Possession Victims Anonymous

A/N:

It's Spooky Time, fellas!!

I've been mulling over this idea for a couple of weeks, and I've finally found a good place to use it. I love character studies, spooky fics, and rare characters, so this is honestly one that I was really excited to share.

Here's the finished product!

Enjoy!

In a land not to far from here, in a reality and time very much like our own, a meeting was adjourned. A few dozen adults sat on creaky plastic chairs under buzzing florescent lights. They were arranged in a circle, facing each other but not looking each other directly in the eyes of those around them. On a wall on the far side of a room, a poster read "Possession Victims Anonymous." After a great deal of awkward coughing and shuffling, a figure seated at the head of the circle spoke up.

"Hello!" He said, to no response, "I'm so glad you could all make it. Welcome to PVA! For our first meeting, I'd like all of you to say your names and your background concerning your possession."

The room stayed quiet. Among the wash of unspeaking support group members, someone coughed.

The leader clapped his hands together. "All righty then. I'll go first." In a clear and dictative voice, he said his name was [REDACTED] and explained that he was formerly possessed by a ouija board daemon named [REDACTED]. The new members half waved and mumbled "Hi [REDACTED]."

Annoyingly, the leader clapped again. "Well, let's continue from my left, then." He pointed to a twenty-something-year-old woman who sat beside him and grinned. "How about you, ma'am?"

Begrudgingly, the woman stood and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Lydia, and I'm a possession victim."

"Hi, Lydia." Muttered the other members.

She drew a deep breath and continued. "A few years ago, I was bothered by this demon, and, well, he took control of my life. He separated me from my family, my stepmom. He even tried to marry me! It was awful." Lydia shook her head. "I know it's not a typical possession, but it was all so real and horrible."

The other possession victims nodded sympathetically.

At the head of the circle, [REDACTED] nodded even more fervently than the rest. "All possessions are valid, not just the traditional ones. How has the possession affected your life moving forward?"

Lydia fidgeted with the corner of her black jacket. "Well, it's a bit harder to trust now, I guess. And- and I don't know my parents as well as I could, and it's been harder to get close to people, and yo date, y'know?"

[REDACTED] nodded again.

"We're all here for you Lydia. Who wants to go next?" He looked to the man on her other side.

"How about you, sir?"

The guy beside Lydia sighed and stood. He gave a name and a lame reason for an even lamer possession. Everyone mumbled a response, prompting the next guy in line. A few people later, another dude stood. Running a hand down his scruffy face, he groaned.

"Hi. Name's Abraham, or just Brahm, I'm not religious. Uh, I guess my history with possession begins and ends, um,"

He scuffed his shoe on the linoleum tiles, "Two years ago, I think? I dunno. There was this guy, and he was gay, it was a whole thing. Anyways, there was this dead Hessian soldier and he convinced me to do some- some admittedly terrible things." Once again, Brahm paused, looking for a reaction, which no one provided. "Anyways, the gay dude ended up missing, my wife left me, and now I can't figure myself out."

Brahm's story finished with very little reaction. A few members muttered and nodded and looked somewhat empathetic. [REDACTED] nodded along with the rest of them. "I understand. Most of us have gone through similar things." [REDACTED] turned to the rest of the possession victims. "That's what this group is for. Community."

Brahm sniffled and sat down. Next to him, a slight, sharply dressed, dark skinned woman stood.

"Hi, everybody. My name's Sara Ev- I mean Sara Michaels, and I'm a possession victim."

She tried for a winning smile. "I was possessed about six months ago by an ancestor of mine who wanted to reconnect with her fiancé. Unfortunately for me, that meant kissing a ghost in front of my husband and kids. Needless to say, things didn't go well from there on out. My husband divorced me, took the kids, and left me with a glass ball that might have Jennifer Tilly's soul trapped in it." She sighed. "Now, I don't really know where to go from here."

[REDACTED] looked genuinely sympathetic. Once again, he clapped loudly, annoying everyone in the room, except for himself. "Thank you for sharing your story, Sara. Often, one of the hardest parts about possession is the aftermath."

Sara nodded and sniffled as the next few people introduced themselves. Each time, the same thing happened. Someone would stand, state their name and history, and everyone would respond the same, with a mumble and a greeting. Roughly half an hour later, the circle claimed its last club member. A tall red-haired woman stood, breathing shakily.

"Hello, my name's Rose Red, and I'm a possession victim."

"Hi, Rose." Echoed the crowd.

"Um," Rose continued, "I guess my history with possession is pretty recent." She paused for another moment, composing herself. "About a week ago, I witnessed a murder. This girl got pushed onto some train tracks, and I could've stopped it, but I didn't. I couldn't. Almost. See, instead of helping I took this photo. I couldn't stop myself. But, while I did it, I felt like it wasn't me, it was someone else. Like, I was a Rose, but not my own Rose, y'know?" She shook her head. "Anyway, after that, I went to this camera shop to get the camera replaced, 'cause I dropped it and it broke. But, the lady there said that I wasn't entirely me, and that there were at least four generations of Roses inside of me, and there was this whole thing about a couple of sisters and that both nothing and everything was my fault." Rose paused for a breath. "I just don't know where to go from here."

"I understand." Said [REDACTED] comfortingly. "Often, the victim doesn't ask for their possession, but it happens all the same."

                                                                                     [END]

A/N:

I wrote this in a Target yesterday. Have a good day.

Sincerely, Ellen