Exorcism of the Hollow: Chapter 3 – Exorcising Weakness

Chapter 3 – Exorcising Weakness

Finally, I get to fight demons like a real exorcist. Marina leads me to an abandoned abortion clinic. The information we have on this place says that satanic rituals were done here as they sacrificed infants to demons to continue to be financially stable. This place suddenly caught fire one day after a group of Catholics prayed the rosary around it. The survivors of the fire tried to blame the Catholics for arson but there was no concrete evidence to link them to the fire. Here, Marina and I are in our exorcist outfits with our swords drawn ready to cut down any demon we come across.

“Be on your guard. Demons are known to be tricky,” Marina says.

“Got it.”

“Alessio!” I hear a familiar voice call out. It can’t be. “Alessio! Come out, dear!”

My mom walks through a wall and appears before us. She’s dressed in the same pink dress and white jacket that she wore on the day she died.

“Mom?”

“It’s good to see you again, Alessio. I’ve heard your prayers for me to be here for you during your most troubling times and I am here to help you again.”

Seeing my mom again brings a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. I don’t know what to say to her. That is until she appears to be in pain. Looking back at Marina for answers, I see her holding a cross while muttering something.

“What are you doing, Marina?” I ask.

“I had to make sure she is who she said she was, but it’s a liar. This is a demon. Exorcise her,” Marina says.

“What? She’s my mom!”

“The demon just looks like your mom!”

“Don’t believe her,” mom says, “Haven’t I been talking to you from Heaven this entire time? Remember the nights we used to talk to each other despite us being so far apart?”

“It’s true, Marina! She is my mom! We used to talk to each other even after she died and she’s always been with me through the hardest moments in my life even at her own funeral!”

“Then explain how this cross and prayer cause you pain? You can’t. If you were a holy soul in Purgatory, then you would embrace these to take time off your sentence in it and if you were from Heaven, you wouldn’t be affected at all.”

“Those objects and prayers are demonic, Alessio. Protect me or else you won’t be able to face the demon and I won’t be able to see you anymore,” mom says.

“Alessio, listen to me!”

“Think about your father or your sister. I won’t be able to help them either.”

All these conflicting thoughts and feelings in my head make me scream out and cut the head off my mother. So, I guess it was a demon, and here I was silently hoping that it wasn’t and praying that God would prove me right. Her body transforms as holes form in her body while the rest of her disappears.

“Thank you, Alessio,” Marina says while putting her hand on my shoulder.

I push her hand off me then say, “Leave me alone!”

“I’m sorry that what you’ve been hearing wasn’t your mom.”

That demon bastard pretended to be my mom for years and I couldn’t tell. Did I even try to know if it was her for sure? That demon, that pretended to be her, always did say that I was perfect as I was and that I didn’t need to go to confession or go to mass. What will dad and Alex do now when they notice that they aren’t getting a response from who they thought was mom? I can’t handle thinking about this any longer so I go back to the park we were training at and sit in silence for a bit. Marina sits with me too while not saying anything. She looks at me every now and then as if she wants to say something.

“Thanks for being here and not saying anything. I just had to process all that,” I admit.

“It’s okay. I’m here to listen to you and give you advice if you need it,” she says.

“Why did that demon pretend to be my mother?”

“It’s easier to make people hollow by playing with their emotions and thinking. You don’t see demons rampaging in the streets with exorcists fighting them like when you first met me. You’ll probably see demons pretending to be angels or spirits that appear to be helping people when really, they’re dragging them to Hell. They only attack when there’s no option for them left.”

“Let’s get back to work then. I’m sure there are more demons around here and it’s like what, six pm? The night is still young and-”

“No, let’s rest for tonight.”

“Why? Don’t tell me you’re tired already. You didn’t do anything.”

“No, it’s not that. I just wanted you to put your skills to the test but didn’t know that they would send a demon that pretended to be your mom. It takes a lot of strength to do what you did. I think you’re ready to be a real exorcist. I’ll have my report and recommendation sent to the other exorcists. Guards, what do you think?”

Marina’s guards appear before us.

One of them says, “You did excellent, Alessio.”

“You did better than most if they faced the same challenge,” another compliments.

“Thank you. What are your names?”

“My name is Gale.”

“I’m Jonah.”

“It’s nice to meet you two. Thank you for training me today.”

“You’re welcome,” they both say.

“Okay, I think it’s time to go back home. I’m beat-”

The sight of seeing a family causes me to choke up a bit and wipe my eyes.

Marina hugs me from behind then says, “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. Now, get off, you cougar.”

When we get back home, I try to pretend to Alex and my dad that everything is normal. As I joke around, Marina laughs and looks at me as if she’s still worried. I don’t know why she’s so worried about me nor do I know what to say to her to ease her mind. While trying to sleep, I can feel her stare at me. What’s her deal? The feeling of someone staring at me doesn’t leave even as I feel myself falling asleep. Turning around to look at where the feeling is coming from, I turn to see my mom.

Demons claw at her and drag her down to the fires as she screams. My arms and legs are restrained and can feel myself being pulled down along with her. Alex and my dad are being pulled down as well and seem to be going down faster than I. This is until I watch Marina cut something above me and everything I see disappears.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I did it! I banished my first demon-ah, a demon was affecting you. I’m sorry I only noticed it when I was woken up by a feeling,” Marina says.

“Thanks. Congratulations on your first banishment or whatever."

Okay, okay. It was just a dream. Mom is probably in Heaven and that dream was just a product of my worry. Nothing more. The next few days fly by like nothing since the revelation about my mom was revealed. Marina and I exorcise demon after demon and even come across a few holy souls in Purgatory. One, in particular, I try to cut down because she scared me, but when my blade cut her, it just passed right through her.

“Alessio!” Marina says.

“What did you expect my reaction to be when I see a spirit appear to me out of nowhere that’s on fire?”

“Please get my family and the Church to pray for me. My sentence in Purgatory is until the end of time. Thank the merciful God that I was allowed this generous cleansing before entering into Heaven,” the woman says.

“We will,” Marina says to her.

“Thank you, and please tell my children to remember me and pray for me. Oh, and that I will always love them.”

My mom never said to pray for her and remember her when she spoke to me. I guess whenever it happened, it was always the demon speaking to me. Still, that could mean she went straight to Heaven. She loved me so much that she sacrificed herself to save me. Yes, that has to be it. After so much training, fighting demons, and helping the souls in Purgatory, I begin to put the thought of the fate of the soul of my mother to the back of my mind. My hopes are that she is in Heaven looking down at me and proud that I’m an exorcist like her.

A worry still keeps me up every other night though. Why didn’t God let me know that a demon was pretending to be my mom? Why let me know now? What’s the purpose of letting me be an exorcist? Why also let me continue to have these thoughts when I prayed to make them stop? Why also let Marina continue to stare at me every single night?

“Do you have a crush on me or something?” I ask her.

“No! Royalty isn’t allowed to be in relationships with peasants.”

“You didn’t exactly say no. Why do you keep looking at me?”

“I’m not! I’m just…I’m just concerned about you. You’ve been different ever since you met that demon that pretended to be your mom.”

Marina sits at my bedside while I sit up.

“I’m fine. Really, I am.”

“You promise to tell me when you aren’t?”

“I promise. What made you start to care about me so much?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I give her a look and she knows that I’m not buying her lie. “Okay. I don’t want the boy who saved me and who tries to be the best person he can for both himself and his loved ones to go away or be tainted in any way.”

“Don’t you worry. I won’t change the way I am.”

“But you’ll become even better over time, right?”

“I think I’m fine the way I am.”

“You’ll have to grow up eventually and I’m not talking about age.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll try to. Now stop worrying so much and go to bed.”

“Alright.”

She still seems to have lingering concerns so I give her a hug before she sits up from my bed and she hugs me back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my dad and sis looking at us again from a crack in my door.

“What you’re expecting isn’t going to happen so you better leave us alone!” I say to them.

“Ah, come on! I know she’s been making lover eyes at you for the past few days. Just give her what she wants,” my dad says.

“I want to see what love making is like in person. It’s not the same looking at it online,” I can’t believe my sister says.

“Would you both get out of here!”

They don’t move until I get up and throw my pillow at the door. I can hear them laughing behind it. Creeps. Marina goes back to her bed and falls asleep not long after. Hopefully, she can rest easy now.