Possession Chapter6

PART 2

Chapter 6

Ellie cycled to the church before noon. It was slow and awkward going, she could not sit without a little pain somewhere in her groin area. She looked around, the parish had much more activity than the actual ceremonies. There was an indoor pool for therapy and baby swimming, a small concert hall where local choir practiced, and next to an outdoor basketball court there was community hall, where she expected to find Father Henry. He was in his office, and immediately stopped his work with a computer to focus fully on her visitor.

“Ellie, how nice to see you again. How are you and your father doing today?”
“Father, it has got worse. I need help. The demon attacked me again.”
“Again? It has happened before? And it is your father, possessed, that does you…”

Here it was again. If she told him what happened, and he did not believe that it was a demon doing it, he would inform the police. She would be sent to her mother, or if she didn´t want her, some foster home, and daddy would go to prison. On the other hand, she could not live like this. And after what she had already said, the priest would probably go to the authorities anyway.

“I can help you, but you must trust me and tell me everything.”
“It´s difficult. What about that confession you talked about? Would that mean you cannot tell anyone?”
“Yes, that is how the seal of confessional works. But the purpose of it is for you to repent your own wrongdoings and get absolved. I would prefer it if you trusted me outside the confessional.”
“I would like to first tell you in confession.”
“All right then. First you need to realize what you have done wrong and truly repent it. Then you tell me ´Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been so much time since my last confession…`And then you tell me what happened.”

Father Henry walked to close the door. Ellie collected her thoughts. This had all begun with her sneaking to daddy´s computer and using her phone in forbidden ways. By now she really regretted it. So she told him about visiting porn sites, the weird horror communities, and what had happened home. It was super embarrassing to tell him about touching herself between the legs, but maybe it was a sin and needed to be told. Father Henry asked her to show him the weird net sites on her phone, but today they seemed quite normal. She did show him the necklace which had been broken and reattached so that the cross was upside down. The priest studied it for a while, then found the locking mechanism and fixed it.

“So there, Ellie. You have disobeyed the Lord’s commandment of honoring your father and mother. You should pay penance for that, before I can grant you absolution. I will give you printouts of the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary to memorize.”
“Is that all - what about the other things I have done?”
“You cannot be accountable for the sins others have done to you. Regarding the possession, I will need to see your father. Can you take him to the mass tonight?”
“I guess. He even mentioned it yesterday.”
“We will meet tonight then.”

She had spent most of the morning avoiding her father. Now she returned home and found him in the kitchen. He had made lunch and she sat to eat, carefully selecting the seat closest to the door. If he acted funny, she could escape.

“There is evening mass today at the church.”
“And you really want to go.”
“I want to go there with you.”
“Ok. It´s been years since I have been to church.”

Ellie read more about demonology after lunch. The demons tried to insult the church, but they could not handle holy objects. Even a cross should have a reaction on a demon. With the demon inside him, could daddy even enter the church?

It was awkward spending time home with dad. Even he noticed the strange atmosphere and suggested they could do something outdoors. It was a warm afternoon, so they cycled together and got hamburgers on the way to the Mass.

By the entrance to the church there was a bowl of holy water. Ellie wetted her fingers and crossed herself. She kept an eye on her father, he seemed to do likewise. She could not quite see, did he actually touch the water, and the gesture was a little off. But he had said it had been a long time, so maybe it was just lack of practice.

Daddy made an effort to take part in the ceremony, following the lead of the rest of the congregation. Ellie did not know the liturgy any better and had to do the same. After the pandemic, communion was served on a little plate. It seemed to Ellie that dad did eat some, but she was certain he did not drink any of the wine.

After the Mass, when people were slowly leaving the church, the priest approached them.

“Mr. Barker? I am Father Henry. I have had some conversations with Ellie recently, and I thought maybe we should meet.”
“Sure. I have noticed she has got interested in the spiritual world.”

Father Henry suggested Ellie should wait in the church with some other youth and took daddy to his office. Ellie realized some girls remained after the mass and started cleaning the place after the others had left. Hymn books were collected, the floor was swept, and the vase of Holy water was carried to the altar. She recognized some of the girls from her school, three or four years older than her. Everyone seemed to have an assignment, and one by one they left when it was done. Then she was alone in the church.

After a long wait, Father Henry came to her. He had a solemn look, and around his neck he wore a large crucifix that was not there before.

“Your father left. I told him you would attend a girls club this evening.”
“Okay. What about… you know what?”
“He acts like he is possessed. But I did not see an evil spirit in him.”
“You did not. How then – “
“The evil lives inside you. He was not the one that opened a door to your house for the evil one, and all the unnatural phenomena have been centered on you.”
“But he was changed, he raped me.”
“It was your cunt that possessed him.”

Ellie was flabbergasted. Father Henry had used a foul ford, probably the worst of them all.

“Yes, child. Hundreds of years ago, when witches cursed harvests by exposing what was under their skirts, it was not called a kitten, or even a pussy. The cunt had great power, and it was used to scare away wild beasts from livestock. But sometimes the witch used it against her enemies, making their cattle sick. It is the power you have as a female that the devil uses against your father.” “Father Henry, can you help me?”
“I can, but it will not be pleasant. I can only reach the demon through you. Are you willing to receive the rite of Exorcism, even if it could hurt?”
“I don´t have a choice. Please Father, do what has to be done.”
“All right, child. First, we must complete your absolution. Did you bring the prayers and memorize them? Good. Go to the sacristy and find an alb that fits you. It´s sort of a long dress. Take all your clothes off, and dressed in only the alb, come to the altar.”

Ellie gave the printouts to the priest. She expected he would check how well she had memorized them, like some schoolwork.
In the sacristy there were many cassocks, most of them adult sizes. On a little lower rack there were some smaller white dresses. She undressed, hesitating a little about her panties. He had been very clear that she should wear only the alb. Ellie undressed completely and quickly put on the white garment. The lowest part was made of lace, leaving her legs exposed from the knees down. The floor was cool under her bare feet.

At the altar Father Henry told her to get on her knees on the kneeling bench. He put print of the Lord’s prayer on the floor in front of her.

“Now, Ellie, rise yourself on the kneeler, so that you can read the prayer.”

Ellie was so short, she had to lay her belly on the bench to see the paper. Bending over the bench, she was alarmed to feel the dress lifted to expose her backside.

“Have you been spanked before?”

Panicking, all she could do was shake her head. The priest put the crucifix from his neck in her hands and wrapped her fingers around it. It was a large wooden cross with the image of Jesus in gold colored metal.

“Think of the pain our lord Jesus suffered for us. Now start reading the prayer.”
“Our Father…”

SMACK! Sound of the hit echoed in the high walls. Ellie recoiled and felt her buttocks heat up. She tried to turn around, but the priest stopped her. The heat on her butt turned into tingling.

“Keep praying.”
“Who art in heaven…”

Another slap hit her. She squirmed forward to escape the pain.

“Hallowed be thy name.”

In addition to the pain in her rump, this time she felt her thighs bruised by the contact to the bench.

“Your Kingdom come.”

Ellie realized with fright that the prayer had barely begun, and there was a long way ahead, when pain from another slap to her buttocks made her eyes water. The spanking went on through all the verses. Pain in her backside got worse and worse and she learned to fear the next blow after each line. When the prayer was through, she was all out crying, tears dropping to the sheet of paper she was trying to read.

“For ever and ever”
(Smack!)
“Amen!”

Shaking, she tensed her muscles waiting for another hit after the last word. It never came. Instead, the priest took the crucifix from her hands and replaced the prayer on the floor with another printout.

“You have been a brave little girl. Now Hail Mary. It is much shorter.”

Ellie cried desperately. After the torment the demon had put her through, here she was again at the hands of a man who wanted to humiliate and hurt her. She looked at him, standing behind him, holding the cross in his hand with a loop of chain hanging from it.

“Can´t you just stop, please?”
“No, child, you must complete the penance. Now start praying.”
“Hail Mary, full of grace…”

This time there was no loud clap of his hand meeting her skin. Instead, she heard the shrill sound of the chain parting the air before she experienced a much sharper, more intense pain on her butt. She screamed out loud and collapsed sobbing on the bench.

“Keep praying.”

All she could do was cry. She felt his hand caressing her bruised bottom. It hurt but mostly it just felt wrong. She wanted his hands off her flesh, even if it meant more pain. She could not make out the words through her tears, but she remembered that it continued with “The Lord” something. She got out some incoherent mumbling and was awarded with another whiplash after four words. Rest of the punishment she just kept making sounds and he kept spanking her. Finally, he held his hand on top of her head and uttered:

“I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen,”

He helped her get up, and the dress covered her private parts once more. Her feet were numb from all that time crouching on the kneeler. Her backside was everything but numb. She feared the throbbing pain would never go away.

“Now you are free from sin and can become a bride of Jesus Christ the savior.”
“Do you want me to become a nun?”
“No, child, those vows are for grown-ups. When you are bride of Jesus, He won´t let the evil one touch you.”
“What do I need to do?”
“There is a girl´s club night this evening. They are at the pool. Go there, it will be good for your pains. How they comfort you, do the same in return. We need to undo what the demon did to you.”

The priest guided her to the pool. As he opened the door, they heard voices of girls and water splashing. Ellie heard the door close behind her, and she was alone. She realized that she had no swimsuit, but the priest had already gone. She followed the voices to the pool.