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Wordlessly, Mrs Kingswood passes me the old library book entitledDemonology Vol. One. Flipping to a page near the middle, she points to a Medieval woodcut of a horrific beast-like creature with tentacles and its head on back to front. I break out in a cold sweat. As I stare into the diabolical monster’s cold, inhuman eyes, I see something disturbingly familiar in them. They remind me of the way Alex’s eyes look sometimes when he’s angry. Then I get to thinking about all the times I noticed the temperature drop as soon as he entered a room. But was that real or just my imagination? Surely, it’s not possible for a person to control the temperature? Hurriedly, I push the ridiculous thought from my mind. No, that’s impossible. Demons don’t exist.
“What is this horrible creature?” I ask, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“That is the great Erasmus, demon of the elements,” Beatrix replies softly. “It is said he has the power to control the weather, amongst other things.”
“Hold on, so let me get this straight; you’re saying Alex messed around with a Ouija board when he was a kid and somehow channelled the spirit of the demon Erasmus into him, and he’s now possessed?”
“In a nutshell—yes.”
“Jesus. I’m lost for words. This is just about the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“But it’s true, I tell you!” she implores. “Every word. Haven’t you seen his eyes, for goodness’ sake? How sometimes they’re bluey-green but at other times yellow? How else can you explain that phenomenon? But the demon is clever, it knows when not to show itself. I’ll give you an example. When Alex was twelve, I called in a Catholic priest to see him in the hope of getting an exorcism done to clear away the bad spirit. But the whole entire time, Alex behaved normally. The demon refused to show himself, so the priest denied us the exorcism as there was no proof of my son’s possession. Erasmus is very, very crafty, let me tell you.”
That’s it. I can’t take any more of this.
With a loud sigh, I drop the book and newspaper clippings back in Mrs Kingswood’s lap. Getting up from the bench, I pace back and forth, trying to hold it together. I don’t want to believe any of this madness is true, but there’s something horribly convincing in Beatrix’s grave tone and demeanour. The way she looks, her whole appearance suggests someone who has been through a traumatic experience. And looking back, there was definitely something not right in Claremont Hall the first time I visited. An undeniably black aura surrounding Alex that was more than just about his outward appearance. Deep down, my intuition suggests it just might be true. But how could it be? Demons are the stuff of folklore. They’re not real…are they?
No, no, no! I refuse to believe it. She’s not sucking me into this insanity.
“You have no idea what it was like living with Alex when he was growing up,” she continues more to herself than me. “How…how temperamental he could be as a teenager. Depending on what mood he was in, your whole world could be torn apart by bad weather. The day could start out sunny one minute and be swamped by a torrential downpour the next. When Alex hit puberty things only got worse. At the slightest provocation, all the furniture in a room would be smashed to pieces. Storms would appear out of nowhere. Once, a lightning bolt even struck the clock tower in one of the outbuildings after we argued. The situation was becoming unbearable, and I knew a lot of my son’s fury was borne of sexual frustration, so I did what any mother would do. I tried to find him an outlet for his desires, the perfect girl who he could vent his—”
“Let me guess, that’s where I came in?” I interject sourly.
Beatrix nods her head. “Yes, but you weren’t the first. Before you, I brought several girls to Claremont Hall to see Alex, all pretty girls from high class escort agencies, but he refused to sleep with any of them because he said they were ‘unclean.’ The girls were all prepared to do it for the money, even though they were obviously terrified of him, but Alex said no, he wanted someone pure and untouched, and saw the idea of sleeping with a ‘whore’ beneath him.”
“Right. So that explains why you wanted me to pretend to be your friend Doug’s daughter. You were worried if Alex knew I was an escort just like the rest, he would refuse me too, and you couldn’t allow that to happen.”
“Exactly,” she smiles grimly. “But this time around, instead of Alex refusing the girl, it was you who refused to sleep with him, and it set off an obsession that continues to this day. Do you know, he actually says he’s in love with you? And he really believes that you love him too.”
“That’s because I do,” I say fiercely. “I love Alex with all my heart.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Never been more serious in my life.”
“What sort of future do you think the two of you have together, hmm? Have you not seen the way people react to Alex? They run a mile. If you continue this relationship, you’ll be ostracised from society too, just as he has been. Is that what you really want?”
“I don’t give a damn what people think about us!” I say, my voice rising. “I don’t live my life to please others. Look Mrs Kingswood, I appreciate you coming to see me today to warn me and everything, but you can’t expect me to believe all this crazy stuff about demonic possession. Do you know how insane you sound? And I can’t just end things with Alex because you say so. We love each other and I want to be with him. The way he looks doesn’t bother me, in fact, I love his face. I love everything about him. What kind of a parent are you anyway? You had such little faith in your son’s ability to find his own partner, you resorted to hiring prostitutes. Do you know how messed up that is? How damaging that is to Alex’s self-esteem? Making him think he wasn’t capable of finding someone who would truly love him for himself and not because they’d been paid to? I think what you did to him was kind of sick.”
Beatrix’s demeanour swiftly returns to her former brusqueness. “Well, I can see I’ve wasted my time on you. You refuse to believe me anything I say or take heed of my warning. For some reason, you seem determined to walk the path to destruction, and all I can say is good luck. At some point, you will find out the truth about Alex, but sadly, by then it might be too late.”
“What do you mean, too late?” I ask fearfully.
“Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. All I’ll say is this: it is my belief there is a battle going on inside Alex’s subconscious between the demon and his humanity. You’d better just hope the human side wins because if not, God knows what Erasmus is capable of. But you’ve made your decision, so I’ll bid you good day, Jessica Gardner. I pray that I’m wrong about this, but I don’t think I am. Take care of yourself.”
Exhaling softly, I sit back down on the bench and stare at her. I notice her hands are shaking.Shit, this lady really does believe in all this demonic possession stuff.What a nightmare she must be to live with. No wonder she and Alex don’t get along.
Silently she packs up her briefcase, then tidies her suit jacket and marches off in the direction of her car, leaving my peace of mind in tatters. I don’t want to believe it, but there’s a niggling voice deep inside telling me to be careful.
A harsh breeze blows despite the milky sunshine, and I tighten my scarf in an effort to keep warm. Then suddenly, I hear a rough, cawing sound from above my head. Glancing up, I see a blackbird circling and am instantly overcome by a sense of dread. I’ve always been told that blackbirds bring bad luck. I pray this is not an omen of things to come.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jessica
After Mrs Kingswood has gone, I head straight for the nearest phone booth to call Alex. Disturbed by his mother’s revelations, I decide now is the time to warn him ahead of time that our plans for tonight will need to be cancelled. The bizarre conversation about demon possession combined with Cynthia’s warnings about the neighbours being wise to our clandestine meetings convince me it might be a good idea to put things on ice for a while, at least for a couple of days until the dust has settled. My head is all over the place and I just need space to take stock of the situation.
Nervously, I put some coins in the slot and pick up the receiver. As I wait patiently for the call to connect, I notice several seedy business cards for a local massage parlour stuck to the booth’s grimy interior.
