Nobody living in that house on Richmond Street or involved in the case needed further proof. The terror walking around the property had matured to the next level. The attack on the girls three nights ago had certainly claimed this fact.
Sam Mellor — since the episode involving Harmony and Katrina, had visited a number of churches explaining the case to them.
During these meetings, Sam had learned the church officials had no time for devils and demons.
Times had changed.
The Catholic Church now believed most supernatural acts, most notably demons and devils; the belief in possession had roots in mental health.
Superstitions and demonic possession infestation had no place in the modern world.
Science had replaced folklore and wild tales of devils and imps — giving way to straight thinking.
So much so; only a handful of priests now believed in the devil, and these were shunned away on missionaries where the locals still believed in the old gods.
And it was these church people — who fought nail and tooth to battle the constant trend that involved seventy per cent of Catholics practising behind closed doors: devil worship and more than five hundred people a year seeking help from the church because of demonic problems.
At the start of the 21st century, the Church began to do something about this growing concern. And a new age of exorcists began. The prayer of liberation course.
One of these priests, who attended the new wave of exorcists, was a father, Jacob Anderson.
In 2004, he performed his first cleansing on a young girl in West Yorkshire.
The young girl, after her best friend had committed suicide, believed the deceased had begun speaking to her when she had begun fooling around with an Ouija Board.
Alice had taken an interest in the occult when she turned thirteen and would spend many nights watching paranormal clips on YouTube.
Messing around with the Ouija Board that she had made herself for the first two nights, nothing happened, not until the third night.
The planchette had begun moving by itself. Surprising Alice, because she really thought it was her at first. Some inner act, moving the planchette.
But no, the thing was jerking to the letters on the board. Asking questions.
'Do you miss me?'
Yes, Alice would reply.
'Would you like me to stay?'
Again, the same answer; yes — and Alice would hope for the next question, but nothing.
Only strange things; happening. For example, when Alice closed her eyes — she could still see her bedroom. Would wake up in the middle of the night to feel her hand moving.
And that was strange because Alice knew she wasn't moving her hand. Yet, she could feel her fingers dancing.
Her bedroom also became incredibly hot. And that was weird because it was December, but it felt like an oven.
And that wasn't all. One night, Alice's mum could hear voices coming from her daughter's bedroom. Male voices.
Thinking the teenager had snuck somebody into her bedroom. None to please. Alice's mum had gone to investigate and couldn't see anyone. Only her daughter fast asleep.
Yet, she could still hear the voices speaking. They came from the child's ears.
It had to be her imagination. This is what she told herself. Dressing up her fear with straight reality. Something she tried to do in the weeks that followed.
Where scratching noises would be heard, coming from Alice's bedroom door, loud, intense; the front garden, its gate would be torn from its hinges.
The latter Alice's mum thought it was kids. A good slap on the backside would do some of these morons the world of good.
But you couldn't do that anymore.
The same as you couldn't ignore the strange happenings around the house. Somebody walking around when Clara knew everyone was sleeping. The strange voices she would hear outside the bedroom door.
And each time she went to investigate, she would see nobody there.
In the meantime, Alice's behaviour became troublesome. She began to skip school, wagging with her friends. Nothing new in all that. What teenager didn't play truant in school, but it was her behaviour at home; that really upset Clara. For example, one night, she wanted to know if her dad wouldn't mind fucking her?
Clara had become violently sick when her daughter said that. The concept was so disgusting. She couldn't bear to look at her daughter. Let alone be in the same room as her. And when she did, a few days later, she wanted to know what in God's name Alice was playing at?
But Alice couldn't remember; the same — as she couldn't remember hitting her younger brother.
And again, in the meantime, the house became like a horror movie. Dead birds would appear around the house. Night after night, the family would be woken up by heavy pounding.
Knowing something wasn't right, Clara spoke with her local priest, explaining everything of late.
'And you believe your house is haunted?'
'I don't know. I just know something isn't right, and I was hoping you might know somebody.'
As luck would have it, the priest did. Sam Mellor; spoke to the family at arm's length. And came to the conclusion — the problem in Clara's household was connected to Alice.
Sam Mellor: 'Many people don't seem to realise when they make contact with somebody who has passed away. Whether it be through an ouija board or a seance. It isn't that person; they're speaking to, but a demon. The Bible is very clear about making contact with the dead. In the book of Leviticus, it states. A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall be put to death. And the girl who Alice believed she was speaking to was a demon.
You see, the demon is a liar, and he will use this talent to trick us and play with our emotions: this is what the demon did. It toyed with Alice's emotions.
Father Jacob, who told me about the case; after paying a visit to the house, wanted a second opinion on whether the child was possessed or not. After all, the young girl showed all the signs of demonic possession. For example, father Jacob would hide a crucifix in the girl's bedroom.
Clara and her husband knew all about this, but not Alice.
When the priest came back downstairs, Alice would go upstairs and, in a matter of seconds, would find the crucifix.
'Dirty fucking priest, how dumb do you think I am?' she would scream.
Another time the girl's family had gone to a Christian; when Alice stepped out of the car, she began screaming.
Her feet, to everyone's horror, were starting to burn; everyone could see the smoke coming from her shoes.
That same night, Clara rang me up; she was terrified, upset.
Somebody she couldn't see was kicking and slapping her daughter.
I told the mother to say a prayer. And to start reading from her Bible if she had one.
The next morning, the priest met up with me. The church would perform an exorcism.
During the ritual, the demon kept telling the priest his days were numbered.
It would scream the date and tell the priest to watch out for the water.
The demon's predictions prove true because three years later. Father Jacob drove into what he thought was a puddle. It turned out to be a six-foot Lake!'
With Father Jacob — sadly out of the picture, Sam's effort in getting the church involved with the Berman case didn't go well. Most priests he spoke to told him the family should lay off the horror movies.
Meanwhile, the problems at 54 Richmond Street continued to escalate even more.
Steven woke up to find him and Fiona levitating.
Steven: 'The advice given to us by the experts — was to ignore any attack the demon would make. We tried that, and it failed.
The old man knew what buttons to press.
I think the worse had to be the pigs squealing. That was terrifying, especially the sound of them running back and forth, squealing.'
After another night of snorting pigs, Steven noticed on Fiona's back three bruises.
If the bruises hadn't resembled perfect circles — Steven wouldn't have told Fiona to come here for a second.
'Why?'
'Because I want to see them up close.'
Fiona felt silly. They were bruises, nothing to worry about that. But Steven kept pestering.
'Fine, if it will shut you up — take a look.'
Steven did, and what he saw couldn't be real. The bruises were faces of an elderly man.