Deliver Us from Evil by Ralph Sarchie Read Free Book Online Page B

It’s like playing Russian roulette. When you put the gun to your head, if you don’t hear a loud noise, you made it. Same thing with the board: The more times you pull the trigger, the more likely that on the next shot, your entire world will go black. I’ve had one case where a young mother played with a Ouija board at a party, with horrifying—and tragic—results.
    She quickly became hooked on the practice, buying her own board and consulting it daily. One morning a spirit “guide” showed up, saying it was the ghost of a seventeen-year-old boy who had committed suicide. This spook concocted an elaborate fairy tale about an unmarked grave it wanted her to find—and managed to so preoccupy the woman’s time with wild goose chases that she began neglecting her husband and little kids. This, of course, caused demonically induced disputes between husband and wife, but the mother was interested only in the board, and the spirit that seemed to understand her better than her husband did.
    Then things took a terrible turn. One night the mother had the worst nightmare of her life, dreaming that she was being chased by a large man with a hatchet, who was going to kill her. The vision was so vivid that she woke up crying hysterically, drenched in sweat. Now, all of us have dreams like that once in a while, but not every night, as this unfortunate woman did. The real nightmare began after the dreams stopped. While awake, she began hearing a voice. It made perverse, sexual remarks, then said something far more chilling: It commanded her to take a knife and stab her children. Petrified, she told her husband, then checked herself into a mental hospital out of fear that she would hurt her family.
    After thorough physical and psychological tests found no diagnosable disorder, she was released—and contacted Bishop McKenna for an exorcism. During the ritual, nothing happened until the bishop touched a relic to her head and said, “Devil, if you are in her, I adjure you in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord to reveal yourself.”
    The demon spoke in the mother’s normal voice, saying “I am the spirit of a person.” Already it had betrayed itself, since human spirits aren’t subject to exorcism.
    The bishop ignored this and asked, “Why did you enter her?”
    The response was extremely revealing. “Because she offered herself through a Ouija board.” I can still remember how this woman sat through the ritual still as a statue, with only her eyes moving in a strange circular motion. It’s a very sad story, because the ritual ultimately failed. We never saw the young mother again and can only pray that she hasn’t given up fighting the demon that enslaved her though a Ouija board.
    In the Westchester case, however, Joe and I felt that these foolish children were probably not to blame—and assured them that we didn’t hold them responsible for the troubles that had befallen their family. Although their Ouija board use may have brought the demon, we didn’t want to burden them with guilt, especially since we had another suspect. As the interview continued, we learned that the mysterious ex-tenant had a dark side that went well beyond his taste in wall colors. Although the Villanovas weren’t able to give us a lot of detail about him, they’d recently found out that Mr. Paint-It-Black had a criminal record and was rumored to be into a lot of strange stuff, including the occult. Admittedly, the evidence against him was circumstantial, but we both felt it was he who had invited the powerful demon—or demons—into this home.
    Just as we were wrapping up the questions, Luciana let out a horrible shriek. The demon had brazenly attacked her, right in front of us! A curved red gash now ran down her smooth cheek, like a taunting calling card from the Devil. While we were videotaping the mark, she screamed again. The unseen force had just pulled