Josh POV
Today is the seventh session and I'm feeling really relieved thinking that this will be over soon. Everything has been the same about the sessions, the same violence and terror as always; only that she is pretty much the same when she is normal. She hasn't repeat that she wants me to stay away until the ritual is done, but every time she sees me and the bruises in my arms and neck, her eyes become watery and hangs her head ashamed. I can tell she really wants me to, but she needs me too, and I need to be with her too. I'm coming from school on feet, because my car is in the car wash and I have to pick it up before the session. I'm entering my house right now, and when I get in, the first thing I see: Meghan. I groan and look at her sternly. She only smirks at me and tells me:
"I know what have you two done all this time… You and Drake were at Anneliese's, because she is possessed!!!!" She screams the last part. Perfect. Now Meghan will tell all the people she knows, but wait, HOW DOES SHE KNOW!!!?????
"How do you know about that?" I ask, and she calms herself down and tells me
"Look Josh, I'm really sorry about this, so I'm not telling anyone, and also, I want to help. I've read about it bunch of times, so I want to help you. Please." She says stressing the word please with a pout. I come to sit in the couch, so now she is standing in front of me. I really don't know about this one. I run a hand through my hair and sigh as I sit. She sighs and sits beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Look, Josh, I really like her. She makes you happy, and I want to help her, because she going through hell right now. Drake has a journal diary where he writes about when something's happening to him. I read that and he talked about how much she was suffering, and I just want to help, this is going to be over tomorrow, so what's the deal with not letting me?" I can't believe it now, Drake with a JOURNAL???? And Meghan wanting to help in the sessions!!!????? What's wrong with the world????
"I understand that Meghan, but I'm totally sure this isn't something you want to watch. The priests that are helping Anneliese told her parents that it was better for her sisters to stay out of this, and one of them is older than you." I say. She is 13 right now.
"I really want to help, Josh." She says looking down. I sigh and tell her
"Okay, Meghan, I'm going to talk to the priests, and I'll tell them about you. I'm bringing you there –Her face lifts up with a goofy smile- But if they say no, Drake will bring you back home, 'kay?" After the "but", she looks down again, but nods and gets up.
"Thank you so much Josh!" She says and walks up to her room. But suddenly she comes again to the living room and stands in front of me, with a sad looking face.
"And Josh, I also know about Dad. I'm sorry you two got through it. I wish I had been there to help you two out." She says biting her lip when she finishes. I shrug and hesitate a little, but then I tell her
"Don't worry Meghan; it was all too amusing and angsty, even for us." She nods and goes running to her room.
I go to my room and see Drake in his bed strumming his guitar. He looks at me once I open the door. He looks a little down, and I don't know why.
"Meghan knows about your diary. You're busted!" I joke and he only goes back to his guitar and starts strumming again.
"I know. And she wants to help in the sessions." He says in a bored voice.
"Seriously, man, I thought you would go nuts if someone knows something like that about you." He shakes his head and strums louder.
"Will you go to the sessions?" I ask him as I sit in the couch.
"I think I will, and I think Meghan could too." He stated.
"I'll talk to the priests, but I'm sure they'll say no."
3:00 p.m.
Here we are, Crazy Steve, Drake, Lucy, Meghan and me in my car. We are in our way to Anneliese's. We get there and I park my car next to the sidewalk. We get in and the priests are already in. I tell Meghan to enter the house with us. Anneliese is nowhere to be seen, so I think she is probably in her room. We say hi and introduce Meghan. Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz look at each other curiously and then look at Meghan.
"Why is she here?" Ernst Alt asks a little too coldly for Meghan, but she doesn't hesitate in answer.
"I really want to help Anneliese. Josh told me about what you said about younger persons watching the sessions and the ritual, but I like Anneliese and I want to help. But you are the ones with the decision, so you decide if I stay or I go. I understand if you don't want me here." She says, and with that Ernst Alt looks down for a moment and then answer
"Someone that believes in God and loves so much another person, is always welcomed to watch Him act and to feel his presence. She can stay, but you won't get into it too much, it could be dangerous, Okay?" She nods and smiles. Sarah joins the group as the priest Alt asks us
"Where is Anneliese?"
"She is in her room, want me to call her?" Sarah answers
"Please do. You guys go up with her." So Alexander, Evan, Crazy Steve, Lucy, Sarah, Meghan and me go up to Anneliese' room. Drake stays down this time. We go up the stairs to the hallway in front of Anneliese' room. We don't hear anything this time. Sarah goes at front of our group and opens the door a little, but wide enough for us to sneak our heads in. Anneliese is nowhere to be seen, from what we see. The room is super cold; from some days it had been like that.
"Anneliese?" She asks looking around the room.
Sarah makes her way in and gasps, carefully of not to scream. We get in quickly and we get stunned of what we see. Anneliese is in the corner of the walls, practically in the roof, holding onto the walls. She is looking at us with the pitch black eyes I know well. I look back at Meghan and her face is twisted with fear.
"Meghan, go down and don't come up until Ms. Michel come too, and call the priests, Okay?" I mutter, she nods and disappears of the room. Evan, Alex, Crazy Steve and I get ahead Sarah to be a little closer to Anneliese. Her feet are a little closer to us, well, they are against the wall she is holding onto. We need a way to get her down. Evan, been the airhead he is, gets too much closer to her, and Anneliese kicks him.
"Damn!" He screams rubbing the side of her face she kicked. She laughs and asks us
"Which part of "you can't get her back" you don't understand?" I hear some steps up the staircase. They get there and we start to pray. She jumps off the wall and lands in the floor, standing up still. Evan, Alex, Drake, Crazy Steve and I hurry to her and jump landing on her. We had learned that this is the only way Anneliese can get on the ground. The strength was enough to get her on the floor, but as usual, she easily gets us off of her until Drake is the only one attached to her leg while she struggles to get him off. Evan (that was thrown against the nightstand) gets attached to her other leg opposing movement from her lower body. She rips their hair and tries to kick them off of her. Crazy Steve gets attached her left arm and I get on the other. She shakes her head violently and struggles against us, but she is now unmoving. Father Renz and father Alt get near her and kneel on either side of her head. Father Renz keeps on praying as father Alt takes the cross and puts it in Anneliese chest. She started to scream
"Get it off, get it off" It was her voice still, but the screams were horribly loud, and we couldn't block our ears with our hands because we had to keep her from moving. In the corner of the room, I get to see Meghan praying with her eyes tightly shut, next to Ms. Anna, Sarah and Lucy.
"PLEASE!!!! GET IT OFF!!!! PLEASE!!!" She screams again. It is hard now to keep her from moving, because she is writhing and shuddering violently underneath us.
"In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I order you to give worship to God and the heavens, and leave God's Server ALONE!" Father Renz yells, and as she says something in aramean I couldn't even identify, Father Renz yells
"Designate" With that, Anneliese only mutters "One, two, three, four, five, six" She mutters that repeated times. Then, she starts screaming again. Like two hours later, she gets rigid and unconscious as always. Ernst Alt goes to the living room with us and tells us.
"We think she is ready. Pray a lot tonight, because tomorrow, you cannot have breakfast. It's part of the ritual. Well, that's all for today."
We say good-bye and they leave. Mr. and Ms. Michel stay in the living room with us. Evan and Alex go upstairs, probably to get some sleep. She looks at us and tells us
"Won't you go home this afternoon?"
"I'll wait for her to recover her consciousness, I don't know about them."
"We'll go home." Drake says. Meghan is really quiet. I pull her apart because I need to ask her what's wrong.
"How did it go, Meghan?" She shrugs and says
"I can handle it, so I can come tomorrow, right?"
"Well, it would be cool. Thanks Meghan." With that, they go out of the house. I go up to Anneliese' room and sit on a chair, waiting for her to wake up.
Two hours later…
I watch as Anneliese' features soften, and I know she is awake now. It's now hard for her to walk, and her throat is sore most of the times. It's expecting to, because she screams for hours, and jumps by her knees. She looks at me when she notices I'm in the room, and I smile at her.
Anneliese' POV
I can feel my face soften when I recover from my unconsciousness, and the sore of my throat starts. Slowly, I can feel my legs and arms, so I try to stretch them, but it hurts. I take a look at my room from my bed, the ripped walls. I look at the left of my bed, and I see Josh. He smiles at me, but I can't form my own, my face is still a little rigid. He kneels next to my bed and tells me
"Hello, how do you feel?" He reaches out and parts my bang from my forehead.
"I feel fine." Suddenly, I feel the urge to go out of the house. "Would you take me to the park or something?" He looks confused but nods and helps me up. He is the perfect boyfriend ever, I love him so much. I feel like shit for hurting him every time I have episodes of possession. It will end up tomorrow, or so I hope. I kiss him on the cheek as we get down the stairs together. I have a black sweater on and jeans. My mom is in the kitchen, and my dad is reading the news paper in the couch. I love them so much. I get to the kitchen and hug my mom. She hugs me back and kisses me in the cheek.
"Can I go to the park with Josh, mom?"
"Of course you can. How are you feeling?"
"A little sore, but nothing serious." She looks a little sad but nods.
I get to my dad and do the same thing, since I can do it all the time, because I'm not me. Since the possession, I feel a gaping hole inside of me. It's like a hole full of sin and evilness that is now next to my heart. I hate how they say that I'm cursed, and that I'm going to burn in hell. God won't leave me, ever. Josh helps me walk over to his car and settles me down in the passenger sit, and helps me with my door belt. Josh sits in front of the wheel and pulls the car to the street. Soon, we are at the large park of Belleview. We are walking next to each other, side by side. He has to help me to walk a little. Then, I get a flashback. I see myself in different scenes of the sessions, when I'm not myself. I feel my face get a sad look. When it ends, I look at Josh, but he is not there. The person in his place is someone I never thought I would meet. The Holly Mother of God, Saint Mary is there smiling at me. I form the most sincere and happy smile I've ever put in my life. The hole in my chest is gone now, and I'm so happy and excited. We keep on walking, only that I don't need help for walking again. She breaks the silence and smiles at me.
"The Heaven's are suffering your pain too, Anneliese."
"Mother, why do I suffer like this?" I ask her. The burning pain in my throat is now gone.
"It's a big suffering of my heart, that the evilness is consuming the world. There is someone that has the power and faith to change that, and I'm afraid this person is you."
I listen intently on what She says; ME? I nod waiting for Her to continue.
"But you have two choices: you can stop suffering, and the demons will be gone, or you can accept your destiny, and suffering to show the world that God exists." I can believe it… I- I don't know what to say, or what to choose. She reads my features and says
"You have three days to make your decision, and I'll come back."
"Mother, I-I don't know what to say, but I will act how You ask me." I say, and low my head in a sign of reverence. Then, she disappears in front of my eyes. I immediately kneel and pray "Hail Mary". Once, twice, and it doesn't feel real. Mother of God appeared to me. I-I can't believe this. Josh kneels next to me and starts rubbing my back.
"Anneliese, Anneliese, you okay?" He asks. I end my praying and look at him. I really need him to believe me. I put my hands on his shoulders and grasp tightly.
"Josh… You won't believe this! Mother of God appeared to me!!! She appeared to me and talked to me!!! She smiled at me too!!!" I almost scream. He looks a little pale.
"Saint Mary appeared to you??? Oh Anneliese, that's an honor." He hugs me. I hug him back with so much force. I can walk, run, dance again. And my throat doesn't hurt anymore.
"Look, Josh, look. I can run and dance again. She did this!" I jump and run a little for him to see. He only smiles bigger and his eyes have the same sparkle they used to have. "And my throat doesn't hurt anymore! Oh my God, I can sing again!" I throw my arms around his neck and his arms encircle my lower back in a tight hug. Then we kiss a lot of times. I haven't been able of doing this for what seems forever now. We pull back gasping for air.
"Come on, Anne, let's get you home." He takes my hand and leads us out of the park. I'm grinning like a fool all the time we are in the car. We get home and I open the door at full speed. I run upstairs, to my parents' room, all the way screaming "mom" and "dad". I get there and my mom is sitting in the bed.
"MOM, MOM, YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPENNED!" She turns to me and looks at me. His eyes grow bigger as she sees me jumping and squealing in front of her.
"Mom, mother of God appeared to me, can you believe this???" She looks at me with shocked eyes and asks me
"Mother of God appeared to you?" I can't help but get a little mad at her skepticism
"Yes, mom, She did. Now I can walk, run, jump and dance again, and the sore of my throat is gone!" She smiles and hugs me tight
She pulls back and asks me
"Well, how did that happened?" She asks me sitting and gesturing me to sit next to her. I sit and start telling
"I was walking side by side with Josh around the park, and then I got a flashback, like a vision. I saw myself during my episodes, when I'm not myself. When it stopped, I looked over to Josh, and I saw Saint Mary. She was smiling at me. I felt so honored that I didn't articulate a word for like two minutes. She broke the silence and said: Anneliese, the Heavens are suffering your pain, too. Then, I asked her why was I suffering so much, and she told me that it was a big suffering of her heart that the evilness was consuming the world, but there is someone that has the power to change that, and it is me. I didn't know what to say. I have three days to make a decision, and I'm still a little worried about what to do." I saw my mother's face become pale. She looked down with a sigh and a sad looking face.
"Anneliese, that is your decision, but you'll suffer so much. I'm afraid of it." I'm a little disappointed of my mother, because she always told us to follow God's plans for us, when He'd call us.
"Mom, remember what you used to tell us when we were little girls? That we have to follow God's plans and answer when He calls us?" She nods and I keep my serious look towards her. "Let me answer, Mom. He is calling me. Don't be afraid of what's going to happen to me, if I have God, there will be nothing harming me. I'm going to suffer so much, like you say, but the world will be a better place. Mother I don't know how much this is going to last, but it'll will worth it. She told me so" The tears are falling now from both of our eyes. She hugs me and I hug her back hiding my face in her shoulder.
"Do the right thing, my daughter." She whispers in my ear. We pull back and I go to my room to pray. This change every of my expectative for tomorrow.