Page 35 of The Penitentiary
“What was that?” I demanded.
“That was the demon messing with your mind, Sunny! You’re vulnerable to it because of your love for Callie. It’s trying to use that against you,” Jack warned.
“Maybe you should leave,” Connor suggested.
“No, I’m not leaving Callie,” I snapped.
“Then get control of your feelings. Or you’ll be the one endangering her,” Connor stated.
I bristled at his words but realised the truth of them. Grabbing tight control of my emotions, I hauled Callie against me and held her. She was my lifeline, and I was her line of defence.
The exorcism dragged on; the demon was wily and strong. Callum was beginning to tire, and the demon attacked him constantly. Each time Callum repelled the attempt, his faith in God overrode the demon’s attacks. I worried for them all; they’d previously exorcised one demon and had been tired from that.
This asshole was hanging on. It had already been six hours; I knew that outside, morning had arrived, and the sun had risen.
“Now! Everyone together,” Connor suddenly cried. Our voices rose, and we chanted the Lord’s Prayer repeatedly. Callum’s voice increased, spewing Latin words with Hugo and Michelle chanting beside him. A tortured scream swept through the cellblock, and all the doors flung open and then crashed shut.
“It’s weakening,” Connor yelled, and we redoubled our efforts. Noises of nails scratching on a chalkboard put my teeth on edge, and a whirlwind of paper appeared from nowhere. I gasped and dragged Callie into my body, as wind swept around us and threw hair into her eyes.
“Die!” the demon shrieked.
“You are banished! In the name of the Lord, I banish you. Leave this earthly plane, foul creature, and return to whence you came,” Hugo roared.
I could feel the energy building from the exorcists. They knew the end was near, and it bolstered all of us. Together, we poured everything into banishing the demon, and suddenly there was a loud snap and a wail of despair. Silence fell, and we looked at each other.
“He’s gone,”a sigh whispered through the cellblock.“Thank you.”
“Well, the ghosts are still here,” Callie said weakly.
“Where’s the other dame?”Dutch demanded, and we laughed.
“Let’s get some rest,” Connor said.
“Go ahead. I need to bless this, Hugo and Michelle, please offer aid,” Callum stated.
“Is he really gone?” Callie questioned.
“I don’t sense him,” Connor replied.
If the demon magnet didn’t feel him, then I’d take Connor’s word. The sun was high in the sky when we exited the prison.
“Huh,” Jack said under his breath, blinking into the brightness.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s eleven in the morning. The second exorcism took eight hours,” Levi said, coming closer to us.
“Damn,” I muttered.
“Everyone, head to bed. Get some rest.” Callie yawned and stumbled towards the RV. I wasn’t far behind her.
Epilogue.
Sunny
The rest of the investigation went swimmingly. Now that the demons were gone, we picked up and recorded normal ghost activity. To check if the demons had caused the food fight and dancing spoons, we re-investigated them. No activity like that was recorded again. We used Connor to create a third team and investigated all The Penn, just as our original plan had been. Some cellblocks had no activity, while others showed minor hauntings.
Madi and Levi went back to eight, and Dutch enjoyed messing with Levi. The grief, anguish, and despair remained. As did the feelings of loneliness and desolation, but it wasn’t as corrupted as it had been.
