The Long Way Home by Phillip Overton
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“Ohhhh!” Colleen cried out as her body began to convulse.
Rowena watched her strange antics as she continued to hold her hand in the circle while her clairvoyant looked like she was having an epileptic seizure. Her body shook as she bobbed up and down in the chair and began foaming at the mouth. All the while the other women gathered around the table continued to chant each letter that the planchette pointed to on the board.
“S-I-M-O-N-K-N-O-W-S.”
Rowena stared at the board in utter shock and disbelief. This couldn’t be happening, not here in her house. Finally it was Colleen that stunned the room into silence as she stood to her feet and broke the circle.
“Who dares claim dominion over this boy?” She bellowed with an unearthly voice that definitely was not her own.
Rowena looked up and saw that only the whites of her eyes were showing. Her body was stiff as a board and the corners of her mouth were white with foamed saliva. The remaining members of the circle sat there stunned, staring blankly at her. The sheer horror that gripped their bodies kept them frozen in their seats as they looked up at their friend who now stood possessed by a spirit.
“You have no authority over this boy!” The spirit possessing Colleen screamed evilly with her arm outstretched, bony fingers white at the knuckles pointing toward the doorway leading into the kitchen.
The remaining ladies still holding each other’s hands turned as one in the direction that Colleen was pointing, staring intently at the open doorway, and saw nothing. It was dark and empty!
Only the spirit that right now was possessing Colleen’s body could see the figure standing in the doorway of the kitchen and blocking Simon from the others prying eyes. Standing taller than the height of the doorway itself, was the apparition of an Angel, resplendent in a flowing green robe that shimmered like the ocean on a hot summer’s day. The robe itself was adorned with fine gold trim and green emeralds that glittered as though they were in brilliant sunlight. The face of the Angel was indiscernible. It appeared like bright clouds filled with lightning.
“I have authority by He who sends me.” The Angel spoke to the spirit that had taken over Colleen’s body. “You have no business here.”
“I despise you!” Colleen hissed across the table, sending a spray of spittle over her friends who sat silent and unaware of what was going on. Colleen continued to hiss while her mouth salivated and the whites of her eyes continued to rattle loosely in their sockets. “You have no right to interfere!”
“Be gone now, lest the one who has sent me comes down Himself!” The Angel commanded the spirit. With that he stretched out his arm in a powerful sweeping action sending Colleen, the Ouija board and candles flying across the room.
Colleen screamed as she was hurled across the dining room, much to the shock of the others who sat terrified as an icy gust of wind ripped across the table, sweeping everything in its path. They watched in horror as Colleen struck the far lounge room wall and fell to the floor in a heap before the house became totally shrouded in darkness. No sooner had the sudden gust of wind appeared from nowhere, it was then gone. Slamming the front door loudly as it left. The room was comfortably warm again.
Hilda flicked on the dining room light switch while the other ladies ran to Colleen’s aid, helping her to her feet. A small trickle of blood came from her left nostril and she looked as white as snow.
“What happened?” Tracey yelled from the table where she still remained frozen with fear in her chair.
“Oh, it’s alright now dear.” Colleen answered groggily as she got to her feet.
“Was that Carolyn that manifested herself?” Hilda asked.
“No, it wasn’t Carolyn’s spirit at all.” Colleen wiped at the blood coming from her nose. “I’m afraid it went wrong, we must have opened a doorway for an evil spirit to enter.”
Rowena turned and looked back at the doorway trying to make sense of what Colleen had just said and her breath caught in her throat. She caught a quick glimpse of Simon with his back turned to her as he walked away from the kitchen toward the back of the house, only he wasn’t alone.
“Simon.” She called after him, but there came no reply.
“What’s wrong Rowena, was Simon there?” Hilda asked.
“Yeah, I just saw him walk away.” Rowena got to her feet.
“My goodness! How long was he there for? Did he see what happened?” Hilda asked.
Rowena stood frozen to the ground, unable to move through the doorway into the kitchen. She was still paralysed, listening to the sound of their voices trailing away towards the back of the house.
“There was someone with him.” She spoke softly. Immediately the other women gathered around her speaking in hushed voices.
“Are you sure?” Colleen whispered.
“Yes, I couldn’t see who because it is dark but there was definitely someone with him, a man.”
“Oh my God, I can’t take this anymore.” Tracey suddenly got to her feet and raced across the room. “I’ve gotta go, I should never have gotten mixed up in this.”
“No, please wait Tracey. Everything is okay.” Colleen tried to stop her but to no avail. Tracey brushed past her and ran out the front door, a few moments later her car could be heard starting up and reversing down the driveway.
“What on earth have you done Colleen? Now there’s someone in my house.” Rowena pleaded.
“Stay calm ladies.” Colleen tried to put their minds at ease. “Rowena has probably seen his aura. It can happen at a time of heightened awareness. The boy will have the answers, we need to sit with him and do an aural reading. Then we can make sense of what happened tonight. Now, let’s all stick together.”
The six remaining ladies all hurried through the kitchen and across the living room floor, turning on every light switch they passed along the way. It was Rowena who reached Simon’s bedroom door first at the far end of the hallway and banged loudly on the door.