His old eyes watched as Nanny turned and spoke to the oldest child at the front of the ragtag bunch of urchins. The girl she was speaking to was aged about twelve and dressed in clothes that looked quite modern to his eye, not that he was really a follower of fashion.
Nanny left them and slowly walked towards him. He saw the children check she was not looking their way, and then, when they seemed satisfied her attention was focussed elsewhere, they hurried into a nearby shop.
She sat on the other end of the bench and considered him. Joseph had never met Nanny before, but he had heard of her and her tireless work to guard the souls of babies and children still seeking the answer. As a man of faith, he had often wondered how babies and children coped with being dead, considering they had barely lived. Regarding Nanny again he noticed that her face was pale, even for a ghost, she was slim and, although not classically beautiful, she held a plain serenity that was attractive in itself.
“Good day, madam.” He inclined his head towards her.
She went to shake his hand, but he politely waved her away.
“You are Rabbi Joseph Lieberman?” she enquired.
“Yes, indeed,” replied the rabbi.
“I understand you wanted to speak to me? What have I done?” She looked concerned.
“Apparently, you faced the shedim, the evil one, and lived to tell the tale, so to speak.”
Her memory returned to the fateful day in Darkfoot Wood, when she had seen the ‘girl’ turn into a demon. She shivered as if someone had walked on her grave. “I did not choose to face it. It was threatening one of the children. It had appeared as a young girl, but I knew right away what it was.”
The old man removed his glasses and began cleaning them on his coat; he did not meet her gaze. “The girl… Rachel… she was there as well?” he asked.
“Yes, I think the demon had spoken to her before I got there. I don’t think she knows the difference to be honest.”
He replaced his glasses, and she noticed one of his ears was slightly higher than the other one, and that the arms of his spectacles had been bent slightly to compensate.
“Knows the difference? What do you mean, child?” he enquired.
“Rachel. I heard something happened to her head, some kind of accident, and then, suddenly, she could see us all. She sees us through her eyes, but I don’t think she sees us in her mind. She doesn’t understand the difference between spirits, such as you and I, and… well, the other things that lurk in the underworld. She sees them as simple ghosts as well.”
“Really?”
Alice rubbed at her forehead, then pulled two pins from the top of her hat and removed it, placing it on the bench beside her. She then remembered she was in the presence of an older Orthodox Jewish man. “You don’t mind me… removing my hat?”
“As you wish.” He waved a dismissive hand.
“It’s just so nice, sitting here in the sun. I remember when I was alive I used to—”
“We tried to cleanse the soul of this girl and remove the influence of the shedim… the demon. Some brothers and I went to Rachel’s home, but we were stopped; they took fright and ran away because something was there already.”
Nanny frowned at the way she had been interrupted, but guessed this was just the rabbi’s way of doing things. “Something? What something, another demon?”
“No, it was troublesome, but I did not feel evil coming from it… It was an entity, you might say. The woman is a putz and one of these days— anyway that is not why I asked you here.”
A bus stopped right by them, and the pair watched as a group of people slowly pushed their way out through the automatic doors as they whooshed open. A small boy, led by his mother, smiled at Nanny; she responded with a small wave, and the mother, seeing her son wave at an empty bench, tugged him gently away into the crowd.
The rabbi continued, “The girl, Rachel, has become a danger to the living and the dead. She appears to have the power to be in the presence of the evil one, but not wither, die nor turn mad.”
“Isn’t this to be welcomed? Many say she will bring the answer and allow us salvation to seek our Lord.”
“I think the opposite. She is being manipulated by the evil ones. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I do not believe she intends evil in her heart, far from it. But she is too naïve; she is allowing herself to be used for their ends.”
“What ends?”
“I do not know for sure, but I believe it is something to do with bringing souls from the light to the dark, increasing the influence of the evil ones in not only the mortal world but in the spirit world.”
“How do you know all of this?”
The old rabbi closed his eyes, opened them slowly, then spoke as if it required extra effort. “There is a boy, in our community; his name is Adam.”
“A child?”
“Yes, he is nine. He has been born from a line of…” He paused and waved his hand. “Divine seers. Those who can see the future of mankind… of our dark fate or salvation. His grandfather foresaw terrible things for our people, and all that he said came to pass. Adam approached me one day to speak of the coming of this woman, whom I now know is this Rachel, and how it would be up to me and other Jewish brothers to stop her.”
“From doing what?”
“From being used by the shed— demons… to bring a terrible darkness to our world. I must confess that I was both honoured and afraid to be entrusted with such an enormous task, but now I am under obligation to gather other members of the righteous together, to stop this spread of evil.
“Although our faith cautions against contact with the dead, and instructs believers to reject those who claim to be a seer in any form, Adam is very, how do I put this? He is unusual. This is why his warnings have been considered very seriously.” He coughed lightly.
They both sat silently on the bench. The rabbi saw one of Nanny’s spirit children leave the shop they had entered and float gently upwards, to the laughter of the others.
“I must go soon, Mr Lieberman. What is it you want of me?” Nanny asked.
“Your vow, dear lady, that when the time comes – the day of reckoning – you will stand alongside my Jewish brothers and I, and those of all other faiths that champion the light, to defeat the demon.”
“Why me? There must be someone better than me – stronger or more pious… I do not think I am your best choice to help defeat something as utterly evil as you say.”
“You have been chosen because you have put your eyes upon it, have witnessed its malevolence, and can attest to the fact that if it remains in this realm unhindered, such regrettable things will occur. Someone without this conviction would wither in its gaze.”
Alice looked at her feet. “I was afraid, sir, when I saw it; I thought at first that I would collapse upon the ground in a faint. I do not think you need someone like me; you need someone braver…”
His faded eyes turned to her. “But you did not faint, nor back down; you took heart.”
She looked up. “The children… I am here to protect the children, even if it is at my own peril. I feared the thing would hurt them, so I had to do what was right.”
“And you will do this again? When called on to do so?”
“To save the children, yes, of course, without hesitation. That is why God put me here I believe…”
Rabbi Lieberman watched a spirit pigeon walk slowly past the bench, bobbing its head this way and that, with the sunlight picking out the green and purple feathers that dotted its breast.
He nodded towards it. “Why do you think our Creator allows such a simple creature to cheat death and return in spirit? What can it add to the world? I will tell you why: it is because, no matter how humble we are, we all have a reason to be here – a task we must fulfil – even this bird.”
Alice looked doubtful.
Joseph contin
ued, “So, Nanny, I can rely on your support in this matter?”
“Yes, to save the children from the evil one, I’ll do anything.”
The rabbi stood to leave. “My lady, I fear the next time we face the shedim, it will not be just to save the children, but to save us all.” He bowed his head towards her and then left, causing the pigeon to briefly stop pecking the ground to watch him go.
A chill spiritual wind blew Nanny’s hat from the bench, and she realised the sun had gone in, hidden by some ominous black clouds gathering overhead that had cut off its warmth and light. She shivered, re-pinned her hat to her head and sought to gather up the children from wherever they had scattered to.
Chapter 44
The evening of the exorcism had arrived, and Rachel, Andy and Debbie had gathered in Rachel’s living area. It had just turned 11pm.
As usual, Andy had brought a box of paranormal articles: his Stetson, some kind of radio transmitter and the by now familiar music-box-with-mirror device he used. Rachel didn’t know why he brought this; the entity could clearly be seen already, lapping gently out from the kitchen into the darkened hallway, so no mirror would be needed to view it, just a pair of eyes.
Debbie Simpkin stood there, dressed in a pale maxi-dress, a long necklace with very large orange beads clasped around her neck, and her bobbed hair, as usual, fastened on one side with a simple hair clip. What had possessed Debbie to date Andy, Rachel didn’t know, as they seemed very different people to her, but, obviously, since Andy had visited her flat, something must have happened to gel them together as an item.
“I rigged up a video link in the kitchen earlier; look, it’s working,” said Andy, pointing to a small TV screen he had set up beside the sofa
Rachel could just see her kitchen, in black and white, with a mist-like object pulsing gently in the middle.
“Right, are we all ready? Debs?” he queried.
“Yes, Andy,” she said enthusiastically, waving a camera at him.
“Rachel?” Andy asked.
“Yes, whatever. What do you want me to do?” Rachel replied.
He put his Stetson on, fiddled with the crucifix on the front so it was straight, and then took up the radio transmitter. “Right, you walk into the kitchen, and I will follow. The idea is that the purple spook thing will try to possess you, and then I will drive it back with ancient words.”
“What ancient words?”
“That’s my business. Are you OK with that?”
“Er, not really, but as long as it works… You have to get rid of it, Andy.”
“Debs will be taking photos throughout, so that we will have a visual record whatever happens. Also, the video link is recording, so nothing bad can happen, and, well, if it does, again we have hard evidence.”
“If you say so.”
He positioned Rachel just down from the kitchen door opening. She saw a bright-violet smoky haze leak out from the doorway, as if a large, purple disco strobe was pulsing within.
Staring ahead, Rachel thought it was a bit like being on one of those talent shows on TV. The stage curtains suddenly part, and the performer is shoved forward to face the audience and scorching lights.
“Right, in you go,” Andy declared.
“Now?” She actually felt scared; all the memories of the Jewish incident had returned in a pins-and-needles-like attack on her whole body, and she was starting to feel sick.
“Yes, NOW… come on…”
With a quick push from Andy, Rachel was inside the doorway.
In front of her, she saw the entity. It had no features, but was just a purple-and-black haze in the top left-hand corner of her kitchen. The silent-bass sensation could be felt, but only weakly, as it gently throbbed away to itself like a cat, purring in its sleep.
Andy stood to her right, and then, without warning, he bellowed, “Kum by yah… oh spirit… speak to me!”
There was nothing. No reaction and no change.
Taking two steps towards it, he began waving the radio transmitter back and forth. Gentle hissing emanated from the small speaker in the device. “Thine immortal spirit, have cometh here without welcome. The fair maid here wanteth you to leaveth.”
Behind them, Rachel heard the gentle snapping of the camera wielded by Debbie.
Again, there was nothing.
“Maybe it’s asleep?” hissed Rachel.
Andy took another step closer and then continued, “Thee spirit, thou dost abide in this domain without invitation and must leaveth back to whence thee…”
In an instant, the by now familiar face of the entity began to form, with the eyes and mouth slowly becoming visible in the swirling mist. To Rachel’s perception, the purple haze seemed brighter.
“It’s smiling,” offered Debbie hopefully.
Nobody knew quite what happened next. But, within the blink of an eye, the entity – which had been lingering peacefully in the top corner of Rachel’s kitchen, like a giant cobweb – immediately lunged forwards like a trap door spider springing towards its prey. It enveloped Rachel and, in a throbbing and pulsating motion, curled around and around her, like a winding slug, crushing her within its constricting hold.
Clearly taken aback, Andy dropped his radio. “Rachel? Can you hear me?”
“Andy…” Her voice was unclear. He could just make out her body, standing there stiffly, her arms pinned to her sides within the translucent entity’s coils. “Help me… I can’t move…”
“Do something,” called Debbie from somewhere in the room; the snapping sound of the camera could still be heard, so she was clearly focussed enough to keep taking photos.
Determined, Andy pushed his Stetson back and strode towards the entity, which had totally encircled Rachel’s body, surrounding her within its mass. He stopped within inches of the pulsating shape and, in an attempt to rescue her, he reached out with both of his hands towards the purple-and-black mist.
Instantly, he was screaming on the floor as a wispy tentacle snaked out from the entity and began, like a slick python, to curl around Andy’s arm, tugging him into the mass to join Rachel.
The thing grew in size, spinning slowly around and around like a huge spiral, with its eyes and mouth appearing randomly within its curls. Rachel seemed to be suffocating inside as her eyes were rolling and her mouth agape. Andy, meanwhile, remained on the floor, tugging and kicking the tight, unyielding appendage that pulled him unhurriedly towards the entity.
Debbie knew it was up to her. Looking around in desperation, she spotted a fire extinguisher affixed to the far wall. Hurrying over, she snatched it from its fixings, tugged the safety pin off and unleashed a shower of foam on to the entity. Although clearly not losing its grip on either Rachel or Andy, it howled, and the spinning motion ceased for a moment.
“Let them go, you bastard,” Debbie screamed, but then she fled when a large octopus-like tentacle snaked out, searching to drag her into the whirling, purple hell.
Running for all she was worth, she tore up the hallway, with her beads smacking against her face. Tugging at the front door, she threw herself into the street. “Help! Help me!” She looked left and right. There was no one to be seen, just the odd twitching curtain.
After the Jewish incident, it was clear no one in the street was prepared to help; they were probably thinking that Rachel had suffered yet another nervous breakdown.
Hidden by the shadows, Dr Maxwell looked up. Most nights, he stood there, just below Rachel’s entrance staircase, watching and waiting, just to catch a glimpse of her, to check that she was well.
Debbie snapped her gaze down to where he stood, and, for a second, they locked eyes. “We need help,” she uttered. Rubbing her face, she raced back into the flat.
William felt a lurch in his chest; had she seen him or just felt his presence? Walking up the stairs to the open front door, he saw the wisps of smoke
and purple light filling the hallway.
Inside, he could hear Debbie screaming. He lifted a foot to enter and then stopped. What in God’s name could he do to stop this thing? Nothing. He couldn’t even touch anyone or move anything. If only Henry were here, maybe he could levitate the entity or something.
Jesus Christ.
“Rachel!” he shouted.
There was only silence.
He took two more steps down the hallway; Debbie’s screams had stopped now. “Rachel? What’s happening?” he yelled, aware that, being a ghost, only Rachel could hear him, so if she was unconscious, or dead, his efforts would be hopeless.
What the hell could he do? The purple smog got thicker and thicker, and began to completely fill the hallway. He felt like it was stopping him from advancing any further, and forcing him back. Who could do something? That blithering idiot Andy had clearly made matters worse.
After rushing outside, he stood in the street and closed his eyes. He wished for her, thought of her face, her lips, her eyes (brown and clear), her touch and her smell. He was willing himself and hoping to get closer to her, to be with her. He couldn’t do anything, but he believed she could.
Feeling himself sucked through space, Dr Maxwell found himself in her room. Standing on a chair, of all places. “Laya?” He prayed she was there. “Please God…”
“William… you scared me.” A light snapped on in the corner of the magnificent, golden room, revealing the large bed with red, silken bedsheets. She sat up in the bed, smiling. “What would you want this time of night?”
Leaping from the chair, he hurled himself onto the bed, kneeling almost on top of her. “Laya, dear lady, you have to come. Rachel is in trouble; the thing that attacked her before has got her again, and I am powerless to stop it, but you… you can help?”
She frowned. “Ah, Rachel; you are here for her, of course. Please close the spiritual door on your way out.” She nestled under her covers.
Seeing Things Page 27