Bob started speaking again, this time in a language I couldn’t understand. As he spoke, Marissa screamed in agony and it appeared as though her body was actually changing shape. She looked at me with wide, pleading eyes.
“Make it stop!” she screamed. “Please, Jim, make it stop. It hurts!!!” Her body continued to convulse and started turning bright red. Suddenly, I heard a “pop” and her body disappeared in a large puff of smoke. A small flame burned in mid-air for a few seconds then went out.
As the smoke cleared, I saw a small pile of ash where she stood. I looked at Bob, and he appeared normal again, but was bent over, breathing heavily. I put my arm around him and he nodded his head as he looked at me.
“I’m okay now,” he said, standing back up.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“She’s gone,” he said. “So is her family. They’ve been sent back. You’re out of danger.” I looked at him, confused. “C’mon, let me show you something.” I followed him back into the church building and into his office.
He pulled a large book off his shelf and opened it to a picture. He put the open book in front of me so I could see the picture. It showed an old relic that looked just like the pendant Marissa wore to her time-outs.
“Have you ever seen this before?” he asked. I nodded my head.
“Marissa had a pendant that looked just like that,” I said. “What is it?”
“It was found in a dig outside ancient Babylon,” he said. “Archaeologists still don’t know what it really was, but said it was dedicated to some ancient fertility goddess. I saw an ancient text once that displayed this and it referred to a clan of demons that actually displaced human souls while taking over the body. According to the text, the clan plotted to take over the world by taking over human bodies and procreating. But something happened and the clan was imprisoned in the underworld for two thousand years.”
I looked at the pictures and glanced at the back cover. There, in black and white, was a picture of a much younger Bob. I looked at him, surprised.
“You wrote this?” I asked. He smiled.
“I wasn’t always a simple country preacher,” he said.
“So, what, they got loose and you sent them back?” I asked. He shrugged.
“I reckon so,” he said. “By the way, there’s someone who wants to say hello.”
“Who?” I asked. I looked up and saw a petite girl with long blonde hair staring at me with her big blue eyes.
“Jenny?” I asked. She smiled and came to me, wrapping her arms around me.
“Yes, Jim, it’s me,” she said.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “I thought you were married to some rich doctor.” She laughed.
“No, silly,” she said. “Didn’t you get my letters?” I shook my head.
“What letters?” I asked. “I haven’t seen anything from you for more than a year. The last I heard, you were getting married.”
“I woke up and broke it off over a year ago,” she said.
“What, was he a body-snatching demon or something?” I asked.
“No, nothing like that,” she said. “He was just an abusive, cheating asshole. Sorry,” she added, looking at Bob. He smiled and shook his head.
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