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The Untold Story Of The Demonic Devil Inside Me Case - Maryland · Mystery Archives Episodes

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Evil doesn't always announce itself.
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It is instead silent and insidious, like a predator
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waiting for an innocent soul to invite it inside so it can
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devour. When a young boy unwittingly
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stumbles upon a relic of darkness, he opens a doorway to
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terror that will haunt him for years.
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His life will become a battle for his very soul.
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Will he survive or will he be consumed by the darkness he's
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unleashed? This is the true account of John
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Drenner Junior's terrifying battle with a demonic force.
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The case is known as The Devil Inside Me.
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This video is a documentary style chronicle of real events
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told through those who lived them.
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It is a story of innocence corrupted by an ancient evil, of
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a family's fight for survival, and of a young man's journey
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through fear, torment, and ultimately, well, you'll see
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prepare yourself for a descent into a living nightmare 1 you
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might not want to face alone or in the dark.
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Please make sure to like, hype, share and subscribe.
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All those things help me out tremendously.
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Thank you. To tell this very interesting
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and complex case, let us first start at the beginning.
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Our story begins in Odenton, MD, a place famous for several
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things. It is home to the headquarters
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for the National Security Agency, or NSA, and home to the
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Army's Fort Meade. It is also known for having many
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forests that one can explore. This was particularly ideal for
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a young boy named John Drenner Junior.
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In 2003, a 12 year old John, along with his 14 year old
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sister Cheryl, were exploring the woods behind their
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grandmother's house. 1 summer day.
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Cheryl, who seemed more gung ho so to speak, was leading the way
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while John trailed behind her, not wanting to seemingly get
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left in the dust. The two were known for being
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extremely close, with Cheryl clearly being the leader whilst
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John was the follower. We loved going on nature hunts,
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looking for animals and things like that together.
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We like to. Explore, Cheryl would say in
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later interviews. While the two trail blazed,
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little did they know that something lay undiscovered
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before them. Something that perhaps was
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better left buried. After nearly an hour of
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wandering, the two noticed unnatural shapes emerging
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through the foliage ahead. They began to see what appeared
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to be weathered wooden planks and a rusted tin roof.
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It was indeed a shack, hunched and forgotten among the Pines
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and oaks. Vines curled up its walls.
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The door hung slightly ajar, creaking softly as it swayed in
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the faint breeze. Butterflies danced uneasily in
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both John and Cheryl's stomachs. Together they began, sensing an
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odd silence surrounding them. There were no birds singing or
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insects buzzing. The woods had gone dead quiet.
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Cheryl didn't want to venture any deeper, but John, being an
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adventurous boy, decided that he wanted to see is what could be
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inside the old building stores. As he neared closer to the
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threshold, fear began to well up inside him, but pushing it down
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and deciding to be brave, John pushed the door open and stepped
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inside. The floorboards groaned under
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his weight. Dim light seeped through cracks
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in the walls, barely enough to see.
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As his eyes adjusted, he realized that the shack was
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littered with strange remnants of something.
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In one corner, a circle of melted wax and blackened
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candles, and another animal bones eerily arranged into a
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crude symbol. The air smelled of soot and
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something foul, like burnt hair or rotten eggs.
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John's heart thumped. He knew immediately that
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something was very wrong here. This wasn't a fun hideout or a
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forgotten clubhouse. It felt like he had stepped into
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a den of darkness. Still, he was a curious kid, and
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against his better instincts he crept further in, drawn toward a
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crude wooden table at the center of the shack.
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On it lay an old looking book, thick with a cracked leather
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cover and Yellow Pages. Dust swirled in the air as he
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picked it up. The cover had strange markings
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etched into the leather. They were symbols that John
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didn't recognize. The very touch of the book made
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the hairs on his arms stand straight up on end.
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He gently opened the book. Inside, the pages were filled
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with spidery handwritten text and unsettling diagrams,
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inverted pentagrams, sketches of goat headed figures, lists of
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what appeared to be rituals and incantations, and a language
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that John wasn't familiar with. But despite this, he understood
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enough to realize that this was some kind of ritual book.
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With this realization, a deep chill ran through him.
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Despite the warm, musty summer air that surrounded him, John's
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hands trembled. He suddenly felt as if he were
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being watched from outside the shack.
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A twig snapped. John was startled by this and
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nearly dropped the book. The silence of the woods had
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given way to a gathering chorus of whispers.
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At first, it seemed like the wind in the trees, but no wind
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was blowing by this time. They began to grow louder,
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circling him, saying words he couldn't quite make out.
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The fear that he had stuffed down earlier bubbled to the
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surface and he slammed. The book shut.
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It was at that moment that a shadow flickered at the edge of
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his vision. He spun towards the doorway, but
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nothing was there. John's instincts finally
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screamed at him to run, so clutching the old book tightly,
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he bolted out of the shack into the daylight.
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Upon exiting back into the dense woods, with the sun beginning to
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near the horizon, he realized that his sister was nowhere to
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be seen. She must have gotten spooked and
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headed back home, he thought. Then suddenly, from behind him,
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he hears a low growl. Jon then ran as fast as he could
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through the brambles and trees as his legs carried him.
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The forest seemed alive with noises now.
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The whispers seemed to be within mere inches of his ears.
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There was rustling in the brush on either side of him, twigs
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snapping just out of sight, as if something unseen was chasing
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him like a rabid dog and nipping at his heels.
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Panicking, John stumbled over roots and nearly fell.
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He could hear his own heartbeat thudding, and under it that
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insidious whispering voice, growing louder and clearer.
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It sounded like words in a foreign language, spoken just
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inches from his ear in a rasping hiss.
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John slapped at the empty air beside him, as though swatting
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away an invisible pest, and forced himself to run even
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faster. At last, the tree line broke and
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he burst into the backyard of his grandmother's property.
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The whispers ceased. Abruptly upon his exit, like a
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radio being switched off in the golden afternoon light,
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everything looked normal again. The old tire swing hanging from
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the oak, the distant hum of a lawn mower in a neighbor's yard.
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Gasping for breath, John leaned over, bracing his hands on his
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knees. The leather book dangled from
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his grip. He felt a trickle of something
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warm on his upper lip and wiped it with the back of his hand.
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It was blood. A thin Nosebleed had started to
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drip. He stood there, shaking with
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blood, spotting the grass at his feet.
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He didn't understand what had just happened.
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Did I imagine it, he wondered. The oppressive silence of the
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shack, the foul smell, those whispers that seemed to follow
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him. Surely it was just his mind
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playing tricks on him after reading that creepy book.
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Perhaps he had spooked himself, he was just a kid after all.
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Still, a sense of dread hungover him as he tucked the mysterious
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book under his arm and hurried toward the.
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House. He wasn't about to tell Grandma
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what he had found. He feared he might get into
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trouble for snooping, or worse, scare her with talk of devil
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worshippers in her woods. Maybe, he thought, he'd just
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hide the book somewhere and forget that this ever happened.
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Maybe it was nothing. However, John could not have
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been more wrong. In the quiet shadows of the
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trees at the edge of the yard, something watched.
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Him. He had taken more than an old
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book from that shack. That evening, the summer sun
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dipped low over Odenton as dusk settled in inside his
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grandmother's cozy home. John tried to go about the
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normal routines of a weekend visit, Dinner at the table with
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Grandma and his older sister Cheryl, watching a little TV
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before bed. He had stashed the leather bound
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ritual book in his duffel bag, intending to examine it later
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when alone. But all through dinner he felt
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distracted. He couldn't shake the sensation
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that lingered from the woods, like a pair of eyes still
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peering over his shoulder. Cheryl noticed her little
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brother's nervousness. John, are you OK?
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You've hardly touched your food. She said whilst furrowing her
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brow. John managed a weak smile.
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I'm fine, just tired from exploring outside today.
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He replied. It wasn't about to tell her what
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he had found. Cheryl was 14 and fiercely
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protective of him. If he mentioned the shack or the
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book she would drag him straight to grandma and that would be the
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end of it. No more adventures, maybe no
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more weekends in the woods at all.
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So he pretended everything was normal and eventually everyone
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retired for the night. But that night was anything but
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normal. John lay in the guest bedroom he
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shared with his sister when they stayed over.
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Cheryl was asleep in the twin bed across the room from him.
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Moonlight cast a faint glow through the sheer curtains,
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striping the floor with pale light and shadow.
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John couldn't sleep. His mind kept drifting back to
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that book. It was tucked under his bed now.
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He almost felt like he could sense it down there, radiating
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some kind of weird energy. Maybe I should never have taken
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it, he thought. He resolved that tomorrow you
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would throw the book away or put it back where he had found it.
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With that decision easing his conscience slightly, John
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finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
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Sometime after midnight, Cheryl was woken by a soft sound, a
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muffled voice. Disoriented, she blinked in the
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darkness. The sound was coming from John's
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bed. At first she thought he was
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talking in his sleep, but the tone was rhythmic, repetitive,
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almost like he was chanting. She sat up, groggy.
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John, She whispered. There was no response.
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The low chanting continued. Cheryl squinted through the dark
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until her eyes adjusted. John was sitting upright in bed.
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The sheets had slipped off his torso, and he was facing the
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wall with his back to her and his shoulders oddly rigid.
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His voice, if it was his voice, was issuing forth in a low,
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monotone incantation. The words were utterly foreign
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to her ears, some strange language as she had never heard
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before. It didn't sound like the playful
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gibberish of a child or a bad dream.
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It sounded deliberate, ritualistic.
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The hair on Cheryl's neck stood up.
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She swung her legs over the side of the bed, art beginning to
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pound. John, wake up.
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She hissed a little louder, and still he droned on, oblivious to
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her. Cheryl approached slowly.
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In the slivers of moonlight, she could now see her brother's
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profile. His eyes were open, glassy and
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unseeing, staring at the blank wall.
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His lips moved, forming those uncanny syllables in a steady
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rhythm. It was as if he were reciting a
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prayer and some ancient tongue or a curse.
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Cheryl's mouth went dry. Something was extremely wrong.
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She reached out and touched John's shoulder lightly.
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John, wake up. She said, shaking him.
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Suddenly, John's chanting stopped.
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He fell silent and slowly turned his head towards Cheryl.
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In the gloom, his eyes met hers, but it was like he wasn't really
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there. For an instant, Cheryl felt as
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though she were looking at someone or something else
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wearing her brother's face. Then John's body tensed and he
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let out a gasp. As if realizing he couldn't
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breathe, blood began trickling from his nose in a thin stream.
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Alarmed, Cheryl grabbed a tissue from the night stand and pressed
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it to John's nostrils. John.
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She whispered urgently. He blinked hard in the spell.
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Whatever it was seemed to break. His eyes suddenly regained
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focus. He recoiled, looking around in
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confusion. Cheryl, what's happening?
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John mumbled, still in a daze. He felt the wetness on his upper
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lip and touched it, seeing blood on his fingers.
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You were sleep talking or something, chanting in some
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weird language. Cheryl said, trying to keep her
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voice steady. You wouldn't wake up and then
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your nose started bleeding. John's heart lurched.
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He remembered the whispers in the woods, the voice he couldn't
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understand. Had he been speaking those
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words? He wiped his nose, embarrassed
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and frightened. I, I don't know.
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I was having a bad dream, I guess.
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He lied. In truth, he couldn't recall any
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dream. The last thing he remembered was
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falling asleep thinking about the book and now this.
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Cheryl helped tilt his head back slightly to stop the bleeding.
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We should get Grandma. She said no.
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John snapped, more forcefully than intended.
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I mean, I'm OK, it's just a Nosebleed.
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Please don't wake her up, she'll worry.
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John hated making his grandmother worry, and
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truthfully, he was terrified of explaining what might have
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caused this. He still wasn't sure himself.
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Cheryl hesitated, but she relented.
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She fetched a cold washcloth, and soon the bleeding subsided.
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John insisted that he felt fine, though he was shaken to his
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core. Eventually, Cheryl returned to
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her bed, casting concerned glances from across the room.
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If you start doing that again, I'm waking her.
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She warned softly. John nodded, clutching the
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washcloth like a lifeline. Sleep did not come easily for
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either of them. That night, John lay awake, body
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rigid, ears straining for any hint of a whisper or movement
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within the darkness. He felt humiliated that his
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sister had seen him like that, but also he was terrified.
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What is happening to me? He wandered over and over again.
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He didn't dare retrieve the book now.
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It sat under his bed like a poisonous thing.
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It did somehow 'cause this or had something from the shack
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followed him and taken hold of him when he let down his guard.
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The long night had finally gave way to a pale dawn.
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John was exhausted, eyes red rimmed and burning.
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At breakfast, Grandma clucked over his tired appearance and
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the tissue he held to his nose, which had bled a little again in
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the early morning hours. Cheryl had kept her promise not
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to alarm Grandma during the night, but she insisted on
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telling her now. John, she said, was talking in
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his sleep and had a bad nose bleed.
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It scared me. I've never seen him do that
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before. The grandma's face grew
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concerned. A deeply religious woman, she
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immediately sensed something was off.
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Perhaps it was just a nightmare, she said, carefully, eyeing
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John. But I'll call your parents and
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let them know, and tonight we'll put a blessed crucifix in your
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room just for Peace of Mind. John didn't protest.
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In fact, the idea gave him comfort, a crucifix, a symbol of
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protection. Maybe that would help chase away
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whatever darkness he felt creeping at the edges of his
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world. He still hadn't confessed about
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the book or the shack. Fear and guilt gnawed at him,
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but he remained silent. He spent the rest of the day in
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a numb haze, helping Grandma with chores, avoiding Cheryl's
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probing looks. The leather book stayed hidden
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in his bag. He resolved to rid himself of it
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at the first opportunity. True to her word, that evening
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Grandma produced a small wooden crucifix that had hung in her
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own bedroom. She gave it to John to keep by
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his bedside. She also quietly murmured
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prayers as she sprinkled holy water around the guest room,
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lingering at the windows and corners, asking for God's
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protection over her grandchildren.
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John watched her, feeling a swell of gratitude and a pinch
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of shame. He still hadn't told her why
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such measures might be necessary.
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He wasn't even sure himself if they were.
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But part of him still hoped that this was all just a bizarre
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coincidence, or a fleeting scare that would fade away.
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That night, John held the crucifix in his hand as he lay
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in bed. Cheryl was already asleep,
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seemingly at ease after Grandma's blessings.
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For a while, John stared at the cross's form in the dim light,
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tracing it with his thumb. He whispered A shaky prayer of
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his own. Please, whoever's listening.
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Keep me safe. Don't let anything bad happen.
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Eventually, sheer fatigue overtook him and he finally
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slept. No chanting disturbed the
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darkness this time. The household remained quiet
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until morning. When John awoke, he felt groggy
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but relieved. Perhaps Grandma's protections
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had done the trick. The terrifying episodes seem to
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have passed, but little did he know the true horror it was only
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just beginning. A week later, John and Cheryl
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returned to their family home in Pasadena, MD.
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Summer break was winding down and soon they'd be back to
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school. John was almost relieved to
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leave Grandma's house and the strange events of that weekend
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behind him. He had disposed of the ritual
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book, tossing it into a dumpster behind a gas station on the
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drive home. As the garbage bin swallowed the
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leather bound home, John imagined he was throwing away
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whatever bad luck or evil that had clung to him.
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He tried to convince himself it was over.
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The Drinner's home was a modest suburban split level filled with
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the normal bustle of family life.
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John's parents noticed he was a bit withdrawn after summer
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vacation, but they attributed this to the looming school year
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or normal adolescent moodiness. Cheryl occasionally studied her
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brother warily. She hadn't forgotten what she
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had witnessed, but since then, John seemed OK.
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Maybe she thought it truly had just been a freak nightmare.
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But as the days passed, John began to sense of familiar dread
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creeping back, especially after sunset.
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It started with small things. At night, as he lay in his own
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bedroom, he sometimes heard faint scratching sounds, like
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nails dragging lightly across his bedroom wall or along the
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floor under his bed. The first time it happened, John
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froze. Holding his breath, he peered
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into the darkness, the hairs on his arms prickling.
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The sound stopped when he had turned on his lamp, revealing
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nothing but his posters and furniture.
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He tried to shrug it off as mice in the walls or the house
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settling. Then there were the whispers.
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On a few occasions, just as John was on the edge of sleep, he
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heard a voice murmur right next to his ear.
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The words were too soft and quick to understand, but the
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tone was malicious and mocking. Each time he would be jolted
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awake, this heart hammering, only to find his room empty and
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silent. These incidents left him
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trembling and drenched in sweat. He started keeping a flashlight
25:30
and a Bible, which was a gift from his mother, on his night
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stand, hoping that they might ward off whatever was happening.
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Within a month, however, the situation escalated.
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The demonic torment that had begun in Odenton had followed
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John to Pasadena, and it was seemingly growing bolder.
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Almost every night, John was jolted awake at 3:00 AM, the
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so-called witching hour, by something.
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Sometimes it was just the bed itself, shuddering as if someone
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had kicked it violently. Other times, he'd awaken to find
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his blankets yanked off him and flung onto the floor.
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Once, he woke up, paralyzed, unable to move or scream, as a
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dark, shadowy figure loomed in the corner of his room, watching
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him with glowing, faint red eyes.
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That night, he squeezed his eyes shut, silently praying until the
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paralysis lifted and the shadow, whatever it was, was gone.
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In the daylight, John tried to rationalize these occurrences.
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Perhaps he was having intense nightmares or episodes of sleep
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paralysis. He knew such things were
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scientifically documented, but deep down he felt a cold
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certainty. Whatever this thing was, he
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considered it to be evil. That same presence he'd felt in
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the shack, The whispers in the woods had latched onto him, and
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they weren't going away. In fact, this thing seemed to
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only be gaining in strength for a long time.
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John didn't tell his parents the full extent of what was
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happening. He was afraid of sounding crazy.
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How could he explain that an invisible force was tormenting
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him? He worried they'd send him to a
27:38
psychiatrist, or worse, not believe him at all.
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Instead, he confided a little more in Cheryl.
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She'd already seen him chanting in a trance once, so she took
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his concerns more seriously. Some nights, when John was too
27:57
afraid to sleep alone, Cheryl would let him sleep on the floor
28:01
of her room. One of those times, John woke up
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screaming as 3 long scratch marks appeared on his back,
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burning as if freshly carved by claws.
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Cheryl turned on the lights to find her brother curled on the
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rug, sobbing in pain. His shirt was ripped and three
28:24
red gashes were across his skin. There had been no one else in
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the room at all. In the morning, their parents
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demanded to know what had happened.
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John, through tears, finally spilled a part of the truth.
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Something is hurting me at night, he cried.
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He showed them the scratches, which looked like an animal's
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work, perhaps grasping for a logical explanation.
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His father theorized that it could have been John scratching
28:56
himself during a nightmare, or perhaps a prank by a classmate
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that got out of hand earlier, though the latter made little
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sense. John's mother was horrified and
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would take him to a pediatrician.
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They would only say that the marks were consistent with
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scratches and offered an antibacterial cream.
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The family even checked the house for a wild animal or a
29:21
stray cat that might have snuck in, but found nothing.
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That incident deeply frightened John's parents.
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They started praying with John before bed, something they
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admittedly hadn't been doing regularly.
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They also placed a small night light in his room, thinking that
29:40
it might ease his fears. John appreciated their concern,
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but he knew a night light wasn't going to stop but lurked in the
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dark night after night, John was worn down further.
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The demon increased its harassment methodically.
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Loud bangs would echo through his bedroom as if something was
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pounding on the walls from inside them.
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His bed would sometimes jolt in the middle of the night, as if
30:09
kicked by an invisible mule. Once the lamp on his desk slid
30:15
off and shattered while he was doing homework, sending shards
30:19
flying. John knew that he hadn't touched
30:22
it. And another time.
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He awoke to the. Horrifying sensation of
30:28
invisible hands gripping his ankles and yanking him halfway
30:32
off the bed before letting him go.
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He would land on the floor, bruised and terrified.
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There were also episodes when foul odors would suddenly fill
30:45
his room, the suffocating stench of sulfur and decay that would
30:51
vanish after just a few minutes, leaving him gagging.
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And always those hateful whispers Slytherin into his ears
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when he was alone. Now he could understand what
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they were saying. John.
31:08
We see you, John. Exhaustion took its toll.
31:17
At school, John struggled to stay awake in class.
31:21
Dark circles carved themselves under his eyes.
31:25
Teachers noticed and asked if things were all right at home.
31:30
He nodded and lied that he was studying hard or not sleeping
31:34
well due to teenage insomnia. His friends drifted away as he
31:38
became more withdrawn and jumpy. However, there were a few
31:44
moments of respite. The presence somehow seemed
31:48
mostly confined to night time, but John could never fully
31:52
relax. Even in the daylight, he always
31:56
felt it watching and waiting. The psychological strain was
32:01
immense. John lived in a state of
32:04
constant dread. He started fearing nightfall
32:07
entirely. Even as evening came.
32:11
He'd pace his room, double check the closet and under his bed,
32:16
arms trembling as he tried to brace himself for whatever the
32:20
demon would do next. He often prayed fervently,
32:26
clutching a rosary Grandma had given him, begging God or any
32:30
force of good to protect him. Sometimes it helped momentarily.
32:36
There were nights he'd say prayers aloud and the room would
32:40
remain still for a while, but inevitably the disturbances
32:44
would start up again later in the night, almost as if the
32:48
entity was enraged by his prayers. 1 autumn evening About
32:53
a year into his torment, John experienced one of the first
32:58
direct encounters that left him truly shaken to his core.
33:03
By this point, he was 13, and the demonic presence had worn
33:07
him thin. He found himself extremely
33:10
depressed as he became more and more isolated.
33:15
The night of this particular encounter, he had fallen asleep
33:19
at last, out of pure fatigue. He was suddenly startled awake.
33:25
The room was frigid, far colder than normal.
33:30
His breath fogged in the air. Instantly, John knew that it was
33:36
here with him. He reached for his bedside
33:40
cross, but to his surprise, he couldn't move his arms.
33:45
He couldn't move at all. He was completely paralyzed.
33:50
Lying on his back, all he seemed to be able to do was move his
33:54
eyes. In the corner of the ceiling, he
33:58
heard a soft chittering sound, like claws skittering across
34:03
plaster. Fear surged within him.
34:07
He sensed something gather at the foot of his bed, though he
34:11
couldn't turn his head. His eyes strained downward.
34:17
In the darkness, a shape coalesced.
34:20
It was darker than the shadows, a hunched black silhouette
34:26
slowly rising before him. John's mind screamed, but his
34:31
body remained rigid. The figure moved alongside of
34:36
his bed. He could feel weight shifting
34:39
the mattress as it crawled up, inching closer and closer.
34:46
When it reached his face, John's whole body erupted in
34:50
goosebumps. He felt hot, rancid breath waft
34:55
over his cheek. The creature was right beside
34:59
him, yet he could still only make out an anamorphous
35:03
darkness. Suddenly, in a guttural whisper,
35:08
it spoke his name. The voice sounded like many
35:15
voices layered together as it slithered through the air.
35:20
With tremendous effort, John managed A whimper.
35:25
This thing, this demon laughed. A horrible cackling sound.
35:33
Then, as abruptly as the episode had began, the pressure holding
35:38
him down released. John immediately sat upright,
35:44
gasping and sobbing. The room was now empty, yet it
35:50
lingered with the odor of sulfur and rot, indicating to him that
35:56
something unholy had been there just moments before.
36:00
On his night stand, the crucifix lay toppled, as if knocked over
36:07
by an unseen hand. That was the first time the
36:11
entity had addressed him by name, and in the flesh.
36:15
It left John shaking uncontrollably, unable to sleep
36:20
for the rest of the night. By morning, he was sick with
36:24
dread and exhaustion. His mother kept him home from
36:28
school that day, thinking that he had the flu as he was pale
36:33
and vomiting from stress. John didn't correct her.
36:38
How could he explain the sickness he felt?
36:41
How could he explain that it was stemming from pure terror?
36:46
Over the next several years, the demonic harassment continued
36:50
relentlessly. It became the horrific
36:53
background of John's life. By the time he was 16, he had
36:59
experienced countless inexplicable phenomena.
37:03
Objects flying off shelves, doors slamming shut on their
37:07
own, disembodied growls in his ear at random times.
37:13
His family struggled to understand and cope.
37:17
They did bring in a local pastor to bless the house once, but
37:21
aside from a temporary calm that very night, nothing really
37:26
changed. The entity had remained.
37:31
If anything, it grew more furious.
37:35
Sometimes it even tormented other members of the family.
37:39
A whisper here, a shadow siding there, But it focused the brunt
37:45
of its malice on John. He was the target.
37:50
He had been marked. Yet John survived each night.
37:56
Somehow he learned to live with the terror as a grotesque
38:00
normal. By age 18 he was finishing high
38:04
school and aching to move out, hoping desperately that maybe
38:10
distance would weaken the demons hold.
38:14
He had grown used to the attacks, as strange as that
38:17
sounds. The fear was still there, but he
38:21
had built a scarred shell around it.
38:25
What he hadn't realized, though, was that the demon had no
38:28
intention of letting him go so easily.
38:32
It would follow him. It would never stop as it
38:36
promised, until he was dead. 1 humid summer night, everything
38:44
reached a horrific crescendo. Earlier that day, John had dared
38:50
to feel a glimmer of hope. He and a couple of his friends
38:54
had gone to the beach, and for a short while under the sun, he'd
38:58
almost felt like a normal teenager again.
39:02
Laughing, joking, forgetting the darkness that waited for him at
39:07
home that evening, he even managed A genuine smile at
39:12
dinner with his parents and sister.
39:16
For once, he thought, maybe things were quieting down.
39:21
It had been about a week since anything major had happened, and
39:24
maybe, just maybe, the entity was losing interest or power.
39:32
He couldn't have been more mistaken.
39:35
That night, as John drifted off in his bedroom, his mind
39:39
replayed happy memories of the beach.
39:42
But the darkness had been waiting for exactly such a
39:46
moment of lowered guard. John awoke to a sudden crack of
39:51
Thunder. Being shaken out of a sound
39:54
sleep. He jolted upright as if his
39:58
heart had leapt into his throat. Quickly turning on his lamp, his
40:02
eyes frantically screened the room if he rained, then began
40:07
assaulting the roof and pelting his windows.
40:11
As he tried to calm down, A flash of lightning illuminated
40:15
the rest of his room for just a moment.
40:19
Albeit unnerving, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary,
40:24
however, for he could ponder further, assuming he had just
40:28
been startled by the storm outside.
40:31
The lamp in his room flickered and then turned off.
40:36
He tried flicking it on and off, but the power seemed to be out.
40:41
John now sat near total darkness, except for sporadic
40:45
flashes of lightning casting warped shadows on the walls.
40:50
Finally, he was able to fumble for and find his flashlight in
40:54
his night stand. As he clicked it on, the beam
40:58
cut a shaky circle through the room.
41:01
He slid out of bed, intending to go to the door and open it,
41:06
maybe call out to see if his family was all right, But as
41:10
soon as his bare feet touched the floorboards, a wave of
41:14
static electricity hung in the air.
41:18
John felt the hair on his arms rise up as it had many times in
41:22
the past. And.
41:23
Alongside this, the return of a sickening feeling in the pit of
41:27
his stomach. Simultaneously, his flashlight
41:32
flickered as if it was dying. Confused, knowing he had just
41:37
replaced the batteries in it mere days ago, he attempted to
41:41
turn it on and off while he was preoccupied.
41:45
There was a lightning strike that lit the room in a blinding
41:48
white flash, quickly followed by an accompanying crack of Thunder
41:54
that shook the house once again. And that split second, John saw
41:59
something that made his blood run cold.
42:03
A figure was standing in the doorway directly in front of the
42:06
closed door, tall and humanoid, but grotesquely wrong.
42:14
Its skin was black, seeming to glisten with a leathery texture.
42:20
The thing had a vaguely human shape, but its proportions were
42:24
off. Its limbs were too long, its
42:28
posture hunched and predatory. Worst of all was its face.
42:36
When the lightning flashed, John saw an empty darkness where the
42:40
eye should have been, hollow sockets, and below them, a wide
42:46
grin of jagged, rotten teeth and that brief illumination.
42:52
The creature's head seemed to tilt towards him, and John could
42:57
swear it was smiling. He screamed and dropped the
43:03
flashlight. And.
43:04
The room plunged back Into Darkness.
43:08
In the feeble light of the next flicker, the figure was gone
43:12
from the door. John's pulse pounded in his
43:16
ears. Had he really seen it?
43:19
Was his mind playing tricks? He had never before seen the
43:24
demon so clearly with his own eyes.
43:28
It was real. Oh God.
43:32
Summoning courage born of sheer panic, John snatched the
43:35
flashlight off the floor and shown it frantically around.
43:40
The beam danced across his desk, his closet, the empty corner,
43:46
but no sign of the black figure. Breathing hard, he took a step
43:51
towards the door. In the moment he did, a sound
43:55
came from directly behind him. A low, guttural growl.
44:04
He then felt hot breath at the back of his neck.
44:08
Something was right behind him. John froze.
44:14
A crackling current of adrenaline and terror spiked his
44:18
nervous system. He didn't want to turn around,
44:22
but some primal instinct made him whip his body to confront
44:26
whatever this thing was Standing nose to nose with.
44:30
John was the demon it had moved impossibly silently to within
44:37
mere inches of him. In the flashlights quivering
44:40
glow, John got a clear look at this nightmare made flesh.
44:45
The demon's skin was indeed black, appearing charred and
44:50
slick. Its form was masculine but
44:54
twisted as if agony was edged into every sea.
44:59
Knew it had no visible eyes, just deep sunken pits oozing
45:05
shadow. Its mouth hung open and that
45:10
horrible grin revealing gnarled teeth like broken glass.
45:16
It was so close that John could feel its breath now on his face,
45:22
the scent putrid and haunt smelling of decay.
45:28
John's mind went blank with terror.
45:31
He thought he might faint on the spot.
45:34
Somehow, he managed to croak out a single question, his voice
45:39
barely above a whisper. What are you?
45:43
The demon's chest vibrated with a chilling laugh that didn't
45:47
sound entirely audible. It resonated inside of John's
45:52
head. Then it spoke, and it's voice
45:56
was a legion of voices, almost as if multiple people and
46:02
animals were intertwined in a dreadful harmony.
46:07
We are legion, It rasped, each word crackling with ancient
46:12
malice. You belong to us.
46:16
In that instant, John felt a violation deeper than any
46:20
physical wound. A sudden blackness swarmed his
46:24
vision. The last thing he remembered was
46:27
a powerful blow. He felt himself hit the floor
46:31
hard, and then nothing but the void after.
46:36
John lost consciousness, and when he finally woke, it was
46:41
morning. Weak sunlight peeked through the
46:44
curtains. He found himself sprawled on the
46:47
living room floor downstairs. How he got there, he had no
46:52
idea. His entire body ached as if he
46:57
had been beaten, and slowly, memories of the previous night
47:01
began to trickle back. The storm, The figure, that
47:07
face, and that voice. John's stomach churned with fear
47:12
and disgust at the recollection. For a moment, he hoped that it
47:17
was just some kind of hellish nightmare, but as he sat up,
47:22
pain lanced through him. He looked down to discover that
47:26
his shirt was torn and stained with blood.
47:31
With trembling hands, John lifted the fabric.
47:34
His torso and arms were covered in fresh scratches and bite
47:38
marks, angry red gashes Criss crossing his skin and Oval
47:45
bruises ringed with deep indentations of bite wounds.
47:51
He let out a strangled SOB. This was no dream.
47:56
The demon had manifested physically, attacked him and
48:01
declared its claim on him. You belong to us, it had said.
48:07
The words echoed in his mind, filling him with further
48:12
despair. It was a miracle that John's
48:15
parents hadn't found him first. They were still asleep upstairs
48:21
and unaware of the struggle that had happened under their.
48:24
Roof. John got to his feet, wincing.
48:30
He felt violated and utterly alone.
48:34
He limped to the merest mirror in the hallway and saw how
48:39
haggard he looked. His face was drawn, his eyes
48:45
haunted. There was dried blood at the
48:48
corner of his mouth. He cleaned himself up as best as
48:53
he could, not wanting to alarm his family, and pulled on a
48:58
fresh long sleeve shirt to hide his injuries.
49:02
In a daze, he returned to his bedroom.
49:06
The door was wide open, though he remembered it slamming shut,
49:10
and aside from the shattered lamp and fallen crucifix,
49:15
everything looked disturbingly ordinary.
49:20
The storm had passed. Sunlight made the space seem
49:24
almost normal. It felt like an insult, given
49:29
the nightmare that had unfolded mere hours ago.
49:33
Sinking into his bed and shaking uncontrollably, he thought to
49:37
himself, Never before had the demon shown itself so
49:42
completely. His fragile bulwark of denial
49:46
crumpled. This was no mere haunting, no
49:50
trick of the mind. A literal demon was after him,
49:56
and by calling itself Legion, it suggested that perhaps there
50:00
were many demons, or at least one powerful one that aligned
50:06
with a demonic horde spoken of in the Bible.
50:11
The weight of the realization was crushing.
50:15
How could anyone fight such a thing?
50:18
When his family woke and went about their mourning, John
50:22
stayed quiet about the details of what had happened.
50:26
He only mentioned that he had fell and broke his lamp and got
50:30
a little scratched up. His parents eyed the marks on
50:33
his neck and the way he winced moving and they knew that he
50:37
wasn't telling the full truth. But by now they were out of
50:42
their depth. They had tried doctors, they had
50:45
tried prayer, What more could they do?
50:50
His father just muttered that maybe they could see a
50:53
specialist. His mother gently suggested
50:57
therapy once more, and John agreed to whatever they wanted.
51:02
But inside he fell hollow. After that night, something in
51:07
John changed. Fear curdled into resignation.
51:12
He truly believed what the demon had told him, that he belonged
51:16
to it, that it wouldn't stop until he was dead.
51:21
Waking up bloodied on the floor became a new morbid normal.
51:25
Whenever a particularly vicious attack happened, John would
51:29
simply clean himself up, hide the evidence, and endure the
51:33
day. What else could he do?
51:37
No one could protect him. And every night the demon came.
51:42
Sometimes it was minor scratches or just a whisper.
51:48
Other times it was brutal. A bite on his leg, or even the
51:52
sensation of being choked by invisible hands until he nearly
51:56
blacked out. By the time he was 19, John felt
52:01
more like a ghost than a living person.
52:04
The demon had stolen his adolescence, leaving a shell of
52:08
a young man. He graduated high school barely
52:12
with grades far lower than his early potential, and found a low
52:17
paying job to keep himself occupied.
52:20
He rarely smiled. He seldom prayed anymore.
52:24
It seemed pointless. In fact, he felt a deep anger at
52:29
God for allowing this to happen. He stopped going to church with
52:34
his family, finding no solace there.
52:37
If God cared, why would he let a child suffer years of demonic
52:42
torture? John's faith was in tatters and
52:46
that left him spiritually vulnerable.
52:49
Perhaps that's exactly what the demon wanted.
52:53
To numb his constant anxiety and pain, John began to self
52:58
medicate. It started with alcohol.
53:02
The few beers at a party made him feel for a short time less
53:06
afraid. Drunk, he could almost forget
53:09
the demon waiting for him in the dark.
53:12
Soon he was drinking nightly when alcohol wasn't enough to.
53:17
Blot out the terror. He turned to pills Vicodin
53:21
stolen from an old bottle in the medicine cabinet after his dad's
53:25
surgery. The opiates gave a blissful
53:28
apathy. He could sink into a stupor and
53:31
not care if something scratched or whispered to him.
53:35
At night, he'd wake with new bruises and barely react.
53:41
It was a dangerous path, John knew it deep down, but by that
53:46
point he didn't much care if he lived or died.
53:50
Dying might even be a relief, he thought bitterly.
53:54
Suicidal thoughts had long since become frequent companions.
53:59
Twice he had tried to end it. The first time he had swallowed
54:03
a mixture of painkillers and sleeping pills with a bottle of
54:07
whiskey. He truly intended not to wake
54:10
up. A wake up he did.
54:14
Hours later, he'd be puking violently on his bedroom floor.
54:18
This head feeling like it was going to explode was as if his
54:22
body rejected the escape. Or perhaps, he wondered grimly,
54:27
the demon kept him alive to continue its torment, not
54:32
allowing him the easy way out. The second attempt was more
54:36
direct. One night, after a vicious
54:39
attack that left 4 deep scratches across his chest, John
54:44
sat on the bedroom floor and held a razor blade to his wrist.
54:49
Tears streamed down his face as he whispered.
54:52
He pressed the blade into his skin, drawing a thin line of
54:56
blood. At that very moment, the
54:59
bathroom light flickered and went out, plunging him Into
55:02
Darkness in the Black Mirror. He thought he saw a pair of red
55:07
eyes. Glaring behind him, a familiar
55:10
whisper swirled around his head. John snapped.
55:21
He hurled the razor away and screamed, a raw, Primal Scream
55:26
that echoed in the tiny bathroom.
55:29
He slammed his first into the floor tiles, sobbing.
55:33
Whether it was the demon goading him or his own tortured psyche,
55:38
he realized that he was teetering on the edge of
55:40
oblivion, and the demon was eager to push him over.
55:45
If I die, he. Thought it wins.
55:49
Even in his despair, a spark of defiance glimmered.
55:53
He didn't want the demon to have the satisfaction of destroying
55:57
him completely. Not yet.
56:00
He bandaged his wrist, stumbling back to bed in the dark.
56:05
That night, he didn't sleep at all.
56:07
He just laid there with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling
56:12
with tears drying on his cheeks and a rare moment of
56:16
vulnerability, he later admitted.
56:19
I felt worthless as a person. I felt like I had nothing.
56:24
And yet, fate had not abandoned John Drenner Junior.
56:28
Unknown to him, events were aligning to bring a glimmer of
56:32
hope into his darkness. The catalyst for that hope would
56:37
be love and a fierce desire to protect someone other than
56:41
himself. At 19, John's life took a small
56:46
upward turn. He fell in love.
56:50
He met Mary, a kind and lively young woman, at the hardware.
56:55
Store where he worked. Mary was drawn to John's quiet,
57:00
gentle demeanor. She sensed he carried deep
57:04
wounds but didn't pry. She simply offered him genuine
57:09
friendship and eventually affection for John.
57:14
Mary was a ray of light piercing the gloom around her.
57:19
He felt almost normal. She made him laugh again,
57:23
something he thought he had forgotten how to do.
57:27
John was terrified of dragging Mary into his nightmare, so he
57:31
kept his dark secret from her. Initially, when she asked about
57:36
the faint scars on his arms or the tiredness in his eyes, he
57:41
deflected with half truths, saying that he had had a sleep
57:45
disorder or a rough childhood. Mary, not wanting to pressure
57:50
him, accepted these explanations, though she was
57:54
worried about him. Within a year, their
57:58
relationship blossomed. Mary became a source of strength
58:02
for John. He found himself looking forward
58:05
to spending time with her, and for the first time in ages, he
58:10
imagined a future, perhaps even a happy 1.
58:14
He could just rid himself of this demon.
58:17
Somehow, his love for Mary rekindled a will to fight that
58:21
had nearly been extinguished. In quiet moments, he dared to
58:27
pray again, not for himself, but for Mary's safety and happiness.
58:34
Eventually, they decided to move in together.
58:38
Mary had a small rental house not far from John's parents, and
58:42
it seemed like a perfect fresh start.
58:45
John hoped privately that maybe leaving his family's home, where
58:49
so many traumatic events had occurred, might weaken the
58:53
demon's hold on him. Perhaps the entity was tied to
58:57
that place. It was a feeble hope, but he
59:01
clung to it. The first few nights after John
59:04
moved into Mary's house were peaceful.
59:07
John still lay awake for hours, tense and waiting for the
59:12
familiar disturbances, but none came.
59:16
For an entire blessed week, John experienced quiet on an erupted
59:22
sleep at Mary's side. He began to believe that he
59:26
might have escaped the demon at last.
59:29
Mary noticed his improved mood and was delighted.
59:33
She had no idea why John's nightmares, as he called them,
59:37
had apparently stopped, but she was relieved for him.
59:41
The reprieve did not last, however.
59:44
Evil as patient, and it had followed John to his new home.
59:49
It was simply lulling him into a false sense of security before
59:55
delivering its next cruel blow. One warm summer night, Mary was
1:00:01
awakened by a strange sensation. The bed was vibrating.
1:00:07
At first she thought it might be an earthquake trimmer, but
1:00:11
nothing else in the room was rattling.
1:00:15
She then realized that John was shaking.
1:00:18
He had been the source of the movement.
1:00:21
He lay beside her, eyes shut, but his body was shaking
1:00:26
uncontrollably. As if having a seizure, John,
1:00:31
Mary whispered urgently. Sitting up, she gently shook
1:00:34
him, and his eyes flew open. Wild and panicked, he sucked in
1:00:40
a huge gasp of air, as if he had been drowning.
1:00:44
Then he stared at Mary with an expression of pure terror.
1:00:49
It was here, he panted. In the dream it Mary's blood ran
1:00:54
cold. Who was here?
1:00:57
John, What happened? John pressed a hand to his
1:01:00
forehead. He was drenched in sweat.
1:01:05
I saw a woman, he stammered. A horrific old woman.
1:01:09
She was in our room. She crawled onto the bed and and
1:01:13
into me. I think I was dreaming, but it
1:01:16
felt so real. His voice broke.
1:01:19
She was choking me from the inside.
1:01:22
Mary's eyes widened in alarm, she didn't fully understand, but
1:01:28
she could see John was deeply frightened.
1:01:31
So she embraced him, rubbing his back and told him it's OK, it's
1:01:36
just a nightmare. John nodded shakily, clinging to
1:01:41
her. He didn't tell Mary that he
1:01:43
recognized the Crone like woman from his dream as just another
1:01:47
form of the demon. It often tricked him with
1:01:50
disguises and his nightmares, this time an old witch like Hag,
1:01:56
but it was the same entity, it was sure, and the way it felt
1:02:01
crawling into him, it was possessing him in the dream.
1:02:06
He hadn't experienced that before.
1:02:09
It terrified him much more than any scratch or bite could.
1:02:14
Mary eventually calmed him and they went back to an uneasy
1:02:17
sleep, but the demon was done hiding.
1:02:22
The next evening, as the couple ate dinner together, Mary's
1:02:26
bookshelf suddenly toppled over without warning, crashing to the
1:02:31
floor, Books and ornaments scattered.
1:02:35
Startled, Mary assumed it was an accident.
1:02:39
Maybe it was off balance. But John's face went pale.
1:02:44
He recognized it as a warning. He helped Mary clean it up, all
1:02:49
while his heart was pounding and full of dread.
1:02:53
Later that night, Mary experienced her first directly
1:02:58
inexplicable occurrence. She had gone into the bathroom
1:03:02
to brush her teeth while John was locking up the house.
1:03:06
As she stood at the sink, something flickered in her
1:03:10
peripheral vision. She looked up at the mirror and
1:03:14
screamed, and the reflection standing directly behind her was
1:03:20
a towering dark figure with hollow eyes and a predatory
1:03:26
grin. Mary spun around, but nothing
1:03:30
was there. The bathroom was empty, yet the
1:03:35
image had been unmistakable. John burst into the bathroom to
1:03:39
find Mary backed against the counter, trembling.
1:03:43
Mary, what happened? He demanded, though he could
1:03:47
guess. Mary's voice shook.
1:03:51
I thought I saw someone behind me in the mirror.
1:03:54
She clutched at John's arm. It looked horrible.
1:03:59
John's heart sank. There was no point in denying it
1:04:02
now. The demon had revealed itself to
1:04:06
Mary. This meant now that she was part
1:04:09
of its game and potentially in danger.
1:04:13
He felt a surge of guilt and fear.
1:04:17
He'd hoped to spare her from this horror, but this entity was
1:04:21
not going to allow that. That night, John finally
1:04:25
confessed everything to Mary. They sat on the couch and in
1:04:30
halting words, he recounted the whole ordeal since he was a
1:04:34
child. The shack in the woods, the
1:04:38
chanting, the nightly torments, scratches and attacks.
1:04:44
The demonic apparition calling itself Legion.
1:04:48
Mary listened with her eyes wide and brimming with tears.
1:04:53
She understood the full scope of trauma that John had been living
1:04:57
with. It was almost too fantastical to
1:05:00
believe. Yet what she saw in the mirror
1:05:04
and John's absolute conviction left no doubt that something
1:05:08
supernatural and evil was at work.
1:05:12
Oh, John. Mary whispered, holding his hand
1:05:15
tightly. Why didn't you tell me sooner?
1:05:18
You've been carrying this alone for far too long.
1:05:22
I didn't want to scare you or think I was crazy, he said.
1:05:26
I thought maybe I could handle it or it would go away, and for
1:05:30
a moment I thought it had once I'd moved here.
1:05:34
But I was wrong. It followed me, and now it's
1:05:37
showing itself to you. I'm so sorry, Mary.
1:05:41
I never wanted you to be involved in this.
1:05:44
Mary wiped her tears, trying to be strong.
1:05:47
We'll deal with this together. She said, though her voice
1:05:50
trembled. You're not alone anymore.
1:05:54
A resolved bolster, John. And for the first time, he had
1:05:58
an ally who fully believed him and was in it with him.
1:06:02
That night, however, the demon escalated its campaign as if
1:06:07
enraged by Mary's involvement. In the darkest hour of the early
1:06:12
morning, around 3:00 AM, they were jolted awake by a loud bang
1:06:17
in the kitchen. They rushed out of the bedroom
1:06:20
to find all of the cabinet doors flung open and all of their
1:06:24
dishes tossed to the floor. Many of them were broken.
1:06:29
The whole house vibrated with a palpable anger.
1:06:33
Mary yelled as she felt something scratch her leg.
1:06:35
There were three shallow cuts that seemed to appear out of
1:06:39
nowhere on her calf. John quickly pulled her behind
1:06:44
him, furious and terrified. He shouted into the empty air.
1:06:50
Leave her alone. It's me you want, not her.
1:06:55
His voice echoed. There was no answer, but an
1:06:59
oppressive presence pressed down on them.
1:07:02
Mary clutched his arm, shaking. They barely slept the rest of
1:07:07
that night, jumping at every Creek.
1:07:11
Come morning, Mary had made the decision.
1:07:14
She said. John, we need help.
1:07:17
We can't go on like this. John, exhausted and desperate,
1:07:22
agreed. He had reached the end of his
1:07:25
rope. The demons bold attack on Mary
1:07:28
was the last straw. If he didn't find help, he
1:07:32
feared it would truly kill them both.
1:07:35
But who to turn to? They'd seemingly tried
1:07:38
everything. The local pastor's blessings
1:07:41
hadn't worked in the past. They needed someone experienced
1:07:45
in spiritual warfare, someone who understood demonic
1:07:49
oppression first hand. That afternoon, Mary got in
1:07:53
touch with a friend of her family who was active in a
1:07:56
nearby church. Through a chain of referrals,
1:08:00
they were given the name of a man who might be able to help
1:08:04
Bill Bean, a spiritual deliverance minister known in
1:08:09
Maryland for confronting dark entities.
1:08:12
Bill had a reputation from local media.
1:08:15
He had even been featured on TV for his work.
1:08:19
Supposedly, he had battled demons before and won.
1:08:24
John was hesitant at first. After years of feeling abandoned
1:08:28
by God, he wasn't sure that a church man could do anything.
1:08:33
But Mary insisted that they at least try.
1:08:36
What have we got to lose? She said, placing a hand on his
1:08:40
cheek. At the very least, you'll have
1:08:43
someone who believes you and has seen this kind of thing.
1:08:48
Looking into Mary's hopeful eyes, John realized that he owed
1:08:52
it to her and to himself to try everything to rid their lives of
1:08:57
this evil. If he did nothing, Mary could
1:09:01
end up seriously hurt or worse. He couldn't allow that.
1:09:06
So, with a shaky sense of resolve, John agreed.
1:09:11
Mary made the call, and Bill Bean himself answered.
1:09:15
The moment Mary mentioned the situation, Bill's tone grew
1:09:19
serious. He said he could meet them the
1:09:22
next day at a small prayer Chapel in nearby Hanover, which
1:09:26
was Bill's base of operations. John's stomach fluttered with
1:09:31
nerves when Mary relayed this. Could this finally be the end of
1:09:35
his nightmare? He hardly dared to hope, but for
1:09:39
Mary's sake, he mustered some optimism.
1:09:42
That night, the demon made one more brazen attempt to cow them.
1:09:47
John awoke around 2:00 AM to find Mary missing from the bed.
1:09:52
Panicked, he jumped up and ran through the house, calling her
1:09:56
name. He found her in the hallway,
1:09:59
standing rigid and facing the wall.
1:10:03
Her eyes were closed and she was whispering something under her
1:10:07
breath. Rapidly, John's blood turned to
1:10:10
ice. Mary was chanting, just as he
1:10:14
had done as a child. He rushed to her and gently
1:10:18
shook her shoulders, asking her to wake up.
1:10:22
She kept whispering the strange words and her voice was not her
1:10:26
own. There was a deeper timber
1:10:29
beneath her natural tone. It was as if something else was
1:10:34
speaking through her. John's heart pounded.
1:10:39
Was the demon possessing her? He shouted her name again, and
1:10:45
this time she jolted awake. She looked around in confusion
1:10:50
and then at John. What happened?
1:10:53
She asked, realizing that she was in the hallway and clutching
1:10:58
her head. I, I think I was dreaming.
1:11:01
I dreamed that someone was calling me out of the bed.
1:11:05
John held her tightly. I think it's trying to use you,
1:11:09
Mary. It knows that we're going for
1:11:11
help, but stay strong. We'll get through tonight.
1:11:16
They retreated to the bedroom, terrified that the demon might
1:11:20
attempt something even worse. But aside from an oppressive
1:11:24
feeling and faint scratching on the walls, no further incidents
1:11:29
occurred before dawn. Still, by morning, they were
1:11:34
both pale and exhausted. It was time to face this evil
1:11:39
once and for all. John and Mary drove to Hanover
1:11:43
on a cloudy afternoon with their hearts heavy with a mix of fear
1:11:49
and hope. They pulled up to a modest
1:11:52
Chapel building adjacent to a Community Center.
1:11:55
Waiting outside was Bill Bean. He was a tall, solidly built man
1:12:01
in his 40s with a calm but serious expression.
1:12:07
As John stepped out of the car, Bill's eyes locked on to him and
1:12:12
John saw a flash of concern and determination there.
1:12:17
Bill greeted them warmly, but with gravity.
1:12:20
John, Mary, I'm glad that you came.
1:12:24
We have a lot to talk about and not much time to waste.
1:12:29
His voice was steady with the kind of authority that put John
1:12:33
a little more at ease. Inside the Chapel, they sat in a
1:12:37
small side room with chairs arranged in a circle.
1:12:42
A large wooden cross hung on the wall, and the faint scent of
1:12:46
incense lingered. John recounted his story to Bill
1:12:50
in full detail this time, holding back nothing as he
1:12:56
spoke. Bill listened intently,
1:12:59
occasionally nodding, his brow furrowed.
1:13:03
Mary chimed in about the recent activity and how it had
1:13:06
escalated when John described the demon at its words.
1:13:11
We are Legion, you belong to us. Bill visibly stiffened.
1:13:18
He seemed to recognize the gravity of that claim.
1:13:21
Legion. Bill repeated.
1:13:24
That's a name straight from scripture.
1:13:27
The demons of Godarenes refer to themselves as Legion, meaning
1:13:31
many. It implies a very powerful
1:13:35
demonic presence, possibly multiple entities working
1:13:39
together. John swallowed hard.
1:13:43
Hearing it confirmed by an expert made it even more
1:13:45
frightening. Can you help us?
1:13:48
He asked in a plea. Bill looked at John with
1:13:52
empathy. I'm going to do everything in my
1:13:55
power, with God's help, to free you from this.
1:13:59
I've encountered demonic forces before, and I know the toll that
1:14:03
they take, but you must be an active participant in your
1:14:08
deliverance. I need you to have faith, at
1:14:12
least a mustard seed of faith, that this thing can be defeated.
1:14:17
John glanced at Mary, who squeezed his hand encouragingly.
1:14:21
He thought about all the years of terror, the hopelessness that
1:14:25
had engulfed him, but here was someone extending A lifeline.
1:14:30
He had to grab it. I'll try, John said quietly.
1:14:35
I don't want to live in fear anymore, and I need to protect
1:14:38
Mary. Bill gave a reassuring nod.
1:14:42
Good, he said. Now, I can already sense a heavy
1:14:46
oppression around you. When you walked up, I felt an
1:14:50
intense hatred and hostility in the air.
1:14:54
That's the demon. It knows I'm a threat to it.
1:14:58
It's likely very angry right now.
1:15:01
As if on cue, a light bulb in the ceiling popped, making Mary
1:15:06
jump. A flicker of a smile touched
1:15:09
Bill's lips. Temper tantrum already, eh?
1:15:13
That's all right. It's expected.
1:15:16
They prepared for the deliverance session.
1:15:18
Bill's approach was not a formal Catholic exorcism per SE, but a
1:15:23
deliverance prayer, a coordinated series of prayers,
1:15:28
scripture readings and commands in the name of Jesus to expel
1:15:32
the demon. He explained briefly that while
1:15:35
exorcism is a specific Catholic rite, deliverance is often more
1:15:40
conversational and prayer driven, but has the same goal,
1:15:45
to cast out the evil spirit. The power isn't in ritual items
1:15:51
or Latin phrases, it's in faith and invoking the authority of
1:15:55
Christ, he said. John nodded, though he still
1:15:59
felt unsure of his own faith. Bill had John sit in a chair at
1:16:04
the center of the room. Mary sat a few feet behind him,
1:16:08
observing nervously but praying silently.
1:16:12
Bill fetched a small bottle of holy water, anointing oil, and a
1:16:17
Bible. He placed a hand on John's
1:16:20
shoulder and asked him to close his eyes and pray along in his
1:16:25
heart. The deliverance began calmly.
1:16:30
Bill prayed aloud, inviting the presence of God and asking for
1:16:35
angelic protection. Then his tone shifted, Growing
1:16:40
firm and commanding. He began directly addressing any
1:16:44
unclean spirits that might be attached to John.
1:16:48
In the name of Jesus Christ, I command any demon afflicting
1:16:52
this child of God to reveal itself and depart.
1:16:58
Bill's voice rang with authority.
1:17:00
In the small room, John sat tense with his eyes shut
1:17:05
tightly. At first, nothing happened.
1:17:10
Bill continued praying Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 passages about
1:17:16
protection. As he spoke, John felt a sudden
1:17:21
pang of nausea. A wave of dizziness hit him and
1:17:25
he swayed in his. Chair.
1:17:28
The air in the room grew thick and stifling.
1:17:32
Mary gasped softly. She later said she saw a dark
1:17:37
mist gathering in the corner behind John's chair.
1:17:41
Bill noticed John's discomfort and pressed on more forcefully.
1:17:47
I bind and rebuke the spirit of Legion tormenting John.
1:17:51
Drinner, by the blood of Christ, you have no authority here.
1:17:56
You must leave John now. Bill declared.
1:18:01
John's head rolled back. He felt an overwhelming surge of
1:18:06
anger welling up, but it wasn't his own emotion.
1:18:11
A deep guttural sound rumbled from his chest, a growl that
1:18:16
shocked Mary to hear coming from the man that she loved.
1:18:20
John's eyes remained shut, but his lips curled into a snarl.
1:18:26
Gravelly voice, not entirely his own, spat out.
1:18:37
Mary stifled a cry. It was the demon speaking
1:18:41
through John. Bill didn't flinch.
1:18:44
You have no claim on him. He responded firmly, holding a
1:18:47
Bible up. John has renounced you.
1:18:51
He belongs to God, not you. John's body suddenly convulsed,
1:18:57
nearly toppling the chair. An unseen force seemed to be
1:19:01
struggling within him. Mary rushed to steady John.
1:19:05
The Bill motioned for her to stay back as he continued the
1:19:09
prayers. By the authority of Jesus
1:19:12
Christ, I cast you out. Every last demon, every unclean
1:19:18
spirit. Legion, I command you.
1:19:22
Depart. And never return.
1:19:25
Bill's voice was like Thunder in that room.
1:19:29
John let out a cry, a mix of pain and fury.
1:19:33
The lights flickered violently. Mary clung to a small cross
1:19:38
pendant around her neck, praying desperately, and Bill continued
1:19:43
to pray, attempting to cast the demons out.
1:19:47
What happened next was something John would later.
1:19:50
Struggle to describe. He felt a pressure rising from
1:19:54
deep in his core, as though something were being forcefully
1:19:59
drawn out of him. It burned and writhed inside,
1:20:04
trying to cling to whatever part of him it held.
1:20:08
John felt his mouth open and an inhuman shriek tore out of it,
1:20:13
echoing off the Chapel walls. Mary covered her ears with tears
1:20:19
streaming down her face at the sound.
1:20:22
Bill stepped forward and placed the Bible on John's chest and
1:20:26
his hand on John's forehead. Holy Spirit, fill this man, he
1:20:30
said. Drive out every last remnant of
1:20:33
evil. John's eyes flew open for a
1:20:37
moment. They were completely bloodshot,
1:20:41
almost solid red, as if hemorrhaged.
1:20:45
Mary would later say that it was the most frightening sight, as
1:20:49
if another entity was glaring out through John's eyes.
1:20:54
But then abruptly, John's body went limp, A final guttural hiss
1:21:01
escaped his lips, and a heavyweight seemed to lift from
1:21:06
the room. The oppressive atmosphere
1:21:09
lightened and the flickering. Lights steadied a.
1:21:14
Profound silence then fell upon the room.
1:21:19
After several moments, John slumped forward, sobbing softly.
1:21:25
Bill caught him and eased him back into the chair, while Mary
1:21:30
rushed to his side. John looked up at her, his eyes
1:21:34
back to their normal Hazel color, brimming with tears.
1:21:39
His eyes, however, were clear and present, no longer looking
1:21:44
distant or haunted. It's gone, he choked out.
1:21:50
He was almost afraid to say it, but he felt an immense peace
1:21:54
flooding into the space that the demon had occupied in him for so
1:21:57
long. For the first time in nearly a
1:22:00
decade, his mind was quiet. There were no whispers, no
1:22:06
lurking dread in the pit of his stomach now, just a calm
1:22:11
stillness. He gasped, as if breathing fully
1:22:15
after years of shallow. Breaths.
1:22:18
It's really gone, I can't feel it anymore.
1:22:22
Mary broke into relieved sobs and threw her arms around him.
1:22:26
John held her and both of them cried together.
1:22:31
Bill stepped back quietly, thanking God under his breath,
1:22:35
looking tired but pleased. The deliverance was successful.
1:22:41
The Demon Legion had been cast out, but Bill wasn't finished
1:22:46
guiding them. After John had a moment to
1:22:49
recover, he was weak and trembling as if he had run a
1:22:54
marathon. Bill sat with him and Mary to
1:22:59
discuss how to stay free of the demonic influence.
1:23:03
He explained that John needed to reclaim his life and spirit, to
1:23:08
fill the void with positive, faithful things so that the
1:23:12
darkness couldn't sneak back in. Bill spoke with such a gentle
1:23:18
earnestness. An exorcism or deliverance is
1:23:22
not the end. It's the beginning of a new
1:23:25
fight, one to keep yourself fortified.
1:23:30
You eliminate fear. You starve the devil out of your
1:23:34
life. John nodded, absorbing every
1:23:37
word Bill gave him. Practical steps, regular prayer,
1:23:43
meditation on good things, keeping blessed items or
1:23:48
scripture around, and importantly, not giving in to
1:23:52
fear or negative emotions that could invite the entity back.
1:23:58
Walk in strength and courage, Bill said.
1:24:01
If you do that, nothing can stand against you.
1:24:05
The moment you allow fear or despair to take hold, you crack
1:24:10
open a door for the enemy. Don't let that happen.
1:24:15
You have authority over your own life now.
1:24:19
John took those words to heart. He promised himself that he
1:24:23
would never let that darkness in again.
1:24:26
The difference in how he felt was night and day.
1:24:29
He hadn't realized how heavy the weight on his soul had been
1:24:33
until it was gone. In its absence, he felt light,
1:24:38
buoyant. Free Mary, too, was advised on
1:24:43
how to protect herself, though Bill believed the demon had only
1:24:47
targeted her to get to John. With John, Free Mary should be
1:24:52
safe, especially if they kept their home spiritually cleansed
1:24:58
and their lives positive. He offered to come.
1:25:01
Bless their house. And a few days later, he did
1:25:05
just that, walking through each room with prayers, holy water
1:25:11
and salt, declaring it a place of peace.
1:25:16
John attended that house blessing, reciting prayers
1:25:20
alongside Bill, feeling stronger in faith than he had in years.
1:25:26
The nightmares, scratches and whispers did not return.
1:25:32
For the first time in so long, John slept deeply and soundly
1:25:38
through the night with Mary curled at his side, both of them
1:25:43
untroubled by dark dreams. It felt like a miracle.
1:25:49
John Jenner Junior's life transformed after the
1:25:52
deliverance. At age 21, he finally knew the
1:25:56
taste of peace, the scars on his body.
1:26:00
Remained, but the wounds in his spirit began to heal.
1:26:05
In the wake of his ordeal, John found a renewed sense of
1:26:09
purpose. No longer a victim cowering in
1:26:12
the dark, he felt empowered by surviving such evil.
1:26:17
He made a promise to himself that he would never let fear
1:26:21
control him again. In the months and years that
1:26:25
followed, John strengthened his faith and took care of his
1:26:28
mental and physical health. He quit drinking and pill
1:26:32
popping completely. He no longer needed those
1:26:35
crutches to face the night. With Bill Bean's mentorship, he
1:26:40
even learned how to help others who were suffering.
1:26:43
Bill often said John had a knack for discerning demonic presence.
1:26:48
Likely due to his long trial and under Bill's guidance, John
1:26:52
apprenticed in performing House blessings and offering counsel
1:26:57
to the frightened. John's journey was not without
1:27:00
lingering shadows, however. Occasionally in the quiet of the
1:27:04
night, he would wake from a mild nightmare or catch a glimpse of
1:27:09
a dark shape in his peripheral vision.
1:27:12
His heart would stutter with the old fear, but he would take a
1:27:16
steady breath and dispel the fear with a prayer or a flick of
1:27:21
the light. The shadows would retreat,
1:27:25
revealed his only tricks of the mind.
1:27:29
Still, John would never forget about the demons final promise
1:27:34
that it wouldn't stop until he was dead.
1:27:38
John understood enough about the paranormal to realize that all
1:27:41
the demon had been cast out. Such entities lurk, waiting for
1:27:46
moments of weakness to try to slither back in.
1:27:50
He had to remain vigilant, not just for himself, before his
1:27:55
loved ones. Fortunately, he no longer lived
1:27:59
in fear of that possibility. Instead, he lived in
1:28:03
preparedness. He fortified his life with
1:28:07
positivity, love, and faith. He married Mary not long after,
1:28:13
and together they built a family grounded in hope rather than
1:28:17
fear. They hung a crucifix in every
1:28:20
room of their home, not solely to.
1:28:23
Ward off evil. But as a reminder of the light
1:28:26
has saved John from the darkness, news of John's story
1:28:31
quietly spread in paranormal circles and in time even agreed
1:28:35
to share his experiences publicly, both as a cautionary
1:28:39
tale and a testament of overcoming evil.
1:28:44
His account was featured on a television series known as A
1:28:47
Haunting, which is one of my all time favorites, and by sharing
1:28:51
his story, he felt that he was allowing others to learn of the
1:28:55
horrifying ordeal that he had endured, that of the power of
1:28:59
deliverance that freed him. Standing in the warm light of a
1:29:03
new dawn, Sean Jenner Junior reflected on his journey with
1:29:08
hard earned wisdom. Evil is real, but so is courage.
1:29:13
Fear is powerful, but so is faith.
1:29:17
He learned that even in the darkest night, one must never
1:29:21
surrender. Hope for the darkness feeds on
1:29:25
surrender. And he learned that sometimes
1:29:28
the greatest weapon against the devil is simply refusing to be
1:29:32
afraid anymore. So if you ever find yourself
1:29:37
haunted, oppressed, craved by the dark and the demonic, just
1:29:43
remember John's words of wisdom. I had originally come across
1:29:47
John's story from his episode On a Haunting, probably back in
1:29:51
2014 or 15. I remember it gripping me and
1:29:56
reminding me a bit of my own struggles dealing with the
1:29:58
paranormal growing up. I also remember coming across
1:30:02
Bill Bean from this episode, and he would also tell his own story
1:30:07
across various mediums and shows over the years.
1:30:10
And his story is certainly intriguing as well.
1:30:14
I'm sure I'll cover it at some point.
1:30:16
While looking for an update on John, I made the unfortunate
1:30:19
discovery that he actually passed away last year in 2024.
1:30:24
I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I hope that he
1:30:28
rests in peace. Hope you guys enjoyed this
1:30:32
episode. If you did, please like it, hype
1:30:35
it. If you can share and comment
1:30:38
below. All those things help me out
1:30:40
tremendously. You can also check out my store
1:30:43
or become a channel member or patron to support my work.
1:30:48
I've been going through a really hard time lately and just wanted
1:30:52
to say that now more than ever, I am thankful for all of you
1:30:55
enjoying what I do and supporting me.
1:30:58
I truly don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you guys, so
1:31:02
thank you as always. This has been Cody here at
1:31:06
Mystery Archives. Remember to stay safe out there
1:31:10
and take care. I'll see you next time.