Chapter 33 "When Faith Trembles"
FATHER DAVID
Father David Thorne made the phone call at dawn, watching the sunrise through his office window.
He'd known Dr. Victoria Whitmore for fifteen years had met her during an exorcism case that had required medical intervention. She was one of the few doctors who understood that some things couldn't be explained by science alone. Who accepted that the world was stranger and darker than most people realized.
"David?" Victoria Whitmore was groggy. "It's six in the morning. This better be important."
"It is. I need your help. Medical help. For something unusual."
"How unusual are we talking?"
"Therapeutic hypothermia. Induced to slow heart rate and brain function to near-death levels. For four people simultaneously."
Silence on the other end.
"Victoria?"
"You're joking. Tell me you're joking."
"I'm not. I need your help. And I need it today."
"David, therapeutic hypothermia is used for cardiac arrest patients. To protect brain function after trauma. You're talking about intentionally inducing it in healthy people. That's that's incredibly dangerous. Potentially fatal."
"I know. But it's necessary. For an exorcism."
"An exorcism." Victoria's voice was flat. "You're inducing hypothermia for an exorcism."
"It's complicated. The possession is unlike anything I've encountered. Traditional methods aren't working. This is, it's the only option left."
Victoria sighed, long and heavy. "You're going to owe me so many favors after this. So many."
"I know. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. I might not be able to pull this off. Hypothermia that deep, for that long there are so many things that could go wrong."
"Will you try?"
"Yes. Damn it, yes. I'll be there by noon. And David? Whoever these people are they better be worth risking my medical license for."
"They are. I promise."
After hanging up, Father David sat in his office, praying silently. Not for success he had no right to ask God for success in something this dangerous, this unorthodox. Instead, he prayed for strength. For guidance. For forgiveness if this all went terribly wrong.
Downstairs, Ember or what was left of her rattled her chains. The sound echoed through the church like a death knell.
Father David closed his eyes and kept praying.
MAYA
Maya found Adrian in the church kitchen, making terrible coffee with shaking hands.
She'd promised herself she'd stay away from him. That she wouldn't talk to him unless absolutely necessary. But they needed to coordinate. Needed to make sure everyone understood their role in this insane plan.
"Kelly told you?" she asked from the doorway.
Adrian turned, his bandaged head making him look vulnerable despite his height. "About the ritual? Yeah."
"And you're in?"
"Of course. I'd do anything to save her."
Maya felt rage spike in her chest. "Don't. Don't you dare act like the hero here. You're not the hero. You're the reason she needs saving in the first place."
"I know"
"Do you? Do you really understand what you did to her?" Maya moved into the kitchen, her hands clenched into fists. "You brought her to that place. You let them strip her. Let them chain her down. Let them hurt her. All because you were too much of a coward to stand up to your grandmother."
"I was trying to protect her"
"By handing her over to people who wanted to kill her? Great protection, Adrian."
"I thought" Adrian's voice cracked. "I thought I could control it. I thought I could get her away before anything happened. But I was wrong. I was so wrong, and I'm"
"If you say you're sorry one more time, I'm going to hit you." Maya's voice was shaking. "Sorry doesn't fix this. Sorry doesn't undo what you did to her. To all of us."
Adrian stared at the floor, his shoulders hunched. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't forgive myself."
"Good. Because we're not doing this ritual to help you. We're doing it to save Ember. You're just a necessary evil." Maya moved closer. "When we go back to 1906 you and me and Kelly and Ember we're not friends. We're not allies. We're just people forced to work together because there's no other choice. Understand?"
"Yes."
"And if you do anything to put Ember at more risk, I will end you. I don't care if it changes history or breaks the curse or whatever. I will make sure you pay for it."
"Understood."
Maya turned to leave, then paused. "For what it's worth I think she's starting to forgive you. Ember, I mean. Not Rosanna. Deep down, wherever she is, I think she understands you were scared. That you made a terrible choice but not a malicious one."
Adrian looked up, hope flickering in his eyes.
"But I don't forgive you," Maya continued. "And neither does Kelly. So don't expect us to be nice about this. We're tolerating you. Nothing more."
She left before Adrian could respond.
In the hallway, Maya leaned against the wall, breathing hard. She'd meant every word. She didn't forgive Adrian. Didn't trust him. Didn't even like him.
But Ember loved him. And Maya loved Ember. So she'd work with Adrian. Would hold Ember's hand during the ritual. Would help send them both back to 1906.
And if it killed her in the process well, at least she'd die trying to save her best friend.
That was worth something.
KELLY
Dr. Victoria Whitmore arrived at noon with a van full of medical equipment.
She was a small woman in her fifties, with graying hair pulled back in a practical bun and eyes that had seen too much to be shocked by anything.
Kelly helped her unload IV stands, monitors, temperature probes, cooling blankets, and what looked like industrial-sized containers of ice.
"This is insane," Dr. Whitmore said as they carried equipment into the church. "You know that, right? This is genuinely insane."
"I know," Kelly said. "But it's also our only option."
They set up in the church basement, in a room adjacent to where Ember was being held. Dr. Whitmore worked efficiently, setting up four stations one for each person who would undergo the hypothermia.
"Talk me through the plan again," she said as she calibrated monitors.
"We'll use ice baths to bring their core temperatures down. Once they reach therapeutic hypothermia levels around 89 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit they should enter a state where their consciousness can separate from their bodies."
"That's not how hypothermia works"
"I know. But this isn't purely medical. There's other forces at play."
Dr. Whitmore gave him a look. "Other forces. Right. You mean magic."
"Essentially, yes."
"David said this was for an exorcism. Is the possessed person one of the four going under?"
"Yes. Ember. The girl in the other room."
"The one with the black eyes and the chains?"
"That's her."
Dr. Whitmore was quiet for a moment. "I saw her when I arrived. Looked through the window. Those eyes aren't that's not medically possible. Whatever she has, it's not any condition I've ever seen."
"No. It's not."
"Who are the others? Besides her?"
"Me. Maya Rodriguez, Ember's roommate. And Adrian Crane." Kelly paused. "Adrian's the one with the head injury. Recent brain surgery. Still healing."
Dr. Whitmore head snapped up. "You're putting someone who just had brain surgery into therapeutic hypothermia? Are you trying to kill him?"
"He insisted. Said he didn't care about the risk."
"Well, I care. Post-surgical patients are high risk for complications. If his brain swells during the process"
"We don't have another option. He has to go. He's connected to the curse through his bloodline."
Dr. Whitmore shook her head but kept working. "Fine. But I'm documenting my objections. And if any of you die, I'm telling everyone this was David's idea."
"Fair enough."
They worked for the next several hours, setting up everything. Father David blessed the water regular tap water that would be iced down. He drew symbols on the floor around each station. He prepared prayers and incantations that would help guide the consciousness separation.
At 6 PM, they were ready.
Kelly stood in the basement, looking at the four ice baths waiting to be filled. This was it. This was their chance to save Ember.
Or their chance to kill everyone trying.
"You're sure about this?" Father David asked, appearing at Kelly's shoulder.
"No. But we're doing it anyway."
"I'll be monitoring from here. The moment anything goes wrong the moment your vitals drop too low I'm pulling you out."
"We have one hour. That's what the texts said. One hour maximum."
"I know. But if I see danger before that"
"Don't pull us out unless we're actively dying. Please. We need the full hour."
Father David looked troubled but nodded. "May God protect you all."
"Yeah," Kelly said. "We're going to need it."