Jack and Emily were painting in the playroom. I had a window of quiet time, as I was worried one of them would knock the water over or fight over the paintbrushes. I pulled the demonology book out from under my bed where I had stashed it.

I sat at my desk with the book, taking notes on a legal pad. The only pen I could find was purple, so the pages of notes looked more like a high school girl’s letter to her crush than a road map for exorcising a demon.

Kristin Charity’s Exorcisms in the Modern Era truly did seem to be the gold standard. The first part highlighted a few recent stories of exorcisms, mostly from houses where spirits terrorized the families, but it ended with a full description of the ritual. Kristin had interviewed Ed and Lorraine Warren, a couple famous in the demonology world for being able to contact and banish dark forces. My eyes stopped on a passage halfway down page 204.

In doing a ritual to send a demon back to their realm, the exorcist must be very careful to protect themselves. Demons have the ability to jump from one person to the next, finding a new suitable host when necessary. If they are threatened or cornered, they will seek out a more comfortable place to inhabit, usually a person who has doubts or is vulnerable to being infected. That is why utmost care must be taken to cleanse yourself of negativity before the ceremony begins.

I shivered, a creeping sensation moving up my back to the top of my head. I pictured a dark, twisted cloud filled with tortured screams floating up out of Liz and into one of us.

After the possessed person is secured physically, with care taken since demonic forces often increase physical strength, an incantation is read. It’s to temporarily paralyze the demon, and to speak directly to the person inside. The inhabited must be empowered to fight, as they usually have given up hope of regaining their consciousness. Once they begin to fight, then the real battle begins. It’s a battle for their soul, of the light and the dark.

Underneath, in a shaded box, was the incantation. My breath quickened as I stared at the unfamiliar Latin. They were ancient words, wrapped in tradition and superstition. Shrouded in evil. And I would have to stay up all night to figure out the proper pronunciation of the passage.

After the ritual is done, if it is successful, the demon will be released. It will start to look for a new host to finish its work. That’s why the next step is critical: the dark spirit must be banished with fire. The most common way is to corral it into a fireplace or a pyre, but oftentimes, one has to work with what is available to them.