HOURGLASS

CHAPTER SEVEN - Want to Find a Demon? Look in a Hellhole 12:00

We were rudely awakened by the alarm I'd set on my phone the night, well, the earlier morning, before. It was now nine in the morning, and we had twelve hours before we were going to dupe the queen of misery herself.

Nessa groaned and rolled off of the side of her bed. I sat up from the pile of pillows that I'd claimed as my own last night (morning? I don't even know). The friendly bubble gum stained bird's nest made its way out the door and down the stairs to make breakfast.

I rubbed my eyes and ambled into the bathroom to make myself look a little less like a zombie. Huh. Since vampires, demons, angels and other worlds exist, I bet that real zombies exist as well. Cool, and terrifying, I guess. My thoughts continued running that way until the aroma of Nessa's amazing cooking wafted up my way.

Coffee, cream, and buttered rolls attacked my nose with their inviting smells. Nessa had lived in her birthplace of Brindisi, Italy for four years, and her parents had taught her how to cook many of the traditional foods. She knew how to make some mean pasta dishes and various soups. Plus, her anise cookies were to die for.

We ate in slightly tense silence, mentally preparing ourselves for the evening of insanity we knew was coming. When we finished our food we decided to research about our foe.

"Demon. An evil spirit, angels and demons, or a source/agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin. Defined by Merriam Webster." Nessa read off her phone screen. "Demonic. Of, relating to, or suggestive of a demon."

"Oh, I found one about possession right here!" I pushed my phone over to Nessa's hand. She took it and read the page I'd found.

A demon may not exist in our world. The elements of our world immediately kills a demon, so they must inhabit a host. The demon will typically control a weak minded human or animal, as then they have the ability to kill the host's soul and take the body for their own. Here is a list of signs of possession:

1. The possessed has very low energy levels: sleeping doesn't help, no energy for hobbies, free time, work, friends, or family etc.

2. Large mood swings and character shifts, such as a kind person becomes a bad influence who wants to break the rules, super happy person becomes very angry, may occur.

3. An inner voice/s speaks to the subject, sometimes telling them to do unusual things or things completely impossible or horrific.

4. The person suffers from impulsive behavior, such as running through a red light, being rude to authority figures, playing with dangerous objects (fire, knives, et.) and more.

5. The possessed has memory problems, such as blacking out and waking up elsewhere with no memory of the journey or losing memories of their life. This includes childhood and adulthood.

6. A poor concentration or an extreme lack of concentration may develop suddenly.

7. There may be a very sudden, totally unexpected onset of physical problems, like asthma or fragile bones and blood vessels.

8. A sudden onset of anxiety or bouts of depression, especially after hospitalization or any other trauma, like a car crash or loss of a close friend or family member.

If all of this is present and not dealt with in a timely matter, the demon will kill the host and take its body and place in the world. Once this occurs, an exorcism must be performed. Watch this video to find out how to perform a proper exorcism.

We watched the video. There were a lot of steps and materials that we needed to collect, but we had no other options. I wrote down a list of materials while Nessa memorized the procedure.

We needed clothes that would look like the clothing of a holy man, so we decided to go to the local church and borrow some of the costumes that the church theatre group used for their semi-annual performances. We also needed to find a Brown Scapular, a holy necklace meant to protect from the front and back.

Next, the video said to get something that we could use to tie Zephyras down and keep her contained. Nessa suggested silver chains and ropes doused in holy water, and I agreed that it was a good idea.

The next part was to say these words; God, whose nature is forever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer that this servant of yours, bound by the fetters of sin, may be pardoned by your loving kindness. Depart, then, impious one, depart, accursed one, depart with all your deceits, for God has willed that man should be his temple.

I nudged Nessa and read her the instructions I'd written down. "During the procedure we need to occasionally sprinkle holy water onto Zephyras and anybody else in the room. Then we have to approach her and rest our hands on her skin — one hand on her chest and one hand on her forehead. We then need to perform the sign of the cross on both us and Zephyras. If she decides to spit at us, we need to spit back, 'cause we can't let her control the situation or us. We also need to touch her repeatedly with holy items, so we'll need a cross."

We looked at each other and nodded. Our plan was ready.

All we needed now was our demon.