"Lay down on the coffee table," Father Ben instructed.
Joan hurried to the middle of the living room and sat down on the low wooden surface.
"Wait," Father Ben said before she had a chance to lie back. "I have something that might help." He got up from the sofa, reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain. He walked over and stood behind Joan. He draped the small item of jewelry across her chest and around her neck, fastening it at her nape.
Joan looked down and fingered the small metallic object hanging just above her bust. "The Star of David? Shouldn't it be a cross or a saint or something? I mean, this is a Catholic ritual isn't it? Not Jewish."
"You don't think they have demons in Judaism?" Father Ben countered. "I know that you're no longer religious. But don't you remember any stories from the book of Genesis?"
"Well, yeah ... of course ..."
"And wasn't Jesus Jewish?" he pointed out.
"I guess ..."
"So why does it seem so strange that I gave you that particular pendant?"
"Well, I don't know. I guess I just figured it would be a crucifix," Joan shrugged.
"Who's in change of this exorcism?" Father Ben asked rhetorically.
"Fine. Whatever." Joan rolled her eyes as she laid down on her back and looked up at the ceiling.
"Great, let's begin." Father Ben stood to Joan's left. He gazed down at the teenager and smiled. He then lowered his voice a few octaves and started chanting in a language, which most definitely was not English. In fact, Joan had absolutely no idea what tongue Father Ben was speaking. It did not sound even remotely familiar to her.
"Is that Latin?" she inquired.
The young priest ceased chanting and let out an irritated sigh. "We're only doing this for the placebo effect. So what difference does it make whether or not it's Latin?"
"Oh ... right. Sorry," Joan mumbled.
"Now if you don't have anymore questions, I'd like to get through this fake exorcism so I can enjoy the rest of my evening."
"Of course, Father. I won't say another word," Joan promised.
"Now where was I?" The handsome cleric resumed his incantations in the mysterious language.
He's probably just speaking gibberish, Joan reasoned as she looked up at him.
Joan tried to recall different films she had seen over the years that had involved demonic possession. It was not uncommon for her and her friends to watch horror movies at a slumber party. She remembered seeing The Exorcist, of course. She and her friends had also watched Exorcism of Emily Rose. And not long ago, they had streamed The Conjuring.
It was odd, Joan mused. Father Ben didn't seem to be doing anything resembling the rituals that she had seen in the movies. But then again, he was not performing a real exorcism. And the exorcisms depicted in the movies she had watched were not real either, for that matter. However, there was something strange about the way Father Ben was speaking. And looking at her.
In English, he disapprovingly asked, "So you punched your mother?"
"Yes," Joan replied in a quiet voice.
"Wait here, I'll be right back." He quickly exited the living room and walked down the hall to the kitchen. Joan swallowed nervously as she thought back to the violent action she had inflicted on her mother.
Father Ben soon returned holding a bowel of water in his right hand. He mumbled a few words and made a gesture with his left hand. At first Joan thought he was making the sign of the cross. But his hand did not exactly move the way she had expected it to. That was not how Father O'Connor moved his hand when he made the sign of the cross during Sunday morning mass, she observed.
"Did you punch her with your left or your right hand?" he queried.
"My right," Joan answered.
Father Ben dipped his fingers into the ceramic dish and sprinkled some water over Joan's right hand.
"Is that holy water? Will it purify me?" Joan asked hopefully.
"This is a placebo exorcism, Joan. It can purify you if you want it to. It all depends on whether or not you believe it will," he said. "But you'll still need to apologize to your mother," he told her in a slightly stern tone.
Joan silently nodded.
"You said last night you had a nightmare that a snake climbed into your mouth. And you think that it may have been a demon."
"Yes," Joan said solemnly.
The priest smirked slightly as he let droplets of water fall from his fingers onto her lips.
"And in your nightmare, did the snake crawl down your throat and into your stomach?"