Kristen nodded, and Allison slowly turned into the parking lot of Dominic’s chapel. After settling into a space in the barely paved lot, Allison turned off the engine and turned to her niece.
“And, yeah,” she said, “maybe we don’t agree on all of the big cosmic issues, but I think we can agree that it's wrong to use the Bible to make money and hurt people.”
“Well, yeah,” Kristen said. “But don't you pretend to be psychic for a living?”
Allison groaned. “Kristen, I wish you were a lot dumber.”
About twenty minutes later, Allison and Kristen found themselves standing among the pews of Dominic Maffiore’s church, surrounded by an array of excited, eager, and visibly terrified people. Allison had already briefed Kristen on how Dominic ran his racket, and thankfully, Kristen agreed that the guy was bad news.
They were only about ten minutes early for the service, but Dominic was nowhere in sight. Black-clad ushers paced the aisles and greeted the congregants with warmth and enthusiasm, and a woman in a bright yellow dress walked from aisle to aisle with a stack of Dominic's books for sale. Tempting, Allison thought, but no thanks.
There were about twenty people in attendance, and thankfully, Allison didn't recognize any of them. People looking for answers would often pursue a wide range of supernatural solutions, and she feared that she might run into someone who had previously patronized her shop or even received a reading. She would have a tough time explaining her way out of that predicament.
She heard loud chatter coming from just outside the wide-open entrance doors, and so she decided to do a bit of investigating. Since she had just watched about two dozen of Dominic's recorded exorcisms on YouTube, she instantly recognized his oddly refined voice wafting into the chapel from the parking lot.
“Wait right here,” she whispered in Kristen's ear, “and don't talk to anybody.”
Allison quickly slipped past the ushers and out the doors, trying her best to make it look as though she were just in need of fresh air.
Once outside, she caught a quick glimpse of Dominic. He wore an all-black suit and stood face to face with a woman whom Allison immediately recognized. It was Cassidy Sinclair. This was too perfect.
Cassidy was shaking, and she had bags under her eyes. Her jeans and wrinkled T-shirt were a far cry from the designer outfits she had donned in the many modeling shots that Allison had found during her Google search. Her current attire was so wrinkled, in fact, that Allison guessed she hadn't changed her clothes in days.
Allison stepped into the shadows on the opposite side of the entrance and pretended to be fixated on her mobile phone. Really, she was doing her damnedest to hear the conversation that Dominic and Cassidy were having.
“You’re not listening!” Cassidy spat. “Something is following me. I keep seeing it over and over. It shows up in my room in the middle of the night, and it has, like, this ghost-white face with hideous scars. And then this horrible song started playing on the radio. There was this little girl singing about the devil, and—”
“Listen,” Dominic said, “I do believe you. Unfortunately, there are certain cases when demonic entities will torment their former hosts from the outside and try to get back in. As long as you let yourself be enslaved by feelings of fear, anger, and guilt, you'll only give it strength. Have you been going to church and praying?”
“Yes!” Cassidy shouted. “I've been to three services just this week, and I've hardly stopped praying. I don't know what else-”
Dominic grabbed both of her shoulders as though he were about to shake some sense into her. “Hey, hey, I won't let you fall back into bondage. Talk to me after the service. We are going to get you through this.”
Cassidy shook her head and wiped her eyes. “Okay,” she muttered.
Dominic patted her on the shoulder. “Okay, I have to go inside. You're going to be alright. Remember that your God is stronger than any attack from Satan’s army.”
As Dominic disappeared into the chapel, Cassidy paced slowly across the front of the building. She was staring at the dusty gravel beneath her feet, apparently in deep contemplation.
When her steps brought her within a few feet of Allison, Allison decided to make her move.
“Oh my god!” Allison shouted with feigned enthusiasm as she approached the disheveled young woman. “Aren’t you Cassidy Sinclair?”
The look on Cassidy’s tired face suggested utter humiliation. “Umm...yeah?” she choked. “Do we know each other?”
Allison stopped beside her and leaned casually against the wall. “No, but I recognized you from Instagram. See, I’m sort of an aspiring model myself, or, well, I used to be anyway, and I just think your style is incredible.”
Cassidy turned from her and stared up into the stars. “Oh,” she said dismissively. “I haven’t really done any modeling in a long time.”
“That’s too bad,” Allison said. “I mean, you’re seriously a natural. So what brings you here?” She did her best to sound friendly and casual, but she feared her tone might have been a bit intrusive. “I’m, uh, Andrea, by the way.”
“I have to go inside,” Cassidy said, turning toward the door.
“Well, wait,” Allison said, following close behind. “Could we maybe exchange information? I would love the opportunity to take you to lunch sometime and talk fashion. There’s honestly so much I could learn from you.”
“I'm sorry,” Cassidy said as she scurried away from Allison. “I've got a lot going on right now.” Then she disappeared into the church.
“Fuck!” Allison said, stopping cold.
Allison rejoined Kristen in the chapel just as Dominic approached the pulpit and began reciting Bible verses about spiritual warfare. Allison and Kristen stood near the front of the church, but Cassidy seemed to have disappeared altogether. Allison repeatedly scanned the room, but the troubled young socialite was nowhere to be found.
Dominic raised his leather-clad Bible to the crowd. “And it says in the Book of Revelation, ‘For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the world and assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.’ My brothers and sisters, the battle is happening now, even in this very room.”
Several congregants shouted “Amen.”
Kristen leaned toward Allison's ear. “He's taking these Bible verses out of context,” she growled.
Allison placed a hand on her shoulder. “Just be cool,” she whispered. “Remember, this is phase one. I need to win this guy’s trust.”
“I don't like this,” Kristen muttered under her breath as Dominic led the crowd in prayer.
When the black-clad preacher concluded his prayer, he opened his eyes and peered across the crowd for nearly a minute. The room was dead quiet, and no one dared move.
“I'm seeing some familiar faces,” Dominic said finally. Then he peered over at Allison and Kristen. “I'm also seeing some brand-new faces here tonight.”
Kristen appeared nervous, but Allison was unfazed. She was mostly just curious about his accent. What was it? British? New England? Something in between?
Dominic slowly stepped off the podium and made his way toward them. To Allison's dismay, he was staring right at Kristen. Of course he was. Aren had warned in his interview that Dominic liked to pounce on the visibly frightened members of the audience, and he especially loved ingenue types. Maybe I should have thought this through a little more, Allison considered.
Dominic stopped beside Kristen. “What is your name, young lady?”
Kristen stood frozen. Allison had given her strict instructions not to speak to the man, and the stunned look on the teenager’s face made it clear that she didn't know what to do. Should she remain silent? Should she improvise some sort of response? She opened her mouth and started to mutter some unintelligible reply, but before she could draw too much attention to herself, Allison interrupted her.
“She's my niece. I asked her to come with me because I was too nervous to come alone.
I needed moral support.”
Dominic turned slightly to face Allison, a look of mild disappointment on his face.
“There is no need to be nervous,” Dominic said. “This is a place of deliverance. Why don't you tell us your story?”
Allison took a deep breath. She had rehearsed her story repeatedly in the mirror, but now that dozens of eyes were staring directly at her, she felt suddenly ill at ease.
“Well,” she said after a brief pause, “I started having weird feelings when I was about fourteen. Feelings that I couldn't really figure out. Like they were coming from inside of me. I think it started right after my birthday that year. My friend bought me this Ouija board, and we started playing around with it in my room.”
Dominic nodded. “An all-too-common youthful transgression. People think it's a game, but the occult is never a game.”
Allison suppressed a smile as she observed the smug look on Dominic’s face. She had concocted the whole Ouija board story because she figured it would be an easy sell. Having grown up in the church, she was well-acquainted with the terror that the name “Ouija” evoked in religious circles.
“Anyway,” she continued, “for a long time, I just kind of ignored it. I was having thoughts that didn't seem like my own, but I just figured it was teenage hormones or whatever. As I got older, though, the voices got louder and angrier. I knew that something wasn't right.”
“What kinds of voices?” Dominic asked.
Allison pondered the question. “Voices telling me that I should hurt myself. Hurt other people. Mostly myself, though.” Now she was quoting almost verbatim the words of another one of Dominic's congregants whom she had observed in one of his recorded exorcisms on YouTube. If he liked pathetic female victims, Allison would be sure to give him one. It appeared to be working.
Dominic placed a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sensing the Word of the Lord,” he said. “He wants you to know that there is a way out. Yes, you invited the demon by playing with an occult object in your youth, but like so many people, you were deceived. Satan is the Father of Lies, and he preyed on you when you were young and naive. And now the Lord wants you to be set free. Are you ready to be delivered?”
Allison closed her eyes and nodded. Phase two was already underway. He would try to exorcise her, and she would remain unresponsive. Then, in classic Dominic fashion, he would try to convince her to pay for a one-on-one exorcism in his private quarters. She would accept. The moment his back was turned, she would search the room for evidence of his fraud. But that was just the beginning. With a hidden camera and a bit of clever wordplay in a private setting, she might even get him to incriminate himself. She just needed to get him alone.
“Now,” Dominic said, “before we begin, why don't you tell us your name.”
“Andrea,” Allison replied.
“Okay, Andrea. I need you to close your eyes. Good. Now, listen to my words very carefully. Have you seen my exorcisms before?”
Allison nodded.
“Good. Then you understand what's about to happen. I am about to summon forth the demon that is living inside you. I'm going to coax it forward and make it reveal itself. You're going to feel a temporary loss of control, but I assure you that I won't let it cause you any harm. Do you understand?”
Allison nodded again.
Dominic placed his hands on her shoulders and fell silent, bowing his head. After about ten seconds, he raised his head and pulled his hands away. “Andrea,” he said, “I have prayed for the guidance of the Lord as I always do in these matters, and the message I am receiving is that you are not physically possessed.”
Allison was completely caught off guard by his response. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I do believe that there is a darkness inside of you,” he said. “A deep sadness, a frustration, some unresolved issue that you must come to terms with in your own way. But it’s not a demon, at least, not in the literal sense. When you’ve been in this line of work for as long as I have, you develop a sixth sense for those types of presences. They have a certain...stench, if you will. I don’t get that impression from you at all. My advice, young lady, is to search your heart and find the thing that has been causing you pain. Only then can you begin to overcome these feelings. I will be praying for you.”
Allison was stunned. She had scoured the furthest reaches of the internet for information on this guy and hadn’t found a single instance where Dominic turned away a broken soul. If a demon weren’t ready to manifest, he would dive in after it, no matter how reluctant the victim. She was unprepared for this scenario and had no idea how to respond.
No longer interested in “Andrea,” Dominic turned to Kristen. “What’s your name?” he asked her a second time.
Kristen looked at him, slightly trembling. “Umm...Kristen,” she said.
Allison groaned. Goddamnit, Kristen. At least make up a name.
“Hello, Kristen,” Dominic said in his most comforting, soothing voice. “Tell me, what brings you here tonight?”
“I...um…” she turned to Allison, unsure of what to say.
“Yes,” Dominic continued, “I know that Andrea says she brought you here for moral support, but I believe that nothing happens by accident. You were brought here tonight by divine providence. I can sense it. I noticed you the moment I walked through the door. Now let me ask you, do you ever feel a type of heaviness? Like there’s a dark cloud hanging over you?”
Allison bit her tongue. As she watched her niece tremble more aggressively, she wanted to punch the preacher in the face.
Kristen lowered her head, but she didn’t respond.
“Kristen, I would like to pray with you, if that’s all right. Would that be all right?”
Without offering much of a response, Kristen closed her eyes.
Dominic placed one hand on her shoulder. “Heavenly Father, I just want to lift up this beautiful young woman tonight. Only you are fully aware of what this poor child is grappling with, and I pray that your love would wash over her and that your healing light would set her free. Father, I sense that this young woman is fighting a very private and constant battle with fear, depression, and anguish, and only you–
Kristen opened her eyes, which were now filled with tears, and pushed Dominic away with considerable force. Many in the crowd gasped.
“You are a false prophet!” Kristen shouted at the top of her lungs. “Matthew 24 says that false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive. You are mocking the name of Jesus!”
Well, Allison thought with a sigh, there go my chances of winning this guy’s trust.
Three members of the crowd shouted rebukes at Kristen while others scowled at her. Dominic, though, remained calm and composed, raising his large hand to silence the rabble.
“Okay, okay,” he shouted back to the crowd, “let the poor girl speak. Look at the tears in her eyes. Listen to the conviction in her voice. This is someone who clearly loves the Lord with all her heart. We should be lifting her up, not tearing her down.” He smiled at her. “Pay no attention to them, my dear. In my church, you are always free to share what’s on your heart. I love that you would defend the Lord’s honor with such passion. If everyone were like you, imagine what an amazing place this world would be.”
He turned toward the audience once again. “And I certainly understand better than anyone that my ministry can be a bit of a culture shock to many people. There was a time, believe it or not, when this type of ministry was commonplace. The disciples of Jesus would travel across the Holy Land casting out devils. And in many parts of the world, exorcism is still recognized as a necessary and routine part of church life.
“But this is America. We are not accustomed to witnessing such uncomfortable realities. Our decadence as a society has caused us to shy away from anything that might seem even remotely unpleasant. Once, we had Jonathan Edwards preaching ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ Now, we have Joel Osteen telling us that if we think happy thoughts
, God will provide us with a large home and a yacht.”
Several people in the audience chuckled.
“Once, we looked evil in the face and cast it to the depths of Hell wherever we encountered it. Now, we look evil in the face and say, ‘I respect your alternative lifestyle.’”
Several amens from the audience.
“Once, we as a nation were committed to fighting the forces of darkness. Now, we simply numb the darkness with expensive pharmaceuticals and teach seminars on self-esteem. And so I completely understand why my work is terrifying and confusing to a great number of people.”
He turned to Kristen once again. “I assure you, young lady, that is not my intention. I see the sadness and the fear inside you, and it breaks my heart. It reminds me why I got into this line of work in the first place. My job is to stop that slithering snake, the Father of Lies, from preying on sweet, innocent, God-loving people like you. I hate that Satan’s minions attack the Lord’s most faithful servants, and I will dedicate all of my days to stopping it. You may not understand that now, and that’s okay, but believe me when I say that I am not your enemy, Kristen. I am a passionate ally.”
Kristen stood frozen. Allison wasn’t sure if her niece was honestly buying into his clearly over-recited speech or if she just didn't have another rebuttal to offer.
“Why don't you speak to me after the service,” he said, gently patting her shoulder. “I would like to pray with you a bit more.”
Kristen muttered a soft reply, her words unintelligible.
Dominic turned and made his way to another frightened young woman seated two rows back. Without missing a beat, he began his gentle interrogation anew. As he commenced with his usual twenty-questions routine, Allison grabbed Kristen by the wrist and guided her—somewhat aggressively—toward the exit door.
“What the serious fuck was that?” Allison shouted when the two of them were safely back in the parking lot, far out of earshot of the congregation.
“He’s tricking all those people!” Kristen shrieked, perhaps almost loud enough to be heard from inside.
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