Chapter 31
Davis fixed a good breakfast for them all the following day, and then they prepared for the trip to meet Vivian.They were silent on the way to Clarrisa's apartment. Lainie sat in the front with her brother, and Emily and Bella were in the back seat. Davis would steal a glance at Emily through the rear-view mirror, and their eyes would meet. He reached a hand down low beside his seat where she sat and reached for her. Emily held his hand briefly. They could feel the electricity between them and wondered if everyone else in the vehicle could also feel it. He grinned at her as if reading her thoughts, and she blushed prettily. He smiled, knowing that he was the cause of that blush.
They arrived at Clarrisa's apartment with time to spare, and Bella was immediately drawn to Mozart and Beethoven. They rubbed against her ankles and purred, and she felt delighted in touching their soft ginger fur."Well, they have certainly taken a liking to you, Bella!" Clarrisa commented loudly, hearing their purrs. Bella looked up at her with a big smile.
"Animals have always loved Bella," Lainie said as she and the rest of the crowd watched her play with the cats.
The atmosphere was strained. Clarrisa had lit multiple white and violet candles around the apartment for protection and peace, as instructed by Vivian. Davis, Lainie, and Emily were very apprehensive about meeting her and felt incredibly anxious about meeting the psychic. They were still determining exactly how the meeting would go. Lainie sat on a bar stool at the counter in the kitchen, and Davis and Emily sat a distance away from each other on the couch.
The Sisters began to arrive at five minutes till eleven, and they all wore dark green cloaks that brushed the carpet as they walked. Luna was not with them then because she was bringing Vivian with her.
At precisely eleven o'clock, the doorbell rang. Clarrisa went to open it, and Luna and Vivian walked in. Vivian had an air about her that created a stir. With her dark skin and snow-white hair, she stood out from the crowd everywhere she went, and this time was no exception. She wore a long black dress with short sleeves and a scooped neck, and around her throat was a string of simple white pearls that reached her waist and encircled her slender neck. She took off her shoes as soon as she walked through the door. She always did this to calm and center herself before a reading.
She looked around her at the room and smiled.
"There is good energy here, Cherie," she commented to Clarrisa.
She took in all the people that were there in one long glance. Clarrisa went around the room and introduced everyone to Vivian. She carried a giant hot pink tote bag that she handed to Luna, which Luna placed on the floor beside Vivian. Clarrisa offered her the recliner to sit in.
"You can sit here, Miss Vivian." she offered.
Vivian looked at her and patted her on the hand."Thank you, Cherie. It is a hot one out there today, and I am spent already." She said in a low tone.
Vivian sat down in the plush white chair with a relieved sigh and smiled at everyone."Thank you all for coming today because everyone in this room is vital to make this cleansing a success." Her voice was powerful but soft. Her hazel eyes landed on the young girl playing with the cats in the middle of the floor, and then she looked at Emily, and her gaze was intense upon her. Emily shuffled uncomfortably under her scrutiny. "So, let's get started," she said, reaching down in her bag; she pulled out a beautiful string of Rose Quartz beads. Vivian wrapped the beads around her hands and entwined the strand around and in between her slender fingers. "This house is inhabited currently?" she asked, looking at Emily intensely.
Emily nodded."No, ma'am. There is currently no one residing there."
Vivian nodded her head,"Come closer to me, Emily." she ordered gently. Emily glanced at Davis, and he smiled reassuringly back at her. Vivian held out her hand to Emily. "Hold my hand, Cherie."
Emily took it, and Vivian flipped her palm over and looked at her lifelines. She closed her eyes and moaned deeply as if in physical pain. Her touch was smooth and comforting against Emily's skin.
"So much suffering for one so young." She looked down at Emily, and her hazel eyes were sad.
Emily did not know what to say, so she said nothing. Vivian continued.
"You blame yourself for this great loss, but it is not your fault. It was their time. Do you understand?" She asked her in an urgent whisper.
Emily remained still.
"You are not the cause of passing, and even though it will probably always hurt, you must give yourself some grace, Ma Cherie, and allow yourself to breathe again." She smiled sweetly at her. "To live again."
Vivian closed her eyes tightly, and the words came out in a rush.
"Someone is with you." She suddenly said in a whisper.
Chills racked Emily's body.
"A man," she said. "He is very energetic, and he is excited to talk!"
Vivian stared past Emily into the distance and shook her head.
"He wants you to know that .... It was quick. He felt nothing when the truck hit."
Emily gasped loudly, and tears burned the back of her eyes.
"He says...." She chuckled. "He's a persistent young man," she commented brightly.
Emily hung on to her every word.
"He's saying a name, but I can't make it out."
She strained to listen and then said.
"Nathan." Tears openly rolled down Emily's cheeks at that point. She could hold them back no longer.
Vivian nodded softly.
"This means something to you?"
Emily smiled through her tears. "I named our unborn son Nathan before I buried him."
Lainie jumped up from the stool and went over to Emily. She bent down and wrapped her arms around her friend. "See?" she said through her tears. "They do watch over us."
Vivian's voice was calming. "He heard you give him the name in the car on the way to the burial." She paused. "He likes it."
Emily was at a loss for words. She felt a warm feeling invade her body and cover her like a cozy blanket. She cried softly, but for once, it was not a gut-wrenching cry of loss; it was one of hope that she would see her family again. "You must not have any doubt walking into this house tonight, my friends. You must have absolute faith that this house will be cleansed tonight," Vivian warned. She stopped and looked around her at Davis, Lainie, the sisters, and even Bella, who watched her closely and pointed her finger at them. "All of you!" She said heavily. "Or it could be harder to cleanse the house of this evil and detrimental to your safety. "I need the family to come forward of Bella, please," she said.
Davis got up from the couch, and Lainie continued kneeling beside Emily, who was still wiping tears away with her hands. She stood to rise and leave, and Lainie held onto her hand. "You are family, Emily. Stay here with us," she said, and Davis nodded in agreement and smiled at her.
Vivian looked over at the young girl with pale blond hair sitting in the middle of the floor who was now drawing on her sketch pad."Who witnessed the Spirit Possession?" Vivian asked in a low voice.Davis raised his hand slowly, and Vivian looked at him."What did you see?" she asked.
Davis shuddered, remembering how the thing had come at him and tried to attack him that night."It was her face. Her face was so different," he said in a whisper.
Vivian held out her hand."Give me your hand, Davis." She ordered gently.Davis did as the old woman asked and placed his hand in hers. She concentrated hard and gasped. Her eyes closed tightly. Her grip tightened around Davis's fingers."Oh... my... God..." Her eyes rolled back in her head. Only the whites of her eyes shone. Emily was terrified, as was Lainie. They stepped away from her.
Vivian was transported to Bella's bedroom, where Bella had been drawing a picture that night before bed, and the entity came through her window. It entered her body, immediately taking over."Bella did not have a chance to fight her from entering her body. She just took over of her own free will," she said frighteningly. "She is powerful."Vivian grabbed the sides of her face and pulled at it, causing her features to become distorted."She, the girl, is so full of rage and hate."
Then, Vivian's head fell back, and she started to whisper."Die. Die. Die."
Clarrisa ran over to her, grabbed Vivian by the wrist, and shook her."Vivian!" She screamed.
"Wake up!" Davis bellowed, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Vivian's head fell forward, and she was perfectly still.
She slowly raised her head and looked around her at all the concerned faces. She smoothed her hair back from her face, placed her hand on her chest, and took deep breaths. Bella was now standing and looking at Vivian.She looked afraid. Vivian got up out of her chair and went to Bella. She knelt on the floor, and Bella knelt with her. "Bella," she said her name.Bella looked at her with her light blue eyes that were almost colorless."The girl that visits you in your room?" she asked. "Does she tell you her name?"
Bella looked uncertainly at the strange older woman.
Davis looked at Bella. "It's ok, Bella. You can trust her." Bella looked at Davis, and then, determining that it was okay, she grabbed her notepad and pen. She wrote and then turned the pad around to Vivian.
NO
Vivian smiled softly."Is she your friend? Do you want to protect her?" Vivian asked.
Again, Bella wrote on her pad.
YES
Bella had scattered drawings around her, and Vivian looked at them then."You love to draw, don't you?" she asked excitedly. Bella smiled and nodded. Vivian reached out and touched Bella softly on top of her head."Can you draw me a picture of the Girl? Of your friend?" she asked lightly.Bella grabbed her sketch pad and started drawing as Vivian looked on."What is that, Bella?" It looked like a set of stairs that a child would draw. Beside it, Bella wrote.
STEPS
Vivian shook her head. "I see," she murmured. "Is this where you play with your friend?" she asked curiously.
Bella looked at her and then continued drawing.
She started to draw a stick figure at the top of the steps. Vivian watched as she added a dress, shoes, and long hair, and then she drew big black holes for the eyes and the same for the mouth. Vivian shivered.
"Is that your friend?"
Bella wrote on the paper.
YES
Vivian thought Bella had finished drawing, but then she drew another stick figure at the bottom of the steps lying down. She outlined what appeared to be a girl with pants, a shirt, and eyes with a tear on her cheek.
Vivian looked at her and whispered."Who is that, Bella? At the bottom of the steps? Vivian asked.
Lainie walked over slowly and stood beside Davis, and they looked down at her writing. Bella slowly wrote the word.
MOMMY
Cold chills covered everyone in the room, and then Vivian asked. "What happened to your mommy? Why is she at the bottom of the steps looking so sad?"
Bella looked at her with a calm expression on her small face.
SHE DIED
"Why, Bella? Why did she die? "Vivian tried to keep her voice calm.
MY FRIEND PUSHED HER
"Why, Bella? Why did your friend push your mommy down the stairs?"
SHE WANTED HER TO DIE
Vivian asked her one more question."Why, Bella? Why did your friend want your mommy to die?
Bella wrote slowly on the pad, and Lainie's eyes widened in horror.
SHE MADE HER MAD
After conversing with Bella, Vivian had to step away for a few moments. She had to gather her thoughts.
The old woman returned to the living room and sat in the chair."Tonight, I will conduct a séance to speak to the girl." She said in an eerie voice."You will join me at the table as I communicate with her." She said to Davis, Lainie, and Emily. She looked over at Bella.
"I do not wish for the child to be there. Do you have someone that she can stay with tonight?" She asked Lainie.
Lainie nodded."Yes, ma'am. I will arrange it when we are through here."
"I also need that drawing that she drew, so make sure that you bring it.' she ordered. "My friends. We are dealing with a force of a magnitude that I have never encountered before. I have only been a victim of spirit possession twice; this time, I could not stop her. We need all of our wits about us tonight. I may even call a friend for assistance tonight while I go upstairs." Vivian was going down the mental checklist in her mind, it seemed. "Sisters. I will need you to be at all corners of the house, and I will open the portal. I need to know the spirit's name to communicate with her. I do not believe that the entity's name is Girl. She has a name, and I need to know it because someone else could come through if I am not specific when I communicate with her. Do you have any ideas of what the name could be?"
Lainie spoke up. "We read the diary of a servant girl named Clara, and there was also a young girl whom her own family mistreated in such a horrific way in the house, and the servant girl called her Penelope."
Vivian raised her arched eyebrow. "Ok. Why did the servant Girl name the child?" she asked curiously.
Emily spoke up. "The mother wanted nothing to do with the girl because she was conceived in rape by her husband, and she gave the servant girl charge over Penelope. In the diary, Clara states that Penelope hung herself upstairs at the railing, but at the same time, in the last entry that she wrote, she talks about someone locking her in the attic room," she said.
Vivian looked at them with surprise. "So, it could be two spirits haunting this place." She commented in a whisper. Lainie nodded. "Alright. I want some clarity on this before tonight. It is now noon, so perhaps you could do some more digging, but if you cannot pin it down to either girI, will work with it." she said with a frown. They all gathered in a circle, and Willow spoke a short blessing over them and went their separate ways. The plan was in place for the cleansing of Hastings House that night.
Enjoy!!