Possession

“Take a deep breath.”

“Focus”

“Tell me what you see.”

I’m in a big place I don’t know. An old house, with thick walls and doors that creak. Walls darkened by damp and dirty windows.

A family of four lives in it: mother, father, and two daughters.

They’ve just moved in, and at first everything seemed normal. But the days go by, and strange things begin to happen: whispers in the walls, objects moving on their own, and glowing footprints that appear on the wooden floorboards.

And then there are the lights.

It’s late at night. We step out onto their terrace overlooking the patio, the garden, the beautiful mountains, and the small town in the distance. I see multiple spheres floating in the sky, white and cold, too big to be stars, hypnotic and terrifying.

Every minute, there are more of them. Now they move. First very slow and then at a great speed.

The air grows heavy, and it gets very cold. It suddenly becomes very quiet. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s unbearable.

Something is happening!

That darkness, that presence, turns against the girls. First, small marks on their arms when they wake up, shadows that seem to follow them wherever they go, and whispers that come from the walls and won’t leave them alone.

It’s night again, and I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Something, an invisible force, lifts the younger one and throws her against the wall as if she weighed nothing. No one touched her. No one was nearby. The impact knocked the wind out of her, her eyes open wide with terror.

We barricade ourselves in a room, behind an old, worn door that we know won’t protect us for long.

Outside, something is looking for us. It doesn’t make a sound, it doesn’t move like a normal person, it floats through the air! It slides from room to room, as if sniffing out our fear.

The girls are very scared, and with every reason in the world.

We have to get out of there. The younger one can’t move, paralyzed by panic. I take her in my arms and run. Her older sister runs at my side, clutching my shirt with icy hands.

We rush through endless hallways, identical rooms, and stairs leading to nowhere. But no matter how much we run, the spheres are right behind us, changing shape and size and shining ever brighter: a wolf, a witch, a demon, and shapes I can’t quite understand. I can’t make them out.

We run from room to room, chased by that evil. I see a long, narrow hallway, aged wooden doors, the central garden. Ghosts, spirits, and shining orbs transforming into monsters around us, cornering us.

We hide behind doors that are torn from their hinges, mercilessly. The main hallway, which led to the front door, is blocked by collapsed walls and ceiling, cutting off our way. There’s nowhere to go.

Finally, we all find ourselves at the far end of the house. There’s no time left, no other options.

“It’s only a one-floor drop. You’ll be able to get out,” says the mother in a broken voice.

The girls cry, they cling to them. They don’t want to go, but the parents try to calm them.

“If that demon is bound to the house, you’ll be able to escape, and we’ll catch up to you later.”

But we all know the truth. The parents won’t be able to escape.

So there go the girls, falling out the window, then running toward their freedom.

Their parents, relieved and at the same time terrified, turned around and looked straight at me.

What a strange feeling in the middle of the storm, to feel a smile bloom on my lips. That was when the question slipped from my lips: “What if the demon follows them?”

The father looked at me, his eyes wide in terror. “Son?”

Then everything went dark.

Now everything changes…

I don’t know where I am…

I’m running. Looking for them. I want to protect them.

My body is different: taller, stronger, and carrying less weight around the waist. I don’t need glasses anymore. I run, but I don’t feel tired.

I know they’re in terrible danger. Somewhere in my mind, or perhaps my memory, the thought appears that they’re close, in a building not far from where I am.

Something in my mind tells me where they are. I run through the city, past blurry buildings. The only thing that matters is finding them.

I see one of them pass in front of me, running. The older one. Her name resounds in my head.

Adriana? Diana?… No… DANIA.

I shout her name, but she’s too far away; she can’t hear me. I follow her.

We reach a building; I can’t see the name, and I can’t catch up. There’s a reception office, and I go up to ask, but no one is there. I see a board with the names of the building’s occupants. Is it a hotel?

I don’t find her name, nor the sister’s; I keep looking.

CLAVERO! That’s the mother’s last name, and her name appears too, Alena. It has to be them.

5th floor.

I run to the elevator. There is a bunch of people inside. I see some faces that look familiar, but I don’t talk to anyone. It is not safe.

I don’t know if they can’t recognize me or they are ignoring me.

I press the number 5. Others press 8, 13. From outside, the building didn’t seem to be more than 12 or 15 floors tall, but the elevator goes up to the 22nd, 20th, down to the 13th, to the 8th, and back to the 19th floor.

People come and go, they get in and out of the elevator, and the floors change frenetically. It never stops on 5. It doesn’t even come close.

I press the button repeatedly until it stops for a brief instant on the fifth floor; I jump out, pushing anyone who gets in my way, afraid I won’t have another chance to get off.

Finally, on that fifth floor, I see a crowd gathered. I go down the people-packed corridors, looking for 507. Someone else knocks on the door, an elderly lady carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

I recognize the place, but I don’t know how. Have I been here before?

Inside, there’s an altar with a large golden chest, surrounded by flowers and candles. In the middle of it all is the photo of a girl. I know she’s one of the girls I’m looking for, Alicia.

I make my way through the people who are praising and revering the little girl.

Dania comes up to me when she recognizes me, takes my hand, and leads me to a door that opens into a small room.

Alicia is in bed. People are coming in and out of her room, busy carrying all kinds of objects, food, sheets, clothes, and water. I’m terrified to go near, to look and find her dead on her bed. It looks like they’re holding a wake for her, but I get closer and see that she’s alive, barely.

I see her convulsing in bed. It looked as if she had a very high fever, or was in a trance.

I move closer to Dania and ask her in a whisper, “What are they doing?”

“They don’t want to leave, she says. “They think she’s sacred.”

I listen to the words of everyone around; they speak of her as if she were a saint, a living miracle.

This scene wasn’t discreet at all. Too easy for evil forces to find them. “With so many people coming and going, how could we know who is a friend and who isn’t?”

“They can’t help it. People look at her now with eyes of faith and won’t go away,” she explains. “They fight to reach her, to touch her, speak to her, or simply to see her.”

I ask if what has taken possession of her is truly something sacred or something evil. D is very worried and very busy. She can’t bring herself to tell me what she really thinks.

I have a bad feeling. The shadows move around us. The golden light of the altar begins to fade. Then I understand. Something is coming for her, a shadow that darkens the air around me.

A loud crash throws us to the floor. The window explodes, and the temperature plummets. The wind rushes in like a living gust, overturning offerings and candles.

I fall flat on the floor, all sprawled out. D falls, sitting against the wall beside me, her arm over my head. It reminds me of a moment we lived long ago. It feels like a lifetime. When, lying on the grass, I rested my head on her legs, and, for the first time, she told me she loved me. I don’t remember what I said. It’s all an unintelligible echo in my memory.

In that moment it all hit me at once: we’re on the floor because something struck us down. Cold and darkness enter through a window that, just an instant ago, radiated afternoon light. A giant presence enters the room.

No doubt. It’s coming for Alicia.

D screams desperately beside me. I take her by the arm and pull her up. We run to Alicia’s bed. I lift her in my arms and feel her skin burning against my chest.

There’s no time to think, and I start to run. Dania follows me. The shadows close in on us. The whole building turns gray, empty.

I run down the hallway through the screaming crowd, trying to escape. I get lost, stunned by the commotion, and I can’t find the way out. I can only run, aimlessly, trying to flee.

I hold them, trying to keep them close to me and protect them. Everyone has escaped, except for a couple of friends, a small group trying to resist.

But there is no escape.

The darkness advances, trampling, trying to reach the little girl. It pushes everything around it without effort. It has no shape. It seems immaterial, but there it is in front of me.

I see it.

I feel it.

It blocks our way, and we can’t get out. So we face it. Even though I know it’s very strong, too strong even for all of us together.

It throws itself at me, and I feel a terrible burning in my chest. A light with a strange yet familiar shape makes it recoil briefly. The tattoo burns under my shirt, lighting up the room, and I try to use my magic, but I don’t have enough mental strength to push it back.

It feels my weakness, so it doesn’t even bother continuing its attack. It quickly slips past, heading for the room where I hid them.

I chase that shadow and begin to recite the banishment incantation, shouting with all my strength and concentrating as much as I can. I manage to hold it for a brief moment, but enough for everyone to regroup and join their voices to mine.

All together, united, we manage to corner it. The creature writhes and finally reveals its true form. It’s a person, after all.

The brother.

My companions run toward him and try to seize him, holding him in that corner for a moment to give us time to escape. The door is clear now, so I take them out of there, D by the hand and the little one in my arms.

I must protect them.

We run down the hallway. We go down the stairs, almost stumbling. A door below is open and leads to a kitchen. I rush in and look for a weapon, anything.

I grab a huge kitchen knife. On the counter there’s a big bag of salt. I take it and coat the knife, rubbing it while I recite an incantation. It’s not what I’d wish for, but it’s all there is.

We run. We go out into the street, packed with people and cars. A world that has no idea of the danger it’s in.

People look at us strangely, and after seeing my knife, they get scared and start moving away.

I hear a voice behind me, mocking. I can’t make out what it says, but it makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. That’s the trigger for me to start running again.

I see my reflection in a window. I’m filthy, my clothes in rags. A kitchen knife in my hand. The girl in my arms. D at my side.

There’s nothing left for me to do. Just run and run.

“Can you see anything else…?”

“Do you see anything else…?”

“You can wake up now…”

“Come back”

“Wake up!”