Chapter 51:

(Father Keith) A Demonic Presence

Cafe Eris


Today marks the day I attempt to contact the demon in Cafe Eris.

I have brought all of my heaviest duty equipment to prepare, but something tells me I won’t need anything to see it in the physical world. This demon seems to be on the highest level; its aura is incredibly strong. I can feel it whenever I’m in the area, and it only grows when I get closer to the establishment.

I contacted the owner via cellphone to discuss the exorcism. When I called him, my cellular device started acting up. Normally my device will malfunction when I’m in the presence of something demonic, so I knew that he must have been in the cafe. The demon must be the worst one I will encounter.

The owner, also known as Scanta, told me about any possible signs of a demonic presence, he claims that he never noticed anything before Greg Gory had informed him of the possession. Even now, Scanta believes there is no demon in his cafe, but he insists I try to find it. I am glad he does not resist the exorcism, this establishment is in dire need of spiritual help.

Scanta told me he would close the cafe for a day to let me do my job. He left the keys in the mailbox, and he said he would not be there to watch. He claimed he had other commitments during this time, so it would work out perfectly. I’m glad the universe seems to be on my side.

As I approached the cafe from the outside, I expected to feel the hair on my arm rising. Normally my pupils will begin to dilate, and I can hear a voice in my head telling me to turn away.

This time, however, I felt absolutely nothing.

There was no presence, no sense of impending doom, no demonic energy.

All I could feel was the presence of a small spirit.

Had something taken over? Was the demon driven out?

No, this is not possible. The current energy could not have possibly taken over the strong demonic energy from before.

I needed to hurry. Something was wrong, and I could possibly save a spirit from purgatory on earth.

I found the keys inside the mailbox and let myself inside. Even inside, there was no demonic presence. Just the small spirit’s energy, getting slightly stronger. I could feel it with me, and it was near the back room.

I locked the door behind me and found my way into the back. I placed my equipment on the table and decided to use the spirit box in my first attempt at contact.

I placed the hand-held machine onto the table and turned it on. The static filled the silence, and I winced at the sudden loud noises. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind.

“Hello, spirits. I am reaching out to contact those who come in light and love. I refuse to contact any demons in this space. You are not welcome. Please say something to confirm you are here.”

I stared at the box and only static talked back to me. No response.

“Do you have a name?”

Nothing. Only static. I sighed, this would take some time.

“My name is Father Keith. I am here to help you. I understand there is a demonic presence that resides in this cafe, but right now I believe it is not here. Is this true?”

I waited for a couple seconds before a very clear “Yes” sounded throughout the room.

The voice was so clear, but something was off.

It didn’t come from the spirit box.

It came from behind me.

I slowed my breathing. I did not want to be frightened by any sudden movement. By its energy alone I could tell it was the small spirit I felt from outside.

I slowly moved to turn off the spirit box. I kept my back turned to the spirit, it was still there.

“Hello,” I said quietly, acknowledging its presence. I received no answer, but it was definitely still behind me.

“I do not mean to harm you in any way, I just want to help. I am going to turn around now, okay?”

I heard a small hum in acknowledgement. It sounded like a girl.

I turned around and was met with the sight of a young woman, dressed in a frilly dress. Her skin was slightly translucent. She looked angry, but I could tell she was more frightened.

I gave her a small nod, “May I know your name, spirit?”

She took a step back. “You’re just here to get rid of me, aren’t you?” her quiet voice wavered.

I thought about my next words carefully. She seems afraid of me, and I doubt she wants to leave. Does she have an attachment to this place?

“I’m sure you’re aware that your physical body is no longer alive, yes?”

She scoffed, “I’m not an idiot.”

She seemed to be more relaxed now. I smiled at her attitude, it reminded me of someone.

“I only want to help you, spirit.”

“You said that already. And the name’s Lolita, stop calling me spirit. It’s weird.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. She gave me a funny look.

“I know you probably want to stay here, but your soul needs to be at peace.”

She scowled, “Listen up Mr. Ghostbuster, I’m perfectly fine here. I’m not going anywhere, I’ve already found my ‘peace’ here. Now go away, please and thank you.”

“Why is it that you want to stay?”

She looked at me suspiciously, “As if I’ll tell you.”

“I just want to know, can a man not be curious?”

Her nose scrunched up. “Fine. There’s someone I don’t wanna leave behind, okay? Not a big deal.”

How ironic. “I know how you feel, Lolita.” I looked down, smiling sadly.

This seemed to pique her interest. “What do you mean?”

I pulled out a chair from under the table and took a seat. I gestured for her to join me. Once she was settled, I began my story.

“I always wanted to be an exorcist. I thought it was cool, and I grew up in a religious household. It was only natural. Everything was easy for me to achieve, and I became an exorcist with no problem.”

I paused, remembering all of what I was about to say. I needed a break.

“Okay, so basically you were made to be an exorcist. Thank you for flexing on me, but what does that have to do with knowing how I feel?” Lolita seemed annoyed, but she was still sitting in front of me.

“My career was going great, and I even found a woman who loved me. She was my soulmate, I think.” Thinking of her brought a smile to my face.

Lolita looked like she wanted to ask something, so I nodded to her.

“Was?”

“Was.”

She smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t look Lolita in the eye. It reminded me of a young version of her.

“It’s alright.” A comforting silence surrounded us.

You know, it’s kind of weird that I’m confiding in a ghost right now, but I continued.

“She had so many health conditions, and I knew she did. I still let myself fall for her. It was both the best and worst decision of my life. She was my life. She was everything.”

I blinked back my tears. “I was offered a job overseas that would only take two days. Two measly days. She was in and out of the hospital at this point, but she told me to go. She was so happy for me, and I wanted to make her proud. Plus, even though she was at the hospital, she was relatively stable. Nothing out of the ordinary. ”

When I took a pause, I looked up to see Lolita. She was listening very intently. It made me smile.

“What a difference two days can make, huh? After that job I had finally made enough to properly propose to her, but it was too late. I came home to a message from the hospital, a bunch of legal documents to sign, too many ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ notes, and a house that I could not call a home.”

I looked down and let my tears fall.

“So when she passed on, I let myself go. I could not stop trying to contact her. I needed to talk to her. I had so much to say! I was an exorcist, for Pete’s sake. I tried to find her everywhere. At home, at her work place, at my workplace, at her parent’s place, I just couldn’t find her. I was crushed. Up to this point, I had only successful exorcisms. It was my God given ability to talk to ghosts! I So-”

“Keith, it’s okay.”

I looked up at her. Her eyes were shining, and I don’t think it was because of her translucency.

I sucked in a shuddering breath. “So… Why is it, that the one time I needed my abilities the most… Why couldn’t I see her?”

Before I could brush away some stray tears, a tissue was placed in front of me. Lolita looked at me with a concerned expression. I thanked her quietly and collected myself.

“Listen, if you don’t want to tell me, I completely understa-”

“No. I need to tell you.” My resolve had hardened. If I could save Lolita, I would be saving a part of her too.

Lolita hesitated, but nodded at me to continue.

“I tried for a year. Every single day I tried to contact her. Just talk to her one last time. I needed to tell her my plan, I needed to tell her that I wanted to spend my life with her! And finally one day, I found her. She was in our room, sitting on the bed and facing the window. I sat beside her with tears in my eyes. I could finally tell her everything! But when she turned to face me, she had tears in her eyes. She looked tired. I kept asking her what happened, and yet she wouldn’t respond. She just stared at me with those sad, sad eyes. I couldn’t bear to look at her. I started to get angry, and yet she still wouldn’t respond. I had cried so hard I thought I ran out of tears. And when I finally stopped, she placed her cold hand on my shoulder and told me something.” My voice cracked near the end of my ramblings.

She looked at me softly, “What did she tell you?”

“She told me to let her go. She couldn’t move on if I was still searching for her.”

I looked up when I heard Lolita sobbing quietly. I gave her a smile, and she gave me a wobbly one back.

“That was… tragic, I guess. You’re lucky I like stories like that.” She tried to laugh, but a couple sobs came through as well.

I pulled myself together quickly. “Indeed.”

I waited for her to compose herself before I went back to our previous conversation topic. “So you understand why I want to help you, yes?”

She sniffled, “Yeah, yeah, I get it, but my situation is the other way around. I’m a ghost that fell in love with a human. Your story was sad and all, and I’m honestly very sorry for your loss, but does that even apply to me in this circumstance?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Love between the physical realm and the spiritual realm is prohibited. Not that there are laws surrounding it, but it just cannot happen. It only ends in heartbreak, nothing more. You must pass on, and wait for him to join you. You will find eternal love together that way, if you are truly meant to be. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been deceased?”

She looked down, suddenly very quiet. “Too many years.”

“I can help you find peace, if you let me. Spirits aren’t meant to stay here for too long or else they forget themselves. You can still guide the one you love from the spiritual realm, you do not truly leave him behind.”

“Can’t I just wait until he dies?” She whined.

“As I said before, you’ve been here too long. It’s only a matter of time before you forget your purpose and get stuck here forever. Now Lolita, please tell me. What was the one thing you longed for before your passing? What was the one thing you wished for while you were alive, but did not achieve?”

She looked at me dead in the eye, pausing for a second.

“I was always so lonely.

The one thing I wanted was true love.

Is that too much to ask for?” Her eyes were watering.

I placed my hand on the table with my palm towards the ceiling. She placed her cold hand on top of mine.

“No, Lolita. It’s not.”