It was late into winter’s unbearable cold as Father Auckland awoke from the ringing of his phone. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he slipped into his plain tan slippers and walked into the kitchen. Tiled floor shimmered like a still lake as a sliver of sunlight peeked through crooked blinds, dividing the room in two. On one side, Father Auckland stood, the hands of sleep still being beaten away by the incessant ringing of the phone. The counter space on this side of the room was pristine, with not even a trace amount of dust to be found. Various tins and jars lined the spot where the counter and wall met, all with handwritten labels announcing their contents. Not that Father Auckland would’ve needed them though, he had kept them organized in the same order for years. Ever since he moved in, they lined up as sugar, salt, garlic (cooking), Mother’s Spice, paprika, thyme, and ash.  

Maybe I’ll treat myself to a hearty breakfast, Father Auckland thought to himself as he walked past the fridge and plucked the phone off the wall. 

“Hello?” Father Auckland chirped, doing his best to sound professional, like he had been awake hours before, but with the sound of jovial  laughter roaring from the receiver, he knew he had failed.

“Greetings Father! I hope I didn’t wake you!”

“It’s quite alright Cardinal Manera,” Father Auckland declared as he scooted back towards the fridge. “I had meant to be awake by now anyway.”

“Up all night were you?”

“Yes…something like that.”

Father Auckland opened the fridge while precariously balancing the phone on his shoulder, pulling the cord under the door as he scavenged through his fridge. 

“Well I’d hate to cause you to lose any more sleep, but this isn’t a social call, Father.” Cardinal Manera’s voice dropped its jovial tone. Father Auckland clenched his teeth as he reached past various vials and bottles of colored liquids to grab the ‘Packodozen’ eggs in the back of the fridge.

“I figured not,” Father Auckland whispered, pulling the eggs forward with surgical speed.

“Have you an answer for the church yet? Any findings on Adam Levi’s…condition?”

 Father Auckland placed the eggs on the counter and shut the door in one full turn, wrapping the cord around his hand in the process. 

On the other side of the dividing light, a small table hid in the darkness, adjacent to a wooden door. A crucifix looked down on the various envelopes and photos spread across the table. The gold shone through the darkness of the room, but Christ’s figure on the cross was virtually nonexistent aside from the vague silhouette. 

“There hasn’t been much progress,” Father Auckland mumbled as he did his best to bring the phone with him to the table. The cord of the phone was doing flips as Father Auckland yanked to give it slack. In front of him, a set of photos were sprawled out. The first showed a family of three in front of a small house, with a young girl standing front and center and her parents behind her, hands on her shoulders. They wore matching cashmere sweaters and matching smiles. Father Auckland paid no mind to them though, creasing the photo in half so only one person remained. The man to the right.

Adam Levi. 

“I’ve sifted through everything I've been given, there don’t appear to be any abnormalities.” Father Auckland glanced at the other photos, all showing more of the same. The family posing for a portrait or photo, and everything looking uniform. Smiles wide enough to see the whole set of teeth, neat and tidy clothing, a clean environment, it all lined up. 

“I’m looking at the photos now, and there’s nothing that would necessitate our involvement,” Father Auckland flipped through photo after photo, his brow furrowing at the stagnation these photographs induced. “I’ve got photos of him and the Misses, him and his daughter, a few of just him, and they all don’t suggest any paranormal interruption. Besides, he’s been in my custody for a few days now, and there have been no signs of possession or corruption here either.”

“You must look harder,” Cardinal Manera interrupted. “What happened that night was vile. Wicked. An affront to God. We cannot allow this to continue .” 

Father Auckland sighed and began sifting through the photos to try and find a photo from that night. They have one for pretty much every day, they’ve gotta have one for that night, Father Auckland thought to himself. He tossed each photo aside as he listened to Cardinal Manera speak.

“If you don’t have an answer by the end of the week, we will have to take matters into our own hands, and this includes debriefing and relocation on YOUR part, Father Auckland.” There was a moment of silence between Father Auckland and the phone.

“Do I make myself clear, Father?”

“Transparent,” Father Auckland groaned, letting go of the phone and letting it fling across the room and into the cabinets. Dread of his livelihood being on the line outweighed dread of the phone possibly being broken as Father Auckland plucked up photos and held them between his finger and thumb like a poker hand. It didn’t make sense. Adam Levi showed no prior signs of spiritual imbalance nor witchcraft of some sort, and his home was found clean of any voodoo or outside interference- yet there were up to five witnesses who claimed to see Adam Levi ‘participating in feats beyond mortal capability’- as the dossier put it. Father Auckland slid the vanilla folder sitting on the edge of the table over and flipped it open, strewing aside misalanions papers until he had gotten to one with the header NIGHT OF THE INCIDENT.  Perhaps one more read through could spell something…

NIGHT OF THE INCIDENT 

It was on the night of 12/15/1989 when church officials were documenting upticks of sanctus energy from the eastern side of DETROIT. The energy seemed only to grow as time moved on, and the local sanctum lieutenant requested permission to investigate immediately. Given the nature of the anomaly, permission was given by the on-sight captain and an investigation commenced-

Father Auckland rubbed the bridge of his nose as he flipped to the next page.

Upon arriving at the location, Father Josiah was sent to investigate as the on-site-team (OST) waited on standby. As is dictated in the NATO-SANCTUM treaty, Father Josiah knocked on the door and requested the subject (Adam Levi) give permission to enter the premises. It was at that moment when the subject pulled Father Josiah into the house and slammed the door. By the time the OST had mobilized and kicked in the door, Father Josiah's condition was far too severe to render aid.-

Father Auckland shut his eyes for a moment, shivering. He never had the heart to be a missionary in normal circumstances, but to be on the ground during a breach exorcism? The very idea turned Father Auckland’s blood to ice. Flipping through this dossier, Father Auckland scanned page after page, trying to find a photograph included within its thin vanilla walls. About one-third of the way through, Father Auckland stopped at a picture that was taken during the initial breach. It was blurry, but details could still be picked from it, if you were desperate enough. Adam Levi stood at the end of a hallway, staring horrified at the team as they made their way into the home, the flash from the camera casting a long, scraggly shadow on the wall. He wore a white button down with khakis, thick square glasses, and black church shoes.

Strangely enough, his outfit was completely clean, despite the visceral carnage that had taken place just out of frame. Father Auckland brought the photo closer to his face, squinting at every single grain of color in the photo like a cat staring down a mouse. Something wasn’t right. In this photo, Adam Levi was moments away from being seized by the on-sight team, and yet his focus remained on something else. It took him a moment, but Father Auckland eventually discovered what caught Adam’s eye (and his own). 

It was miniscule, almost imperceptible, Father Auckland was surprised that  he managed to find it. In the reflection of his glasses, there was a faint outline of a man staring back at Adam. Father Auckland couldn't make out much, after all, he had about a quarter of an inch to look at, but he could see the unmistakable outline of a man in some kind of suit. This wouldn’t stand out, were it not for the fact that no record of such a man was documented in the dossier. There were thirteen or so men in the team, and not one spotted him. Placing the photo back on the table, Father Auckland took a breath. The sudden boost in paranormal readings and Adam Levi’s ‘deer in headlights’ look had an explanation now. There was no possession at all, Father Auckland deduced, rushing to his room. 

With the revelation of what had transpired that night, Father Auckland felt his blood run cold. Digging through his bedside table, he pulled out a small golden crucifix. The reason Adam Levi showed no signs of possession was simply because there WAS no possession! Father Auckland steadied his heart as he entered back into the kitchen. The room was frigid, with Father Auckland’s breath wafting through the air like the exhaust from a car. He eyed the door adjacent with the table, gripping his crucifix with a white knuckled fist. The influx of energy with no trace of interference could only mean one thing, Father Auckland thought to himself as he twisted the brass knob. Adam Levi was being coerced! A demon acting on its own allows it to have a lot more range and ability, at the cost of losing direct control over its victim. But what made Father Auckland’s hair stand on end wasn’t the chill of the basement stairs he descended, nor was it the sub-freezing temperature of the basement itself. If a demon is acting on its own without any prior obligation, it can appear at any time. And anywhere.

The basement was in complete disarray, with books scattered on the floor and the furniture completely shattered. Adam Levi had been restrained on a small bed for a few days, but now the steel framed bed was snapped in half and upturned. It was completely black thanks to the single light bulb being shattered, and all Father Auckland could see past the sliver of light from the upstairs were two silhouettes. Adam Levi stood back to him, and was completely silent. His clothes were ragged, resembling mummy cloth more than the khakis and button up he donned when he was brought in. 

Father Auckland raised his crucifix when he saw who was standing beside him. Almost completely hidden, aside from his crimson suit, was the demon present in the photo. He wore a blank expression, and seemed more bored than malicious. Still, this did not deter Father Auckland as he stepped forward and delivered a command, barking it like a rottweiler.

“Reveal thy name to me, demon!” 

The demon in the suit raised its eyebrows. Although it looked completely human (aside from the fact it had to bow its head to fit in the basement), it gave off an aura that would melt the confidence away from even the bravest soldier of Christ. 

“You needn’t worry about me, papist, I was about to take my leave.” The demon looked down at Adam Levi and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Come, Adam, let’s get you back to your family, then we can continue our discussion and-”

“Be silent! I will not allow you to taint this man’s soul and doom him to eternal damnation!” 

Father Auckland took another step forward. He was now mere feet away from the pair. 

“Adam, we mustn’t doddle. Grab my hand and I shall take you away from this place.”

“Do you not hear me, demon?” Father Auckland gritted his teeth and took another step. By now he was within arms length of the demon, and he could almost feel the energy the demon gave off like static electricity. Father Auckland’s confidence was stripped away though, as the demon simply glanced down at him and snatched his crucifix right from his hands.

“Yes I hear you, your voice carries like screeching winds.” It crumpled up the crucifix like it was made of paper before tossing it aside. The shock of having his only form of protection batted away like a cat with its yarn ball sent Father Auckland sprawling backwards. Before he could scream out in protest, the demon had grabbed Adam Levi’s hand. The two began glowing a bright crimson as the demon nodded its head at Father Auckland. Then, within a blink of an eye, the two blipped out of sight. 

Father Auckland stumbled up the stairs, tripping over the lip of the doorframe and falling hard on his knees. Wincing, he crawled over to the phone and put his ear up to the receiver, punching in the phone number he was given when he started his priesthood. After a few rings, the familiar voice of  Cardinal Manera rang through.

“Oh, Father Auckland! That was rather quick, have you found the source of Adam Levi’s condition so soon?”

“ Cardinal Manera… we may have a problem.”