Note to the reader, there are events here that are true and some that are fictional.

Chapter I

It was a rather chilly and overcast day when my ex and I viewed the house for the first time. We had been led to the purchase by a realtor who had shown us it was way below market and an excellent buy. Literally, the last house on the left before you hit an old boat ramp that the Army Corps of Engineers had excavated and closed. Occasionally fishermen and dirt bikers would squeeze through, but only a couple days a week. Other than that the area was quiet. Occasionally a coyote or deer would come out of the brush, but that was rare.

It was an older two story that had been remodeled a couple of times, but something struck me as odd. The record of past owners showed that of the three previous mortgage holders, all left within 2 years of buying the property. I should have known that was a red flag right there! The house sat on an elevated lot overlooking the lake on two sides from across the two lane aging black top road that occasionally got repaired. Two stories, two dormers upstairs, two living areas, a kitchen next to the den, and downstairs bedroom and hallway bath. Upstairs was a large bedroom and bath that could have been an apartment with a closet and entrance to the attic. An old hickory tree draped over the back door and roof. It all seemed placid enough, having a full acre as a yard.

I asked Audra what she thought. All she said was, “When can we move in?”

Quite truthfully, “The bank has been anxious to get this off their unoccupied inventory. If you have a pulse, you can qualify!”

“How long has it been sitting empty,” I frowned.

“About 6 months now, and you know the market is a bit slow so being 20% below normal price makes it a steal!” The mousey little brunette replied.

“Will they consider another 5% off the asking price,” I asked.

“I really don’t know,” Our little realtor lady replied, “Tell you what. Why don’t you take a look and I’ll make a call to see if they’re amenable.”

Audra smiled, grabbed my hand, and said, “Come on, let’s check it out!”

It left me miffed! The house was in good shape, floors all relatively new, there were two appliances, the fridge and stove! This really had me wondering, did everyone who lived here prior to us just get transferred all the sudden? Seemed to me that you lived out here to get away from it all and enjoy the quiet life. Oh well, I concluded, one man’s loss is another man’s gain. All we really needed to do was some painting and minor clean up if the bank agreed to my terms.

“Good news!” The realtor girl smiled as she came in just shutting down her cell phone. ”The bank says it’s yours if you want it!”

“Anything we should know about the place that would be of concern?” I asked.

I sensed something was troubling her as her face turned a nervous pink, “Why would you ask?”

“You know,” I said laughingly, anybody die here or something like that?”

She nervously nodded her head, “Oh, no nothing like that!”

My eyes narrowed as I eyed her expression. Maybe she was just worried about a sale falling through. “I’ll take your word for it since my wife, here, seems to be happy with it.”

Our little brunette realtor perked up, “You know what they say. Happy wife, happy life!”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” and smiled as Audra hugged me.

It took just a week for the bank to push the loan through! I made the down payment, and we both ordered furniture to be delivered a few days later. We closed on the 8^th day and were handed the keys. I felt a certain mixed emotion over the whole thing. Something was gnawing at me, but Audra was as happy as a bear with a honeycomb in its mouth! We moved in the following weekend. All we had to move was our belongings, toiletries, and groceries from the furnished place we’d been renting. We picked up a mattress and frame from a local store, Audra wanted to sleep upstairs so I set it up there.

The damn place even had some excellent woven blinds that kept the sun out but insulated the windows very well. Jeez, I thought, these people must have been in a damn hurry to leave all these costly furnishings behind! “Don’t you think the previous owners leaving all these window treatments and appliances behind as being kind of weird, like they were in a rush to leave?” I asked my wife.

“That’s of little concern to me," Audra shot back flippantly. “What’s more important is we have the place now, and I love it!” She always was stubborn and impulsive.

My feeling was from the kind of life I’d had was that anything that came too easily there was probably a catch to it! Even Audra leaving her abusive husband seemed a little too good to be true, after all, I was just hearing one side of the story, but I had been through a recent divorce and had gotten over it surprisingly quickly and I thought that Audra was in the same frame of mind. I thought.

That weekend we spent sweeping, mopping, dusting and washing windows. All we had to do now was wait for the furniture to arrive. All the loose ends to my business had been taken care of so I had a few days I could spend getting the house in shape. There was an old codger next door with a cane who waved to us when we drove up the next day after we had fetched groceries. He stood on his porch and watched us move in. He seemed harmless enough.

There was a rap on the door as we loaded the fridge and got the skillet and pots out. It was the elderly dude. He politely introduced himself and said he was glad to see someone finally move in. I invited him to come in but he refused with a strange expression on his face, claiming he needed to get back to his little dog and make him some dinner. “Okay! Nice to meet you.” Audra smiled at him and he strolled away with a slight limp.

Chapter II

It was Sunday now and Audra and I had our first breakfast at the house together. The night had been chilly down in the 30’s but the furnace came to life, and we got enough warmth to be able to sleep. Id’ have to get it checked. “Joel,” the man next door came by while I was outside taking some trash to the dumpster. He looked better for wear in his long flannel shirt and long grayish hair. He used his cane to tip a greeting to me.”How’s everything working out for you so far?”

“Great so far,” I replied. “What’s on your mind, Joel?” As I saw he seemed to want to tell me something.

Joel motioned for me to walk away from the house, he tugged me by the arm, “I didn’t want your wife to hear what I had to say. I’ve wrestled with this ever since I saw the two of you moving in those last two days, and I thought, no, I won’t tell him, and then I thought, well if I don’t I’ll just hate myself!”

“What are you trying to tell me, Joel?” I frowned.

“I’ve seen three owners live here. All three left hardly within a couple years all of the sudden like. I didn’t get to know them too well because my wife, Cynthia, was sick and she finally passed away last year, God rest her soul.”

“Sorry to hear that, Joel,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. My heart sank.

“To be expected at our age. By the way Scott Crebbs across the street lost his old lady about the same time as me. We play chess and have a drink or two from time to time,” suddenly his expression darkened. “I need to tell you something, and I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or making shit up.”

“Lay it on me Joel.”

“I think I know why the previous owners all left in such little time, at least, I think this is why.”

“Well go ahead man. Tell me!” I urged Joel.

The house was vacated for a long time. I saw the power company come out and disconnect the line, but from time to time I’d see flashes of light coming from the windows and that should have been impossible! I was worried and called the power company and they assured me there was no power going to the place. So, one night, I saw the lights coming from the windows again and thought, there’s got to be squatters in there! I walked out to the front yard and looked up to the 2nd story windows and, and…..” He gulped and steadied himself leaning hard on his cane as he pointed upstairs. “There was this figure standing in the window, dark, cloaked in a robe, looking like some kind of apparition! I know this sounds weird, but I’m not trying to scare you!”

“Are you absolutely sure of what you saw?” I gasped.

Joel nodded, “I may be old, but I’m damn sure not on drugs, hadn’t had a damn drink that day, and I called the police thinking there were some weirdos or Satanists holed up in the place!”

“Damn it!” I hissed. “I knew this was all too good to be true!”

“Anyway,” Joel continued, “Realtor had to come out and unlock the door for the police and they searched the hell out of the place saying they found no evidence anyone had been in there. They had me fill out, what they call, an incident report, and I damn sure did! I know they didn’t want the account I gave them on it but I made damn sure it was! You know, the cops don’t like it when you report that paranormal stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah, “I nodded. “Just great! Next you’re gonna tell me a UFO Landed on the roof!”

The old man chuckled, “No, I’m just telling yuh the truth. I’m sorry, but if I didn’t tell you and something happened, I would have been blaming myself. You can ask Crebbs across the street. He saw the flickering lights from inside too.”

“Nah, that’s okay. I’m not going to bother anyone else about this, and you were right not to say anything in front of my wife, Thank you. I’m not saying a damn thing to her about this unless, well….”

“Take my advice, get a priest, and have the house exorcised!”

“No, “I said, “Let me think about this. I don’t want an episode from a cable channel show or anything like that!”

“I’m just telling you what I saw. Maybe it was a fluke! Maybe the spirits are gone.”

“How long ago did this happen?” I asked, gritting my teeth in frustration.

“Four or five months ago, I believe,” Joel grimly replied.

“Well, Joel, I’d like to say thanks for the heads up, but now I’m just frustrated. I know it’s not your fault!”

“Well, I knew that little girl, your realtor, wasn’t going to tell you even if she knew.” Joel shook his head, and ambled back to his place, and I thanked him for the bad news.

I didn’t say a word to Audra, but she knew something was wrong by the expression on my face. “What’s wrong?” She asked with that suspicious look of hers.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about our neighbor. Not only he, but the guy across the street both lost their spouses to health issues. I just felt bad for them,” Even though I lied, I did feel bad for the guys anyway.

We ate our first dinner together in the house that night uneventfully, but later that evening something strange happened. We were both sound asleep when something woke both of us up. It wasn’t a loud banging, footsteps, or someone breaking in. I got up and realized I didn’t have a damn flashlight, handgun or anything else, but I got up anyway. Audra begged me not to leave her and grabbed me until I had to pry her off. “You stay here!” I said.

I slowly descended down the staircase toward the living room floor staring into the darkness and holding onto to the rail. The woven wood blinds blacked out the moonlight so there was only impenetrable gloom. Suddenly, a pair of glowing red eyes opened up and glared right at me from maybe 30 feet into the living area. I just about fell backward in shock! I gasped as I groped for a light switch hoping we hadn’t forgotten to change an old light bulb! Those haunting eyes followed me as I attempted to throw on the lights! Finally, I hit the switch and the lights came on almost blinding me! I expected to see some bizarre demonic entity, but there was nothing! I don’t know if that shook me worse than seeing who or what had been watching me.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed a big knife as I walked around the house searching for something or someone, but nothing! Breathing hard, I climbed the stairs hearing Audra’s cries. She ran to me and hugged me tight as I reached the floor of the bedroom, probably looking sheet white.

“What was it?” She cried.

“I don’t know!” I lied, I knew exactly what the hell it was! ”There was nothing when I turned on the light!”

“Then, why did you grab a knife out of the kitchen?”

“Just in case!” I was getting sick of omitting the frightening truth!

Well, now I knew. We were not going to luck out of this one. Either we would have to face a haunting with a history, or give up the house, and I knew that would disappoint Audra terribly. The next day I’d have to get “Woodie” from the veterinarian who was keeping him until we got the house in order for the weekend. I made an excuse for Audra to visit her sister while I did some detective work before picking up our dog. I didn’t want her to be there alone! I went to the local police and asked to see an incident report at our address over the last 6 months. And, sure enough, there it was just as Joel had said.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Maybrook Police Department

Incident Report

Date of Occurrence February 21, 2024

Trespasser reported by next door neighbor. Officers Little and Armstrong responded, searched premises, at 8:40 PM. Nobody encountered, house and it was locked and secured. No evidence of vagrancy or vandalism. No evidence of outside attempted forced entry. Officers withdrew from the scene. Neighbor claims a supernatural event took place and will file their own individual report.

Chapter III

When I got home with Woodie, our Skye Terrier, there was Joel sitting on our porch talking with Audra. She had made both of them a cup of tea and were chatting as I drove up. I gave Woodie to her and she hugged him like she hadn’t seen the furry little devil for years! He’d just been bathed and groomed so thank God he didn’t stink! She brought Woodie into the house while I talked to Joel.

“I figured you wouldn’t want your wife alone in the house while you were gone so I came over to keep her company until you got home,” He explained.

“I know, I know,” I replied. “Thanks.”

“Has anything happened so far?”

“Now that you mention it, damn it! I saw something strange last night,” I put my finger to my lips, “But, don’t say a damn thing! We both woke up and when I went downstairs I saw a pair of glowing red eyes glaring at me! I damn near fell down the stairs! “

“Are you okay?” Joel gasped.

“Yeah, but I haven’t said a thing to Audra about any of this including what you told me!”

“Don’t worry mums the word. Like I said,” Joel repeated under his breath, “You need to get a priest who does exorcisms to bless the house!”

I just sighed in frustration. I just didn’t buy into the mumbo jumbo but already something very weird had taken place! Maybe the old man was right. This was getting to be maddening! Joel left and I walked into the house to watch Woodie, obviously confused by the new home, sniffing out his territory! He let his long furry nose travel along every wall and in every corner. Woodie growled and then began to shiver uncontrollably. “What is wrong with you?” Audra frowned, picking Woodie and hugging him. She looked at me, “I’ve never seen him act so weird!”

“It’s a new place! He probably feels uncomfortable, that's all. Better take him outside to do his thing or he may be lifting his leg in here! “Audra dutifully took our Skye Terrier for a tour of the lot.

I opened my cell phone and called our realtor! “Sara Cummings please.”

“This is Sara, may I help you?”

I explained to her what happened at my house, what the neighbor had seen, and how the police had arrived 5 months ago asking her if she had known about all this beforehand. Sara sounded apologetic but not guilty. “We are responsible by law to inform a buyer if there has ever been a death or homicide on the premises prior to a new owner making an offer, “Sara explained, “But, I know of no such incident that you’ve mentioned.” I hung up the phone.

Next, I called the bank who was carrying the mortgage. “May I speak to the Vice President?”

“That would be Mr. Howard. Who can I say is calling and for what reason?” I explained who I was and why and Howard got on the line.

“How can I help you?”

I told him what had been happening at the house and how two neighbors had witnessed apparent supernatural activity asking him about what policy would govern my terminating the mortgage due to extenuating circumstances. I was just exercising my options. His response, I guess I should have anticipated.

“Well, under the circumstances, you could indeed move out but we would handle this like a foreclosure and it would leave a mark on your credit. This state provides for no cooling off period after purchase. When you close on the loan and sign the Deed of Trust, you are the debtor. I would strongly suggest that since the house was so reasonably priced that you put it up for sale and profit off the windfall.”

“I should have expected that!” replied angrily. “By the way, a police report on the premises, you’re in a small town like this and you people had no prior knowledge?”

“I’m sorry, Sir, but we can’t reverse the sale and terms of ownership over a ghost story, there is no available recourse for such an occurrence.”

“I see,” I replied. It almost sounded like he was mocking me. I simply hung up. I didn’t believe either one of them, the realtor, or the bank executive. There was a reason that my house had been so cheap and had sat on the market a while. It wasn’t by accident! They knew something was wrong.

That night we put Woodie in his favorite cubby, his cage, where he normally slept. He always felt secure there. We hoped he’d calm down. We left Woodie downstairs and turned in after I made fish sandwiches for dinner. We didn’t have a TV to watch Netflix on. All we had were our cell phones so I simply tried to fall asleep. Audra did the same. Sometime in my sleep I had a nightmare of some dark, cloaked figure, drifting across the floor of the house! I woke up gasping, only to hear Woodie downstairs yelping. I went down flicking on the light and lifted his cage and carried it upstairs so he could sleep alongside the bed. That seemed to calm our Sky Terrier down. I was still breathing hard from the shock in my dream, but I fell asleep again anyway. Audra remained strangely snoozing away aloof and undisturbed.

The next morning we were expecting the furniture to be delivered. It was scheduled for some time around midday. I made breakfast for Audra and me. I was a little peeved by the fact that we hadn’t made love in a few days, but this was a continuing pattern in our relationship, and it didn’t make this ordeal any easier to handle. After wolfing down the scrambled eggs and turkey sausages, I gave Audra a hug and told her I was going to check up on Joel. I Ieft her cleaning up since I’d cooked. Joel was sitting up on his porch sipping coffee and enjoying the cool fall morning when I walked up.

“How are things going?” He smiled.

“Well, we’ve never seen the dog act this way before. He woke me up in the middle of the night crying.”

“As long as your dog senses an unclean spirit in the house, He’ll continue to act strange,” Joel grimly replied.

“Yeah, I checked with the police and they had the report over what you saw on file. I called the realtor and the bank about possibly nullifying the loan! Nothing but bullshit excuses,” I sighed.

“I’m really sorry, you two seem to be such a nice couple and all, but there is one way out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say, “I replied impatiently.

Audra received the delivery of our furniture, a sectional in the living room, a large flat screen TV, a sofa chair, and a couple of end tables, a small kitchen set, and we were set for the time being. The two young furniture store employees were fast and efficient.

" Sorry, Mam, I was going to get your husband to sign the sales receipt, but he walked off into the downstairs bedroom before I could say anything to him."
Woodie was barking again, Audra had just brought him back in the house while the two guys were unpacking. “You must be mistaken. My husband left an hour ago to the print shop downtown to send some faxes! Where did you see this man?”

The furniture employee pointed to the downstairs bedroom, “He walked back there. He didn’t say a word to us!”

“Please come with me, “Audra said as she walked toward the bedroom, but there was nobody there. “What did this man look like?”

“I only saw him for few seconds. His back was to me. He was tall and dressed all in black.”

“Can you stick around until my husband gets back?”

“Sorry Mam, but we have more deliveries to make, but my partner, Dave, and I will be happy to check around the house before we leave.”

Audra just stood there holding Woodie who began barking as he stared at the downstairs bedroom as if knowing someone was in there. When the furniture truck pulled off Audra went over to talk to Joel. She knocked at his door. Joel swung his door open with his cane and invited her to sit at his kitchen table. “Everything okay?”

Audra sat there stroking Woodie as she spoke, “One of the furniture delivery boys claimed to have seen a tall man dressed in black go into our downstairs bedroom from the hallway!” She stammered. “I swear to you. Ever since we’ve been here the last few days I’ve had the strangest feelings since we moved in. I didn’t tell my husband about it though. Maybe it’s just my nerves moving into this new place? Did you see or hear anything?”

“No, Dear,” Joel replied matter of factly. “I was just sitting here at the table reading the local newspaper and listening to the radio.” He paused. “Is there anything I can get you, a cup of tea, or a sweet roll?”

Audra shook her head as she patted Woodie who had calmed down and strangely didn’t even mind being in Joel’s house. “I’ll just sit here and wait for my husband to get home. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No problem,” Joel smiled. “Just make yourself at home. By the way you got a cute dog,” he said as he reached to pet Woodie, who sniffed his hand.

Chapter IV

I rolled up to the house and saw that Audra was out. I looked over the furniture and all seemed fine. I went upstairs and saw that the flat screen TV had been installed upstairs but no TV installation downstairs in the living room, and wondered why. Just then Audra came in holding Woodie with a frustrated look on her face. What now? I wondered. “What did Joel have to say?”

“Something happened that was very weird!”

“What’s that?”

“One of the two delivery boys claimed to have seen a man walking into the bedroom downstairs. He described the person as tall and dressed in black! We checked the whole house and there was no one there! I had the boys check around the house since they couldn’t stay with me and wait for you to get back, but they found nothing.”

“Just great! “ I sighed. “By the way, what happened to the 2^nd TV?”

“They had to back order it. It was out of stock but they’ll have another one by next week. So, I had them install the TV upstairs in the bedroom.”

“Well that’s good since there’s nothing else happening in the bed!”

“Please!” Audra shot back, “Don’t pressure me!”

“Pressure? Do you know what I’ve been through getting this house deal done, making the down payment, and spending all this money on getting the furnishings? We haven’t made love in days! Is this how I get treated?”

“Please! Ever since we’ve been here I’ve felt like something here is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“You were the one who was so damn in love with this place. I did this to make you happy! I told you I had my doubts in the beginning! You don’t think I feel like something isn’t right? That hasn’t affected my sex drive!”

“Don’t pressure me! “ She repeated again which infuriated me, but rather than continue the argument, I walked out and took a fast stroll down the street to cool off! The temperature had dropped by now, and I was getting chilled. The frustration over buying a new home, finding all this paranormal shit going on, and not even being able to make love to my woman was getting to be too damn much! I couldn’t keep dumping our problems on Joel. He had enough of his own problems! The crushed granite road was dusty and darkened with the moisture of dew as the cold began to impose itself. A brisk wind was coming off the lake and my face was getting numb so I headed back to this haunted damned house!

I looked up into one of the dormers to see a figure in the second floor window suddenly turn away. It was probably Audra, I thought. I walked in rubbing my hands and sat down on the new sofa chair in the living room, quiet, unhappy, and feeling like I had little support. Audra came downstairs. I hoped she would come to me to comfort me or just tell me she was glad to see me back, but she just stood there holding Woodie.

“Are you going to cook or should I start dinner?” She asked in a cold tone of voice.

“Give me Woodie, “I replied as she dropped him into my lap. I continued to sit there with Woodie gently stroking his back while I heard Audra angrily fixing a meal. I could tell by the way she was moving loudly and knocking things about.

“What are we having?” I asked from where I sat. There was no answer. Now the silent treatment!

I feared that our relationship was in peril and that I had made a substantial commitment to an unstable relationship, and now I was sincerely doubting myself for making an ill-advised decision. I’d thought that things would improve between us, if I made her happy. Foolish me! I walked into the kitchen holding Woodie to watch her cook our meal, and not remain so distant. Audra went about cooking like I wasn’t even there. My spirit sank as if I were alone and not even in a relationship. Funny in life how easily things seem to slip away especially when you need a little reciprocation as I did at that moment. Then, I thought after what she’d seen and been frightened by, maybe she needed some affectionate reassurance. I put Woodie down and went to her and held her from behind as she cooked. I felt the tenseness in her body relax and she leaned against me. I realized that she needed that, but waited for me to make the first move, and that was always the way it was between us.

I decided to take Joel’s advice. So the next day I headed out to find help. I met with Pastor Richards at the “Fountain of Christ Church”. I sat out in the chapel until his secretary came out and told me to come in. Felt like I was in a corporate office! There were a couple of office workers on duty as I was led in to see him. After entering, the first thing I saw was a full size painting of Jesus on the cross. Looked like something Rembrandt would have painted.

“May I help you?” A broad shouldered middle aged gentleman uttered.

“Yes, I have a rather unusual request, but I would expect that you might help me.”

“I see that you’re not a member of the church. I’ve never seen your face before.”

“No, I just recently became a resident of the town and bought a house here.”

 “I see.” He shifted in his chair with his hands folded under his chin. “Please go ahead.”

“I’m afraid that my home is under the influence of an unclean spirit. My wife and I have suffered several paranormal episodes. I’m faced with the prospect of abandoning the house and suffering negative credit or perhaps selling it to another buyer whom I would simply be passing on a threat to another to. I would not like to have this on my conscience. Is there anything you can do?”

“How can I possibly be assured that we are dealing with an actual demonic presence here?”

I brought with me two reports. A police incident report from 5 months ago, and corroborating report from an individual who witnessed the event, and notified the police. He is my next door neighbor.”

“May I see them?” He asked.

The pastor reviewed the documents with a grim expression. He wore glasses and I watched as he read. “To say the least this is highly unusual. You know the Catholic Church has turned down as many as 5 thousand requests even in the Vatican. However, it would seem you do have a problem. I’ve only witnessed one exorcism in my entire time as a man of the cloth, and I will admit it was quite disconcerting.”

“Well this is to drive an evil spirit from my house, not from the body of the possessed.”

“Yes, I know. And, I will say that this can even be extremely complicated. Even merely performing a blessing can simply aggravate an unclean spirit into even more activity!”

“Just great!” I sighed.

“I will have to consult with our Bishop. He would be the one to grant me permission to pursue this less than enviable task.”

“Look, I would be happy to make a donation, anything, for your help!”

Pastor Richards held up his hand. “I will not take a donation as if it were some kind of worldly bribe or transaction. This involves the work of the Lord! If we accept and your evil entity is vanquished from the premises, you may make a donation in good faith.”

“Well, how long would it take? When can I expect any help?”

“I hear your desperation, Brother. We are here to do the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and defeat the evil one. Leave me your phone number and I will get back to you as soon as possible.”

With that, Pastor Richards stood up and gave me a big, meaty handed, powerful handshake. “I will do my best in the name of the almighty to get the response you would want so we can do the work of Christ and his prophets.”

I left the office wondering if I had simply heard idle rhetoric or if I was going to get any real help at all. I headed back to the house knowing that Audra would, no doubt, be visiting with Joel. I was worried about our problem stressing the poor guy out, but he was a very easy going type who didn’t seem to be stressed out too easily. Sure enough, there she was sitting on Joel’s porch sipping tea or coffee with the old guy with Woodie on her lap. Skye Terriers aren’t normally lap dogs, but ever since we moved here, our little Skye Terrier just had to be in one of our laps, or he would begin shivering and growling! Damn, I thought, why me?

When I entered the house, I sat in the kitchen to wait for Audra. About 10 minutes later she came in holding Woodie. “Had to let him go pee pee,” she said.

“Sit down, Dear, we need to talk.”

Audra looked worried as he sat down still holding our dog. She gave me a very pitiful stare as if coming from a woman who had suffered a very big disappointment and didn’t have an idea in hell what to do about it. She just sighed and continued stroking Woodie.

“Honey, I think whatever it is that is in this house is also making things difficult for you and me. I know these things feed off on fear, and emotional distress! Can we not let this happen between us?”

Audra was physically there but her mind seemed far way like someone who refused to deal with an unacceptable reality. It seemed she was just getting more distant, and that worried me more. There was this faraway look in her eyes! I’d never known her to act this way before, and I had to assume she was under the influence of this evil spirit in the house, and it wanted to separate us! I was just looking for some way to find a mutual medium we could meet on, but it seemed I wasn’t getting through.

I made small talk, “So what did you and Joel talk about?”

“He talked about how his wife passed away and how he spent 2 years caring for her as she got worse and worse. It was very sad.”

“Hmm, did you talk to him about what’s going on here any? I told you we didn’t need to be burdening him anymore over our situation.”

“I-I tried not to.”

That meant yes she had been pestering him! That ticked me off, but I didn’t want to start any more arguments. “Maybe we should just rent a room at an extended stay motel until I get this thing figured out. Then maybe we can start acting like man and wife again. With that Audra stood up with Woodie and once again blurted out, “Stop pressuring me!” That did it! I stormed out the door. My patience was worn thin! I got in the car and drove until I remembered a small tavern I’d noticed just outside of town and pulled in.

Inside it was dark. There were 4 customers seated at the bar. There was one female bartender and one waitress with a low cut blouse who smiled at me as I sat at a small table. She approached with a couple napkins. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she smiled at me. “Well, I’ve never seen your face here before. You’re definitely not one of the local yokels.”

“Just moved in a few days ago,” I muttered, still pissed off.

She must have noticed. “Well, whaddaya, have? Guaranteed to numb you to what ails yuh!”

She gazed into my eyes, which told me this could be trouble if I let it. “I’ll have a boiler maker with whatever you have on tap with whiskey, and after I finish that bring me one more.” 

“That all,” She replied, and I knew she wasn’t just talking about drinks too.

“Yeah,” I responded without returning the flirt.

A juke box in the corner murmured some old rock’n’roll I hadn’t heard in years as I knocked back one boiler maker and then another. I asked for the bill. She brought it over with a warm smile, “I get off most nights around 9:00 o’clock except on Friday or Saturday if I’m working. She wrote her phone number on the back of the ticket and winked at me, walking away swinging that ass too! Not to be cruel, I waited until I was out in the parking lot before I balled up the ticket and tossed it. Then I drove home. I was high but not drunk. Just numb enough to go back to the house and fall asleep knowing we probably would not be making love. When I got in, Audra didn’t even ask where I’d been or what I’d been doing which only reinforced the notion that she didn’t even care! Now I wished I hadn’t balled up and thrown out that bar ticket. Oh well, I knew I couldn’t fit in Woodie’s cage.

When we went to bed, I couldn’t help but reach for her, but when I hugged her it was like holding a corpse that hadn’t gotten cold yet. She acted like she was lifeless. I had to really try and control my frustration! I’d forgotten all about our little haunting. I was more hurt by the fact that it seemed we were no longer a team, and I was carrying all the weight! I rolled over and tried to sleep. Eventually, rest found me as I was exhausted physically and emotionally! Deep in my dreams I met it again! The dark robed entity that raised a gleaming knife and lunged at me. I sidestepped it, grabbed a wooden chair and swung hitting it, and suddenly everything exploded! I awoke gasping for breath and then I smelled something like smoke!

I looked around at the downstairs and I could see the glow of a fire on the first floor! The flicker of a house fire was coming up the staircase in an orange shade of impending death. I saw the ceiling was coated with smoke! I grabbed Audra and shook her!

“Don’t pressure me!” She screamed!

“It’s a goddamn fire! Get your ass up before we burn to death!”

I looked down the staircase and saw flames licking at the railing, now smoke was billowing upward. I had to duck and stay low. I grabbed Audra shoving her to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony! When I slid the glass open there was a roar of fire from the added fuel that fed the flames with more air from the outside! I pushed her out on the deck seeing that smoke was already seeping through seams in the roof. There was no damn way to save the house! The smoke alarm had never sounded! Why? I knew why, because that evil spirit wanted us dead!

I told Audra I would climb down first so she could toss Woodie to me then I would grab a hold of her and help her down. I had to jump and land about ten feet, but I was alright then I motioned for her to drop Woodie to me! I caught him then signaled for her to lower herself down where I could catch her! Audra was coughing and the smoke was starting to overcome her! She lowered herself below the railing legs first. As she fell and I caught her! We both tumbled to the ground! Then I pulled her away as Woodie yapped and scrambled around our feet! I had to pull her away from the house as molten debris was dripping from the roof! We’d barely gotten out of there with our lives! Audra’s face was stained with smoke, she was wearing nothing but her house coat and underwear, but she had no slippers or sandals on! I was wearing the clothes I’d put on in the morning. I looked to my left and saw Joel. He was waving to me with his cane!

“I called the volunteer fire department! They should be here any minute!” Joel shouted out over the roar of the devouring blaze!

I gazed into the windows and saw the blinds were all on fire! It was hopeless. Luckily I had the keys to the car. I needed to move it further away from the house, and to make room for the fire fighting vehicles! As I brought Audra to Joel’s before moving my car, the windows of our house all burst open from the heat. Then there was the wail of the sirens and their flashing lights! The fire Marshall in his red SUV, the paramedics, and a pumper truck arrived. Two first responders unwound a hose they carried to the fire hydrant further down the road and two firemen carried a nozzle hose to face the burning house. It looked half gone by now! Within minutes a powerful stream of water was blasting away upon the angry flames that ate the house like a fiery predator!

I watched helplessly as the firefighters did their job, struggling with the hose and moving the stream of water wherever they could douse the flames! Audra just sat on Joel’s porch seemingly in a daze. I walked over to Joel and we shared knowing looks. It was an impossible blow to recover from but at least we were alive and we had saved Woodie too. Joel tapped me on the shoulder as I watched the house transformed from a decent place into charred wreckage. My eyes flooded with tears as I thought my world was now collapsing around me.

“I’ve got an extra bedroom you two can stay in for the night.” Joel offered.

“Nah, that’s okay. Thanks for the offer though,” I replied.

“Oh really? Where the hell are you two going to stay in the car? Don’t worry about it!”

“Thanks neighbor, “Was all I could muster, too overwhelmed to make much conversation.

I got Audra cleaned up even though she acted like a zombie in a trance. Joel had a double sized guest bed and that was good enough. The Fire Marshall came by and told me that an inspector would do an investigation on the house to see what caused the fire in the next few days. I told him that my brand new smoke alarms hadn’t even gone off! He thought that to be odd. The smell of the smoke from the fire seemed to permeate everything, coming in from outside. Jeez, we had just barely moved in and only partially furnished the damn house. I was pissed off!

In the next few weeks what was left the house was bulldozed all the way to the foundation slab. At first my insurance agent said that the blaze might not be covered if the home office claimed that the time period of the claim was prohibitive, but he promised me he’d find some way to cover the claim even if it took some technicality! He said it would all be contingent upon what the fire investigator found in his inspection. Audra and I were, once again, holed up in that extended stay motel we had originally rented. The days went on, at least without a haunting! Audra seemed dazed and distant! It was getting on my nerves.

All the sudden my cell phone rang. It was Pastor Richards! I informed him that he’d been too late, the house had been gutted by a mysterious fire that had damned near killed us! “I was going to tell you that I’d gotten approval to perform that exorcism! I’m so sorry!”

“Wait!” I said. “My wife Audra has been acting very strange and distant. We haven’t had any intimate relations in weeks. There’s something wrong with her, Pastor.”

“When did this behavior start?” Richards asked. 

“Not long after we moved into the house.”

“Are you sure it’s not from the shock of losing the house?”

“I had her checked by the Paramedics. They said they could see nothing physically wrong with her and thought initially she might be suffering with mild shock, but that was 2 weeks ago. This is not normal for her, Pastor!”

“Well, I do marriage counseling, but I’m afraid there may be something a lot more serious going on!”

“Great! What could that be?”

“Do you have a Bible in your room?”

“Let me check. Just a minute,” I said. There it was in the bedside table. “Yeah, it’s a Gideon’s Bible.".

“Listen to me carefully. I want you to sit her down at the table then I want you to open the Bible and place it in front of her. Then tell me what happens.”

I led Audra to the small dining room table we had, sat her down, and opened the Bible. I placed the Bible opened in front of her. She reacted with a swift and vicious eruption of motion! She immediately let out an unearthly screech and slapped the book away from her as if it were radioactive! The Bible flew to the floor! I picked it up gasping at what I’d just seen. Audra had come to life with wide open and angry eyes! I told Pastor Richards just what had happened!

“I hate to inform you, young man, but it seems your wife is now possessed! Apparently the unclean spirits that occupied the house have sought her as a new vessel for their existence!”

“It makes sense since she has not been herself for days now! It’s like I don’t even know who she is anymore,” I admitted as I watched Audra go back into her trance.

“That’s because she is no longer yours,” Pastor replied ominously. “She belongs to the demon world.”

“What happens next?”

“I can be there within an hour. I need to gather everything necessary. I won’t have an assistant. You will have to be my assistant, and you will need to follow my instructions, every word! Do not ask questions. Just do exactly what I tell you to do! Is that understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Just give me your exact address and we will get started, but first let me tell you. This could take hours or days. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Just keep an eye on her, now until I get there!”

Audra had dropped her head to her chest in an odd way, but she wasn’t asleep as far as I could tell. Then she turned her head to stare at me with a piercing expression I’d never seen before. Her eyes were getting bloodshot. For the first time ever, I was actually frightened of her. I could feel the evil in the room now! I guess I’d been lucky that she hadn’t tried to kill me in my sleep so far, but if this went on, I would never be able to sleep next to her again.

CHAPTER V

Pastor Richards left a bold knock on the door of our suite, loud and urgent. He gestured to me. “We’ll need to position her on the bed. All breakables need to be removed from the bedside, lamps, silverware, anything that can be used as a weapon or projectile! Then you will be at the head of the mattress so you can hold down her arms when she begins struggling! This is not going to be pretty! You will see things you’ve never witnessed or heard of before!”

Audra gave Pastor Richards an evil sneer and twisted her neck in an odd position, “In another lifetime, you were a shepherd’s son, and you were attacked by wolves, “She laughed. It was an ungodly mocking cackle!

“Get ready to grab her wrists!” Richards said as he opened a leather bag with a bottle of holy water, a small Bible, a holy apron, and an incense burner which he placed on an end table. He handed me a book of matches and gestured for me to light it.

The pastor began reading the Lord’s Prayer from his Bible. As the aroma of the holy incense bit into the air, sure enough, Audra began to struggle! Her movements were slithery and hard to grasp! Now Richards began to throw holy water over her as he continued reading. Audra now hissed and writhed as I struggled to maintain control of her. She moved with incredible strength as I broke out in a sweat trying to control that possessed body of hers! Each time Pastor Richards splashed her with the holy water he might as well have been hit her with muriatic acid! She jerked and convulsed each time she felt the droplets of blessed water.

“I call upon the minions of the devil to leave the body of this woman!” He cried in a bold commanding voice.

As though a group of demons replied in an echo of chorus Audra blurted out, “She belongs to us now!”

“I command thee to leave this woman’s body in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord! You will leave! The Lord as my witness!” Richards continued reading passages from his Bible and occasionally splashing holy water at her.

“Ha, ha, ha, you fool! You have no power!”

“I have the power of the most holy and the most righteous! I call upon my Lord Jesus Christ to vanquish you from this body! Do it now! Do it now!”

There was a squeal from Audra that sounded like it came from a wild animal! She struggled against my grip frantically twisting. I felt like I was in wrestling match with a UFC pro! I was tiring. Suddenly she broke my grip from her right hand and landed a punch hitting Richards in the stomach. He bowled over, out of breath for moment. He then slapped the daylights out of her! “Hey,” I shouted, “That’s my wife you’re hitting!”

“She’s not your wife with Satan’s minions living in her! And, she won’t be as long as they’re inside of her! “

Richards took out a crucifix and held it at arm’s length toward Audra. She struggled even hard as if the pastor had a blow torch! The closer he came with it to her the more she attempted to back up but I was holding her with all my strength! He then placed the cross on her forehead, and it was though he’d brought a hot iron onto her forehead! She screamed and then passed out! I was out of breath by now from struggling with Audra.

“She’s giving in! They are going to be coming out soon!” Pastor proclaimed with a hint of triumph, but I wasn’t buying into yet after what I’d seen.

The pastor felt his stomach, “Man, she’s got a punch!”

“I’ve never seen her violent in the years we’ve been together.”

“That’s because you haven’t seen her under demonic possession like she is now! “ He uttered with contempt.

Suddenly, Audra’s eyes rolled open like those of a ventriloquist doll’s. She was now back in action again. Deep gurgling noises emanated from her throat. It seemed she was weakening. The pastor still held the crucifix over her forehead! “I command thee in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to come out! Come out now, and go back to hell where you belong! The son of God is here and with us now! You must leave! I summon thee from the body of this woman in the name of Jesus Christ. Leave now Satan!”

The ceiling light burst into pieces and shards of glass showered us. It seemed that a pulse of electricity flared through the room in a wave of raw energy! I was aghast, in awe of the otherworldly power that surged through the room! And, then silence. Once again, everything was eerily still. We were in darkness now. I switched on an end table lamp and brought it nearer the bed. Audra seemed exhausted and spent, but Richards gave me a wordless expression of caution. “They can play tricks,” he muttered.

When he lifted the crucifix from her forehead there was a perfect red impression of a cross upon her flesh, almost like a branding mark! The pastor sprinkled more holy water onto her face and gently massaged it into her forehead and cheeks. Audra began to cry. She quivered and sobbed. “This is a good sign, “Pastor Richards whispered. “Repeat after me and come close to your wife now, and say, Jesus loves you. Over and over again.” He urged me and nodded!

Tears came to my eyes as I repeated to Audra, “Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you.”

“You are a child of God. Jesus watches over his children. You are saved my child.” The Pastor murmured this tearfully. “Hear me now, Audra, you are saved. Jesus has bestowed a miracle upon you! Praise Jesus our Lord! “

I leaned down and kissed Audra on her forehead. “Honey, are you there?”

“I’m so sorry,” She cried. “It’s as if I were locked in a dungeon and all I could do was watch. I had no control over myself or anything, she sobbed.

“Thanks to our Lord, your life has been restored to you! Praise Jesus, the son of God, and our Savior!”

I could barely hear, Audra as she whispered, “Thank you Lord Jesus.” I held her wet cheeks in my hands and said again, “I love you, I love you, and Jesus does to.”

Pastor Richards sighed, “Do you have anything to drink, coffee or tea?”

“I can brew some tea.”

“That would be marvelous,” he replied with a sparkle in his eyes. He went back to reading another passage from the Bible and Audra seemed relaxed and at peace. After the tea was done we all enjoyed the green tea and I gently helped Audra sip hers so as not to burn her mouth. She was now like a weak child just getting over the flu. She was pale, but acting as normal as one could under the circumstances. The pastor and I picked up the broken glass, I called housekeeping to do some vacuuming, ordered some clean bed linens.

Pastor Richards gathered his exorcism tool kit and before leaving he told me, “Now hold her love her, but don’t let her be without this crucifix at all times keep it on her or close to her. Every day, I want you to anoint her forehead with this holy water! I would really like to have the two of you visit our church and become members if you would like.”

“What do I owe you, Sir? I am in your debt.”

“Nothing! This is not an earthly expenditure. This is not a formal product or service. We summoned the Lord for a miracle and that was priceless!”

“But, you put yourself at great risk on our behalf.”

“I did nothing. The Lord worked through me. I was merely an instrument of Jesus. Keep in touch. Let me know how your wife is doing.”

I grabbed the Pastor and hugged him, “Thanks for everything you did!”

For the first time, I saw him smile widely. “These are the moments that count in life!”

Epilogue

In the weeks that followed, my insurance agent got the claim paid to reconstruct the house. They also covered our stay at the Motel until the work was finished, but Audra and I did not move back in. Instead, we put the house up for sale! By then the housing market had recovered and demand was strong. We found a buyer. A corporation who wanted the property as a resort for their executives as a guest facility. They quickly closed on the deal and we made quite a profit selling the house for what it was actually worth.

Unfortunately, Audra and I didn’t make it. Over the weeks that passed she recovered and that was fine, but the problem with intimacy continued! Audra admitted to me that while growing up she had been sexually molested by an unnamed family member and something had now died inside of her. So, what was I supposed to do, just maintain unconditional love? It is now defined as co-dependency in modern psychology, in other words, hanging onto a partner who has no interest in satisfying the needs of their partner? It becomes a case of martyrdom! That wasn’t for me. I’d put up with that in my first failed marriage, and it didn’t work then either. I asked Audra, then why when we had had a good sexual relationship in the beginning did everything suddenly change? Was it the haunting? No, we had been having problems before. She had no answer, and that was an answer in itself. She didn’t care enough to do anything about it!

We parted ways equitably, at least for her. Audra hadn’t worked in quite some time, and I didn’t want to make her work if she didn’t have to, but reciprocation-no. She got half the equity in the house we sold, and part of our community property. Luckily, I’d had a business before I met her, and she couldn’t touch that thank God! Still, when she left, I felt empty, like a failure, and of course, lonely. What had I spent those years of my life with her for?

However, 6 months later, to the day, I met Marcy. Miraculously, she waltzed into my life during a seminar I attended. We had lunch together and ended up talking for hours. We didn’t even go back to the seminar! Was there chemistry? It certainly seemed so. We then went on a date and fireworks erupted! I’ve never been happier ever since. We had a lot in common and most importantly, she had a great family life growing up and loved her father dearly. That makes a huge difference in a woman’s world and her perception of the male figure. We are now planning to tie the knot! Every once in a while I think back to Audra, but I get this vision of her lying in that bed during that exorcism with a skull bone white face and black sockets where her eyes were, laughing like a warped hyena, and I don’t miss her at all. Oh, and by the way, Pastor Richards has offered to marry us. Cheers!

 

The End