Curious, Darry followed the nurse down the hall towards a more private area. She talked quiet, but she talked fast. Darry had to push past the exhaustion to keep up.
"We had a family with your exact situation," she went on, "You may think this is crazy and unbelievable, but you just have to trust me before it's too late."
Back at home, Soda didn't begin stirring until it was well in the morning. He was surprised he had slept so long, but also kind of relieved even if he still felt restless. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else awake, so he didn't bother jumping up. He wondered what was going on at the hospital right now. Were they taking tests or did they send Pony to an insane asylum to live in forever? Soda wasn't sure which was more comforting.
The split second the phone rang, Soda moved from his position to answer, "Hello?"
"Hey Soda, it's Darry. How is everyone?"
"Shockingly out," Soda slightly chuckled, "Surprised I fell asleep at all. How's it going there?"
"Well..." Darry sighed, "It's bad. Pony's vitals aren't making any sense, the doctor doesn't understand how he's alive right now. It's...I don't even know, no one does."
"Oh God..." Soda muttered. The lack of knowledge was more terrifying than having any knowledge.
"But then the nurse pulled me aside," Darry rubbed his tired eyes, "And, I don't know it's weird, she said she has seen this before and the family was the same way as us, blaming spirits and demons and shit."
"Really?" Soda asked shocked, "Well what happened?"
"I guess the family took the person to an exorcism. She never heard what happened afterwards, but she thought it would be worth sharing. She even told me that I just had to trust her, no questions asked, before it was too late."
Soda slowly nodded with a gulp, "So...what now?"
"We find someone to perform an exorcism. I know it sounds insane, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to save Ponyboy."
After the phone call, Darry grabbed his keys and wallet to head home. Pony was asleep, so Darry was going to take the chance to make a plan with the gang in private. He quickly washed his hands and splashed water on his face to wake up. He still wasn't sure where to begin on an exorcism, but he was going to have to try and figure it out. It was too dangerous to talk about it in the hospital, Darry got that feeling very clearly the way the nurse spoke to him about it. If it was a chance to save his little brother, he was going to do it, no matter what the cost.
Once he was ready, he took one last look at Pony and felt his heart skip a beat. Pony's eyes were open, and staring right at him. He looked so gaunt and his pupils were large. Darry just stared back, not saying a word. It felt like an eternity before Pony's eyes closed again.
Darry hurried to the house. Soda had woken the gang up to tell them about the exorcism. It was a baffling idea to everyone. As much as they all wanted to jump on the idea so they could be done with this horrible experience, no one had realized how bad off Pony was and how much damage this demon had already done to him. An exorcism could just do more damage. On the other side of it, it could help, but there could be more damage to reverse. It was also going to require a lot of work.
"But if we don't do it, Pony will just die," Soda said, "I think it's obvious that the only option is to go for it. It's the only option to do any possible good for him. Not doing anything will just do worse."
"But who's going to do it?" Dally asked, "How are we going to find anyone who won't think we're insane first?"
"If we find the right person with those types of beliefs, they won't think we're crazy," Soda pointed out.
"Soda's right," Darry responded, "There has got to be a priest or someone who believes in spirits enough to provide an exorcism for us. And if not an exorcism then maybe something."
"Aren't we kind of forgetting something?" Steve spoke up, "I mean, no offense but Pony is practically a vegetable as the doctor apparently put it. I doubt they are going to let us bring a priest into the hospital for an exorcism and if Pony really is that bad off, we can't just take him away from there."
"We could tell the hospital he's going to pray with Pony?" Two-Bit suggested.
"Or even bless the room?" Soda asked.
"No," Darry said shaking his head, "Steve has a point. It's going to be impossible to sneak a priest in for something like that. An exorcism isn't something that takes a few minutes. This could take hours or even days until we can get this thing to leave Pony."
"But Pony will die if we take him off those machines," Soda sighed, trying to push back the tears as he spoke those words.
Darry shook his head again, "No, this thing is feeding off Ponyboy. It needs his body to survive, so it's what is keeping him alive right now. Physically on his own, Pony might be useless, but with this thing inside him, I think we can take him out. If it can't come onto any of us, what can it do?"
"Okay, which brings another point," Steve said, "Sorry for being the outspoken one here, oh fuck it, no I'm not. If we do drive this thing out of Pony, won't he die? If his body is only up and running, because of the demon, what happens if we drive it out?"
The room was silent about that one. No one knew how to respond to that. Was it true though? Was Pony failed to survive no matter what they did?
Darry sighed, "I still think we have to try. Like Soda said, not doing anything will make it worse. If we can at least try and have that ounce of a chance of Pony surviving, I say we need to try. Maybe the priest has an answer to that question if they have experience with this."
"I agree," Soda said, "We just got to get Pony out of the hospital."
The gang decided to split up. Darry was going to take Soda and Two-Bit to find a priest while Dally, Johnny, and Steve were going to get Pony out of the hospital. Those three weren't exactly thrilled with the mission they were assigned.
"Why does Two-Bit get to stay away from the hospital?" Dally asked.
"Because he has a second car to help find a priest with me," Darry said.
"So do I," Steve protested.
"You'll get Pony out of the hospital fine," Darry said, "Now enough."
"Fine, fine," Dally and Steve both muttered, knowing they were stuck with it.
"Meet back here as soon as possible," Darry said as everyone hopped in cars.
"Okay boys, this can't be too difficult," Dally stated as they pulled up to the hospital in Steve's car, "Just get him dressed and leave right?"
"I hope that's all it takes," Steve replied, "Can you go to jail for this? Like is it considered kidnapping?"
Dally shrugged, "Not like Pony can't vouch for us."
"Let's just go in and go out as casually as we can," Johnny stated, "Nothing weird and they won't suspect anything. Just hope we don't run into Pony's doctor either."
The three boys exited the car and entered the hospital. They found Ponyboy awake, but he didn't speak to them. He looked very out of it. They unhooked different monitors and wires, expecting the machines to go off, but they appeared to have died once they weren't attached. It sent chills through the greasers, because they knew it was what the demon wanted, to get out of the hospital. They tried to ignore it and continue on. The moment the last item was removed, Pony swung off the bed and began getting dressed. He still hadn't said a word. Once he was done, the greasers began walking down the hall. Steve and Johnny kept a hand on Pony while Dally lead the way. They had to pass the desk to get to the elevator for an exit. They all hoped the clerk didn't know who was checked in or not. Hopefully she only assumed you were checked in if you wore a hospital gown.
"Just walk on, don't even look at her," Dally whispered as they continued on. Pony still hadn't spoken a word. His skin was ice cold to Steve's and Johnny's hands. That made the boys uneasy. They knew the demon was taking over, and he was only cooperating to get out of the hospital and do whatever he wanted to do.
Passing the desk, none of the boys made eye contact or conversation. It seemed to have been working until the clerk spoke up. "Um, excuse me boys? This young man is in very critical condition. He needs to get back on those machines right away."
Before the boys could respond, Pony just threw his head in the clerk's direction. He had a cold stare on her and she couldn't respond.
"Um, what's going on?" Johnny asked. Neither of the greasers knew what to say. Pony and the clerk had a long stare down. Steve looked around and no one else was around. The clerk's face expression slowly went from authority figure to shocked. No one knew what she was seeing to look so scared. After what seemed to be a long stare down, the clerk fell to the floor.
"Oh shit," Steve mumbled.
Pony chuckled, or his voice chuckled anyway, "It's incredible how strong power can get isn't it?" Steve and Johnny let go of him immediately, all of them terrified at the raspy and deep voice. "Well what are you waiting for?" the voice continued, "Let's get going and watch your plan fail."
Pony began walking towards the elevator. None of the boys wanted to follow, but with their mouths hanging open, slowly began taking steps. They got back to Steve's car. Johnny easily got in the backseat with Pony, clearly more worried about his best friend than being scared of the demon.
"Well, let's get back," Steve said, terrified to drive as he only imagined what could happen on the way back.
When they were about halfway back to the Curtis house, Steve felt the wheel become stiff. "No," he whispered. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the smile come across Pony's face. "No," he gasped as the wheel took a sudden turn.
"Oh my God!" Dally screamed out. Johnny grabbed the seat and let out a loud yell of terror. Steve tried to turn the wheel back, but it wouldn't budge. Right before they were going to run into a tree, the wheel turned sharp again and the car went the other direction.
"Hit the brakes!" Johnny yelled.
"It won't go down!" Steve yelled. He pushed with all his might, but couldn't get anything to move. They went on screaming while Pony sat still, grinning.
Again, right before a major crash could occur, the wheel turned again. This time, the car braked hard. Steve and Dally flew forward, hitting the steering wheel and dashboard.
"Shit," Dally muttered grabbing his head.
Steve could only shake. He looked behind him and saw Pony just glancing out his window, as if nothing happened. "I...I can't do this," Steve slowly said.
"Hey come on man," Dally put a hand on Steve's shoulder, "I know we're all scared, but...it's okay. Let's just get back."
Steve looked at Dally with horror in his eyes. The memory of what happened at the hospital bathroom was haunting him.
"Steve," Dally leaned in and barely spoke above a whisper, "Listen to me, if this thing wanted to kill us, it would have. Just drive, okay? It can't feed off our fear, remember?"
Pulling himself together as best he could, Steve grabbed the steering wheel, and began driving.
It seemed to be a long search, but Darry, Soda, and Two-Bit believe they found someone. His name was Todd Hunt, and he didn't live too far from the Curtis neighborhood. He didn't react to their story, not in an unbelievable way, so Darry knew they had a start with that.
Darry and Soda were sitting in his office at the church trying to figure out a next step.
"Now, the best place to perform this task would be at the home. That's where this demon developed, and that's where we need to take it out. Believe it or not, the house is his strongest point, but also his weakest. We take down what the demon sees as his development point and we gain some sort of power over it, and any type of power we can get will help," Todd explained.
"Okay," Darry said, "When?"
"Well, from what you're saying, as weak as your brother seems by now, we should do it as soon as possible. Any more waiting could only mean more and more damage. If it's alright with you, I can get things prepared and be there tonight."
"Yes absolutely," Soda said.
"Now let me ask you this," Darry began as he shuffled around uneasily, "What is this...demon's...goal here? I mean what does it want from Ponyboy?"
"Hard to say," Todd admitted, "But that is something we need to find out straight from the demon. And then use it against him."