Possessed (Pagan Light Book 1)

by JoAnne Keltner

  “I’m calling Dr. Zinba,” Mom said.

  “The neurologist?”

  “He said to call him if you experienced any debilitating headaches.”

  “Mom, it’s been like two weeks since I was hit in the head. This can’t possibly be related.”

  Mom pressed her phone to her ear. “Quiet.”

  Jackie dropped her forehead into folded arms on the counter. Pressure squeezed her temples, making her sicker and terribly nauseated. She raised her head, sauntered to the table, and collapsed into a kitchen chair. Of all the days for this to happen. She hoped she’d be well enough by five.

  “His office doesn’t open until nine,” Mom said. “I’ll call his emergency number.”

  Babu shuffled into the kitchen.

  “Morning, Babu,” Jackie moaned. She was too queasy to get up and pour Babu a cup of coffee.

  Babu grabbed her arm. “Chto sluchílos’ s toboy?”

  Jackie figured Babu wanted to know what was wrong with her because there was a concerned look on her face. “Nothing, Babu. Nichevo.”

  She touched the back of Jackie’s head. “Golova balit?”

  Jackie nodded.

  Babu wouldn’t let go of her arm. If Babu was a healer, Jackie didn’t want Babu expending all her energy on her. In Babu’s condition, it might kill her.

  “Babu, I’m okay.”

  “Take her to the emergency?” Mom asked someone on the phone.

  Babu made the sign of the cross, and then bowed her head in prayer. Her fingers tightened around Jackie’s arm as she prayed.

  “Dr. Zinba’s answering service says to take you to the hospital,” Mom said to Jackie. “Dr. Zinba will see you there.”

  “No,” Jackie moaned. “Not again.” She wondered how long this was going to take. She was anxious enough about going to the church. Since it was hard for David to get rid of Father Dmitriev, she couldn’t screw this up by not being there when she said she would. Although, if she was too sick to do the job, she might fail, and then David would expect…

  Babu let go of Jackie’s arm leaving a red imprint of her fingers. Her grip had made Jackie forget her headache momentarily, but then a sharp pain, which vibrated clear to her eyebrows and settled between her eyes, reminded her. She squinted.

  “Get dressed,” Mom said.

  “All right.” She supposed the sooner they left, the sooner they’d be back. And maybe they’d have something good to give her for this headache. She just hoped it was nothing a few pills couldn’t cure. “Babu, I have to go to the doctor.”

  Babu put her hands on Jackie’s shoulders and shook her head. “Net, net.” She pushed Jackie’s shoulders, trying to get her to sit back down.

  “Babu, I have to go. This could be serious. Remember when I was hit in back of the head? Maybe something—”

  “Net. Sidi. Sidi.”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  ***

  In the emergency waiting room, only two other people were ahead of Jackie. Mom had checked her in. She had heard Mom on the phone with Dad the other day, explaining her last hospital visit. She thought he and Mom were going halves on the balance of that one. Wait until the balance of this one is added. It’s not like either of them make bank.

  It wasn’t long before she was called into triage. The triage nurse gave her two Tylenols. She could have done that herself at home. She wondered how much those two tiny pills were going to cost her parents.

  Despite the fact that there were only two other people ahead of her, she and Mom still wound up waiting an hour before she was admitted into the emergency area. It kind of took the meaning out of the word emergency.

  Finally, a nurse led them to one of those tiny treatment rooms with a curtain for a door. Jackie put on a hospital gown and climbed into the bed. She waited another hour to see Dr. Zinba.

  “You’re back,” Dr. Zinba said when he saw her. “What brings you here today?”

  “Headache,” she moaned.

  “How long have you had this headache?”

  “Since I woke up.”

  Dr. Zinba leaned over her and shined a penlight in each eye. “Does the light bother you?”

  “No, my head just hurts like hell.”

  He slipped the penlight into his jacket pocket. “Can you tell me what month this is?”

  “October.”

  “Day of the week?”

  “Thursday.”

  “Sit up at the edge of the bed and relax your legs.”

  Jackie pushed back the covers and sat up at the edge of the bed. Dr. Zinba tapped her left knee and then her right knee with a reflex hammer. Each leg involuntarily flew up accordingly.

  “I’m going to arrange a CT scan for you this morning, and then we’ll go from there.”

  She waited an hour to get a CT scan and another two hours for Dr. Zinba to interpret the results and give her the verdict.

  “No sign of bleeding or a hematoma,” Dr. Zinba said. “Everything looks good. Has the Tylenol kicked in?”

  “No,” Jackie groaned. She couldn’t believe that with all this high-tech, expensive equipment, they couldn’t cure a headache or find out what was causing it.

  “There’s a possibility blood seeped into your spinal fluid from the head trauma you experienced. A continuous flow of blood in the spinal fluid can be fatal. I suggest we do a spinal tap.”

  “Holy shit!”

  “It’s a simple, but tedious procedure,” he said. “We simply insert a needle in the lower lumbar region and extract a sample of spinal fluid. However, to be honest with you, there’s always the danger that the needle will hit a nerve and cause paralysis.”

  She covered her face with her hands and thought about Sandra. Maybe it was her fault. Maybe karma was at work here, and she was going to get what was coming to her because of Sandra. Babu didn’t want her to leave the house. Maybe she sensed something bad was going to happen to her—again.

  Settle down, she told herself. You’re getting all superstitious.

  She was sure the doctor who did this operation wouldn’t intentionally cause paralysis—but there was always that chance. She could just bleed to death. All right, she guessed the spinal tap was on. She couldn’t imagine having a headache like this until she died.

  She uncovered her eyes. “Let’s do it,” she said. “Mom?”

  “I guess we have no choice.” Mom squeezed Jackie’s hand.

  Mom’s hand was warm, and Jackie picked up a sense of stability from her.

  “One more thing,” Dr. Zinba said. “Your mother will have to sign a waiver that basically says you won’t sue if something goes wrong.”

  “That gains my confidence.” Jackie looked at the clock on the wall. It was already eleven. She needed to be out of there by at least four thirty. She had told Jason everything would be okay—that she’d be out by ten and she’d get some rest and be as good as new for tonight. Boy, was she being optimistic. “How long is this going to take?”

  “It shouldn’t take longer than fifteen minutes to prep you and take a sample. Then we’ll send it to our lab for processing. Maybe an hour, maybe two, depending on how busy the lab is.”

  Eleven, twelve, one, she counted. “And, what if there’s bleeding?”

  “Then we check you in and clean you out.”

  Why me? Why today? “All right, let’s get this over with.”

  A half an hour later, Dr. Zinba came in with an assistant. Jackie sat up at the edge of the bed and bent over. The assistant cleaned and disinfected the area on her back near her tailbone. She had to keep still; if she moved, she might cause her own paralysis. So this was on her now.

  It didn’t take long to take the sample. Dr. Zinba’s assistant stuck a large square Band-Aid on her back.

  Then they waited.

  And did they.

  Mom went for coffee. Jackie was starving. Her stomach rumbled; her head ached. She asked the nurse for two more Tylenol, and she lay back. The hospital was cold and unwelcoming. She thought she s
melled death, which, to her, was the mixture of antiseptics, blood, and urine.

  Mom brought her a bag of salty chips. Jackie could see the salt, but with the killer headache, she couldn’t taste it. The chips had a flat, nothing taste.

  Finally, Dr. Zinba came into the room. Jackie tensed, anticipating the verdict.

  “It’s clean,” he said. “Are those Tylenol working?”

  “Clean? Now what?” she asked.

  “Follow up with your family doctor,” he said.

  Her mouth dropped open. “After all that?”

  ***

  It was two o’clock by the time Jackie got home. Babu was so happy to see her, she smothered her in a bear hug.

  “I still don’t feel good, Babu.”

  “Prikhodi,” Babu said and led her to the kitchen. She ladled out a bowl of chicken soup and set it before her.

  “Thank you so much. Spasibo bol'shoye.”

  The soup warmed her cheeks and dulled the pain. Afterward, she curled up by Babu in her bed. Whispering prayers, Babu brushed back Jackie’s bangs. Jackie closed her eyes to sleep.

  ***

  Jackie awoke from a dream about being burned alive. In her dream, she was in Holy Resurrection Church, bound, like Joan of Arc, to a stake, kindling at her feet, mouth gagged, and hands tied behind her back. Father Dmitriev lit the hay with a long candle. The nave was filled with people from school, cheering the fire on. Behind her, hanging upside down from the top of the iconostasis, their hands tied behind their backs, one leg crossed behind the other forming a triangle, were Madam Sophie and Babu.

  Chapter 46

  Jackie slipped out of bed, leaving Babu sound asleep, snoring. She was groggy, but her head wasn’t aching anymore. It felt more like one dull pain capped over her head, like she was wearing a tight hat.

  In the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face and brushed her hair, but the wispy strands fell flat. The headache had drained the life out of her, and her dream had put her over the edge. Screw it. She changed into black jeans, a black T-shirt, and combat boots, hoping it would put her in a kick-ass mood.

  In the front room, she peeked out the window for Jason. She had told him not to beep the horn. She didn’t want him to wake Babu. She didn’t know where Mom went, but Jackie was hoping to slip out of the house before she came back so she wouldn’t make her stay home.

  As soon as Jason pulled his truck to the curb, Jackie was out the door. When she slid into the truck seat, Jason stared at her. “You look like hell,” he said. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I mean, you’re not just doing this because David wants you to, are you?”

  “I’m doing this to prove a point, and because I want to know what happened to Stephanie. She’s the reason I’m in the social mess I’m in now. And I have to do this today because David said it wasn’t easy to get Father Dmitriev out of the church.”

  “Fine.”

  They drove to Holy Resurrection in silence. Jason parallel parked in front of the church.

  “We’re about ten minutes early,” she said. “That’ll give me some time.”

  “Time for what?”

  “Time to find out what really happened. I want to do this without David around.” She didn’t need the drama.

  Jackie tugged the church door handle. Jason followed her into the entrance area. It was quiet, and a faint scent of incense wafted in the air.

  She hesitated at the nave entrance. Maybe Jason should wait here. The nave was for baptized, repentant believers. But then, who was she to tell Jason he couldn’t enter? “Come on.”

  He followed her across the polished floor. The candles in the choir areas and above the Holy Doors were lit. The only thing glaringly out of place was the drop cloth draped over the left side of the iconostasis.

  “This place is weird,” Jason said.

  “Not your typical-looking church, is it?”

  “How come there are no pews?”

  “Some of the Orthodox churches have them, but Father Dmitriev never permitted it.”

  “So this is where it all happened,” Jason said, dreamily.

  “Yeah. This is it. You see that wall with the pictures on it? That’s the iconostasis. That’s what I saw catch fire. It started right there, behind that drop cloth.” She climbed the platform steps and fingered back the covering, revealing the charred icons. “Voila. My reoccurring nightmare.”

  “Freaky.”

  “I’m going to take a reading and try to figure out what really happened to Stephanie. No matter what happens, stay right there. Okay?”

  “I know the drill.”

  She wrapped her fingers around the candlestick and pressed her other hand to the iconostasis. Cold metal and canvas tingled against her palms. She inhaled and opened up to the energy. Two emotions poured through her—desire for Stephanie’s lover and sorrow because he wanted her to abort the baby. The emotions met in her heart and twirled together, and a powerful cyclone churned inside her. Funneling into Jackie’s head, a vision formed: Stephanie lighting the candles in front of the icon of the Virgin of Vladimir, bowing her covered head, and praying, “Holy Mother, tell me what to do.”

  “Jackie,” Jason yelled.

  Something clutched Jackie’s wrist. Her eyes snapped open. It was Father Dmitriev.

  “Enough,” he bellowed.

  Emotions fizzled, and the vision dissolved. Looking at Father Dmitriev, her nerves prickled. She was no longer Stephanie Yarrow, but a frightened child, helpless before Father Dmitriev’s accusing eyes. “I was…”

  “Working your witchcraft again. You may have fooled the congregation, but you’ve never fooled me.” He squeezed her wrist. “I told you never to come back.”

  Her wrist grew hot, just like it did when he had grabbed it that day of the exorcism. Her trench coat sleeve caught fire. She screamed and batted her arm.

  Looking bewildered, Father Dmitriev released her sleeve.

  The fire consumed her coat, enveloping her in flames. Like acid poured on raw flesh, her body burned.

  It’s not real. Go with it. Burn.

  She fought the pain as voices surrounded her. Jason’s, Father Dmitriev’s, Stephanie’s. Closing her eyes, she saw the blow to the head. The tipped candle stand. The flames consuming Stephanie, spreading to the iconostasis. The horrifying truth.

  Jackie was awestruck.

  Let it go. Breathe.

  She envisioned Babu surrounded in white light stepping out from the flames. Jackie reached for her. Babu wrapped her arms around her and surrounded her with protective light. The fire died.

  With arms spread open, Jackie touched the candlestick and iconostasis.

  “Stop this,” Father Dmitriev said.

  “Let her finish,” Jason said.

  Jackie imagined Stephanie before the iconostasis holding her baby, reveling in its tiny features. Her heart filled with joy and love. The energy radiated from inside her, flowed through her hands, and into the candlestick and iconostasis. She fed the energy with deep inhalations and released it through exhalations. Ignoring Father Dmitriev’s accusations, she opened her eyes and watched the charred icons regain their color and the faces of the Virgin and the saints emerge.

  Father Dmitriev’s face was ashen, his eyes stricken with fear as he stared at the iconostasis, its icons restored. He turned to her. “What are you?”

  She dropped her arms to her sides. “A girl with a vision.”

  “You have the devil’s eye and power.” He pointed his finger at her. “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.”

  She stepped toward him. “I’m not an abomination. You are.”

  “How dare you insinuate such a thing?”

  “The baby was yours. She came to you for assurance, but y
ou wanted her to get rid of it. When you placed the Eucharist on my tongue, you were planning. You were thinking about how you were going to kill her.”

  “I should have cut your tongue out.” Father Dmitriev hissed.

  “She’s fine as she is.” David was standing at the side door of the iconostasis, his phone in his hand. “Is what she says true?”

  “Stephanie was going to talk,” Father Dmitriev said. “What was I supposed to do?”

  “Burn Stephanie and your child alive?” David asked.

  “Yes. If it would save this church from embarrassment.”

  “You mean if it would save you from embarrassment.”

  “I am this church! What’s done is done. There’s no proof. Jackie can conjure up all the visions she wants. There’s no physical evidence. And who would believe that I set my own church on fire? If you say anything more about this to the bishop, I’ll tell him you’ve been keeping company with psychics and witches. You’ll be thrown out of the church, with no chance of ever becoming a priest.”

  “She’s not a…” David’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the iconostasis. “How did you…”

  “I told you how,” she said.

  “She has the devil’s power,” Father Dmitriev said, “that’s how!”

  “It’s just physics,” she said.

  Staring at her, David lowered his phone.

  “You’re going to keep this secret?” she asked David.

  “I have chosen my profession. And you... Let God be his judge.”

  “What did you expect from me? I told you how this worked.”

  “Perfect.” a girl’s voice said. “Jackie’s fallen from grace.”

  Jackie turned. Trish was standing among the choir benches.

  “Trish,” Jackie and Jason said at the same time.

  “My demonic friend wanted to be here himself to do this, but this place is kind of off limits for him. We have to do this by proxy instead.”

  “Do what?” Jackie asked.

  “How’s your headache, Jackie?” Trish held up a cloth doll with a pin sticking into the back of its head. “I can’t believe you made it. You weren’t supposed to. You weren’t supposed to find out the truth. We didn’t want you feeling all good about yourself and choosing the other side. But it looks like you’ve made the right choice. Now it’s time to say good-bye.”