House of Nightmares

Their new home was a chance for a new start, and the price was too unbelievable to turn down. The Martin family didn’t know why someone hadn’t already snatched the opportunity, but they didn’t care. Lori was their youngest child among two older twin brothers, Christopher and Ben. Lori was nine when they moved into the new house; her brothers were fifteen. Her brothers and classmates constantly bullied Lori, as she was different from other kids. Lori felt isolated and alone. She was glad to have gotten her own bedroom for the first time, as her room would become a sanctuary from her brother’s torment. Her parents had her mom’s childhood bedroom furniture they thought she would like. Lori wished she could get her own furniture, but she knew her family was not well-off.  They had been lucky enough to be able to buy this house.  So, Lori was grateful for what she had. Her own room would be a paradise, regardless of whose furniture it was.

Strange things began to happen shortly after Lori’s family moved into the new house. She started to see things disappear and reappear, specifically in her bedroom. Lori was an exceptionally clean and organized little girl, having a home for everything in her room. She was the most unlikely child to forget where she put something. Still, she didn’t let this bother her. It may have confused Lori, but it was not enough to get to her too much. That is until she began to see shadows of ghostly figures on her walls and in the doorway. They would only appear for a second and then vanish. One night, when she was in bed, something terrified her. Her bedroom door was open, but the lights were off. She screamed when she saw red eyes looking at her from the doorway. Her heart raced, and she struggled to breathe. Lori threw the covers over her head, closing them tight around her body, and continued to scream.

Her parents ran down the hall, turning on the light in her room. “What? What is it? What is wrong?” they asked.

“There was something in the doorway, right where you are standing! It had red eyes!” she yelled. Her brothers came out of their room, as startled as her parents were.

“What? You are crazy, Lori!” shouted Christopher.

 “Common, let’s go back to our room,” Ben told Christopher.

“You must have had a bad dream. Monsters and ghosts are not real, Lori,” her mom told her.

“But….” she started to say.

“Go back to sleep; turn your light on if you have to,” her dad told her.

“But I wasn’t asleep!” she yelled.

“Go to sleep, Lori,” her dad repeated, and they went back to their room.

Lori started sleeping with her bedroom lights on. Still, that didn’t stop it from happening. It got worse night after night. She saw hellish things that she couldn’t even describe very well: white faces with bright red eyes, black shadows hovering over her bed, and icy temperatures making fog appear when she breathed. Night after night, it was the same. Her parents began to worry about Lori’s mental health. Yet, they believed it was Lori’s imagination because of how young she was. She certainly couldn’t be developing mental illness at nine years old, they told each other. Nope, it had to be her imagination.

Lori was afraid all the time. When she wasn’t seeing the haunting images, she was having nightmares about it. There was no escape from it. Her personality began to change. She would have bouts of intense rage against her parents and brothers, of which she would have no recollection of after. It was as if she had a split personality. Lori, like her usual self, began to fear who she became. She felt evil inside and very alone. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. She felt like a prisoner in her own body. She was getting sent home from school for violent behavior that she couldn’t remember. Her parents were distraught. No number of spankings controlled her “episodes.”  

Her brothers started calling her crazy or psycho. Her parents knew that they could not ignore this any longer. They had to get Lori professional help. Even at nine years old, they were forced to consider that their daughter was mentally disturbed. What else could it be? Maybe a doctor could confirm that Lori had a disturbing imagination. Where did she get such an imagination? Horror movies were not allowed in their house. She had never seen shows or movies about ghosts or evil presences. So, where was this coming from? Could her classmates talk about it? Maybe that was it. Lori’s behavior and ridiculous imagination only got worse. So, professional intervention was needed.

In the waiting room for Dr. Hopskins, Lori fidgeted nervously in her chair. Her mother put her hand on her knees. “Sit still, Lori; you are making me nervous,” her mother said. “You are nervous?” Lor said in Shock, “You aren’t the one waiting to see a crazy people’s doctor!” Lori’s mother looked around the room, embarrassed, to ensure nobody was listening.

The door opened. “Lori Martin?” a lady in a blue nurse uniform with long brown hair and brown eyes called.

“Here,” said Lori’s mother, “Come on, Lori, get up.”  Lori rolled her eyes and got up.

“Fine,” she said sarcastically.

“I am sorry about her; she is feeling out of sorts today,” her mom apologetically told the nurse. Again, she looked around the room, embarrassed by Lori’s deviant behavior.

“Have a seat,” the nurse said as they entered the room, “The doctor will be in shortly.” Lori and her mother sat down in the cold leather chairs.

“Thank you,” her mother said. As the nurse left the room, Lori’s mother looked at her sternly. “You behave yourself, you here?” she said, “It’s your fault that we are even here. If you would stop with this crazy talk, we wouldn’t have to be here.”

Ashley wasn’t always like this. She was never like this until they moved to the new house. “What about the move caused this?” she thought. Whatever it is, it needs to stop.

The doctor walked into the room, addressing himself as Dr. Reddrick. Neither her mom nor Lori said anything. “So, how can I help you?” he asked.

“Mom thinks I am crazy,” answered Lori, “Do you think I am crazy?” Dr. Reddrick smiled. “We don’t use those words. Just because you may have some problems doesn’t mean you are crazy,” he answered, “So, tell me, why do you think Mom brought you here?” he asked kindly.

“I see scary things, and they terrify me,” Lori replied.

“I see. What do these things look like?” he asked.

“Scary faces with red eyes, black shadows on my walls, and it gets cold, very cold,” Lori answered.

“Sounds like a scary movie. Have you seen that kind of movie?” he asked.

“We don’t allow scary movies in our house,” her mom replied quickly.

“I see. Have you heard about these scary things at school? Maybe from your friends?” he asked.

“I don’t have any friends, doctor,” Lori said sharply, “Nobody talks to me at all.”

“So, where do these ideas come from, do you know?” he asked.

“How should I know? They aren’t just ideas!” Lori protested.

“Can you give her something, Dr. Reddrick?” her mom asked desperately.

“I think maybe something for the anxiety will calm her fears,” he said, “Lori seems to be very anxious. Is that right, Lori?” Lori couldn’t deny that. She was anxious all the time. It wasn’t her anxiety that caused her to see those things, however. It was the things she saw that caused her anxiety!

“Yes, I guess that’s right,” Lori answered quietly.

“I am going to send you home with a prescription for Valium,” he said, “I think we might just find that is all you need.”

Ashley was a bit hopeful and considered that was all it was – anxiety. She smiled.

“Take it at bedtime, and it will help you sleep.” He instructed.

“Thank you, doctor; I hope this is all it is,” her mom said, taking the prescription and motioning for Lori to get up.

“I want to see her back in a week, just to see how it is going,” he said.

“Okay, thank you. I appreciate it,” her mother replied. Lori looked back at the doctor as they walked out of the room. She made the follow-up appointment at the reception desk and drove straight to the pharmacy. Lori and her mother didn’t speak again until they got home. After dinner, she gave her the medication and told Lori to go get ready for bed.

Once in her pajamas, she crawled into bed and fell asleep soon after. Her parents discussed the appointment in their room and were convinced this would end this nonsense.

“You can’t get rid of me!” a dark voice said, waking them up. Lori stood in front of their bed with an angry look on her face.

“Lori?” they asked. “We are not trying to get rid of you! Go back to bed.” Lori laughed evilly.

“Bed! Now!” her dad said sternly. When Lori left the room, her mom asked her dad, “Did you hear her voice? It wasn’t natural.”

“She is probably skilled at changing her voice,” he answered, “you know, all this seems like it is for attention, right?”

“You are probably right,” her mom said, “She has gotten so out of control ever since we moved here. This was supposed to be a better move. We have never owned our own house, but she finally has her room, no longer having to share a room with her brothers. I thought she would be very happy.”

They suddenly heard their boys screaming. They quickly got out of bed and rushed down the hallway. They opened the door and saw Lori on top of Christopher with her hands tightly around his neck. Ben was screaming. She had extraordinary strength to pin her brother to the floor, being that she was six years younger than them. Her dad rushed to pull Lori off him. He was amazed at her strength to resist him. Finally, her hands released, and she fell to the floor, appearing passed out. “That’s it!” he yelled, “go get some rope from the garage.”

“You’re not thinking…” she started to say.

“Yes, I am going to tie her to the bed so we can finally get some sleep tonight,” he said, determined to get a good night’s sleep.

“But wouldn’t that be…” she started to say.

“I don’t care! We need to get control over her, and we are taking her to a psychiatric hospital first thing in the morning,” he said as he picked Lori up. He carried Lori back to her room. Her mom brought four ropes from the garage. “Hold her down…make sure she doesn’t move.” Lori started to wake up.

“What? What are you doing, Daddy?” Lori fearfully asked.

“Getting control over you. Your behavior was unacceptable!” he yelled, “You are going to a hospital first thing in the morning!”

“What behavior? I don’t understand. Daddy, please, you are scaring me,” she cried in desperation.

“Oh, don’t give me that, Lori,” her dad said, irritated and angry. His face was bright red, and Lori was terrified. They finished tying her arms and legs to the headboard and footboard. “Now we can get some sleep!” he said. Her parents walked out the door, turning off the lights.

“No! Turn the light on! I am scared!” Lori shouted in fear.

“Good,” was all her dad said.

Lori began to scream and kick. She exhausted herself until she softly cried. Once the boys and her parents returned to their rooms, her mom asked, “Do you think she really didn’t know what she had done?”

“Not for a minute,” her dad said, “This is some crazy game.”

In the morning, Lori cried out for her mom. Her dad entered the room and untied the ropes, grabbing Lori firmly by the arm and dragging her to the car. Her parents didn’t say a word to her.

“Daddy? Mommy? Please stop! I don’t want to go to the hospital,” Lori begged. They remained silent.

“You stay here with the boys,” her dad told her mom, “I will take her.” Lori cried. Her spirit was broken, so she no longer resisted. There was only the sound of her soft cries on the way to the hospital. Once they arrived, he approached her door, opened it, and slammed it closed once Lori got out of the car. Looking down in despair, she went willingly to the door of the hospital. “Sit,” he demanded when getting to the waiting room. Lori turned to the door and bolted. “Someone, please, help me,” her dad begged as he ran after her. Three receptionists got up and ran after them. When in the parking lot, Lori stopped in the middle of the road and faced them, smiling and laughing.

“What’s her name?” one of the receptionists asked.

“Lori,” he answered.

“Lori, why don’t you come back inside, and we can talk? Nobody is going to hurt you. My name is Ruth,” she said. She was unsure what she was witnessing. The look on Lori’s face and her terrifying laugh scared her a little. She was taken aback. Lori turned around and leaped on the top of the hood of a car. Shocked that such a little child could do something like that, she stepped back. Lori was still laughing. Ruth was witnessing pure evil. She was speechless. “My God,” she said in shock.

“Est deus in nobis,” Lori said while laughing.

“What does that mean?” her dad demanded to know.

“It’s Latin,” a man approaching said. “It means ‘God is not with us’”

“My daughter doesn’t know Latin!” he shouted.

“No, but something does,” the man answered.

“Something? “Who are you?” her dad asked.

“My name is Reverand Matthew. God brought me here,” the Reverand said, walking calmly to the demon as the demon continued to laugh. Lori’s dad was confused.

“Where did you come from?” Lori’s dad asked.

“Call it a divine appointment,” said the Reverand, not taking his off the demon. He approached the demon slowly, standing right before it. He quickly grabbed its arm firmly and pushed it to the dad. “Hold it still!” he demanded.

“It is my daughter Reverand.” Lori’s dad said firmly.

“Not right now; it isn’t,” he answered.

Reverand Matthew took off his cross necklace and reached it towards the demon. It angered the demon, and it fought desperately to get free from Lori’s dad’s grip. Then he began to pray.

Dear Father,

Please cast the devil out of this child; we beg of You. We thank You and praise Your holy name, for You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). We know that You are not the author of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).

We claim Your promise, Father, that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7). We thank You for giving us the power to cast out demons in Your name. Father, we rebuke Satan’s power, and we rebuke the power of any evil influences over this child and this situation. Evil is not welcome here. It must be cast out into the pit of hell.

Guard our bodies, minds, hearts, souls, spirits, and emotions against evil influence and temptation. We thank You for making a way of escape for us in every temptation so that we may stand firm in the way of right (1 Corinthians 10:13).

We bind Satan’s power against us. We bind his power against this household in the name of Jesus.

We thank You for allowing this situation to strengthen our faith and our trust in You and Your divine power. Help us to be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).

We thank You and praise You for hearing and answering our prayer.

In Jesus’ precious name, we pray.

AMEN.

The demon fought relentlessly the whole time to break free, screeching and laughing. It was getting weaker and weaker throughout the prayer, and then it collapsed. Lori passed out on the ground. The Reverand sprinkled holy water on Lori, casting away anything left, and slowly, she woke up. “Daddy? What happened? Are you mad at me still?” she asked and began to cry.

“How long has this been going on?” asked Reverand Matthew.

“It’s been getting worse and worse for months, ever since we moved into our new home,” her dad answered.

“Your house will need to be blessed, but your nightmare is over,” the Reverand said. Lori’s dad wasn’t sure what to think or feel. He held his daughter tightly.

“I sure hope so,” he said softly, “I sure hope so.”

“Can we go home, Daddy?” Lori asked, “I will be good.”

“I suppose so,” he answered, looking back at the frozen-in-shock receptionists. I don’t think we need your help anymore.”

“Can you follow us home to bless our house,” he asked the Reverand.

“Of course,” replied the Reverand.

Once the house had been blessed, Lori was freed from the house of nightmares and welcomed a house of peace.