Chapter XXVII:

Three days later, the exorcism began. The two priests came by my house.

“Who is it?” I asked when I heard knocking on the door.

“It is us, lad,” I heard the priest said. I opened the door a crack. Two old men stood outside.

“How do I know who you say are?” I asked.

“Yes, my lad,” he said. He held up his bible. I hesitated at first before I opened the door. They looked normal enough. I took a breath.

“Okay,” I said. “Tell me what to do.” They followed me into the house. I was all dressed in white. I tried to ignore the whispering behind me. I wasn’t going to let them get to me.

“What do I need to do?” I asked.

“Sit down on the ground,” the priest said. I sat down on the floor. He and the other priest surrounded me. The first priest opened his Bible. He started to read passages out of it. At first, everything was fine. I figured that I could take it. But as the priest kept reading, my ears started to hurt. I heavily gasped aloud. The second priest joined in and things got worse.

They started yelling, screaming at me. I gulped and gasped out. Pain ran up my back. It felt like I had ants crawling up his back. My body locked up. I must have been screaming because that priest told me not to give up. I could barely hear his voice over Luna’s laughter. Her fingers caressed my cheeks.

“I am not letting you go,” she whispered. My body stayed stiff.

“You are mine!” Luna yelled. “I will never let you go!” I screamed as her nails dug into my shoulders. Cuts appeared all over my skin. It got worse when the other priest splashed holy water all over me. I had to shut my eyes.

“Stop!” I managed to shout out, choking. I doubled over to my stomach. Th priest looked up at me.

“We can’t stop,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“We can’t stop the exorcism,” that priest said. “We have to keep going with this.” I screamed in pain as a result. Holy water was splashed across my chest. I clenched my teeth. I could hear it burning. Luna started to scream in my ears.

“You are mine!” she shouted. Blood started to flow out of my mouth. I could smell flowers underneath my nose. My body went numb. The priests started reading faster. The room started to spin around me.

I slowly sank into darkness.

When I came to, the two priests stood over me.

“W-What happened?” I asked. The first priest smiled as he held out his hand to me.

“It’s over,” he said. “We exorcised the demons.” I blinked as I took his hand.

“Is it really?” I asked.

“Yes,” the priest said. I blinked with a stunned look on my face. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Luna and the others were gone? Gone-gone? They helped me to my feet. I couldn’t think of a word to say. There were no voices. I couldn’t see Luna anywhere. This had to be over. I couldn’t wait to experience a new day of silence.