Chapter 1: The Father
"What we are about to do has not been approved by the Vatican."
Marco Diaz sat in the living room of the Jacobs family. In front of him on the couch was a plain middle aged couple, illuminated only by warm lamplight. Parents of the host. They were concerned, the Husband brushing the Mother's hand. Their faces were sunken, they hadn't slept in days. Looking at him, their eyes were obscured by harsh shadows. The sounds of thunderstorm crept in the night.
Marco widened his lips. "Just so you understand. Y'know what you're getting into, right? Right?" He broke the mood and revealed his immaturity.
"Amanda will be cured?" The Mother asked haggardly, as if begging to be let into a warm church at night.
"Y-, yeah. She'll be fine. Don't worry, Mrs. Jacobs, I've dealt with this before." Marco had, in fact, not dealt with this before. He hadn't dealt with anything remotely like this at all. "Amanda will be her bright self again in no time." It was weird, calling Starfan13 by her real name. He had never learned it before he was called up.
"Good, good…" She retreated back into the Husband's arms.
"You're younger than I expected." The Husband meekly examined. "How old are you?"
"I'm twenty… nine. Twenty nine." Even the first part was a lie.
The Husband narrowed his eyes, barely visible. "And you're here alone? I believed you needed an assistant for an exorcism."
"Hey, you're the one who-" Marco stopped himself. If he was gonna make this work, he needed to be more professional. "The… exorcism is being performed in secrecy like you wanted. Even the parish doesn't know about this."
The Husband stared in thought. Marco reached to fiddle with his tight collar, before getting a hold of himself and refraining. A muffled thunder lit their faces for a brief moment, before returning to the monotonous dark rain.
Marco cleared his throat. "So… we should probably see Amanda."
"Yes… she's in her room." The Husband got up, faithfully helping his wife up by her hand. Marco slapped his lap and got up.
He followed them down a dark hallway, to a door with a malignant spider web in the corner. The door was dotted with a variety of Crucifixes, nailed through at the heads. Marco stepped forwards, the parents dared not go any further.
"We tied her up." The wife said. "She was screaming… but we tied her up."
"It's unlocked, Father." The Husband nodded at him to go in.
Marco grabbed the cold doorknob. His palms sweat, and his chest stirred. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. Demons aren't real, demons aren't real, demons aren't real… It was Catholic heresy, but he was just trying to work up the nerve. Besides, his circumstances wouldn't put him in good light with the Papacy anyway.
He burst in, fully expecting a monster in chains spewing fire, like a death metal album cover. Instead, he was met with an average teenager's room, if a bit dusty. Bed in one corner, laptop in another, and clothes strewn about. In the middle of it all was a girl, tied to a chair, hands behind her back. Her head was down with hair covering her face.
Marco gathered himself. There was a distinct lack of Star merch around, it was actually quite plain. He wondered if this was a result of the demonic possession or if it was a natural moving on. What would Starfan be like without being… a Star fan?
"Father," The Husband tapped him on the shoulder. "Is there hope?"
"I don't-... yeah. There's hope. Through all things God is possible. Wait- I mean though God things-" Marco sighed. "You know what I mean…"
The Wife let out a small laugh. The Husband smiled back. "That's the first time I've laughed in a while. That's the first time you've smiled in a while."
Marco smiled. "Well, through God all things are possible." He reveled in saying right, before turning back. "You're gonna have to leave. The demon might manipulate and make you interfere with the rites."
"If you say so, Father. Thank you." They turned and left, shutting the door.
All too quick for Marco, he wanted to stay in good company for as long as possible. But now it was just him, Starfan, and whatever entity may or may not be possessing her.
He faced Starfan again, stepping forward to get a better look at her. She was dirty and ungroomed, fraying hair ending mid-chin. She was completely still, even her chest didn't rise or fall to breathe.
"A-... Amanda?" Rain wailed against the bedroom window. Marco found his rosary in his pocket and fidgeted with the beads. "Can you hear me, Amanda?" The floors creaked as he knelt down to her level. He caught a glimpse of her eyes; she had been crying. "How about Starfan? Do you remember me, Starfan? We went to highschool together. Remember Star? Remember Marco? It's me. Marco."
She stirred and tightened her lips before returning to her previous state.
Marco sighed. Closing his eyes, he reached to the back of his brain for a phrase. A phrase in Latin, he could barely remember it. Bits and pieces came to him from movies and his theological studies. Flashes of sounds and mouth-feel. Then it came to him.
"R-... Respice…" Marco swallowed, not sure if he was pronouncing it correctly. "Respice Ad Me… Daemonium?"
Silence. Rain. A mote of dust floats across space. Marco holds his breath. A thin veil of stoicism.
Amanda rises. An eye shines in the moonlight. Staring. Fixedly, hatefully, staring.
Mouth remains shut. An answer emanates. It comes from every wall.
Hello, Marco.
"I... Uhm... sup?"
Amanda stared in silence again. The silence commanded silence, as death commands sorrow. Then…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
It was raspy, other worldly, it shook the walls as well as Marco's teeth. The rosary jumped in his hand. It burned.
"Oh God, it's real. It's real, it's real, it's real-!" Marco pulled out his pocket book and tore through the pages. "Come on, there's got to be something- aha! Prayer of Exorcism!" He held up his rosary, cross displayed to Amanda, as he recited the prayer with holy vigor. His pronunciation was terrible. "Exorcizio te, creatura sali-"
CHILD. YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE. TURN BACK NOW, AND FACE NO CONSEQUENCES.
Marco paused, considering its offer. But he knew the demon was tempting him, tricking him. He continued the rite, rosary shaking as he lunged into every word. "Salis. Adjuro te, maledicte diabole!"
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING! YOU DON'T HAVE AN PROPER CRUCIFIX, ALL JUST THAT TINY NECKLACE! HAHAHAHA!
Marco hated it when people called the Rosary a necklace. The demon was trying to get to his emotions. But he continued all the same, for the LORD gave him a mission. "Adjuro te, serpens! Discedas ab hoc virgio!"
You-... YOU FOOL! YOU AREN'T EVEN PRONOUNCING IT RIGHT! GO AHEAD, SPIT YOUR TONGUE AT ME.
Amanda began to stir yet again. Jerks, sudden jerks like death throes. Convulsions. Choking. Marco felt joy. He was getting somewhere. The room's clutter began to float, circling around him. Books gained momentum, and threw themselves.
Boldly, Marco approached her. He felt a force try to push back, like the southwest wind. "Exorcizo te per deum vivum, phantasma!" Starfan's laptop threw itself at Marco, breaking with sparks on his back. He winced, but remained steadfast.
ONE MORE STEP, ONE MORE WORD, AND YOU SHALL GNASH TEETH, PENDEJO.
He paused again, a momentary lapse. When he resolved to continue, before he even opened his mouth, it happened.
His surroundings were enveloped in a diabola of colors. The ground gave out below him, and he was weightless. Screams, a full crowd of screams. Fear, animalistic Godless fear. A fear that strains your entire body. A fear that makes you forget. Perpetual jumpscare.
Paper crinkled in his fingers. He looked down, and recognized a name. All fear in his valley of the shadow melted away. He felt warmth, safety, confidence, and above all a demand from something greater. The final line of the prayer. With this, it would be done.
With incomprehensible power swirling around him, he screamed out in defiance. Eyes closed and back arched: "En NOMINE JESU CHRISTI! Qui venturus est judicare VIVOS! ET! MORTUOS!"
The screams stopped. The ground returned. The weight of the mortal world rested on his shoulders once again. He opened his eyes, and he was in Starfan's room yet again. He dropped his book and rosary out of exhaustion, and staggered back to a wall. He slid down it, till he was sitting on the floor. For a few moments, with messy hair in his eyes, he felt bliss.
Then he saw a loose rope at the corner of his eye.
He jumped up, facing the chair once again. But where once was Starfan, there was only a clear nothingness.
"Starfan?" He spun around, priestly garments flowing with the air. "Starfan!?"
He was answered: The locked door creaked open.
"Starfan, where are you!?" He rushed out, frantically looking around. "Mr. Jacobs!? Mrs.!?" He stepped into the living room, where he had the conversation only minutes before. There, on the ground, lay the dad.
"F… Father Diaz…" He strained to speak.
"Mr. Jacobs!" Marco knelt down to him. There was blood on his forehead. "Are you ok? What happened?"
"It's ok, I'm fine…" Mr. Jacob's eyes were clouded, his skin was dry and cold. His expression was that of constant fear. "I'm fine, I'm safe." He grabbed Marco's shirt and looked in his eyes. "Are you?"
Marco jumped back. He gritted his teeth. "Respice-"
AHHHH
A shockwave emanated from Mr. Jacob's mouth. Marco tripped backwards, and hit his head on the coffee table. Mr. Jacobs pounces on Marco, straddling him and putting his hands on this neck. Marco tries to fight it, but to no avail. This grown man's entire weight was on his throat, he could feel it being crushed as he struggled for air.
Out of options, he prayed.
My Lord… My Lord please. Please help me, please get me out of this place. This is too much, I was a fool to take this. Please, hear me. Deliver me. I swear, I'll do anything. I'll come back and finish the job. Just please, get me out of here…
The last thing he saw were clouded eyes.
When he awoke, he immediately sat up. Much to the dismay of his paramedic.
"Woah, woah! Take it easy, sir. You've been through alot."
"Wh- what happened?" He looked around. He was outside now, with twilight keeping the desert cool. All around him were paramedics, concerned neighbors, and policemen milling about. He was wearing hospital garb. Caution tape crossed the front of the Jacobs' residence. "Is everyone ok?"
"Sir, we found you in the living room unconscious. Do you have any memory of what happened?"
"I was…" He touched his neck, and felt nothing out of the ordinary. "I was visiting. Mr. Jacobs attacked me. Pinned me to the ground and choked me out."
"Really? Your neck seems fine."
"It… it must have healed. It happened around 10pm." Marco turned to dangle his legs from the side. "Is Amanda here? Amanda Jacobs?"
"No, she's not. We have policemen on it sir, you should really rest. Do you need a ride home?"
"No, I'm fine. Well, as fine as I can be right now." He shivered. "Can I have my clothes back at least?"
"Certainly, i'll just go get them now…"
Left alone, Marco's gaze wandered. Then, his eyes met Mr. Jacob's. Across the way, the still body of Mr. Jacobs lay on top of a stretcher. He could barely make out the words of the policeman next to it. "Time of death, approximately 10pm. Via blunt force trauma to the head." Mr. Jacobs seemed unchanged from when Marco encountered him. Even now, his gaze was unbreaking.
Marco's paramedic returned. "Here you go. I didn't know you were a priest, sir. You seem too young."
"I get that alot."
"Looks like it. Anyway, feel free to stand up and find somewhere private."
Marco took his clothes and jumped off the bed. He found a quiet corner away from it all, and began to change. Finally, with time to himself, he began processing what had happened. That was a demon. Oh my God, that was a real demon! And I almost died, and… and I was saved. I was saved by-
Fumbling around with his priestly top, something fell on the pebbled ground. His rosary.
He dropped his clothes, and slowly knelt down to grab it. Delicately, he held it up to the sky. A speck of blood glistened on the cross.
"...I'm gonna need some help."
A/N: Next chapter will be more lighthearted and have more characters from the show. AU inspired by the FAITH series.