The Open Coffin: Prelude to Murder

CHAPTER 6

"Really!" the demon glared at me. He opened his mouth and blew more cold winds. I felt Rachel clung to my elbow as she screamed in terror.

"Hand me over the holy water, Emil!" Father Lopez yelled.

Quickly Lakay Emil handed Father Lopez the bottle of holy water. Father raise the open bottle and sprinkled the holy water to the demon.

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you evil spirit to leave this house! The power of Christ compels you!"

Not to be outdone Felix cried out his incantation, "Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, save us! Holy Immortal One, protect us from evil!"

Rachel and I prayed aloud, "Lord God, help us. Cast out this demon that he may know that You are God!"

Miraculously a bright light, brighter than the midday sun, engulfed the entire interior of the house. The demon shrieked violently, "No, stop it! Stop it you fools!"

He began to shake and twitch. I perceived that he was in pain and agony. Then suddenly, he vaporized, with no more trace of him. Simultaneously, the cobwebs and dust disappeared, and the whole house was in good order again.

"He's gone! The goddamn demon is gone!" Felix cried in excitement.

"We've made it! We've made it!" Rachel cried triumphantly.

"Yes, we've made it!" Father Lopez concurred, "the devil's gone! Praise the Lord!"

"Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!" I exclaimed.

"Your house is now free, Zandro!" Felix said as he hugged me tightly.

"Yes, Felix. Praise the Lord!" I cried with joy.

As his father narrated the story, Homer could not help but to shudder at the thought of the demon that his parents had encountered.

"Someday, you and your future siblings will own this house. Promise me to take care of it, and take care of your mommy, too." Homer remembered those words of his father. Sadly, Homer never had a sibling. Rachel, his mother, developed an ovarian cancer. Fortunately, she survived. Thanks to the wonders of modern medical science. Unfortunately, she could never bear a child again. His dad wanted him to become and engineer, but Homer chose criminology as his profession. At first, his dad objected, but his mom told his dad to respect Homer's decision. And so it was that Homer became a criminologist.

His reverie was interrupted by a maid who came out of the house to meet him.

"Good afternoon, sir. It's nice of you to come," the maid said.

"Good afternoon, Vilma. How's mom?" Homer asked.

"She's fine sir. By the way, have you eaten your lunch?" Vilma said as she led him into the living room,

"I'm famish, Vilma. What have you got for lunch?"

"Pinakbet and chicken adobo, sir," she said.

Homer grinned, "Set the table for me, please. I'm starving," he said. Then he asked, "By the way, where's mom?"

"She's in her room, sir. Probably reading Uncle Tom's Cabin again," Vilma replied courteously, then went into the dining room to set the table for Homer.