Ignoring the calamities, Lisa asked again.
The room started to spin as if the women were in the eye of a tornado. Pencils and biros were picked up and whizzed around the room at a rate felt by the women. The candle flames kept burning against the current of air.
The women’s racing heartbeats became one, except for Lisa. She showed no fear. She waited patiently for an answer, commanding the other women to stand their ground.
While they bravely defied the intimidations, the paranormal activities died down. The stationery returned to its rightful places.
There was an audible sigh of relief.
Just when it looked like they had mastered the entity’s retaliation, the dark forces tried one more time to end the ceremony. Not one of them weakened.
The murals were flung across the room. Beastly demonic faces emerged through the walls and disappeared. Tormented screams emanated from the floor.
‘Do not fear,’ advised Lisa. ‘It’s all scare tactics. It’s illusion.’ If it wasn’t for the two team leaders, Lisa and Kerry, both Sarah and Gillian would have crumbled.
All the activities came to a halt. The abrupt stillness was eerie. The women had to wait in anticipation, not knowing whether the forces were going to yield or retaliate.
The entity’s answer came after a long pause.
‘Yes.’
‘In God’s name, I now fully relinquish and release every curse and spell Sarah has made against you. I ask you to now fully relinquish and release every curse and spell you have made against Sarah. Will you do this?’
The entity agreed.
‘In God’s name, I release you both from all the past lives you have had together. Sarah agrees to fully forgive you for anything done against her that was not for her highest will and good. I ask you to now fully forgive her for all that she may have done against you that was not aligned with your highest will and good. Will you do this now?’
‘Yes.’
‘In God’s name, we honour you for the lessons you have given Sarah. I swear in God’s name to release you with love from every past life bond. I ask you to now release you both from every past life bond. Will you do this?’
The entity took a while to answer. No doubt it was struggling to release both Sarah and itself from their travelled and most memorable journeys. ‘Yes,’ it finally said.
‘I ask you to now swear in the name of God that you will release Sarah and never return. Will you do this?’
This request put fear into the attached entity. It was refusing to let go of Sarah’s body. Its tentacles clung onto every organ inside her.
Lisa could sense its nervousness to never return. She repeated the question and thankfully it reluctantly agreed.
The portal the entity was to go through was strong. Its energy field was weakening the entity’s energy reserves. Though the portal was powerful, it was not taking the entity by force. The portal was waiting for the entity to go willingly. As Lisa had requested, the entity was being treated with respect and dignity during this process.
‘I ask you to let me speak for both of you to complete the final release. Will you do this?’
‘Yes.’
‘In God’s name, I ask the divine spirits to release you both from every past life bond you have shared. I ask and so it is. Thank you.’
The air became breezy. Candle lights flickered.
Sarah all of a sudden felt sick and started retching. She gagged until she spewed a black mass into a bowl Lisa had prepared for her.
The candle flames stabilised. The room felt light. There was no heaviness surrounding them.
Apart from Sarah being sick, nothing special had happened, but there was definitely a feeling of release. Sarah had expected something more dramatic. Nonetheless, she knew she was free.
‘Done,’ Lisa said, her eyes springing open. She too felt the atmosphere was lighter.
‘Do you feel anything?’ Gillian asked, staring Sarah right in the eyes. Gillian had witnessed a few deliverances during the short while she had attended church. She was enthralled with the whole business.
Nothing had stirred within the room. There was no sign whatsoever to indicate victory. When the realisation set in, Sarah began to drown in disappointment. Without warning, she was sick and depleted again. She collapsed into Gillian’s arms. Gillian fell to the ground with her.
Lisa and Kerry jumped to attention, taking charge of the situation. They commanded the spirit to leave Sarah’s body and not return. It had deceived them, pretending it had left. Again, they tried guiding it to the light.
While the spirit inside Sarah struggled to release its hold, Lisa began to repeat her mantra over and over again.
‘I call the angels of light from the schools of wisdom and knowledge to explain to the entity in a loving and respectful way what is happening and to release the entity, honouring it for the lessons it has learned. I ask that it be treated with respect and dignity.
‘I ask that all the universes, domains, realms, and dimensions are made as one so that the entity can be released from Sarah all at once.’
The spirit tried to restrict Lisa’s throat so that she could no longer speak, but she fought through it. Filled with fear and pumped with adrenaline, Gillian joined the chant.
‘Get the fuck out,’ Gillian screamed at the top of her lungs. ‘In the name of God, get the fuck out. I command you to leave right now.’
‘Gillian,’ yelled Lisa. ‘Stop, we have to gain control.’
Gillian calmed down, but Kerry was appalled. ‘Gillian, this is not what I taught you. What did I say about dealing with attachments?’
Gillian thought carefully before answering. ‘Treat attachments with respect. Never stir them up.’
‘Right,’ replied her teacher. ‘I’m sorry, Lisa. That behaviour was certainly not recommended by me. You know that is not my approach in dealing with attachments.’
Gillian dropped her head in shame. At church, she had been taught to command with authority.
‘It’s ok, Kerry,’ Lisa replied. ‘We were all a little zealous in our heyday. Do you remember Roy Turner?’ Both women laughed, perking Gillian up. Their light humour relieved her from her shame.
They were all brought back to focus when moans escaped Sarah. Lisa felt the disturbance stir in Sarah. Every sting Sarah felt, she felt.
Sarah felt like she was on fire. Intense pain creeped along every nerve ending. The entity was reliving all her past deaths, fuelling itself from all the intense experiences she had suffered.
Her fear and pain were so intense she truly believed death was upon her. The pain came in waves and when it ebbed, her body ached all over.
The entity started to move. Sarah felt it wedge under her ribs, assaulting her organs and causing her stomach muscles to clench. It corroded her nervous system like bad bacteria, fuelled with a mission to seek and destroy, rendering everything useless.
Sarah felt dizzy. She was going to pass out.
Lisa was touching Sarah, feeling where the energy was. It was moving all over the place. She felt it wedge under Sarah’s ribs.
‘Can you feel it?’ Gillian asked with her expressive eyes wide open every time Lisa felt around.
The spirit fought desperately to gain control before succeeding to immobilise Sarah. She wanted to call out, but she couldn’t speak or move. In her fog-induced daze, Lisa’s voice was faint.
‘Sarah, can you hear me? Ask your guides to take over and help you to control your mobility.’
It was hard at first, but Sarah managed to battle through the fog. The sickness faded and she could move again, but the attacks continued to come in waves. She cried out to her guides and loved ones, but the entity was stubborn.
For hours on end, Lisa reasoned with the entity. She employed the sessions with prayer. As a group, they prayed repeatedly.
When Lisa could finally feel the spirit weakening, she beckoned Sarah to repeat after her for one last chant.
‘I state in the name of
God that I will no longer have this entity within my energy field and that it is no longer welcome here. By universal law, this entity must now leave as it is no longer wanted or needed. I command the entity leave me now.’
There was a shift.
The spirit was gone. Truly this time.
Sarah returned to her mother’s doorstep a different person. A month later, she was back in her own house. Her lounge room was fully repaired, and she was happily settled. She felt great, but one could never be too sure.
When she went home, the first thing she did was cleanse her house. She had every window and doorway closed while she purified the house with burning sage. She ran the smoke along all the cracks, the edges of every window and doorway, and each corner in every room.
‘You may leave peacefully now or you will be banished. I cannot guarantee your protection if you are banished. To find peace, you must go to the light.’
Sarah waited awhile before opening the house to let out the bad energy. Afterwards, she protected the house by encircling it with a trail of salt she poured on the ground. The rule was the circle must not be broken. It had to be perfectly sealed.
The neighbours probably thought she was balmy, but the stakes were too high for her to care.
Over the following weeks and months, Sarah noticed subtle changes in herself. Her mood lightened and she found it easy to let go of old habits. Her friends and colleagues noticed an increase in her confidence and wellbeing. Some of them made comments to her about how different she was and how much she had changed.
Troy Davis had especially noticed the change, to the point he had taken her out on a date and officially asked her to go out with him.
Sarah could not refuse.
Their hot romance led into the New Year, and to start 2016 on a high note, Sarah officially moved into Troy’s house. She rented her house out to Emily.
Sarah’s next birthday came around. She couldn’t believe she had made it over the hump.
For most families, it was unusual to make such a big deal of a twenty-seventh birthday, but for reasons only known to her family and close-knit friends, her father really went out of his way to celebrate. He hired the town hall and, unbeknown to her, had specially orchestrated a plot with Troy.
Sarah and Troy were holding hands when they walked into the hall. Everybody was already there. The place was decked out with balloons, decorative tables, and a DJ over in one corner. Her parents had reserved seats for her and Troy across from Sarah’s two best friends, Emily and Jonathon. Jonathon waved his arm in the air to let them know where to sit.
Reaching their table took forever. All of Sarah’s friends wanted to greet the birthday girl. She and Troy had to stop every few steps.
‘Come here, birthday girl,’ said one of her old school friends as she wrapped herself around Sarah. Troy dropped Sarah’s hand and stood at her side. Her friend Becky gave her a peck on the cheek and released her. ‘You’re looking so well, Sarah. I’ve never seen you so glowing.’ She looked at Troy. ‘And you must be Sarah’s partner. I’m Becky. Sarah and I’ve known each other since preschool.’
‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I’m Troy.’ They shook hands and then the three of them fell into conversation. As they stood talking, more people started coming up and hugging Sarah. They ended up in a circle, surrounded by half a dozen people. Sarah found herself filling them in on what had been happening in her life.
One of her friends looked at her. ‘You’ve changed, Sarah. You sound happy and alive.’
‘What’s your secret, love?’ asked Penny, whom she’d known since high school. ‘You used to always look so intense. You seem liberated now.’
Sarah looked at Troy. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘Troy is a big influence in my life these days. He’s so laid back. He’s such a great guy. I’m so lucky.’
He smiled and gave her a hug.
She turned back to her friends. ‘You’ll have to excuse us. Mum and dad are waiting at our table.’
Her friends began to disperse. ‘We’ll catch up later, Sarah,’ yelled one of them as they were walking off.
‘We will,’ confirmed Sarah. She grabbed Troy’s hand again and led him through the maze. Before reaching her table, she stopped to talk to her workmates, who were sitting at the table before hers. Her workmates had already met Troy, so there was no need for introductions. She noticed Troy was starting to get impatient. He had been really put to the test. She cut her conversations short and moved on.
When they took their seats, they had hardly got in a conversation with their table companions before more of Sarah’s friends approached to wish her happy birthday. No one was particularly bothered, though. After all, it was a social occasion. As the alcohol flowed, the more social the event became.
When the food came out, Sarah and Troy were left alone to eat their meals, giving them a chance to talk more with those around the table.
After the mealtime was over and the banquet was cleared away, the DJ started his music. People randomly filled the dancefloor. Depending on the song, the floor would become packed.
For some reason, Troy wasn’t drinking much, stopping at two beers. Sarah put it down to him being overly tired. He had just come off the night shift two days prior. Sarah’s parents were never drinkers so there were no surprises there.
Nonetheless, Sarah planned to let her hair down, seeing as how she never thought she’d see this day. Troy didn’t seem to mind. He went off to the bar to get her drinks a couple of times. Other times, she and Emily went together and caught up with friends along the way.
When Troy was at the table alone he’d talk to Jonathon and Sarah’s father, Greg. At intervals, some of Troy’s friends would come to the table and have a conversation with him. Sarah had met some of his friends and they had become her friends too. Of course, his old acquaintance, Juanita Anderson, was not amongst them. She had moved on when Sarah and Troy started dating.
Troy didn’t like to dance, so Sarah got up a couple of times with Emily. Her father had dragged her out onto the floor at one time and danced a few songs. He loved to dance. He even convinced Sarah’s mother to step out onto the dancefloor.
As the hours went on, Emily and Jonathon drifted into their own little world. They were too wrapped up in their own conversation to know what was going on around them. Sarah noticed they were sitting very close together. The drunker they became, the more they leaned into each other.
Sarah threw a paper napkin at the two of them. They looked at her surprised, suddenly remembering there was an outside world around them.
‘What?’ Jonathon asked.
‘I’ve been watching you two,’ Sarah said. ‘You’re practically cuddling up together. What’s going on?’
Emily stood up. ‘I need to go to the toilet. Are you coming, Sarah?’
Sarah got up and they walked off together. While in the bathroom, Emily spilled the beans. ‘When you left my place last night, Jonathon stayed the night.’
‘I thought there was something going on between you two,’ Sarah remarked. ‘By gosh, there was enough testosterone and oestrogen floating in the air I thought I better get out of there.’
She had been spending time next door at Emily’s while Troy was sleeping. With the shift work, his body clock was all over the place.
‘Is it just a fling?’ Sarah asked.
‘I hope not. I really like him. I didn’t think I’d fall for someone after Paul.’
‘I can tell he’s falling for you too, Em. His ears prick up when your name is mentioned. Now I know why he’s been asking a lot of questions about you.’
‘Let’s get back,’ Emily suggested.
When Sarah and Emily sat back at the table, Sarah only had attention for her partner. Her parents didn’t mind as they were sitting together watching everything going on around them. They were not drinkers, but they loved to watch the fun. In other words, they loved to watch drunken people making a fool of themselves.
Sarah looked over to Emily and Jonathon. They w
ere holding hands. The next time she glanced over they were kissing, passionately.
Emily let Sarah know later in the night on one of their bathroom breaks that she and Jonathon were now officially dating. Jonathon had plucked up the courage to ask her out. Sarah couldn’t be happier for her friend, especially in her happy, drunk state.
She was having a ball, but she was concerned for Troy. He wasn’t getting into the swing of things that night, which was unusual for him. He was staying sober. To be honest, he seemed a little bit uptight as the night went on.
‘Are you alright, Troy?’ Sarah asked. ‘You don’t seem to be having fun.’
‘I’m good, sweetie. I have something on my mind. It’s nothing serious. I’ll fill you in later.’
‘Okay. Are you upset with my drinking? I’ve had enough now anyway. You know I don’t like to get sick or legless.’
‘I know you have a stopping point, but this is your night so enjoy it. Honestly, I’m okay. I’m still a bit knocked around from the shift work, that’s all.’
For the remainder of the night, Sarah sat quietly with her man, holding his hand. Sarah had had enough of running wild. Together they watched the dancers. Jonathon and Emily were up on the floor, giving it their all. The music was exceptionally lively.
Most of the older people had gone home and the young ones were ready to play, especially with a few pints under their belts. The drunker they got, the more energy they had to burn. It turned out Jonathon was a really good dancer, which surprised Sarah. She attributed it to his athleticism.
‘Attention, everybody,’ Sarah’s father said when the last song finished. ‘It’s time for the cutting of the cake. Sarah, can you follow me out to the floor please? We’ll be bringing the cake out soon. Troy, you come too, please.’
When the three of them took centre stage in the spotlight, Greg Larson addressed the audience. ‘The caterers are going to wheel the cake out soon, but first Troy has something to say.’ He looked at his daughter’s partner. ‘Are you ready, mate?’
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