Previous Previews from Possession: 1. "Hadn’t she learned anything from her experiences with the demonic attacks about five years ago?"
2. "As I lit the candles I smiled to myself, feeling that this was only the beginning of a lot of good times to come. I was already having a good life so far, so I had no reason to believe that it wouldn’t continue."
3. "No sooner than he went and closed himself in his room, there was a “bang bang BANG!” on the front door."
4. "Some wanted to run the other way. They all decided to remain in their seats for now, but were ready to react if the scene playing out before them took a violent turn."
5. "I clicked the numbers on the screen again and again. Dread was starting to take over my body like a heavy, oily set of fingers. My stomach did a 180. I needed to decide what I was going to do and fast. I suddenly felt like I was going to pass out."
6. "I punched the numbers on the calculator again and again, getting more aggressive with the buttons each time, willing the numbers to come out right. Something was definitely wrong."
7. "No sooner were those words out of his mouth, then his face took on the contortions of someone who was in a lot of pain and mental anguish at the same time."
8. "She was usually good at reading people and her intuition was almost always correct. It may not have been intentional, but she had this feeling just the same."
9. "The only thing I left out was my pentacle necklace."
10. "I used to be heavily involved in this religion, even going to meetings and classes given by other practitioners to enlighten me further and to help me know more and better spells and rituals."
11. "She probably never said any since they were little kids and had to huddle on the cold wooden floor of their house to keep warm."
12. "No matter what came about in the future, whether a spirit decided to manifest itself to her there later, she was ready."
13. "Now here I was, on the cusp of the age of twenty-two, relaxing on a bench by the walking trails in our waterfront neighborhood, pondering my good life and just enjoying the view of the water across from me. I felt on top of the world; I had everything I wanted. I supposed I could thank my previous involvement with wicca for that."
14. "...but Liz could see the disappointment- and worry- written all over both of their faces."
15. It was about six-thirty on a hot July evening typical of Baltimore- the temp was still about ninety-seven degrees with close to 70 percent humidity. I had almost two and a half hours to spend before it started to get dark."
16. "… all he knew was that when he would start talking about spiritual warfare to other Christians, they would look at him like he had three heads and quickly change the subject."
17. "Fear stabbed Liz in the stomach, as she tried to figure out what was going on with Alisa."
18. "When Barb swung the door open, Alisa, Jack and even Liz let out a gasp. There was a huge hole in the floor in front of the sink. If you wanted to get to the claw foot tub or the toilet, you’d have to make a sizable jump. Liz leaned over to take a closer look at the hole and it was just as she feared- the main floor’s ceiling joists were showing through the other side. It was like the innards of some big wooden monster."
19. "Something was telling him that this woman could bring an element to his team that he hadn’t seen before."
20. "Each screen reflected three identical numbers. Three little harmless numbers. That’s all they were, but I was horrified to see them, as I knew what they meant.
666."
21. "I shook my head to try to fight off the thoughts. I figured I would go ahead and save that day for later on in the summer. I truly did not know what was going on with me today- I really did like my job and always looked forward to going in."
22. "During the entire tour so far, Barb looked and acted pretty uncomfortable. Liz noticed that she paused for a while before leading them down into the basement."
23. "From the time the door was opened, a strong musty smell- the smell of a house left vacant long ago- assaulted their nostrils, causing Liz to inwardly recoil. As they walked into the living and dining rooms, Liz could see everyone’s footprints that were left behind in the quarter-inch thick dust on the hardwood floors."
24. "So many of them were having a hard time of it- especially financially. They could barely afford to pay their bills, let alone splurge on the finer things in life. Every time you turned around, they were always talking about how they did not know how they were going to pay one unexpected bill after another, or how they were going to be able to buy something they needed. The stress of it all was evident in their faces day after day."
25. "The pastor braced himself for that inevitable “dirty body” smell as he approached the young man. Just as he reached out to place his hand on the young man’s shoulder, the young man flung himself down on the floor, burying his face in the carpet."
26. "There was one last thing I did before shoving that large box under the basement stairs, however, and I made sure that Karen wasn’t home to see it. I performed one last ritual. Placing my pentacle rug on the floor of the basement, I set one candle on each of the five points- two white, three green- for prosperity, success, and protection for my family."
27. "Usually they swaddled themselves up tight in those blankets, but not tonight. That night they kept their old tattered winter coats on underneath those blankets."
28. "A small leak had turned into a large one and collapsed about a tenth of the ceiling, which happened to be right next to their bed."
29. "Just as I finished and closed the circle, three of the candles mysteriously went out and I felt a blast of cold air."
30. “Stay here,” he said. Gingerly, he tiptoed over to the huge hole in the floor."
31. "Opening her eyes, fighting for a way to reach the surface again, she saw the hands that were holding her down and discovered they were not hands at all. They were claws. Long, dirty yellow-brown fingernails were attached
to rotten wrinkled fingers. Finally, she felt the grip on her shoulders loosen and she was able to pop up to the surface, coughing and sputtering as she did so. Frantically, she drained the tub, jumped out and dried off. She didn’t
think she was going to enjoy taking a bath any longer."
From Diary of a Demonologist...
Her second thought was that maybe an animal or worse, an intruder had gotten into the house somehow. Or maybe it was someone who was hurt and had come in seeking help?
She got her answer quicker than she wanted as suddenly, a figure started rising out of the puddle. Megan wasn’t relaxed at all anymore.
Eyes wide, she couldn’t make out any limbs, only that this figure was not human and that it was very tall; at least over six feet.
The smell of sewage was almost overwhelming now.
Finally, the figure had completely risen out of the pool of blood and stood there before her. Its skin, or whatever it had that could pass for skin, was almost as red as the blood that surrounded its clawed feet. It had no hair, yellow eyes, deep grooves all over its face, and with its mouth partly open, Megan could see broken, rotted, yellow teeth.
She had to steady herself on the table behind her as a terrible realization hit home and she felt herself growing faint. She knew now. It was the ugly man. She remembered Melanie talking about him quite often but she was the only person who was able to see him. Megan guessed maybe he changed his mind.
“Hello, Megan”, he said, in a low, gravelly voice.
Megan’s jaw dropped open wide as she decided whether to make a run for it or reply to him. It didn’t matter anyway. Legs locked in place, her feet were frozen to the floor.
“I have your Dougie here with me, Megan”, he said, edging a little closer to her. “Want to see him? Better yet, want to come be with him?”
Megan fell down in the chair behind her trying to scream, but the only sound that would come out of her mouth was a half-whimper.
2. "As I lit the candles I smiled to myself, feeling that this was only the beginning of a lot of good times to come. I was already having a good life so far, so I had no reason to believe that it wouldn’t continue."
3. "No sooner than he went and closed himself in his room, there was a “bang bang BANG!” on the front door."
4. "Some wanted to run the other way. They all decided to remain in their seats for now, but were ready to react if the scene playing out before them took a violent turn."
5. "I clicked the numbers on the screen again and again. Dread was starting to take over my body like a heavy, oily set of fingers. My stomach did a 180. I needed to decide what I was going to do and fast. I suddenly felt like I was going to pass out."
6. "I punched the numbers on the calculator again and again, getting more aggressive with the buttons each time, willing the numbers to come out right. Something was definitely wrong."
7. "No sooner were those words out of his mouth, then his face took on the contortions of someone who was in a lot of pain and mental anguish at the same time."
8. "She was usually good at reading people and her intuition was almost always correct. It may not have been intentional, but she had this feeling just the same."
9. "The only thing I left out was my pentacle necklace."
10. "I used to be heavily involved in this religion, even going to meetings and classes given by other practitioners to enlighten me further and to help me know more and better spells and rituals."
11. "She probably never said any since they were little kids and had to huddle on the cold wooden floor of their house to keep warm."
12. "No matter what came about in the future, whether a spirit decided to manifest itself to her there later, she was ready."
13. "Now here I was, on the cusp of the age of twenty-two, relaxing on a bench by the walking trails in our waterfront neighborhood, pondering my good life and just enjoying the view of the water across from me. I felt on top of the world; I had everything I wanted. I supposed I could thank my previous involvement with wicca for that."
14. "...but Liz could see the disappointment- and worry- written all over both of their faces."
15. It was about six-thirty on a hot July evening typical of Baltimore- the temp was still about ninety-seven degrees with close to 70 percent humidity. I had almost two and a half hours to spend before it started to get dark."
16. "… all he knew was that when he would start talking about spiritual warfare to other Christians, they would look at him like he had three heads and quickly change the subject."
17. "Fear stabbed Liz in the stomach, as she tried to figure out what was going on with Alisa."
18. "When Barb swung the door open, Alisa, Jack and even Liz let out a gasp. There was a huge hole in the floor in front of the sink. If you wanted to get to the claw foot tub or the toilet, you’d have to make a sizable jump. Liz leaned over to take a closer look at the hole and it was just as she feared- the main floor’s ceiling joists were showing through the other side. It was like the innards of some big wooden monster."
19. "Something was telling him that this woman could bring an element to his team that he hadn’t seen before."
20. "Each screen reflected three identical numbers. Three little harmless numbers. That’s all they were, but I was horrified to see them, as I knew what they meant.
666."
21. "I shook my head to try to fight off the thoughts. I figured I would go ahead and save that day for later on in the summer. I truly did not know what was going on with me today- I really did like my job and always looked forward to going in."
22. "During the entire tour so far, Barb looked and acted pretty uncomfortable. Liz noticed that she paused for a while before leading them down into the basement."
23. "From the time the door was opened, a strong musty smell- the smell of a house left vacant long ago- assaulted their nostrils, causing Liz to inwardly recoil. As they walked into the living and dining rooms, Liz could see everyone’s footprints that were left behind in the quarter-inch thick dust on the hardwood floors."
24. "So many of them were having a hard time of it- especially financially. They could barely afford to pay their bills, let alone splurge on the finer things in life. Every time you turned around, they were always talking about how they did not know how they were going to pay one unexpected bill after another, or how they were going to be able to buy something they needed. The stress of it all was evident in their faces day after day."
25. "The pastor braced himself for that inevitable “dirty body” smell as he approached the young man. Just as he reached out to place his hand on the young man’s shoulder, the young man flung himself down on the floor, burying his face in the carpet."
26. "There was one last thing I did before shoving that large box under the basement stairs, however, and I made sure that Karen wasn’t home to see it. I performed one last ritual. Placing my pentacle rug on the floor of the basement, I set one candle on each of the five points- two white, three green- for prosperity, success, and protection for my family."
27. "Usually they swaddled themselves up tight in those blankets, but not tonight. That night they kept their old tattered winter coats on underneath those blankets."
28. "A small leak had turned into a large one and collapsed about a tenth of the ceiling, which happened to be right next to their bed."
29. "Just as I finished and closed the circle, three of the candles mysteriously went out and I felt a blast of cold air."
30. “Stay here,” he said. Gingerly, he tiptoed over to the huge hole in the floor."
31. "Opening her eyes, fighting for a way to reach the surface again, she saw the hands that were holding her down and discovered they were not hands at all. They were claws. Long, dirty yellow-brown fingernails were attached
to rotten wrinkled fingers. Finally, she felt the grip on her shoulders loosen and she was able to pop up to the surface, coughing and sputtering as she did so. Frantically, she drained the tub, jumped out and dried off. She didn’t
think she was going to enjoy taking a bath any longer."
From Diary of a Demonologist...
Her second thought was that maybe an animal or worse, an intruder had gotten into the house somehow. Or maybe it was someone who was hurt and had come in seeking help?
She got her answer quicker than she wanted as suddenly, a figure started rising out of the puddle. Megan wasn’t relaxed at all anymore.
Eyes wide, she couldn’t make out any limbs, only that this figure was not human and that it was very tall; at least over six feet.
The smell of sewage was almost overwhelming now.
Finally, the figure had completely risen out of the pool of blood and stood there before her. Its skin, or whatever it had that could pass for skin, was almost as red as the blood that surrounded its clawed feet. It had no hair, yellow eyes, deep grooves all over its face, and with its mouth partly open, Megan could see broken, rotted, yellow teeth.
She had to steady herself on the table behind her as a terrible realization hit home and she felt herself growing faint. She knew now. It was the ugly man. She remembered Melanie talking about him quite often but she was the only person who was able to see him. Megan guessed maybe he changed his mind.
“Hello, Megan”, he said, in a low, gravelly voice.
Megan’s jaw dropped open wide as she decided whether to make a run for it or reply to him. It didn’t matter anyway. Legs locked in place, her feet were frozen to the floor.
“I have your Dougie here with me, Megan”, he said, edging a little closer to her. “Want to see him? Better yet, want to come be with him?”
Megan fell down in the chair behind her trying to scream, but the only sound that would come out of her mouth was a half-whimper.
