by Tom Lewis
It was empty.
“Cassie?” Justin called out in a hushed voice. He peeked beneath her bed then checked the bathroom. He returned shaking his head.
“She’s not here.”
Then his phone buzzed.
It had been so quiet, they both startled at the noise. Justin looked at the display. “It’s from Cassie,” he said and opened its text app.
“Hallway,” read the text.
He showed it to Sean.
“Are you getting a signal?” Sean asked.
Justin checked and shook his head. “Nope. Still nothing...” And then he realized, “I shouldn’t be able to receive texts either.”
Sean nodded. They exchanged an uneasy look, with neither of them wanting to say the unspoken question:
What if Cassie was no longer Cassie?
They stepped back into the hallway and looked both ways down it.
“Is this the hallway she meant?” Justin asked.
Sean shook his head. He didn’t know either. “Just watch for anything.”
Then a figure shifted in front of the window at the far end. It had been so still while watching them that neither of them had noticed it.
“Cassie?” Justin called to her, but it was too far away to tell if it was her.
The figure walked off down the connecting hallway, and from its dark outline they saw it was a girl.
“I think it’s her,” Justin said, but Sean stopped him.
“If it was Cassie, then why did she walk off?”
Justin hesitated. “Because that thing has her?”
Sean nodded. He removed a vial of holy water from his backpack and handed it to Justin.
“Holy water?” Justin asked.
Sean nodded. “It’s supposed to give us some protection.”
“I hope so.”
They proceeded down the hallway to its end and shined their lights down the connecting hallway. It was empty.
“Should we check the rooms?” Justin asked, motioning to the rows of doors lining the hallway.
His phone buzzed again.
It was another text from Cassie. He showed it to Sean — “basement.”
They searched the doors till they found one marked “Stairs.” These ones were like the others, made of metal and weaving back and forth as they descended to the basement. They quietly took them down and were just passing the door on the second-floor landing when a hideous scream came from the other side of it.
Suddenly the door swung open and a crazed male patient stumbled through. He ran into Sean, who swung him around and held him against the wall. At first, the patient’s eyes only stared with the glazed unseeing look of insanity. But then a clarity hit him and he stared at Sean like he knew him. He burst into an insane cackle.
“He’s comin’ ta get ya padre, he is... coming. Coming... comin’... ta get cha...”
Then the glaze returned to his eyes. Sean released him and the patient stumbled past them and up the stairs like he hadn’t even seen them.
Sean’s hands shook from the sudden adrenaline rush as he and Justin descended the final two flights to the basement. Sean cracked open the fire door and shined his flashlight through.
It was a pitch-dark concrete corridor lined with steel doors on either side and thick conduits and pipes running along the ceiling. It was so long, that the flashlight’s narrow beam disappeared into the distant gloom.
Sean and Justin stepped into the corridor.
“Shit. What now?” Justin said, looking at the long line of doors.
“I think she’ll let us know,” Sean said.
And she did, as a new text buzzed on his phone — “power plant.”
Justin read it and shook his head. “Even if I had reception outside, there’s no way I would have it down here.”
Sean nodded. He pulled a pair of crucifixes from his backpack and handed one to Justin.
“Will this work?” Justin asked.
Sean shrugged. “It can’t hurt.”
They proceeded down the corridor, sweeping their flashlights across the room names stenciled to the doors. They finally came to the one marked “Power Plant.” It was unlocked and Sean pressed it open...
They stood in the doorway and swept their flashlights through the dark room. They could see that it was large as the narrow beams swept across generators and heavy equipment. Thick ducts and pipes ran along the ceiling and walls.
Justin cleared his throat. “Cassie?” he called out and his voice echoed back from the concrete walls, floor, and ceiling.
There was no response. They looked at each other, both knowing how insane what they were doing was. Then they stepped inside the room...
And that’s when they felt the demon’s Presence. And nothing could have prepared them for that horror.
It was the overwhelming sensation of something in the air all around them. And it was more than simply an atmosphere or aura — it was the pervasive sense of an Other with them — of a keen intelligence that was knowing, and waiting, and watching...
And completely and utterly evil.
Justin and Sean stood frozen. Any doubts to its reality were gone. It was there; it was felt; and it had no fear of them whatsoever.
“Fuck...” Justin muttered.
Sean stood to his right and gave a small nod in agreement. He had read about the Presence in the priest’s journal but its reality was beyond words.
“It’s the demon’s presence you’re feeling,” Sean said.
Justin’s fingers instinctively tightened on the crucifix.
Sean cleared his throat and called out: “Cassie?”
The temperature in the room dropped.
Seconds later, an eerie voice echoed back from the walls: “Cassie’s not here.” The voice resembled Cassie’s but with a hollowness and indifference in its tone that sent chills through them.
“Cassie. You need to resist it,” Sean called out again.
“Resist?” the voice spat back with mockery. “Is that what you did when you fucked Amy, priest?”
A painful jolt shot through Sean’s mind. His memory flashed to that night on the beach with Amy and the crushing guilt that followed.
And the demon knew this.
“That’s it, priest. She trusted you, and you fucked her like a pathetic cur.”
Sean fought off the memories as an instinct alerted him to a trap.
“Fuck, fuck, suck, fuck, priest,” the taunts continued. “You liked it, priest. You liked fucking, and suck— ”
“Amy’s in Heaven, where you’ll never be,” Sean cut in. And it was with such contempt, that it startled Justin.
A furious growl rumbled through the room. The door slammed shut behind them and Cassie let out a horrified scream.
“She’s back there!” Justin said, aiming his flashlight toward the far back corner. They hurried back that way.
They found Cassie in the back corner, curled on the floor and shaking. Justin rushed over.
“Cassie. Hey. Can you hear me?”
She looked up. “Justin?”
“Yeah. I’m with Father Sean. We’re gonna get you out of here.”
Sean shook his head as he stared in horror at the room that seemed to have come alive around them. “It’s not gonna let us take her out of here. We need to do it here.”
Justin swallowed hard then turned back to Cassie. “It’s the Exorcism, Cass. We’re gonna do it here. You can do this.”
She gave a terrified nod and pulled her knees to her chest.
Sean removed several candles from his backpack and handed them to Justin. “Light these and place them around her.”
Justin did this while Sean emptied his backpack onto the floor. He picked up the missal from the pile and used his flashlight to skim through its pages.
“It says we’re supposed to sprinkle holy water on ourselves,” he said. He did this then turned back to the missal. But that was it for the preparations.
It was time to start the ritual.
/> “I need you to read for the assistant,” Sean said to Justin. “Just follow my lead.”
“Okay.” Justin scooted close enough to read the missal.
Sean looked at Cassie. “Cassie. It’s going to fight you, and you need to resist with everything you’ve got.”
She nodded. “Okay.” But she felt anything but strength.
Sean began with the Sign of the Cross. He traced his right hand from his forehead to his chest, then to his left shoulder, and finally his right shoulder, the whole while reciting the words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...”
As he completed it, a deep groan rumbled through the room and shook the walls like a small tremor. They all felt a sudden shift in the Presence that surrounded them. It was preparing for battle and its enormity unfurled like a dragon’s massive wings. They could have been ants staring helplessly from the ground at a foot hovering above them.
And knowing it could crush them at any time.
Sean felt a rush of panic. He was nowhere near ready for this; and it was only the recollection of something he had read in the priest’s journal that gave him confidence — Stay behind God; you’re only there as His proxy.
Be with me, God, Sean whispered silently then took a deep breath.
“Be merciful on us, O Lord, and spare us. Save this young girl, your servant...”
“Because she hopes in you, O Lord,” Justin read his line.
Another groan circled through the walls and dust drifted down from the ceiling.
“Be a tower of strength for her, O Lord...” Sean resumed, “in the face of the enemy. Let the enemy have no power over her. And let the son of iniquity not succeed in injuring her.”
A loud metal clang caused everyone to jump.
Sean took another deep breath then resumed. “Lord hear my prayer.”
“And let my cry reach you,” Justin read his line.
Suddenly a pipe burst and sprayed steam from its crack. Another pipe pulled from the ceiling and swung down into the generator in a loud crash.
“God of mercy,” Sean resumed, “come to the assistance of this child you created in your own image. And cast into the bottomless pit the spirit that torments her...”
“I’m so cold, Sean...” The eerie voice whispered in Sean’s ears. It was the voice from his nightmare.
Sean looked up from the missal and saw Amy’s ghoulish corpse in the flickering shadows beside Cassie.
“You fucked me, Sean... and then you left me.”
Sean shook it off and turned back to the missal. “All-powerful God. Word of God, the Father. Christ Jesus. God and Lord of all creation. You gave power to your Apostles to pass through dangers unharmed. Among your commands to do wondrous things, you said: Drive out evil spirits. By your strength, Satan fell from Heaven. With fear and trembling, I pray and supplicate your holy name. Pardon all the sins of your unworthy servant. Give me constant faith and power; so that, armed with the power of your holy strength, I can attack this evil spirit in confidence and security...”
“God doesn’t hear you, Sean...” Amy’s corpse from the nightmare whispered in his ear. It was now beside him.
“You’re not Amy,” Sean muttered.
“Father!” Justin looked past Sean but nothing was there. “It’s not real. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.”
Sean swallowed hard and shook his head. He turned back to the missal. “Through you, Jesus Christ, our Lord God, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.”
A low rumbling groan shook the room causing everyone to freeze. Deep cracks spread through the walls and concrete chips fell from the ceiling. A metal bracket tore from the ceiling and a heavy duct crashed down on the floor.
Sean picked up his crucifix. “Behold the Cross of the Lord. Depart, enemies!”
Then his eyes caught movement — just beyond the flickering glow of candlelight, things moved in the darkness. Dark, baleful spirits drifted like wisps and loathsome wails echoed from the walls.
Justin saw them too. “We need to keep going,” he said. But his voice was shaking.
Sean turned again to the missal... “God the Father...”
Suddenly the Presence tore into Sean’s mind and it filled with grotesque scenes of the demon’s hatred and horror. It was in the starving infant, sucking futilely at the dry breast of its dead mother; it was in the starving child whose stomach burst open in a flurry of hatched flies; it was in the larvae that burrowed into the flesh of the homeless man passed out in the gutter; it was in the shriveled corpses piled into the mass graves of the Nazi concentration camps...
The demon reveled in the extremes of mankind’s wickedness and misery.
“Father...?” Justin’s voice came to Sean from across dark gulfs of pain and despair. Sean clenched his teeth and continued —
“I exorcise you, unclean spirit, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — be uprooted and expelled from this creature of God...”
It tore into Sean again with a new viciousness. He was made to see, feel, hear and taste extremes of torment and the utterly grotesque. Open, puss filled wounds of lepers filled his mouth; maggots and worms burrowed from Sean’s arms; acid stung his eyes like lava...
Sean yelled and keeled over sideways. He patted the floor blindly for the vial of holy water till his hands found it. He splashed it on his face... and the pain slowly eased.
Sean slowly opened his eyes and saw Justin crouched beside him. “Shit! What just happened?” Justin said.
Sean shook his head. “Don’t let me stop, Justin. Whatever happens, we need to finish this.”
Justin nodded and helped Sean sit up. But before he could resume, the room erupted in chaos. Furniture rattled and crashed into walls; steam hissed from burst pipes; red emergency lights flickered from the corners...
Cassie’s scream spun Justin and Sean around. She toppled onto her side as the Shrill blasted into her mind with a ferocity beyond what she had suffered before. It was a million sirens and burning coals that pierced every nerve and cell. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she screamed!
Sean quickly grabbed the missal. “God, Creator and defender of the human race; You who made man in Your own image, repel and cast out the spirit that torments this young girl...”
A deep bellow rocked the walls. A sudden force ripped Sean and Justin from the floor and hurled them across the room like a canon. They slammed into the front wall and dropped to the floor unconscious.
The demon’s fury let loose in the room. It quaked and shook. Concrete chips and dust fell from the ceiling and cracks spread across walls. Equipment tumbled over and thick ducts tore from their mounts and crashed down.
A deep crack spread across the floor. It ran the length of the room and separated Cassie from Sean and Justin. Its edges crumbled down into the earth and left a chasm five feet wide and seemingly bottomless.
Then flames roared up from the chasm and spread across the room in a wall of fire.
The Shrill receded enough for Cassie to open her eyes, and she saw the hell and mayhem that had erupted.
“Justin!” she screamed over the ruckus but she couldn’t see past the fire to know if they were okay.
Then a strange new pressure filled her mind and forced it into silence. And from that silence came whispered taunts echoing up from the chasm.
“Caaaaasssiiiieeeee....” they hissed in Seth’s voice.
Clawed hands reached up from the chasm and gripped its rough edge. Seth’s decayed corpse pulled itself up from the flames and turned its hollow eyes on her. It began crawling towards her on skeletal arms that twisted from its sides at excruciating angles.
“Caaaasssssiiiieeee...” the hiss came from above, and this time in Silvia’s and Trish’s voices. Cassie looked up and saw their grisly corpses clinging to the wall like spiders. They began crawling down towards her.
“Take the knife Cassssssiiieee...” Seth hissed like a snake. He slid a large knife to
wards her.
“Do it Casssssiiiieeee...” Silvia hissed.
“It can all be over...” said Trish, reaching a skeletal hand down to stroke Cassie’s shoulder.
“Do it!” Seth commanded.
“It can all be over...” Trish’s voice came over Seth’s.
“Join us, Casssiiiiieeee...” Silvia hissed over the others.
“Take the knife...” “it can all be over...” “do it...” Their whispered hisses played over each other in a dizzying torrent.
Then the Shrill hit again! Cassie’s eyes squeezed shut. She screamed, and screamed, and squirmed in excruciating pain. And somewhere, somehow, from the deepest depths of her agony, her soul uttered one last desperate plea... “help me, God...”
And her plea was answered.
From deep within her agony, a warm glow touched her and she felt the harsh fury of the Shrill recede.
Then a soft hand brushed her cheek.
Cassie opened her eyes and saw Katie kneeling beside her; and in those soft gentle eyes she saw peace.
Katie gently brushed back the hair that had fallen over Cassie’s face in her convulsions. “Pray, Cassie,” she spoke softly, and Cassie realized the background clamor had faded. “Don’t stop praying. He hears you.”
Cassie nodded. She pulled from her pocket the small silver cross Katie’s mom had given her, then closing her eyes, she prayed...
“Please help me...”
“Sean...” Amy’s soft voice spoke from somewhere in the darkness. And this time it was her voice. Sean opened his eyes and for a brief moment Amy stood before him. And it was the real Amy.
Within seconds she was gone and the room’s clamor returned. But she had left him with something. It was Hope. Above the steam, and smoke, and stench, there lingered the subtle scent of her perfume. And it fueled him.
Sean sat up and looked at Justin who was struggling to sit up beside him.
“You okay?” Sean asked. Justin rubbed his bruised side and nodded. They both turned to the fire that separated them from Cassie.
“Cassie!” Justin hollered, rising to his feet. Sean struggled to his feet beside him.
“Justin?” Cassie’s faint voice called back across the ruckus.
Sean stepped forward. “Cassie. We need to finish. Can you do this?”