Bruises and Bitemarks [Hiatus]

Research

I took another sip of my vanilla latte and placed it back down on the desk next to my laptop. It was around 7pm and I had been in the university library for the past two hours or so, sitting in the most isolated corner of the entire building with my stacks of books and papers that were proof of my extensive research.

Fundamentally, I knew little of demon possession; after all, photography was my forte. What I did know, though, was that an exorcism was what was definitely needed in order to get rid of this demon that was inside of Zac, and the Catholic Church was the first of what came up on Google when it came to being an “organization” that was filled with experts.

As of 2010, there were approximately fourteen professionally trained Catholic exorcists residing and actively working in the United States. Just fourteen…none of which lived in Virginia. The rest were either being trained in Vatican City or working in Europe and other parts of the world.

I tried my best to search for the fourteen individuals, but nothing was showing up. No names, no affiliated churches, addresses, nothing. Okay, what am I supposed to do now? I felt like I was stuck, and the thought was both discouraging and irritating.

I retyped keywords and sentences into the search engine to see if I could get different, more helpful results, but nothing was showing up. All right, fine, I give in for now. I checked the time on my laptop and decided that I should probably start to head back to my dormitory. I didn’t like being out late at night because my campus can get pretty creepy.

After putting my laptop away in my bag, I picked up some of the books that I have gathered on my table and made my way towards the check out desk. I had about ten books that I have looked up from the library catelog, all pertaining to demons, exorcisms, Christianity, and the Church. They weren't hard to find, thankfully, but most of them weren't written in the 21st century. So I'm not sure how to feel about that exactly, but at least I still have the internet if I want more current information.

I placed my books on the check out desk, three at a time so I didn't drop everything. I placed my card on the desk as well for him to take and afterwards my eyes were pretty much glued to my phone since I was checking for text messages or missed calls. Claire had sent me a message? I wonder--

“Interesting set of books you have here,” I heard the librarian say, interrupting me as I presed to open my message. He started to scan each book after taking my card, and I lifted my head to take a look at him.

“Oh, yeah,” I answered...a little awkwardly, if I may add. I was caught off guard by the sudden initiation of conversation. The librarians here didn’t usually talk, but actually, I have never seen this guy before.

He was tall (but not as tall as Zac) with light brown hair that was quite unkempt, but styled in such a way that it didn’t bother the eyes and looked pretty nice. The surprising thing was that this guy actually looked pretty young, maybe early twenties; the librarians here were usually older. He had a friendly disposition that seemed to be brightened more with his blue eyes.

Over all, he was kind of cute.

“You’re into this sort of thing?” he went on to ask, reading the title of each book he scanned. He smiled at me as he waited for an answer.

“Uh, not really,” I said, trying to think up a quick lie to tell him. I can't exactly tell him that my friend was possessed, and saying that I was into this type of thing would make him think I was weird. Most people I know aren't open to this sort of thing... “It’s for a research paper that I’m working on for a class.”

“Really?” he said as if he was surprised. “I never knew anyone would take enough interest into this subject to actually write a research paper for it in college.”

Forcing a nervous laugh, I responded, “Well, now you know me.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking up at me. “What class?”

“Uh…religious studies.”

He nodded.

I just looked at him and shrugged, giving a small smile. I wasn’t sure what to say after that and we slipped back into silence. I started looking around the desk and the area around us to keep myself preoccupied, looking back at my phone seemed too awkward. After he was done with my books, I started packing away half of them in my bag, the rest I carried in my arms.

“Thank you, sir,” I said, turning around to leave.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, giving a small wave. "Have fun with your paper."

==============================

Claire was laying on her bed, talking on the phone when I came into the room. It was the first time that I have seen her in a long time, and it didn’t surprise me that she didn’t bother to help me as I struggled to keep the heavy door from banging into me as I tried to walk in.

I went over to my side of the room and placed my books on my desk along with my bag; Claire waved at me and smiled but did not stop her conversation with the person on the other line. I waved back. I pulled out my phone and finally opened the text she had sent me while I was at the library, it was just a small message telling me that she was going to be home and wanted to talk about something.

Oh.

I started to make myself comfortable and reorganised my desk with the new stuff; I was intent on furthering my studies concerning Zac as much as possible. Of course, I was going to go through hell in order to get back on track with my academic work…but I will worry about that tomorrow. After all, my school work isn’t going anywhere.

Blocking out Claire’s voice and laughter came easily to me after a few minutes of indulging myself in one of the many books I checked out. There were so many things that I found to be actually interesting, even though exorcisms became scarier the more I read about it.

“So where have you been?” Claire asked, her phone call was apparently over. I turned around in my seat and faced her as she sat up in her bed with her legs crisscrossed underneath her. She had on grey short shorts and a pink tank top  over the front. Tied in a loose pony tail was her long and glossy red hair, which she absolutely adored and took care of every day and night in a religious manner.

I gave her a smile. "The library."

"Of course, why did I even ask," she said, rolling her eyes before grinning back at me playfully.

"I got your message, what's up?" I asked, putting the book down in my lap and closing it around my hand since I couldn't find my bookmark. Claire's eyes lit up immediately once I asked and she almost started bouncing on her bed. She started talking, and apparently had hooked up with someone in one of her classes. I sat there and listened to her go on about this guy she met, she was obviously excited and wasn't even stopping to breathe. I was happy for her, but I had a hard time keeping my mind off Zac and my research.

"Aren't you happy for me!?" she asked, grabbing her pillow to hug it as she squealed with excitement.

I nodded. "When is this date of yours?"

"The night after tomorrow. My god, Amy, what should I wear? We need to go shopping!"

Shopping. It wasn't my favourite activity but I guess I could sacrifice some time to go with Claire. I shrugged, "Just text me when you want to go because I'm pretty much free whenever..."