Apocalypsis 1.01 Demons Read Free Page A

the world.«
    The room looked like a country kitchen. The walls were half tiled, and there was a small sink, a small altar, three chairs and a little table with plastic cups for séances. On the walls were a crucifix, some pictures of Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, the Pope and one photo that showed Don Luigi with a young Diego Maradonna. An ancient massage table dominated the center of the narrow room. Don Luigi asked the adolescent boy, who introduced himself as Luca, to lie down on the table. His mother sat down on one of the chairs and didn’t say a word. Each of the deacons grabbed one of Luca’s arms, holding him tight. The two older nuns sat on his legs and Don Luigi signaled to Maria to hand him the jar with the holy water. Everything was done as smoothly and as unsentimentally as a professional teeth-cleaning, Peter thought. Luca did not seem to be afraid; he was just very quiet.
    »It won’t hurt,« Don Luigi assured him. »Do you believe in Satan?«
    »Si, padre.«
    »That’s good. Whoever does not believe in the devil, does not believe in the Gospel.« Don Luigi turned around and looked at Peter. »Isn’t that right?«
    Peter shrugged his shoulders and didn’t say a word; he was used to Padre Luigi’s provocative statements. He looked at Maria, standing behind Luigi and rolling up her sleeves before grabbing Luca’s head between her hands. She ignored Peter completely.
    »The demon is everywhere,« Don Luigi explained. »Even the Pope is vulnerable.«
    Peter’s ears pricked-up. Don Luigi had said this in German. Maria also seemed shocked, judging from the way she looked at him.
    »At least in theory,« Don Luigi added, and turned back to the boy, who seemed to find the strange German language scarier than the devil.
    Don Luigi sprinkled a few drops of holy water over him and began the procedure, as usual, with the invocation of the Archangel Michael, Psalm 68(67), and the exorcism prayer of Pope Leo XIII.
    »In the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects: may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb.
    Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God's elect and sift them as wheat.«
    Then he made the sign of the cross on the boy’s forehead. This was the moment when Peter saw that the boy was wearing a gothic earring.
    »Stay away from Satanism, Luca!« Don Luigi intoned each word in a loud voice. »Stay away from sorcery and witchcraft, from demons and psychic readers!«
    A couple of times, Don Luigi smacked the boy’s forehead with his flat hand. »What is your name?« Don Luigi moved his ear close to the boy’s mouth. No answer.
    The old exorcist smacked Luca’s forehead again. »I am asking you, Demon, tell me your name!«
    »Goblin Hammer,« whispered the boy’s mother. »His name is Goblin Hammer. From that computer game.«
    Peter couldn’t help but break into a grin. The alleged demonic possession of this boy was nothing more than the overwrought fantasy of a pubescent lad who’d spent too much time with online role-playing games.
    Luca did not grin. This was no longer any fun for him.
    »Goblin Hammer!« Don Luigi’s voice was thundering now and again, he slapped him with holy water on the forehead. »In the name of the glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Archangel Michael, I command you to leave Luca!«
    Peter saw that the boy had begun to sweat profusely. Time and again, Luigi smacked his forehead and commanded the demon, in the name of all the saints, to leave Luca’s body. Because this was what exorcism was all about: the demonic possession of the human body, not of the human soul.
    Luca’s face grimaced