Dimensions of Genesis (9 page)

“Um, hello, may I please speak with Sarah?”
Gabe stuttered.

“Yes, this is Sarah.” 

“Hi Sarah, this is Gabe...Lily’s friend. I
was wondering if I might speak with her.” He attempted to make his
voice appear cheery and care-free.

“Oh…um…she’s…in the shower right now. Can she
call you back?” Sarah stammered, her lie transparent.

“Ah, I see.” Gabe said quietly. “Sarah, I
need to know if she’s really there. Please.”

Sarah paused and sighed heavily. Finally, she
surrendered, “No...she’s not really here. She called me this
morning and begged me to tell her parents she was at my house.”

“Did she tell you why?” Gabe inquired.

“No, just that it was a huge favor to her.
She said she needed a few days to herself...to think.”

“Thank you Sarah.” Gabe felt relieved. “Did
she say where she was going?”

“No, only that she was going to the only
place where no one would find her.”

Gabe thanked her and they hung up. Pondering
every word of the phone call, he wracked his brain trying to think
where Lily would hide.

Sighing, he knew the next phone call wouldn’t
be nearly as easy.

Dialing the numbers on the business card,
Gabe breathed deeply as he listened to the empty echo of the rings.
He was just about to hang up when Father Francis answered.

“Yes.” Father Francis answered coldly.

“Uh…hello Father, this is Father Gabe.” Gabe
stuttered, his heart beating a little too fast.

“16 Campbell Street, three o’clock. Bring
your bible.” Father Francis said icily.

Gabe was about to respond by asking the
elderly priest a round of questions pertaining to exorcism protocol
when he heard an audible click from the other end.

The priest had hung up.

Gabe stared at the receiver for a moment,
tempted to call the old man back and decline the invitation.
Stunned by the old priest’s rude behavior, he closed his eyes and
tried to center himself.

Every time he closed his eyes, however, all
he could picture was Lily’s eyes blazing passionately at him.

Glancing at the clock, Gabe realized how late
in the day it was. Already two thirty, his stomach flipped as he
anticipated all the horrible things he might experience at the
exorcism. Packing his ceremonial robes and rosary into his back
pack, he then retrieved his personal bible from the desk.

A present from his mother on the day of his
graduation from seminary school, the bible was black with gold
letters on the front. Inside was an inscription written in
Greek.

My Dearest Gabriel,

Your father smiles down upon you from Heaven
this day.

Love Mama

Tucking the bible into his back pack, Gabe
wondered how much more drama he could endure today.

Leaving the church, he hopped onto his bike
and pulled his helmet on. Revving up the bike, listening to the
roar of the motor beneath him, he again thought of Lily.

Where on earth could she be? Gabe thought
worriedly as he pulled away from the church parking lot.

~

The wind blew lightly through the trees,
making the leaves quiver like a million butterfly wings. In the
distance, the sound of chattering chipmunks echoed through the
forest. The pond ebbed silently onto the shore; its waters
sparkling like tiny diamonds dancing on glass.

Lily huddled in a far corner of the old tree
house, her knees hugged tight to her chest. Sighing, she tried to
push away the pain that had been burrowing through her chest all
day.

After the church incident with Gabe, she
drove home with angry tears streaming down her cheeks. She decided
she needed to be alone for a few days. Devising a plan that would
deter her parents from looking for her, she called her childhood
friend, Sarah, when she arrived home.

“Hello?” Sarah answered.

“Sarah! Hi, it’s Lily.”

“Oh! Hey Lily! How’s it going?” Sarah
asked.

“Well,” Lily began, “it could be better
actually. I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing really, it’s...a long story. I need
you to pretend like I’m at your house for a few days.” Lily stated,
hoping it would be alright.

Sarah paused for a moment, “I guess so,
you’re not in any trouble are you?”

“Oh no, I just need some time to think, get
away from everybody.” Lily confessed, “Please Sarah. I promise I’ll
explain everything later. All I need is for you to tell my mom I’m
there if she calls to check, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah still sounded unsure, “where
are you going?”

“The only place where no one will find me.”
Lily said as she thought about Gabe and how she yearned to hate him
for what happened, but couldn’t.

After discussing a few of the details, the
girls hung up. With her plan in motion, she retreated to the tree
house behind her home. After Lily’s little escapade when she was
twelve, her father forbade his children to play in the tree
house.

Lily often sought refuge in her quiet cottage
in the trees, she never told anyone, as it was her own little
sanctuary. Until today, however, she hadn’t visited the tree house
for at least a year. It was in dire need of a good cleaning as many
spiders had made it their own.

After Lily tidied up, she set out all her
food, blankets, candles and many necessities she figured she’d need
for a few days.

An old abandoned outhouse sat a distance from
the tree house, she felt it would suffice for the few days that she
needed it. It was decrepit and awful smelling, but she and her
brothers endured it when they were too lazy to walk back to the
main house.

Lying on a pillow she’d brought from her
room, she turned onto her side and balled up into the fetal
position. Depressed and alone, Lily finally allowed the searing
crevice that had been forming in her chest all day to rupture. A
hot fire trickled from her heart, causing her to sob uncontrollably
as she clutched her pillow.

Many versions of Gabe’s face passed through
her mind, one where he smiled lovingly at her, passion flickering
behind his crystal blue eyes. Another vision of his face danced in
front of her consciousness as it laughed kindly while watching her
trip over herself. The final portrait painted the horrific scene
from the church. Gabe’s handsome features morphing into an accusing
scowl. His eyes burned with disgust and betrayal, as though Lily
were the devil herself.

The sound of her sorrow reverberated within
the walls of the tree house. Today, the quaint retreat that once
held memories of her happy childhood became Lily’s dark and
melancholy prison.

The Exorcism

Turning onto Campbell Street, Gabe’s pulse
slowly increased as he scanned the ascending house numbers. Ten,
twelve…as the number sixteen neared, he felt an impending doom.

What am I doing here? He thought
incredulously.

This wasn’t what he had in mind when he
entered the priesthood. He childishly concluded his days would be
filled with inspiring others to find God, uplifting humanity and
visiting sick children in the hospital; not to mention making his
father’s last wish come true. This was the furthest thing from his
idea of bringing peace to his belated father.

Parking and switching off his bike, he pulled
off his helmet. His wavy black hair disheveled, a long portion
draped over his left eye. Sweeping his hair back, he made a mental
note to get a haircut soon.

Looking at the house, he thought it strange
that this home, surrounded by so many others, would find itself so
disrupted by evil. What would make this house, out of so many on
the block, so appealing to such a dark fate? Like a tornado
selecting which houses to devour in its path, choosing one to spare
and another to destroy.

Breathing deep and mustering up as much
courage as he could, he dismounted his bike and walked up the
cobblestone pathway to number sixteen Campbell Street.

Knocking on the door, Gabe heard light
footsteps approach.

The door opened to reveal a tired,
middle-aged woman. Dark circles sat under her eyes like ashen
sediment. He could tell that under other circumstances, this lady
was normally well kept.

“Hello…um…I’m Father Gabe.” He stated
nervously.

The woman’s expression lightened as she
invited him in and guided him upstairs. Holding onto the handrail,
Gabe glanced at the pictures hung methodically on the wall. The
collage of images told stories of happier times. 

A picture of a beautiful dark-haired child
stood out from the rest. Her eyes lit up as she smiled at the
camera. The girl’s spirit sparkled as the camera captured her shy
smile. All of the photos seemed to portray a happy story of a young
girl’s ascent from childhood to puberty.

Coming to the top of the stairs, one last
picture caught Gabe’s attention. Obviously the girl’s graduation
photo. Wearing a blue graduation gown, the girl’s expression was
angry and dark. Her long, black hair hung lifelessly on either side
of her sallow and hardened face. Soulless eyes stared out from the
picture, though they bore little resemblance to the child in the
other photos.

The woman led Gabe to a closed door at the
end of the hall. A large wooden cross hung at the top and a rosary
dangled from the knob. The apprehension was causing beads of sweat
to form on the back of Gabe’s neck.

From inside the room, Gabe could hear the
quiet murmur of a man’s voice. The woman paused to form the sign of
the cross before she opened the door. Gabe followed suit,
whispering a quick prayer for good measure.

As she opened the door, Gabe realized his
breathing was very shallow. Taking several large breaths to steady
his nerves, he became aware of a terrible stench emanating from the
room, a smell that reminded him of rotting meat.

Once the door was open, Gabe recognized
Father Francis sitting in a far corner. He looked haggard and
irritable as he glanced up from his bible. Nodding curtly, he
dropped his head and continued reading a passage from the book of
Mark.

On the floor, hands and feet bound together,
was the young girl from the photos. She was emaciated and her ashen
skin looked to be bruised from head to toe. What remained of her
long, black hair was greasy and stringy. Peeking through the sparse
cords of hair were several bald patches on her scalp, many oozing
and seeping, as though she’d torn it out from the roots.

Several long, red gashes veined across her
face, marring her pale complexion. She wore a light t-shirt and
shorts, both stained beyond recognition with what looked to be
vomit and blood.

Facing away from Father Francis, she appeared
unconscious. If it weren’t for her chest rising and falling
sharply, Gabe would have surmised he was looking at a cadaver.

Though the room was decorated tastefully, the
energy would make a morgue seem like a massage parlor. A dense,
negative charge swallowed the air, suffocating any positive energy
that dared enter. Gabe shuddered as he felt the weight of the
atmosphere on his soul.

The girl’s mother stood in a far corner,
wringing her hands. A look of agony chiseled on her face as she
stared helplessly at her daughter.

Not wanting to disturb the woman, He slipped
quietly out of the room in search of somewhere to change into his
robes. Finding a bathroom down the hall, he opened his backpack and
slipped into his ceremonial garb. Grabbing his bible and rosary, he
bravely went back to the room of darkness.

~

Several hours passed as Father Francis
relentlessly prayed to the unconscious girl. He read passage after
passage from several locations in the bible. Psalms, Revelations,
Matthew, Mark and John, but there was no response from the battered
young woman. Gabe whispered prayers as he delicately held each bead
of his rosary.

After four strenuous hours of praying with no
movement whatsoever from the girl, Father Francis suddenly
paled.

“I’ll return in a few minutes, Father Gabe.
I…don’t feel well suddenly.” The old priest said weakly. “Come sit
here and keep reading.” The old priest instructed.

Complying, Gabe watched as the old priest
shuffled wearily out of the room. Clutching the door knob on his
way out of the room, he slowly closed the door behind him.

The second the door clicked shut, the girl’s
eyes flew open and her head swung sharply towards Gabe. An evil
sneer spread across her face, her lips curled into a snarling grin.
She smiled horribly, exposing blood-stained teeth as she’d
apparently been gnawing on the insides of her cheeks. Her pupils
were dilated to at least four times their natural size making her
eyes appear like shiny obsidian marbles.

Gabe gasped as she growled a low, guttural
rumbling from the back of her throat. Her skin was so mottled and
ashen; she looked like a half rotted corpse. The snarling growl
soon turned to wretched laughter as she was obviously amused with
how she’d frightened Gabe.

Panicked, he wondered if he should get Father
Francis or if he should continue to read from the bible.

“Mmm mm….” she purred, “My, my, you are
delicious looking, aren’t you?” As she spoke, a line of white foam
tinged with blood trickled out of her mouth and down her chin.

Gabe frantically flipped through sections of
the bible, attempting to find anything that might contain this dark
creature.

Eyeing him seductively, she moaned and
flicked her tongue at him.

“Come on,” she taunted, her voice deep
and thick. “You know want to. Just touch me…come on. Poor little
church boy, haven’t even had a piece of ass yet, have you?” She
cackled.

Gabe’s mouth went dry and his head spun from
fear as he debated what to do. Finally, he decided he would recite
the Lord’s Prayer, the only thing his mind was able to produce from
memory at the moment.