Free Sorrow's Point by Danielle DeVor

church. Demonic possession has been underplayed so much by the church that many priests do not believe in it. I heard a small amount about it in seminary, but everyone treated it almost like a joke. While I imagined that most people who believed themselves to be possessed were either full of it or insane, I also kept an open mind. There were too many things that science hadn't quite figured out.
    Will really was set on the possession angle. I didn’t know what it was going to take to convince him otherwise. “Again, why do you think she needs an exorcism?”
    He slumped down in the chair. “We’ve tried everything else. If it doesn’t work, I’m afraid I’ll lose her.”
    Tor patted Will on the shoulder. “Any ideas for dinner?” she asked. “I need to go to the store.”
    We’d just had chicken pot pie for lunch and she already wanted to cook us something for dinner. I wasn’t sure if my stomach could take it. “Anything is fine,” I said. “Do something easy.”
    Will laughed. “Tor doesn’t cook easy very often.”
    I smiled. Right now, they seemed almost normal, but I knew better. Maybe they really were trying to be nice to each other, but I didn’t buy it. Some of this was for my benefit—make me think that even though they think their daughter is possessed that they have the perfect family. Heh, there is no perfect family. They hadn’t seen or heard the things I had from my time as a priest. A possession didn’t necessarily mean that anything suspect was going on in the house, but familial turmoil was a symptom of a haunted house. Things were just too complicated. “I’m going to go into the library and do some research. Let me know if you need anything.”
    Will nodded. I didn’t stay to see Tor leave.
    ###
    When I reached the library, I sat down at the huge desk, arranged my notes and opened my copy of the Roman Ritual to the section on exorcism. I had a set of twenty-one instructions that needed to be met before I could do anything.
    I already knew that an exorcism needed to be approved by the bishop, so I skipped that and the part about the chosen priest needing to be schooled in exorcism. Section three contained information I could use. First, I needed to exhaust all possibilities of something physical causing Lucy’s condition. Second, Lucy needed to speak or understand languages she could have no way of knowing. Third, she needed to demonstrate knowledge of things that are hidden. Finally, she needed to exhibit strength beyond her age and condition.
    These things, if Lucy was possessed, should be easy to see. If I could not find proof of any of them, I could get Will off this possession kick and get him to investigate specialists for Lucy.
    I flipped through the rest of the section, which dealt with carrying out the exorcism itself. That didn’t apply to me.
    But a nagging feeling wouldn’t leave me alone. I wanted to ignore that room in the attic. I wanted to ignore the mirror. And above all, I wanted to ignore Lucy herself. Her face was not normal. Her eyes were not normal, and there was still an unanswered question. How did she know I had been a priest?
    ###
    I left the library and walked down the hallway in search of Will. I found him in the living room watching TV. The living room was massively white. The mahogany paneling either had been taken out of the room, or was never present to begin with. The walls were white. The sofa was ultra modern and white. The coffee table and end tables were a black glass or plastic with silver metal supports. This, I could tell, was Will’s room.
    “Hey, Will,” I said.
    Will was sitting in a black chair. He turned towards the doorway. “Finished?”
    I nodded. “With research, yeah.” I looked around the room. Along one wall was a large LCD TV. The TV sat on a large black piece of furniture that contained various electronics and DVD’s.
    “Can I see one of those home movies?” I asked.
    Will’s eyes darkened. “Sure.”
    He got up and