Costly Obsession: Animalize

by Sasha Pruett

  Chapter Thirty Four

  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils,

  Mark 16:17

  Pastor Ezekiel Garrison was sitting quietly in his lazy boy, drinking a mocha cappuccino, listening to his big band music and reading his beloved Bible. Since the curfew his nightly counseling sessions had either been rescheduled or canceled all together and being a night owl by nature left many a quiet hours. He read for the pleasure of being close to the Lord, to learn of man’s history, the promises of today, and the future in store for us all. Still the interruption of a ringing phone gave his aging eyes a welcomed rest.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Pastor Garrison? This is Wendy Kinsington. I’m sorry... we need your help. It’s our son, he’s gonna die if you don’t help us. Please, please!”

  He knew the Kinsingtons, he knew almost everyone in and around town, he had performed the ceremony that had joined Wendy and Aaron in marriage and nearly everyone else married in Epson. Their son had been christened in his sanctuary and now he… now they, needed him.

  “Wendy, Wendy please slow down and tell me where you are.”

  “The lake... we’re at the lake. Come to scenic point, that’s where I’ll be waiting. Please Pastor, please say you’ll come?”

  “Tell me what this is all about, Wendy. Is Jeremy hurt, is he in danger?”

  “Yes, please just come!”

  “Alright Wendy, I’ll come, but you know there is a curfew in place. I may not make it, but I’ll try to pull rank.”

  “Officer Carpell, Gary is here with us. It won’t be a problem, just hurry!”

  “Stay calm, I’ll be there soon.” He dropped the phone on the table and began to close his Bible when the next verse caught his eye, ‘... there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,’ Luke 4:23. Chills made him shiver but they were squelched by the Holy Spirit. He grabbed his sneakers from beside his chair, picked up his keys, jacket, and ball cap then interrupted his wife’s weekly bulletin designing. They took each other’s hand and began to pray and when they had said ‘amen’ kissed each other goodbye.

  Her husband went where the Lord led him, that was not only his job, but his choice and she trusted God to return him safely to her. She wished him well and continued to pray; fervently.

  Ezekiel had no idea what he was walking into, but his Bible, a vile of anointing oil, topped off with divine guidance was all anyone needed. He drove down the wet, deserted streets, hearing the wipers march and the slush of his tires pass through the puddles, and prayed until his car pulled into scenic point. There were already two vehicles to welcome him, one held a trembling Wendy Kinsington, who at the sight of headlights snatched up her flashlight and dashed out into the pouring rain to meet, possibly, her only chance she had to save her son.

  “Oh thank God you’re here, thank God! Thank you so much Pastor, thank you so much.” She would have fallen at his feet had time permitted.

  “Okay Wendy, I’m here, now where is everyone and what’s wrong with Jeremy?”

  “I can’t explain; there’s no time! Please you have to see for yourself, please come with me. It’s this way.”

  The man studied people as part of his counseling methods and Wendy Kinsington was definitely in no condition to explain anything.

  “Alright Wendy, lead the way.”

  He followed her into the dark, rain soaked woods and immediately heard the wails of a tortured soul. His heart leapt and he began praying for the pitiful creature behind those cries. They reached the cave in record time, stopping for nothing, and the closer he came to his unknown destination the more he knew that he was in for a life altering experience that would not only test his faith, but his sanity as well. This may very well be the culmination of his study and dedication to God.

  They reached the summit and entered the hollow without a word passing between them. Ezekiel saw the small crowd of men huddled around the dark mass whimpering miserably and realized that the hideous beast responsible for the hellish noise and the deaths of so many, was Jeremy Kinsington. Softly and with great importance he spoke to any who would listen.

  “What happened to him?”

  In a moment of clarity, Wendy, filled him in on the past few days, “Jeremy and his friends found this old spell book written by some crazy man and read from it and now he’s... this! I tried the reversal incantation that I found but it didn’t work. I tried it multiple times in English and that stupid Latin and nothing.”

  “Help... me... get... it... out... please... help...”

  “I see.” Ezekiel Garrison took a deep breath and took charge. “All of you are going to have to leave. I hate to have to send you out into the storm, but only those strong in the Lord with a close heart to Jesus can be in here. I’m not going to sugar coat this for you, there’s no time, but this is a nasty and powerful demon to cause this kind of mutation and I will not endanger any of your souls in the process of saving his.”

  “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

  “Pray Aaron, pray harder than you’ve ever prayed for anything in your life and don’t stop.” Aaron nodded and led his wife and friends from the cave and waited for the nightmare to be over.

  Inside the cavern the unholy scream intensified as Pastor Garrison began to speak to the demon harbored deep inside Jeremy and it spoke back. Spurting obscenities and curses, lies and filth in as many languages as it could dredge up from its foul existence; spitting and hissing at the man of God, playing on the sins of his past and laughing at his failures, past and future, asserting its dominance.

  “He’ssss mine. You can’t have him, they gave him to me. He belongsss to me. I havvve permission.”

  “You know good and well that this boy does not belong to you. He belongs to the Lord God. By the power of Christ I command you to leave this boy, he does not want you.” Ezekiel anointed Jeremy with the oil and began to read by flashlight the Holy word of God, but the demon only laughed.

  “You call on Him, yet you use my master to bind me. You will fail. There is no power in you....”

  It was then he noticed the talisman dangling from Jeremy’s deformed neck. Righteous indignation fueled Ezekiel and the Holy Spirit washed over him anew as he reached down yanking the cursed object from his neck and flung it out the cave. The beast only laughed harder and rose to its full height towering over the man of God, completely in control of the boy once more. The pathetic Christ man had fallen for its trap and now he would die... painfully.

  “I bind you unclean spirit in the name of Jesus Christ and I rebuke you from this boy and from this plane. I command you return to the pit from whence you came. I bind you in the Holy name of Christ.”

  The demon reared to laugh again, but this time found that its very breath caught in its matted chest. It fell back to the ground struggling to breathe, then to move. Something was happening. Breaths came shallow and fleeting, and its limbs were heavy and limp. It struggled to regain control; to rip this man’s throat from him, but the body would not obey. The demon began to panic.

  “You can’t have him! He’s ours! We have a right to him! He was given to us!” The spirit continued its attacks on Ezekiel’s life and his salvation.

  Again Pastor Garrison anointed the boy with oil and began praying; loudly and with great authoritative power the Lord strengthening his every word. This caused the beast to thrash as hard as it could, but its limbs held fast in their invisible restraints.

  “You have no right to this child! He belongs to God! He does not want you and I command you to leave him in the name of Jesus!”

  “They gave him to us!”

  “They have no right to give anyone to you, now depart! Jeremy, I know you can hear me, it’s Pastor Garrison. Fight Jeremy, use the name of Christ. Tell the spirit to leave you Jeremy; pray son, pray. I’m here with you son, and just like Christ I will not leave you nor forsake you. It cannot win, have faith son.”

&
nbsp; Blindness, deafness, seizures, and more mutations befell Jeremy’s body as the battle for his soul raged on, neither side backing down. Again and again, Ezekiel rebuked the demon with the power of Christ holding the boy and anointing him as he read the pure word of God Almighty. The spirit was unyielding, but he was even more relentless than the unclean one.