Exorcism!
Everyone has heard of it. Or they have seen the films associated with the practice. Yet Hollywood — with all its talents, has never portrayed a movie that has documented the supernatural event as it would be in reality.
To those few who have dedicated their lives to the art, 'Exorcism,' as they have stated. 'Is no overnight success.' The practice can take weeks, months, or even years for the victim to be fully free from the demonic spirits.
The exorcism at 54 Richmond Street was no different.
Chris Simmons kept a journal, and within those pages, he wrote about the ritual performed by Father Lament.
Chris Simmons Journal
Fiona and Steven are delighted to see us again, though we feel this is because of the priest we have brought with us: Father Lamont.
The priest spends a full hour discussing the ins and outs of his job, and then he does something remarkable. He blesses Fiona and Steven.
'This is important,' He tells them. 'Demons will use what past sins you may have committed and will use them against you. The attacks are psychological; they're used to prey on your weaknesses. To shatter your faith in God. You do believe in God?'
The silence between Fiona and Steven gives the priest his answer.
'I take it by that silence. You're still in doubt whether God is real. I don't blame you for your doubts. Why believe in somebody you have never seen? It's like going to a concert with friends, spending a fortune on the ticket when you've never heard the band play a single note.'
Fiona felt embarrassed by Lamont's explanation; judging by the look on her face, she didn't know what to say.
She hadn't expected the priest to say the words he had spoken.
However, she had other things on her mind. It was the priest; we all noticed it. He couldn't stop sweating.
Steven asked Lamont if he wanted a glass of water.
'That'll be nice.' He replied.
Shortly after the priest drank the water, he began to explain the dangers involved.
'The demon, when we begin, will try to stop us. Any experiences you may have had with this old man, as you call him, will seem minor compared with the onslaughts he will use to fight back. During the ritual, I will ask you to pray daily. Ask God for his guidance. It doesn't matter if you believe in God. What's important is that you put your trust in him. Because this will help you fight the demon in your home!'
'Is it just the one demon, or do we have more?'
'Looking at the files documented, I say it, just the one, which is quite rare, but he is powerful.'
'I think I may know who he is, this old man.' Fiona says.
Everybody in the room focused their attention on Fiona, eager to know what she meant by that statement.
'I was on the internet this afternoon and came across this book about a guy called Antony Becks. He once lived here. The article said this person committed some terrible crimes. The book was called Behind Closed Doors. I looked it up on Amazon. They had it, but it was more than five hundred pounds. I'm not going to pay that much for a book, even if it will help us. So, I did a PDF search on torrent, hoping I could download the book, but no luck.'
'It wouldn't matter if you did,' Lamont said. 'The demon is a liar. He can show himself as anything he desires. Whether this is a child, animal, or an adult: everything that a demon does is there to frighten you. This is what gives the demon its strength. You probably heard the advice to ignore the demon when it attacks you?'
'Once or twice.' Steven says.
'Good as that advice might be, it will only anger the demon. Think of a child's tantrum. Experts, mainly those who don't have children, always say to ignore it when a child gets angry, but sometimes that can make things worse. Demons will act like children when they don't get their way; they hate ignorance. It's the only thing that God gives them, ignorance. And because of this, the demons hate one another, but even more; you and I.'
'But why?' Fiona wanted to know. The question was rather silly, but she had to know.
'Because of the Christian and Jewish belief — that God made man in his own image. Yet this term, according to biblical scholars and religious studies, is all wrong. People who take the word of the Bible, especially Genesis, at face value tend to believe God made Adam from the dust of the Earth.'
Steven stepped into the history lesson, spellbinding as it was. He wanted to know why the old man had picked his family. He didn't want to hear about the creation of man.
Lamont said he was building up to that explanation. And went on with his story.
'Yet in chapter one, verses twenty-seven, it says God created man in his own image. However, there is a second creation of man, the Creation of Adam. The first one, however, is the most crucial. If you study the text, you will see that God was speaking to a council.
Biblical experts believe the first creation of man and woman was indeed the angels. And that God had given his second creation something the angels didn't have, the ability to feel and taste.
In the Book of Heavens, one of the books considered as Heretic by the early church, the author says that Lucifer grew jealous and demanded God should give him everything he had given to Adam.
God; not only forbade this, he demanded Lucifer to bow down before his new creation. A war broke out in heaven. A third of the angels fell to earth, and the fallen angels became known as demons and devils. And they began to hate God because of what he had given to Adam.
This is where the seven sins of jealousy came from. The demons knew they couldn't defeat God. So they began hating his creation.'
'So, because these fallen angels fell out with God, they're taking it out on us?'
Lamont said yes.
'As I said before, demons are angry children. And a child, when they get angry, will always take it out on the next person they can. The demon in your home has done this since the beginning of time. You're not the first, and you won't be the last. But to answer your question - why this happened to you? It's simple and not something you want to hear.'
'Just tell us.' Fiona says.
'You were there. I'm sorry, but this might have happened to anyone. And now, let's begin.'
The first thing Father Lamont ordered Fiona and Steven to do before he began the ceremony was to open every window in the house.
Fiona was uneasy about doing that because of what the neighbours might think if they heard somebody in their house trying to cast out a demon.
Despite the fact they knew of the family haunting, Fiona was still embarrassed.
'Much as I knew about the neighbours being aware of everything going on in our home. I still wanted to keep the exorcism private.'
Father Lamont explained the reason — why he wanted the windows opened.
'So the demon can leave.'
With the first stage of the exorcism prepared. Father Lamont opened a black leather bag; brought out two altar candles, holy water, and small handbells.
Instantly, with these holy relics, the front room began to mirror a small church. The priest then blessed himself and asked everyone to bow their heads in prayer.
Fiona and Steven then watched as the priest began to bless each room in the house.
And as Father Lamont flicked the holy water in each room, everyone expected the old man to start screaming in pain.
The demon didn't, and the first exorcism was over.
Everyone surprised by this asked Lamont why the demon hadn't shown himself?'
'Because it wants to see what it's up against.'
And much later that night, after the first exorcism, Fiona getting ready for bed. Steven, brushing his teeth in the bathroom, heard his wife screaming.
Rushing into the bedroom, he saw the reason for his wife's frantic behaviour.
The girls, Harmony and Katrina, were outside the bedroom, hanging on to the tree branches with claw-like hands. They made hissing noises, and their tongues flickered in and out like that of a snake.
'Get away from here, you hear me, getaway, you're not my children.' Fiona screamed at the monsters.
But they kept snarling, hissing the same word over and over again.
'Toys! Toys! Toys!'