Chiara Marino and the Demons of Darkness

Chapter 8: Belief in the Un-Boo-Lievable

"I saw your notes," Cosmo told Chiara as he sat down at the lunch table with the others. "You guys really outdid yourselves this year."

"You're responsible for those?" Peter asked.

"We like to do sneaky acts of sunshine every now and then," Mac told him. "Chiara had the idea for the post-its back in junior high and we've been doing it ever since."

"Just think of all the hopeless teens struggling with confidence, or grades, or a bad home life," Riya said dramatically. "Those notes just might change their lives."

"I don't know about that," Cosmo challenged. "But it is nice."

"Actually, psychologically, it could change a life," Mac interjected. "Joseph Goebbels, the guy in charge of Hitler's propaganda once said, 'If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.' And look at the lives he changed for the worse with only words. Your mind naturally accepts what you hear or see repeated. So if all you hear are insults and put-downs, you could start to believe it. But maybe if people see our notes, they'll be reminded of the truth."

"Don't belittle what we do," Riya said with her nose in the air. "We're fighting the demons of darkness and depression."

"So get this," Zeke said. "Did you guys know that the Catholic Church still appoints exorcists? Isn't that weird? I mean, you'd think if people were getting possessed, it'd be all over the news or something."

Chiara stole a glance at Peter, watching for his reaction.

"In this day and age?" Mac said. Then she smiled. "I think anyone who believes in ghosts and demons is just ghoul-able."

"That's the spirit!" Cosmo agreed. "It's un-boo-lievable."

"Those beliefs are dangerous and can lead to pan-demon-ium."

"Really? Pandemonium?" Cosmo shook his head. "I ex-spector-ed more from you."

"I believe in demons," Chiara told Zeke.

She couldn't contain herself any longer. If Peter wasn't going to give her any hints, maybe she would give him some.

"And I think they can possess people."

"Bah. That's totally bunk," Cosmo disagreed. "Most cases are just strange syndromes. For example, there's a condition called Anti-NMDA Encephalitis that my dad was telling me about. It causes swelling in the brain. Patients have hallucinations, violent outbursts, and animal-like growling. Onlookers think it's an evil spirit, but it's just water on the brain."

"I agree there are a lot of conditions that people misunderstand," Chiara said. "However, there have been some strange cases that psychology and neurology can't explain."

"Oh?" Cosmo blinked repeatedly. "Enlighten me, by all means."

"Well, every exorcist I've read up on says that there are clear indicators when someone is possessed. They have super strength—"

"Probably just adrenaline," Cosmo interrupted.

"Maybe. But they often show pain at seeing religious items or hearing prayers. And they have supernatural knowledge. Like, maybe they can speak fluently in languages they've never even heard before, or they know how a stranger's loved ones died, or they know something that's happening halfway across town."

She could sense Peter watching her and felt a blush come to her cheeks.

"In many cases," she continued, "the people present reported hearing inexplicable sounds, fires starting out of nowhere, and seeing things or people levitate. The witnesses were not diagnosed with any disorders and some of them were even skeptical scientists. These cases are rare, but I think there's definitely something that science has yet to explain."