“Dakota, there isn’t much of a choice to be made. Yes, get him out. I don’t want any part of him in me.”
“Let me tell you of the repercussions of your decision, so that you might make an informed choice. Because you are a good person, Samael has been feeding off of your positive energy. The host that volunteers to accept Samael is not as well intended. By transferring Samael to the new host, he will continue to gain strength. He will feed off of his new host’s negative energy. The new host is not exactly someone I would think of as a positive personality. Samael will have the opportunity to do harm again.”
“Get him out, I don’t care how, I don’t care what happens as a result. I just don’t want him in me anymore.” I looked to Lauren, and, without words, I hoped that she felt the same. I didn’t want to share her with Samael ever again.
“Fair enough.” Dakota walked to me and put her hands on either temple, she looked in my eyes but wasn’t speaking to me, “Samael, I know you can see me. I’ve found you someone who will appreciate and welcome you into his body. You will need to release Max.” At that same moment a tall lanky teenager walked through the door. He was at least my height, light skinned, still fighting a bad case of acne. He wore black jeans, a black t-shirt and had both his eyebrows pierced.
I could see the excitement in this kid’s features, “Dakota, is it time?”
Dakota nodded. The teenage boy walked up to me smiling, saying to no one specifically, “This is going to be awesome.”
It all took less than five minutes. I can’t describe what she did, but I knew he was gone.
Dakota spoke to the teenager, “It will take some getting used to. He will only have as much control as you allow him to have. I warn you, do not relinquish control to him. If you do, control will never return to you. You will become the parasite.”
I could hear shouting in the front yard. I stood up to see what had caused the chaos. A convoy of ten black SUVs arrived, one right after another. The people who had been milling about in the front yard enclosed in a tight knit circle, with the black SUVs surrounding them. Each vehicle had four occupants; none made a move to get out of their vehicles. Dakota stepped into another room and reappeared wearing the same outfit as the teenager that now shared his body with Samael.
I know my face only registered confusion. I stood closer to Lauren, trying to discern what to make of this convoy of SUVs. As I peered out the window, all ten SUVs remained encircled around the Council members. In unison, by some strange inaudible signal, all four doors opened to each vehicle and the occupants stepped out in unison. It was one of the eeriest sights I had ever seen. Forty people began walking to the house.
“What the hell is going on?” I shouted.
“Murder is not acceptable, regardless of whether the Council wanted to murder you or if they want to murder this young man. We needed to create enough of a diversion to permit safe passage.”
The door opened and about half the people made it into the kitchen, while the other half were crowded around outside of the door. The teenager and Dakota mixed in with the others, and they all walked back to their vehicles. Everyone returned to an awaiting SUV, turned over the ignitions in unison and drove away. It looked like a motorcade leaving our house. It had the desired effect, as no one from the encircled Council made a move to follow.
I walked to the front door and locked it. I called out with my voice and thought as loudly as I could, “Rewsna, you are no longer welcome in our thoughts or our home. If you invade either again, we will not hesitate to hunt you or your Council down, regardless of the repercussions.” I could see the hesitation on Lauren’s face. “Lauren, if you do not agree, say so now.”
Lauren followed, “Renny, I owe you my life, but listen to Max’s warning. Do not return.”
Renny’s response was crystal clear, “I will leave you to your new destiny. Good luck. You will both need it.”
Lauren, Peanut and I walked down the hall to the bedroom.
Chapter 36
Lauren.
Months passed. We finally had our normal life. No one from the Cabinet or the Council contacted us again. It was some time before we were able to function separately. So much chaos had surrounded our relationship that in the days and weeks that followed Max’s exorcism, neither of us could bear to be more than a few feet away from the other. Eventually we began to believe that normalcy was something we could really savor and could count on for years to come.
We decided to stay in Ridgeville. Max went back to his work as a paramedic on the night shift. It was difficult to find a job with matching hours, so I started my own business from the house. I took what was left of my savings and built kennels. I started a dog boarding business, taking care of other’s dogs while their owners were out of town. Peanut’s training must have cost his original family an arm and a leg because once I figured out the commands to give him, there was very little he wasn’t willing to do. I decided that in addition to the kenneling service, I would become a breeder and train working dogs.
I read books, visited other canine training facilities, and scoured the web. I sought advice from veterinarians, K9 handlers in police departments, but got my greatest wealth of knowledge from Peanut. I didn’t expect for my hobby to turn a profit for at least a couple years, but knowing how much I owed my
