Thriller: Horror: Spirit Doll (Mystery Suspense Thrillers) (Haunted Paranormal Short Story)

by Stephen Kingston

  “Chrissy!” Lilly gasped. “I have to get my family out of here now!”

  “That won’t help in this case,” Rachel said.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because this is not the ghost of a person. Usually the ghosts of people are chained to a certain area due to horrible circumstances that surrounded the person’s death—something tragic having occurred there. And the person is usually not aware that they have even passed on and they refuse or are unable to walk to the other side. A demon has never been a person. It has always been an agent of The Devil. It is evil incarnate and knows nothing else. It attaches itself to a person or persons and it can go and do as it pleases really, often bending the laws of physics and what we perceive as reality to accomplish magical things to trick us and break down our resistance.”

  “That is why the doll can appear out of thin air anywhere it wants?” Lilly asked.

  “Yes. And remember the doll is just a key and it is also a temporary mask.”

  Lilly didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run and hide, but as Rachel said there would be no point in it and the demon would find them. But what damage was the spirit going to do to them? Her head felt like it was ready to split wide open, she was ready to pass out. The room was spinning and she had to struggle with a severe urge to vomit all over the place.

  “What can I do?” Lilly asked. The tears streamed down her face in small rivers of despair. She was at the end of her rope here.

  “You have to stay strong and stay calm. Remember the demon feeds on fear and chaos. You have to remain in control of yourself and your emotions or else you are just pouring gasoline on an already hot fire of demonic energy.”

  “OK.”

  “My team and I are going to come over right away to do an exorcism. We have to act immediately,” Rachel said.

  “Wow, OK. How long will it take you to get here?”

  “Well, luckily we are in the metro area, but I have to assemble the team and the gear, plus I have to contact Father Jacobs. He will be leading the exorcism.”

  “OK. Thank you so much for doing this.”

  “We will see you soon,” Rachel said.

  With that she hung up and Lilly suddenly felt very alone.

  “This is ridiculous. You are going to scare Chrissy to death with this nonsense,” Brad said.

  The two were lying in bed together, with Chrissy on an air mattress on the floor beside them. Lilly had grabbed her daughter and the air mattress and moved them into the master bedroom, where Brad was already taking a nap. Chrissy was confused by what was going on but luckily did not ask too many questions. She kept asking where her doll was and why she couldn’t see her. Lilly did her best to deal with those questions and deflect Chrissy’s attention with some cartoons on the television they kept in their room. Brad had always hated the idea of a television being in the room, but Lilly was thankful they had it now.

  “It will be OK. She is watching her cartoons. She is fine.”

  “But you are not fine. You have some stupid faith healers or psycho con artist witch doctors coming to the house to perform some voodoo ceremony tonight. You have lost it; you have completely lost your mind, my dear.”

  “I have not. I don’t care that you don’t believe me. I am going to do what it takes to protect our family and especially, to protect our daughter.”

  “Honey, I would always do what I have to do to protect us all, but this is crazy. There are no such things as demons and there is certainly no such thing as demonic possession. The Catholic Church doesn’t even do this anymore because they have acknowledged that it does not exist. It is an ancient, archaic practice.”

  “I don’t care. It is still done and a priest will be performing an exorcism to save our family tonight. I don’t care that you don’t believe me. You can go on and on as much as you want to, but I know that this must be done.”

  Brad threw his hands up in the air. He walked towards the door.

  “Where are you going? You have to stay in here?”

  Brad stopped and rolled his eyes at her.

  “Honey, if this demon is so powerful I don’t think we are safe from it in the damn bedroom. Besides I have to pee and then I’m going to grab a beer from the fridge. Relax, will you?”

  “I know we aren’t safe here; we won’t be safe anywhere, but we are safer together than alone.”

  “Then feel free to join me in the bathroom and then in the kitchen,” Brad said as he walked out the door.

  Lilly gritted her teeth in rage. The man was going to get them all killed. Why was he so damn adamant to defy her wishes? Why couldn’t he just peel back the layers of that self-righteous brain of his and for once acknowledge that some things in this world could not be explained by rational thinking or scientific theories?

  But still she knew that it was suicide for them to be apart right now. They were vulnerable enough as it was and Lilly knew that it would probably get worse. The evil was bound to know that she had called in reinforcements. The fact that it actually let her do it was of a concern in itself, the more she thought about the situation. Did the evil not fear the ghost team? Did it not fear the exorcism at all? Maybe that was part of its game or it may have been simply naïve arrogance on the part of the demon.

  Lilly groaned as she picked up Chrissy and moved quickly out of the bedroom. She could hear Brad down the hall in the bathroom, washing his hands. He came walking out into the hallway just as she arrived at the bathroom door, almost running into her.

  “Well, how nice of you to join me,” Brad said sarcastically.

  He was not acting like himself at all. It was creepy, actually. He was being very sarcastic and unreasonable. The man she married was the exact opposite and it made Lilly wonder if maybe Rachel was wrong about the object of the demon’s possession. Would it possess Brad? It didn’t really make any sense, because if anything he would be the last person it would want to possess. Wouldn’t he be able to put up the strongest resistance?

  She just didn’t know and she was so tired. Lilly felt like her head was about to fall off at any minute. With all of the stress of everything that was going on lately she had not been sleeping well.

  She really did not want to be anywhere near Brad right now, but she figured that it was better than them being alone with the doll. Or was it all the same? Was Brad under the influence of the demon somehow? He was not possessed she didn’t think, but then again she had no reference point here. She had never been in the presence of a truly possessed person. It was maddening to have thoughts of demonic possession rolling around inside of her head. How had she ended up here?

  “Would you like to share a few drinks with me, darling?” Brad asked as he opened up a bottle of whiskey and grabbed a few glasses from the cupboard. Before she could even answer he was already pouring both glasses mostly full. What the hell was he doing?

  It dawned on her then that he might just be trying to cope with everything, Maybe Brad wasn’t under the influence of anything but the fear that she also felt. She wanted to believe that but she wasn’t about to let her guard down.

  Brad sat the drink down on the kitchen table in front of her and took a seat. He gulped the whiskey quickly, finishing half the glass in one gulp. He smiled a satisfied grin and stared at her for several seconds in silence. Lilly stood there, holding her daughter and trying to fight the overwhelming fear that was threatening to break her down.

  Brad motioned for her to sit down. She ignored the request for a moment and stared around the kitchen as if she expected someone to bust out from behind her and bash her skull in.

  “Come on, have a seat. Drink with me while we wait for our new friends to arrive,” Brad said.

  Lilly sat down, mostly due to the cramping in her lower back. She had never had back issues before but her lower back had been spasming for several hours off and on. It happened right after they got back from the funeral. She didn’t think it was just a coincidence, but that was part of the overall feeling of terror she
was discovering. Every little thing and inconvenience made you wonder. Was it the evil force that had attached itself to her family? Or was it just life?

  She decided to accept the drink after all. She needed something to calm her nerves down. The whiskey was biting, and burned in her throat, but she felt it help instantly with some relief. She had always been very susceptible to the effects of alcohol. She didn’t want to lower her defenses, so she decided to slow down. But the small bit she did drink was already working its magic.

  Lilly glanced down at Chrissy still asleep, her little head resting against her chest. The girl was getting big and a little bit heavy nowadays. She could remember when her little angel could almost fit in her hand. It really did seem just like yesterday, before becoming a mother she used to think people were exaggerating when they said that, but then she found out that they were under exaggerating.

  “Think she will sleep through the entire show?” Brad asked.

  “I hope so. I don’t want her to see any of this,” Lilly responded.

  Brad laughed, but it was more like an evil cackle. Nothing about his personality right now reminded her a thing of the man she married. She couldn’t wait until this thing lost its hold on her family.

  “I’m sorry; I just think you are over reacting. I mean, think about it; you have some sham psychics and voodoo weirdos coming to the house tonight to perform some stupid ritual. It’s like something out of a cheesy movie. You have to know I’m right when you really think about it.”

  Lilly had to admit it did sound ridiculous when you stated it plainly the way he did. There was something in the back of her mind that made her feel as if he might be right, but she knew that he wasn’t. Everything that she had always believed to be real had been questioned lately and she couldn’t handle the idea that she was wrong. If she was wrong it would have to mean she was crazy. With all of the things she had seen, there would be no other explanation.

  She was not crazy.

  This was all really happening. She was sure of it. And tonight when the paranormal team performed the exorcism she would know that it was real and this thing that had its grip on her family would be vanquished. Or would it? In the past several days she had been researching paranormal phenomenon and what she had discovered about exorcisms was that only about half of the cases ended well. The others either ended with the death of the subject of the ritual, or it ended with the spirit growing more powerful and becoming much worse. She didn’t know what they would do if things got worse.

  But Rachel and her team had great reviews from what she had seen from her research. Lilly had tried to research the priest, but she had not found a great deal on him. He kept an extremely low profile but that was to be expected, considering what he did. If he didn’t keep it on the down low then he would probably be excommunicated and might lose his credibility as a holy man.

  Lilly hugged Chrissy tightly as the girl continued to sleep soundly. It would be terrific if the sweet little thing would just sleep through the entire ritual, but she didn’t see that happening. It was probably going to be noisy and it was going to be chaotic. Lilly didn’t really know what to expect. She had to admit she was terrified of what was about to happen. She checked her watch; it said nine-thirty. She was surprised that the team was going to come out that late and that they were basically dropping everything to come and help them.

  She just wanted to cry. She could feel the beginnings of a tear storm welling up in her eyes, but she quickly swallowed it all back down and kept her face stone solid. She could feel Brad’s annoying and condescending gaze on her at all times. He wanted her to crack; or rather the beast wanted her to crack. She had to remember what Rachel had told her and keep her fear in check. The demon wanted to feast on fear; it gave it the greatest power. She had to stay strong.

  “Have I done something to upset you?” Brad said. The look on his face was one of pure evil. She had never seen that expression on his face before. It was frightening. It was disturbing beyond anything she had ever laid her eyes on. She just wanted to find the man she married again. How had he changed so suddenly? How had this thing gotten into him so quickly?

  The doorbell rang right then.

  Brad’s face lit up with glee. “Ooh! Our guests are here!” Brad said.

  He poured himself another drink and gulped it quickly.

  Lilly answered the door. She recognized Rachel Smith right away from the pictures online. Rachel was attractive, in her late twenties with shoulder length auburn hair. She wore mostly black and looked a little bit Goth, which Lilly found to be very fitting. The other woman was a bit younger and mousier, with blonde hair and thick glasses. She was the kind of woman who would be in a teenage rom com and suddenly get very attractive when she ditched the glasses.

  “Lilly? I’m Rachel, we spoke on the phone,” Rachel said introducing herself.

  “Thank you so much for coming. I can’t believe you are finally here,” Lilly said.

  “No problem. This is my data collector, Mary. She will be walking through and picking up readings with some special pieces of equipment to help us ascertain exactly what we are dealing with here.”

  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Lilly said.

  Mary smiled and nodded.

  “There is something else going on that I need to talk to you about,” Lilly said before letting them inside.

  “What is it?”

  “My husband is acting very strangely. It’s almost like he is partially possessed or something. He says the meanest things, his posture, his demeanor, his laugh—it has all changed. I’m scared to death of him. He is nothing like he normally is.”

  “It sounds like he is definitely under the influence then. It is not uncommon for the demon to kind of puppeteer a member of the family to help in the dismantling of the unit. That makes it much easier for it to take over the intended target.”

  “What if he is the target?”

  “Well, it’s always a possibility, but unlikely. Usually the target is the youngest in the house, or if there are not children or teenagers then it is the weakest in spirit. I would imagine, as bad as it is to say, that the intended target is your daughter.”

  “I was afraid of that, but my husband is dangerous right now. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “Relax. We will take a look and see what we find,” Rachel said.

  She and Mary walked into the house slowly, as if they were instantly checking for something. Mary was carrying a strange gadget that looked like some sort of a portable gas reader that the utility company might use. It was glowing brightly in the living room, which seemed to be dimmer than normal.

  “Mary is going to walk around the house and gather some evidence, while I ask you and Brad a few questions.”

  “OK, but I’m not sure how much info you are going to get from Brad.”

  “Yeah, I figured, but we want to evaluate him anyway.”

  Lilly introduced Rachel to Brad and they sat down at the kitchen table. Brad continued to drink through the bottle of whiskey and enjoy himself. Chrissy had yet to stir. Lilly wasn’t sure why Chrissy was so tired or was not waking up, but she seemed fine and she was content to let her sleep as long as possible.

  “Now, I’m going to be asking some questions that might be a bit disturbing and personal at times, but I assure you all the questions are important and it is vital that you answer them as honestly as possible,” Rachel said.

  “Oh, boy. I didn’t study for the test,” Brad joked.

  Rachel ignored his outburst. Lilly felt embarrassed by his behavior.

  “Lilly, have you ever dabbled in anything to do with the occult?” Rachel asked.

  “No, not ever.”

  “Brad? How about you?”

  “Dabbled? No, I have never dabbled. I don’t usually dabble in anything. I’m just not a dabbler,” Brad said making excessive fun of the word.

  “Before the recent activity in your home have either of you ever been a victim of a haunting or been tar
geted by supernatural forces or things that you could not explain?” Rachel asked.

  “No. I’ve never even believed in the stuff,” Lilly replied.

  “Do either of you drink often?”

  “No. This is the first time I’ve seen Brad have more than one or two drinks in over a year, and that was at a wedding of a friend. We don’t abuse alcohol here, but I’ve noticed that since things have been happening I’ve wanted to drink a lot more.”

  “That’s because demonic spirits—which I believe this is —like to do whatever they can to lower your resistance to them. They will make you crave alcohol or drugs so they can put you in a much more frequent state of passivity. When your inhibitions are lowered you are far more suggestable and much less alert. You just don’t see things the same way and you don’t feel the same way either. It’s a perfect entry point for them.”

  “I see. That makes sense,” Lilly said glancing at Brad who wasn’t even using the glass anymore, but taking big chugs out of the bottle of whiskey.

  “This is hard to ask, but have either of you ever been sexually abused or molested?” Rachel asked.

  Lilly felt like someone had just punched her in the stomach. That question was bizarre and completely out of left field. She was not expecting something that intrusive.

  “No, never,” Lilly said.

  “Is it abuse if you enjoyed it?” Brad asked with a goofy grin.

  “Dammit! Brad, be serious here,” Lilly said. She had not meant to raise her voice. She glanced at Chrissy to make sure she was still asleep.

  “No, I’ve never been sexually abused. Although, Lilly does hurt me on occasion when she gets carried away.”

  “Do you ever feel like hurting someone?” Rachel asked.

  “No,” Lilly replied.

  “You don’t ever have any violent impulses? You’ve never been arrested for violence? Nothing like that?” Rachel asked.

  “No, of course not. Neither has Brad. We aren’t violent people at all,” Lilly responded.

  “That’s good. Are you religious?”

  Lilly sighed. “No, not particularly. I was raised Catholic, but we aren’t avid church goers by any stretch.”