-------------
I awoke to the sound of pounding on the rectory door - loud, almost frantic blows that threatened to knock the door off its hinges from the sound of it. I hastily put on my robe and stumbled through the darkness before the door came crashing down.
"Yes, yes, one moment!" I called out, peering through the peephole - you well know, Lord, that the church is not in the most peaceful neighborhood - and frowning in surprise. There were four of them - one of whom I recognized as the girl who had saved me just a few weeks earlier, the rest unfamiliar - carrying a large bundle wrapped in a bed sheet.
"Padre? Open up!" the girl, Faith, shouted, then added an awkward "Please?"
I swung the door open and was all but bowled over as the four of them hurriedly entered the rectory. "What - what's going on?" I stammered, trying not to gape.
Instead of replying, the four of them dumped the object they had been carrying and removed the sheets. The object was, in fact, a young man - a teenager with short, dark hair. I assumed he was fast asleep at first; then my eyes were drawn to the two red marks on his neck.
"My God - he's been bitten!" I exclaimed, staring in horror at the tiny wounds. "He's a vampire."
"But he hasn't changed yet!" one of the four, an elfin girl with long red hair, shouted. "He's still - still Xander!"
The eldest of the four, a man roughly my age, gripped me by the shoulder. "We need your help. Can you perform the Roman Rite?" he asked.
"The Roman - " I stopped, speechless. "You want me to exorcise a vampire?"
"It hasn't fully taken possession of his body yet. There's still time," the man replied, squeezing my shoulder, perhaps a bit more painfully than necessary. "Can you help us?"
"I - " I took a deep breath and brushed aside the concerns about securing the permission of the bishop and verifying the authenticity of the case. My encounter with your Enemy's minions, oh Lord, has made me seen how widespread the dark creatures are. I had no doubts as to what must be done. "Bring him into the bedroom. Tie him to the bed posts - securely, there must be no chance that he can break free and hurt people. Can you speak Latin?" I asked the middle-aged man.
He nodded, somehow not surprising me.
"Good. You'll have to be my assistant. Recite the prayers along with me." I pointed at the three girls. "Witnesses. Faith, you'll have to hold him down. The beast will try to free itself."
"I can help," the blonde girl said softly.
"She's, um, like me," Faith explained.
The questions that sprang to mind were pushed aside. There would be time later. "We'll need your strength. Take him to the bedroom now. I have to - my surplice and the purple stole...holy water..." I stammered, a hundred thoughts racing madly through my mind. "Go!" I finally commanded, then went to gather the holy tools.
The next few minutes seemed to pass in a blur. I dressed myself according to the dictate of the Missal and gathered my crucifix and a chalice filled with holy water from the font in the church proper. When I returned, the boy was securely tied to the bed and held down by Faith and Buffy, as I later learned was her name. Willow, the third girl, stood in the background on the verge of tears, while Mr. Giles, the middle-aged man, waited near the doorway.
"Now - before we begin - " I sighed and took a deep breath, trying desperately to cleanse myself of any thoughts and worries beyond what lay on that bed. "Do not speak to the creature. Do not listen to the creature. Do not look at the creature except as I say. It will try to trick you and confuse you. It may call out in pain - ignore it," I said, finding myself staring at Willow. She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Pray for your friend - what is his full name?"
"Alexander Lavelle Harris," Willow whispered.
"Pray for his soul. Lord above, in thy mercy, grant us victory against your Enemy and peace to the soul of Alexander Lavelle Harris." I took another cleansing breath and turned towards the body on the bed. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I could almost see his features twisting, taking on the indescribable taint I had seen in the vampires on Christmas Eve.
Describing the next hours is difficult. I remember very little - the prayers, the constant prayers! One ended and the next began, all seeming to have no effect. The boy remained in that strange state that was half slumber and half death, gradually slipping more and more into the vampiric visage with each passing minute. I can only recall a few specific moments, as if they were snapshots in a photo album - the girl Buffy holding Xander down with one hand as he writhed during the recitation of one of the Psalms, Willow squeezing the boy's hand and trying hard not to cry, the full moon shining through the Venetian blinds of my window...
Hours passed, as I have said, and to no effect. I admit, I was not surprised. I have heard of exorcisms that lasted weeks. The idea that this most unusual of exorcisms could be done in one night was all but laughable. My hope was beginning to slip when Xander shifted on the bed and, for the first time, opened his eyes.
"It won't work," he spoke, smiling pleasantly as all of the witnesses (and I as well, to be honest) flinched. "I have him now."
"Be silent, beast!" I roared back at it before it could speak again. "The Lord Christ commands you." I splashed it with a dab of holy water and continued the ritual.
"Willoooow....Willow, sweet," the thing that was not Xander hissed. "My little witch. Cast a spell for your love..."
Willow jumped off the bed as if bitten and would have fallen had not Buffy supported her.
"Come on, baby, work your magic," the beast said, then giggled and clucked its tongue. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live, right, Father?" It twisted his head and stared wide-eyed at Willow. "That's right, baby, time for a good old witch burning!" the demon shouted, then collapsed into a long peal of mocking laughter. "How ya feel about that?" it finally asked. "This oh-so-sweet little girl is a witch. She's fucking with the holy law, Father! That's the kind of people you're helping out. Why bother? I've already got this one and the rest will be ours soon enough. I'm going to fuck their souls up and down until there's nothing left."
"Be silent!" I commanded, trying desperately to ignore the looks of stunned horror on the faces of the others. "By the power of the Holy Trinity, depart! Go back to your pit, creature!" I made the sign of the cross, almost a reflex in the face of something so foul.
The demon writhed and spat at me. "I have him, priest! Your words can't save the boy," it whined. "He's miiiiine." After that outburst, it fell into a sullen silence, broken only by a few scattered howls as I continued the prayers.
How much time passed, oh Lord? The brief tranquility was a blessing that ended all too soon. The beast let out another long, loud laugh. "Oooo, yeah, baby..." it said, giggling now. Then it stopped abruptly and grabbed Faith, who had been helping to hold him down, by the wrist. "You, little woman, are the LOUSIEST lay I've ever had!" the demon spat out, laughing uncontrollably. "I've never met a more frigid bitch in all my life."
The look on Faith's face - I have only seen it once before, on the face of a fellow soldier a mere second before the land mine he had just stepped on went off. She tried and failed to reply and finally simply stared, pale as a ghost, at the thing on the bed, just as all the others stared at her. Catastrophic silence.
Finally, Buffy blurted out "You SLEPT with Xander??", staring at Faith in astonishment. Willow was silently gnawing on her lip and glancing around in a mixture of confusion and agony that was painful to see.
"It tricks you! Do not think of anything but driving the unclean thing from this place!"
"I'm clean as snow compared to this bitch! All you have to do is blink and she'll open her legs wide enough to see her intestines," the demon whispered, winking up at the shuddering Faith.
"SILENCE!" I roared, dousing the beast with holy water. Forgive me, Lord, for taking pleasure in the agony of the foul thing. "Behold the cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies!" I sang out, reading from the Holy Missal.
Mercifully, Mr. Giles was collected enough to pick up the cue. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the offspring of David, hath conquered."
"May Thy Mercy, Lord, descend upon us."
"As great as our hope in Thee."
With each word, the demon thrashed wildly, trying vainly to escape his bonds. At the final 'Thee', it howled louder than ever and the force of its rage lifted the bed up off the floor for a handful of heartbeats.
"We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all Satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects." The words silenced the beast and the bed fell back down with a loud metallic bang. The prayers continued, another all-too-brief interlude in the chaos.
"Hey! Father Father Father, I got a secret."
I tried to ignore the creature, Lord, how I tried. The beast sensed it, though, and began cackling and repeating the holy prayers with hideous perversion.
"It's been ninety million years since my last confession, Father. Oh, please please hear my secret."
I continued, taking comfort in the words of the prayer. But the beast would not be silent.
"Oh, you're no fun, you shriveled old monkey. How 'bout you, Buffster, you'll listen, right? I just know how much you looooove my kind." It smiled without a trace of mirth and continued speaking. "What was it like, losing your holy virginity to a corpse? What did it feel like to have that rotting thing INSIDE - "
"The Word of Christ compels thee, wretched dragon, be silent!" The beast shrank back as I presented the crucifix. "Your tricks will not save you from returning to the darkness."
"Ahhh, but that's no fun. I wanna grab life by the balls and squeeze for all it's worth, monkey! Don't send me back just yet. Your bookworm wouldn't want to miss out talking to his poor sweet lost love, would he?"
Mr. Giles' head whipped towards the demon. I saw on his face the expression of a man who could easily kill the boy if he continued. I gestured to Faith, who stepped closer.
"Ooo, look, I think it understands what I'm saying!" The demon smiled up at Mr. Giles and then contorted its face. The next words were spoken in a lilting, falsetto voice. "Oh, Rupert! Help me!"
"Jenny..." Mr. Giles whispered, his eyes widening in shock.
"Rupert!" The demon's lips twisted in a horribly satisfied grimace. "We got her, Ripper. She's down here with us, warming her feet in the lakes of fire..."
"You filthy liar!" Mr. Giles hissed, lunging forward. Faith barely took hold of his shoulders in time to keep him back. "Damn you!"
"Giles! Stop!" Buffy shouted as she and Faith struggled to drag the enraged man away from the bed.
"It's not true!"
"Oh, but it is. You think God has room for 'techno-pagans'", this last said in the woman's voice, "in Heaven? She's with us, little Watcher boy, waiting for the rest of you to come and share the pain."
I laid my hand on his shoulder, and although I am not strong, Lord, it seemed as though my touch held him more than either of Your chosen soldiers in this battle. He shook his head, and ceased struggling.
"I'm sorry," he murmured to me, stepping backwards. "Continue." The glance he shot at the poor writhing body on the bed was one of pure hatred.
"Do not speak to it!" I reminded them. "It seeks to distract you from our holy task."
The prayers continued as written. The beast once again lapsed into a sullen silence until I uttered the words "That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church: We beseech Thee to hear us." At that point, it uttered a ghastly sound that I only gradually realized was laughter.
"Oh, you shriveled little fool. You still don't get it, do you?"
I splashed the beast with a handful of the remaining holy water. "In the name of Christ, be silent."
"Yeah, keep on yapping," it hissed after a brief pause. "You waste your breath. Do you think your puny God is listening, old man?"
I shook my head and raised the nearly empty vial of holy water when I felt a sudden ecstatic tremor run down my spine. The room seemed to blur, as if seen through a fog, and suddenly I felt as if I was outside my body, watching from a distance.
I saw myself raise my hand, that which did not hold the vial, and stretch my fingers above the head of the beast. It whimpered slightly and tried to sink into the bed in a vain attempt at escape.
"I cast you out with the fire of purity, fallen one. Depart to the broken gates by the power of my Word." The voice that spoke was not my own, even though it was my lips that moved. "GO!" Even before the booming echoes faded away, my hand had burst into a bright blue flame that did not consume. Instead, the flames leapt from my hand to the beast, completely sheathing it in a sky-blue aura.
The beast shrieked like a jackal, clawing at its bonds in agony, then convulsed once and let out a last, lingering howl of chilling misery. The fires burned white-hot, then vanished as the sound of the beast's scream faded away. It was clear that the beast was gone - the supernatural chill had left the room along with the flames.
Silence.
"I - I think we can take that as a 'yes'," Faith finally managed to say, staring back and forth between me and the still body on the bed.
"He - he's still dead," Willow choked out, clasping Xander's hand. "It wasn't - it didn't DO anything!"
"Willow..." Buffy whispered, moving to her friend's side.
The poor girl collapsed into tears, her face buried atop Xander's chest. The tears dampened the white shirt the boy was wearing. I could hardly bear to see such suffering. Before I could take a step towards the sobbing girl, a soft voice split the silence.
"Shh, little lioness." How to describe it, oh Lord? The voice was so sweet - each syllable seemed to wrap itself around me, vanquishing the lingering chill of the battle with the beast, and all but lit up the room. "Do not weep."
The speaker - I cannot find the words for such perfect beauty. She was clothed in light and grace such that I wept merely from gazing upon her. In one hand, something small and bright and somehow fierce hovered above her palm. She smiled and gently squeezed Willow's shoulder with her other hand, then held the gleaming object above Xander's still face.
"Breath," she commanded in a voice that could surely have held the planets frozen in place. "Live." The light poured from her hand and into Xander's mouth and nose.
Xander coughed once and gingerly opened his eyes. He blinked, twice, and gazed up at the perfect face above him. "Wow," the boy managed to whisper, smiling goofily. "I should die more often."
The woman smiled, a sight more beautiful than I can describe, and shook her head gently. "No."
Xander nodded eagerly. "No," he repeated happily.
Then the woman stood up and, to the amazement of all, bowed to Buffy and Faith. "Fare thee well, champions," she said, smiling again, and then there was a shimmering in the air where she stood and when it ceased, she was gone.
Xander ended the silence by rattling his cloth fetters. "Little help here?" he asked plaintively.
I smiled and watched as his friends hurried to untie him and wrapped him in hugs.
"Hey, Padre." I looked up from my silent reflection upon the pages of the Missal. Faith smiled hesitantly at me. "Thanks," she said, lowering her voice so that the others wouldn't hear - a rather revealing mannerism, considering their attentions were fully upon the reborn Xander.
I smiled and shook my head. "It's not me you should be thanking, Faith," I replied, likewise in a whisper.
She grinned crookedly and shrugged. "Yeah. But, um, thanks anyway." Faith slipped back to join her friends just in time to meet another delightful peal of laughter from Willow.
Through the window, I could see the sun creeping up over the horizon.
Fini ----