Continuing Saga--Life After Deep Dark
Chapter 7
As Henry pulled up to the campus, he could feel the eyes starring at him in the darkness. The evil was lurking within the shadows waiting for the opportunity to pounce. He quickly made his way to Betty’s office. She greeted him with her normal cheery disposition.
“Good evening Henry.” Henry walked towards her, arms extended and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“Betty have you found anything that will help us?”
“Not yet. I have scoured through much of the well known literature without any hint of how to deal with this type of breach. Most of the documented cases that I have found deal with expelling a minor demon. This situation is going to be much trickier.”
“Betty we only have until tomorrow night. Astorath sent me a package. He wants me to meet him at Norman Bridewell’s at 11:00 pm sharp. My guess is that he plans to finish the ceremony which means that we have to act fast. All of our lives are in danger, especially Vicki’s.”
“Henry, I know that you are worried about the outcome. Have you thought about leaving this place and taking Vicki far away from all of this danger?” With a heavy sigh, Henry looked over at his old friend and said:
“Betty I asked for her to come with me to Vancouver, but she refused. Her sense of ethics will not allow her to leave this city while this monster is running loose. She feels responsible for the evil that has been unleashed and wants to make it right. There is a part of me that is angry; hurt really, because she refuses to leave with me, but I have to admit that she would not be the Victoria Nelson that I have come to love if she did run from danger.”
“Henry love has always been a double edged sword. I would not give up on Vicki, regardless of how she may try to push you away. Be patient with her. The resistance that she shows towards you comes from fear. When we first met, I too struggled with reconciling my feelings for you. I could see the man in your eyes, the humanity deep within your soul, but the vampire was always lurking under the surface. Once I accepted both sides of you, then I was finally able to really love you. Vicki is in that same place, but with time she will be able to open herself up to loving you, just as I did.”
“Do you really think so?”
Betty moved towards Henry, placing her hand on his chest.
“I know so.” She smiled tenderly at him.
“Well I guess, we have our work cut out for us. Over on the table are some other reading materials that I had my assistant pull for us to review. Maybe we will find some answers.”
They began to feverishly skim through the mounds of books and papers. With each one that they reviewed, Henry became frustrated. They were not finding the answers that he needed.
“Henry, I think that I have found something.”
He quickly rushed to Betty’s side.
“What is it?”
“I was reading a passage in the Roman Ritual which is the authority for the Roman Catholic Church in these types of situations. It has a section on exorcism. According to this passage, the person performing the ritual has to be of the highest faith. There can be no hint of corruption or self doubt. Didn’t you say that Father Casciolis struggled with feelings of remorse when he performed a similar ceremony a few years ago which ended in the girl’s death?”
Betty looked up to meet Henry’s gaze. He thought back to his previous conversations with the Father. He knew that there were some areas of his life that had been less than holy. The father struggled with a drinking problem, as well as, temptations of the flesh. Henry could only feel further guilt for involving him in this situation.
“What does the book say that we should do? How can we rid Father Casciolis body of this demon and send him back to hell once and for all?”
“It might not be as simple as we would like. First we need to find someone who has the highest level of faith and authority, someone whose life is irreproachable. Apart from going to the Vatican, no one springs to mind that will fit the bill.”
Henry shuffled around. He had a contemplative look on his face. Who could he find that could help them? He would have to think about that later.
“What else do we need?”
“According to the Ritual, we will need a purple robe and various symbols of faith such as the Rosary, Statue of Mary and Challis. In addition, we will need a bible and plenty of holy water on hand. Every inch of the building will need to be dosed in holy water, as well as, all participants of the ritual. This should keep him from passing to another person during the ceremony. However, we have to be careful with this part because if we do it prior to Astorath entering the building then, he will sense it and retreat. One other thing, we will need something to bind him to, as well as, Vicki will need to be there. She must be cleansed for the ceremony to work properly, if not, once the priest performs the ritual, not only will he cast the demon out of the Father, but he may also send Vicki to Hell right along with him.”
Fear crept up Henry’s spine as he played in this mind the events that would soon transpire. He knew that Vicki had little faith. Tomorrow night, she would need every once of it that she could muster.
Also, there was still the problem of finding someone to perform the ceremony. With a deep sigh of resignation, he knew what he must do. There was only one person that could help him find such a man of faith and it was Augustus. He would have to inform the council and get permission to summon the needed person.
“Betty call Coreen and have her help you with gathering what we need.”
“Of course, where are you going?” Betty responded with a puzzled sound in her voice.
“I have to go see a man about a suitable exorcist.” With that Henry fled into the night.