Authors: Russ Scalzo
Eli
shook his head, “Good idea.
It would be a
privilege to pray
with you guys. Isn’t it
wild that the U.S. government is getting involved in all this?”
Jack l
ooked poignantly at him and said,
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg
,
Eli. Just the tip of
the iceberg.”
The
two men bowed their heads and began to pray
,
and as they did
, the
time seemed to fly
by. Jack lifted his
head and saw
a
car in the
driveway, but didn’t know who
s
e
it was. He thought for a s
econd
that it might be Emily’s, but Frank
walked
up and tapped on the door.
“Hey
,
Jack
. Y
ou ready to go?”
Jack
opened the door.
“Hey
,
Frank
. Y
ou’re right on time. Pastor
Eli is here. We have been spending some time in prayer waiting for you. Come
in.”
“Hi
Pastor,
”
Frank
greeted Eli.
“Hey
,
Frank. Good to see you
again
. Jack tells me you
have another case to go on today.”
”Yeah,
another strange one for sure.”
Frank
came in a
nd
sat down. “You have been praying
,
huh?”
Pastor
Eli
stood
up and said, “I think we should take a few
more
minutes and pray together before you and Jack head over
there.”
Frank
looked at Jack a little hesitantly.
“Ok
ay, I’ve
never
actually
prayed
with
anyone before
,
but I guess there’s a
first time for everything.”
“You
can pray out loud or to yourself
. I
t doesn’t m
atter. God hears
it all,
”
Jack
reassured him.
They
stood together and prayed for about ten minutes
,
then
decided it was time to
move out. Pastor Eli drove off,
said he would continue to pray for them and
asked that they
let
him know how things turned out.
Jack
jumped in Frank’s car and off they went. It was only about a
twenty-minute
drive to
Edgewater Drive where the house with all the strange activ
ity was. They walked up to the
house
of the woman
that filed the
complaint and knocked on the door.
The
door opened and a large woman about fifty years old stood before them.
Frank
introduced himself
, then Jack. “Hello, my
name is Special A
gent Frank
Lederman
and this is
Jack Bennett
,
Consultant
for the FBI. Are you Katie Warren?”
“Yes, I’m Mrs. Warren,”
the woman responded.
“We are here to
investigate a complaint you filed concerning the house next door.”
“Well, it’s about time
someone took this seriously. Those first two officers just breezed in and out
and did nothing. Nothing at all. I hope you two gentleman are prepared to conduct
a proper investigation.”
Frank glanced over at
Jack who was trying to keep a straight face.
“Yes, ma’am. Is this the
house in question?” Frank indicated the house next door.
“Yes, that’s it.
Strange goings-on over there, I’ll tell you. When they moved in, there were
three of them – a man, a woman, and a young child… a girl. But I never see them
come out of the house. I know they’re in there, because I can see them walking
around upstairs late at night.”
“It appears you keep a
pretty good eye on things.”
“That’s right. I got a
right to know what’s going on next door to me. That doesn’t make me a bad
person,” Mrs. Warren retorted defensively.
“No ma’am, it doesn’t.
We’ll check it out and let you know what we find out.”
“You boys better watch
yourself. That place is evil. It’s got the hooey on it.”
The men started down
the sidewalk and Frank looked over at Jack who couldn’t contain himself any
longer.
”The hooey? And what’s
with all the ‘ma’am’ stuff? I feel like I’m watching Dan Aykroyd in Dragnet.”
Frank gave him a
sideways look and said, “When I’m on official FBI business, that’s how I roll.”
Jack tried not to
smile. “That’s how you roll? All I can say is watch out for the hooey!”
Jack’s smile quickly
wore off as they approached the front door of the house next door. It was a
two-story building in desperate need of repair with a small front porch that
looked like it could easily fall down at any moment. He could sense something
immediately; it was a feeling he knew all too well. Frank knocked on the door
and they could hear footsteps. When it opened, a tall thin man appeared before
them. He was in his forties with a full beard and long hair. He looked like he
hadn’t slept in days, if not weeks.
“What do you want?” the
man practically shouted at them. “I ain’t buying nothin’ and I don’t want nothing
so get the hell off my porch!”
Frank spoke first, “Sir,
are you Raymond Hillerbrand?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
the man snapped back.
“We are here because of
a complaint that was filed with the FBI. May we come in and talk with you for a
minute?”
“The FBI? We haven’t
done anything wrong. Who complained? That old lady next door? She ain’t nothin’
but an old busybody. Always snooping around looking for trouble. She better
watch it. It just might come her way one day if you know what I mean.”
Hillerbrand glanced at
Jack. His face twitched slightly. Though only for mere second, Jack picked up
on it.
Frank continued, “Sir,
just the same, we need to ask you a few questions.”
“Any questions you have,
you can ask me right here. No need to come in my house unless you got a
warrant.”
Frank took a more
serious tone. “Sir, if you make me go and get a warrant, I will come back here
and search every nook and cranny in this house. Is that what you want?”
Frank knew he would
probably have a hard time getting a warrant in this situation, but he hoped
this guy didn’t know that.
Mr. Hillerbrand peered
at Frank for a few seconds, then back at Jack. This time, his eyes appeared
darker and bigger than before. Finally he said, “Alright. You can come in for a
minute and then I want you out of here. You got it?”
Hillerbrand stepped
back and opened the door. The front room of his home was in complete disarray.
With clothes all over the floor, disregarded food containers scattered all
around and the smell, it was pure filth top to bottom. Jack and Frank thought
it better to remain standing.
“The clock’s ticking.
What do you want to know?” Hillerbrand asked aggressively.
Just as he was ready to
ask his question, Frank heard a rustling noise coming from upstairs. He turned
to Jack to see if he had heard it as well, but then he heard it again. This
time, they were both certain they heard it.
“Who else lives in the
house with you?” Frank asked.
“Just my wife and
daughter. They’re not here right now.”
“I hear someone
upstairs. Who is that?” Frank pressed.
“It’s just my cats. We
have two of them.”
Frank and Jack looked
at each other doubtfully. They both had a bad feeling there were no cats.
“Would you mind if we
looked upstairs?” Frank probed.
Hillerbrand’s face
changed abruptly. “I told you a few minutes, then out! You ain’t goin’ upstairs
without a warrant. You’ve asked enough questions, now get out!” he shouted at
them.
Jack knew what was
inside this man and he couldn’t leave without at least testing the waters.
“Sir, I belong to an awesome
church not far from here. If you ever need anything, we would love to share the
love of Jesus with you,” Jack spoke with sincerity.
At that, Hillerbrand
twitched again, this time more violently. Then a voice came out of him that
wasn’t his own.
“I know who you are,”
the deep voice roared. “You are one of His followers. I was invited in. This
man is mine!”
Hillerbrand lifted his
arm and a lamp from the other side of the room lifted off the table and flew
violently across the room, nearly hitting Frank in the head. Jack ducked, stood
back up and held out his right hand.
“In the name of Jesus,
The Christ, The Son of God, I command you, spirit, to come out of him and leave
this place!”
The spirit slammed
Hillerbrand’s body to the ground and proceeded to go into convulsions, rolling
around on the floor as Jack and now Frank began to pray.
Jack could feel an
overwhelming power come over him, like a fire burning from deep within. He
looked down at the man and spoke again to the spirit. “The Lord God Almighty
commands you to go!”
The demon shrieked and then
suddenly it was completely quiet. Hillerbrand’s body lay perfectly still on the
floor. Jack walked over to him, bent over and checked his pulse. He was still alive.
“Frank, get me a glass
of water. I believe he’s going to be all right.”
Hillerbrand’s eyes
slowly opened as Frank came back with the glass of water. Jack helped him sit
up and gave him a drink. The man’s eyes were now clear and normal. His pulse
was steady and slow.
Frank glared down at
him and asked, “Who’s upstairs, sir?”
He looked up at Frank
and answered, “My family - my wife and my little girl.”
Frank dashed up the
stairs. There were three bedrooms, but only one door was closed and it was
locked. He could hear someone inside.
He yelled through the
door, “I’m with the FBI. If you can, move away from the door. I have to break
it down!”
He stepped back, kicked
the door in and couldn’t believe his eyes. There they were… his wife and little
girl gagged and chained to a large hook screwed to the floor. They were
sitting on the floor surrounded by piles of paper plates with bits of dried
food still on them. They looked like they had been in the same clothes for forever.
He ran over, immediately removed the gags from their mouths and hollered down
to Jack.
“They’re here and
they’re alive, but they need some medical attention! Call 911! Ask him where
the key is to unlock these chains.”
Jack stood up, grabbed
his phone and called 911. He looked at Hillerbrand who was still sitting on the
floor. “You heard him. Where’s the key?”
He pointed to a small
jar sitting on a shelf. Jack went over and pulled it out. “I got it. I’ll toss
it up to you!”
Jack used Frank’s name
to call 911. It saved him a lot of time and explanation. “This is Special Agent
Frank Lederman with the FBI. I need an ambulance at 95 Edgewater Drive
immediately. I have a woman and a little girl who need medical attention.”
Jack tossed Frank the
key. He caught it, walked back into the bedroom and unlocked the large bolt
that was binding them to the floor. The mother grabbed her daughter and hugged
her, kissing her head over and over again.
Frank, still kneeling
on the floor in front of them, introduced himself. “My name is Frank Lederman.
I’m a special agent with the FBI. The ambulance will be here in a minute and
they will take you to the hospital to get checked out.”
The wife, with eyes as
big as saucers, asked frantically, “Where’s my husband? Keep him away from us!
I don’t want him around my daughter! Do you understand? Get him out of here! I
don’t want her to see him again!”
Frank helped them up
and sat them on the bed. “Don’t worry, ma’am. My partner has him. You are safe
now. I will stay with you until the ambulance gets here, okay?”
She nodded her head, still
holding fast to her daughter.
Within a few minutes,
two police cars pulled up in front of the house. Pulling in right behind them
was the ambulance with the first aid squad. They came in and saw Jack standing
alongside Mr. Hillerbrand.
“My partner is upstairs
with the little girl and her mother. They both need medical attention,” he told
the EMTs. He turned his attention to the police officers and indicated
Hillerbrand, “This guy needs to go with you. Special Agent Frank Lederman will
catch up with you later at the station.”
The two cops took Mr.
Hillerbrand out in handcuffs. It would be hard to explain that the reason for
all this was that he had been demon possessed. Frank would take custody of him
eventually and they would have to deal with all that at a later date. The two
first aid workers, a woman and a young man, escorted Mrs. Hillerbrand and her
daughter to the ambulance. The two cop cars drove away with the ambulance
following close behind. Jack and Frank stood in the middle of the room,
somewhat dazed.