotchy and black.

"A few weeks later, I came into the room and this lamp... It - it used to look like this." Elizabeth pulled out her smartphone and pulled up a picture of the living room during a Christmas party, Elizabeth and her friends dressed to the nines, a Christmas tree in the corner. The home looked inviting, warm, and was nearly unrecognizable as the same space Martha was sitting in. There, in the same corner, stood a lamp that had a straight shaft and ivory shade. 

"That's strange..." Martha mused while she stared at the tainted lamp. She placed her briefcase on the coffee table, unlatched the lock, and flipped the top open to reveal her tools. An EMF reader, a rosary, a crucifix, anointed oil, and a bible. She grabbed the reader, stood up, and moved passed Elizabeth to the lamp. With a flick of a switch, Martha waved the reader up and down along the lamp. Lights danced along the top, and an obscene squeal erupted from the device. "Wow, that's a really high reading. That was how long ago?" 

She turned to find Elizabeth watching her from a distance, her hands clutching her phone to her chest. "In February."

"Why did you wait like... four months to call me? That's an incredibly bizarre thing to happen."

"There's... there's more..." Elizabeth mumbled, lowering her eyes in shame. 

Martha walked back to her and led her to the couch. She took her hand and sat her down next to her. "Tell me everything."

"Everything in the house started changing. The wallpaper started peeling... The carpets got darker, the curtains... Then, a couple nights ago, every lightbulb in the whole house exploded... And then, last night-" Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand, her chin quivered and her eyes filled with tears. "I had such a horrible dream."

"What was it?"

"There was an old woman in a white dress. Her grey hair covered her face, and her skin looked so... rotten..." Elizabeth shuddered, hugging herself. Instinctively, Martha reached out and wrapped an arm around the young woman's shoulders. "She walked to the foot of my bed and stared at me... I couldn't move. I tried. I tried so damn hard to move, to scream, to do anything, but I couldn't! I couldn't move!" Elizabeth's hands were shaking. Martha squeezed her tightly.

"Then she grabbed my ankles. Her fingers dug into my skin, and it burned! It hurt so bad! She began to pull me out of bed. When I crashed to the floor, I could move again. Then I woke up... on the floor... at the foot of my bed... with these..." Elizabeth pulled her pant-legs up to reveal five burn marks on each of her ankles. Tears were streaming down her face, and the fear that she had been trying to desperately to hid lay naked on her face. 

"Elizabeth. Listen to me," Martha began, setting the EMF reader on the coffee table and taking both of the woman's hands in hers. "I'm sending you to a hotel, and you're going to stay there until we get this sorted out. Understand?"

"But-"

"No, no buts. Come on." Martha helped her to stand up, then pulled her phone from her pocket and speed-dialled a taxi. "Hi, could I get a pick-up at 10817, Johnston Avenue?" 

"Shouldn't I at least pack?" Elizabeth argued, pulling toward the stairs. 

"No," Martha answered simply after hanging up. She pulled a credit card from her bra and handed it to Elizabeth. "Buy what you need, go to the Pomeroy hotel by Old Jack's Bar, and get a room. I'll swing by tonight after I'm finished." 

"Wait, you're staying?" The panic in her voice was so raw, Martha had to swallow down the anxiety threatening to surface. 

"This is my job, Elizabeth. I'm an exorcist. You knew that when you went on my website." Patting Elizabeth's hands, she pulled her out the front door and walked her down the sidewalk toward the street. "I'll deal with this, don't worry."

"What is this?" the woman asked, her pale skin glowing in the light of the sun as she shielded her eyes. 

"Sleep paralysis is common in cases where demons are involved."

"Demons?!" 

"Yes, dear," Martha stated simply, a small smile trying to fight the fear rolling off of Elizabeth. 

"I thought it was my Mom or Dad-"

"Ghosts aren't real, Elizabeth."

"But, demons are?!" Elizabeth screamed as a taxi rounded the street corner a few blocks down. 

"Demons want us to believe ghosts exist to play on our empathy. We don't feel empathetic toward demons, but dead relatives? Tortured children? People tend to feel sorry for ghosts." Martha held the woman's shoulders and bent down once more, looking directly into her eyes. "Elizabeth, when you thought it was your parents, didn't you feel sorry for them?"

"... yes," she admitted, looking down at her bare feet. 

"Knowing it's a demon changes that now, doesn't it?" Martha prodded. The taxi pulled up beside them and parked. 

"Of course. They're like, pure evil, right?" 

With a smile, Martha patted Elizabeth's shoulders, opened the taxi door, and helped her inside. She held the door open as her client got settled. "I'll get your house all straightened out. Just relax, go to the spa. I'll see you tonight." With a flick of her wrist, the car door slammed shut, and the taxi took off down the street. 

Martha turned around and stared down the house, now far less charming than it had seemed before. Quickly, she pulled her phone out and checked the time. "Okay, so nine forty." Her eyes closed and she took deep, rhythmic breaths as she tucked her phone back in her pocket. "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one."

Her eyes snapped open, and she began to walk up the sidewalk, her steps powerful as her heels clicked against the concrete. Fists clenched at her sides, she proclaimed over the home as she approached it. "In the Holy Name of Jesus, I break and dissolve any and all curses, hexes, spells, snares, traps, lies, obstacles, deceptions, diversions, spiritual influences, evil wishes, evil desires, hereditary seals, known and unknown." 

The click of wood echoed from under her feet as she climbed the front steps and approached the open door. She raised her left arm up in front of her. "This shield is my power to protect against evil. This shield keeps out harm."

The furniture in the home began to shift and rattle, the flames of the candles blown out by an unfelt wind. "This shield does not allow demons or negative entities to pass through it." A picture frame launched itself from a bookshelf in the hall. It crashed into an invisible wall that emanated from Martha's arm. "This shield is my domain, and I alone determine what is allowed to pass," Martha continued as she walked into the living room. Shadows came alive, fluctuating at the base of the walls and the corners of the room. They looked like the flames of a fire as they crackled and danced along the edges of the space. "In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of His blood, so shall it be." 

From within the mouth of the fireplace, the shadows fused. Tendrils of darkness twisted together. It began to claw its way out of the fireplace, human in shape, warped in design. 

Martha reached into her briefcase. Her left arm held her shield aloft between her and the shadowy figure that was coalescing on the other side of the room. In her right hand, she clutched the rosary and the crucifix and held them as if they were a mighty weapon. "I call upon the power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

The creature's head snapped toward her, its massive shoulders hunched as it readjusted its muscles and bones. It crackled and hissed as it settled into place. 

"May no demon or evil entity claim this home."

It lurched toward her, clambering over the couch and sending it flying back into the fireplace. 

"May no minion of Satan dwell in this place."

With a great crash and shower of sparks, it collided with Martha's shield, flew back, and decimated the couch it had thrown. Martha gasped, nearly losing her concentration. 

"May only God and His angels lay claim over this home."

A roar drowned out Martha's words as it pulsed. It grew in size in jagged surges, tendrils shooting out of its back like streaks of lightning. 

"By the power of Christ," Martha watched as the creature hissed in pain and covered its ears at the name. "And His blood, I, his humble servant, banish you, demon, from this world!" 

It streaked toward her, its massive hands clawed at her shield. It struck at it futilely as it began to shrivel with each word. 

"May you never plague another soul, ever again." Martha swung her right hand over her head, the crucifix in her hand hot and radiated warm light. 

"Begone!" With a mighty swing, she brought her hand down before her. From the top of the cross shone a blade of light so radiant she couldn't bear to look at it. She felt a hand over her own, and reassurance flooded her mind, banishing all her anxiety and fear. The blade sunk into the shoulder of the demon, slicing cleanly through it, as it dispelled the shadowy tendrils like oil in water. The silence that fell was absolute. 

"Amen." Martha rolled her shoulders, then set her rosary and crucifix in the briefcase and pulled out the anointed oil. 

She stepped outside and wandered the perimeter of the house. With her finger, she painted the oil along the sides of the house as she prayed. "In the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, I anoint these grounds. May no evil entity ever enter this holy place. This home is now under the protection of the Father, filled by the Spirit, and sealed by the blood of the lamb. Amen." 

With a content sigh, she went back inside, grabbed her EMF reader, put it in the briefcase, snatched it up, and took one last tour of the house. Martha extended her senses out around her, feeling for any missed residue the presence may have left behind. Once satisfied, she took the keys from the bowl on the table by the door, locked the door, and closed it firmly behind her. She tucked the keys in her pocket and pulled out her phone to check the time. 

"Only three thirty-six, huh? I have some time for a coffee before I go find Elizabeth." Martha climbed into the driver seat of her car and pressed the start button. It roared to life, then gently idled as she placed her case in the passenger seat and buckled up. 

She looked up to see the cross hanging from her rearview mirror and smiled. "You always have my back. Thanks, again. I couldn't do any of this without You." With a smile, she held the cross for a moment and closed her eyes. Then she opened them, shifted the car into drive, and made her way to the nearest coffee shop. In her mind, she deserved to treat herself... if just a little.