Kissed by a Calamity (Kissed Series Book 4 of 6)

Chapter 3: Exorcism

As these 6 men in red robes walk in our door, I am dumbfounded. These men are the Pope's confidants, who he trusted to help make decisions for the entire Catholic church. Now they are here, in our living room, to help Talion and me with this mess.

How could all of this be happening?

Greeting each one, most of them do not speak English fluently, so Atticus is helping me welcome them into our home. He speaks 7 different languages, so that is a huge help for me.

As each one of these holy men enters, they immediately start to pray, and Talion does not look happy. He's sitting there, in the recliner, looking completely outraged by their visit.

We are in the center of this nightmare, so you would think he'd be a bit more gracious, considering these men flew all the way here, from the Vatican. Maybe Dan's feelings are seeping through, and if that's the case, these people are about to get an eye full. Whenever Dan was pushed too far, he would make that exact facial expression, which I remember all too well.

As though he heard me, like a switch went off in his brain, Talion stands up and comes over to us. With a nod to me, he begins to welcome our guests by shaking their hands. Atticus seems surprised by this immediate change in him too, but hopefully, Talion has just realized that these people are here for good. Also, with their help, maybe we can survive this disaster.

My husband is very strong-willed, he's been dealing with his brother since birth, so I pray we can fight him together.

When the 7th older gentleman enters, he's dressed in a 3-piece suit, unlike the rest of the cardinals. This man seems much younger, yet he has pure white hair. He looks very professional, more businesslike, I'd say.

"Hello Atticus, it's good to see you again, my son, and your help will be essential for this day." He says with a hug.

Turning to us, this man adds, "Mr. and Mrs. Astaroth, I am the Holy See's minister of foreign affairs and my name is Bishop Joseph Paul Fitzgerald. Due to the Holy Father's passing, I was asked by the church to come here and assist our Cardinals. Just so you know, this was very important to him and also, his dying wish. The Holy Father ordered his Cardinals to come and assist you in this matter. In the past, we have been known to send out our demonologist, like Mr. Ward, to help families with demonic possessions, but he felt so strongly about your situation, that we were instructed to come immediately." Bishop Fitzgerald explains.

Looking at this man in surprise, I ask, "The Holy Father, meaning the actual Pope sent you all here?"

He answers with a smile and says, "Yes, my child, The Pope. We will fight this entity with everything in our arsenal. I'm sure this comes as quite a shock, but as a bishop that the Holy Father sought fit to promote to this position, I've seen evidence that this was in the wind for a while now. I'm no stranger to these matters and have trained for this moment for over 6 years. During that time, the church has become more proactive in its dealings with these growing instances. The Holy Father felt that your case was different, though. He seemed to know this was more dangerous, right up until his death. He also felt that Dantalian Astaroth was more powerful than the rest and that we needed to assist in this matter fully."

"I'm sorry, how did the Pope know about us?" I ask nervously.

This man says softly, "Mrs. Astaroth, the man you knew as Dan, shut down the entire electrical grid around the world, including Vatican City. The Holy Father spoke with your President several times and we've been kept in the loop, you might say since all of that occurred. You see, that was just the catalyst or the first sign of the apocalypse. Since then, the other seals have broken one by one, just as it was written. We are in the midst of a cataclysm... We're at war with the Devil himself, and you need to remember that, my dear."