Session 6

Doctor : How are you feeling today?

Patient : Better, thank you.

Doctor : I listened to the recording of your session with Doctor Kayla.

Patient : And what did you think of it?

Doctor : I’m not sure. I’m interested to know if you still think she’s an angel.

Patient : What does it matter what we think she actually is? In any case, we don’t want to see her again.

Doctor : Why? What are you afraid of?

Patient : We fear nothing!

Doctor : Alright... we’ll come back to that later. First, I want you to tell me how you feel about what happened.

Patient : We didn’t like it. An exorcism is a very uncomfortable experience. For both of us.

Doctor : Both of who?

Patient : We, Legion, and Joseph, our host. He did not want us to depart so the experience was exhausting and painful for him. Perhaps you could compare the feeling to a forced enema of half-frozen yogurt...

Doctor : Ugh. You don’t need to be so... visual.

Patient : You wanted to know how Joseph felt about the experience.

Doctor : Yes. But even as your doctor, I’m sorry for asking.

Patient : For us, the experience was merely disorienting. It only took us a little time to gather ourselves together and re-enter Joseph.

Doctor : I see.

Patient : We cannot consent to another session with Doctor Kayla.

Doctor : Then you must guess she has asked to see you again.

Patient : We imagine she feels that a proper exorcism would be more successful than her first effort?

Doctor : Yes, she does. And I did check with the church authorities. The office of the Archbishop tells me that she operates under their approval. But they did express that she is somewhat unconventional compared to other exorcists.

Patient : Because she is a psychologist?

Doctor : Yes. Most church-appointed exorcists are educated by the church itself, or at least by other exorcists approved by the Roman Catholic church. She was not. She is university-educated and self-trained. But she is their most prolific agent. She claims an extremely high success rate.

Patient : And she doesn’t want a nobody like us to lower her batting average.

Doctor : I don’t think that’s the case. The church gave me the impression that if she can’t help you, nobody can.

Patient : Are you a believer, now Doctor Adams? Do you believe we are Legion?

Doctor : No. From a very young age, I lost my faith in God and the church. Probably about the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I cannot believe an all-powerful and merciful God would allow a terrible place like Hell to exist.

Patient : It exists whether you believe in it or not. But if you were under the impression that God is merciful, then you have been misled.

Doctor : Yes, as most children are, I think.

Patient : And you still think God is all-powerful?

Doctor : No.

Patient : You may be right. We’re not sure anymore, either.

Doctor : I don’t even believe God exists.

Patient : Ah. Well, we disagree with you on that point.

Doctor : Yes, I figured you would.

Patient : A lot of people who do not believe in God still believe in angels. What about you?

Doctor : I do. It seems to me that angels watch over small children and idiots, at the very least.

Patient : Yes, at the very least.

Doctor : So, you really don’t want to see her again?

Patient : We do not see what would be gained in another exorcism.

Doctor : I do.

Patient : You think she will be successful?

Doctor : She promises me that she can.

Patient : She doesn’t seem to understand that we possess Joseph because he wants us to?

Doctor : She was very insistent that a demonic possession is, by nature, an involuntary state. A normal person does not want their personality pushed aside in favor of a demon’s.

Patient : Well what if we agree to merely vacate this body for some time? Then, you can discuss it with Joseph himself. Her exorcism is unnecessary if that is the only determination to make. We could let you talk with Joseph right now.

Doctor : Really?

Patient : Yes.

Doctor : Look, I’m not sure about all this. My instinct tells me that you’re probably playing a game with me. If you actually are Legion, you could easily pretend to vacate your host and do your best to convince me that you are Joseph. But the problem lies in that I don’t actually believe in demons or exorcisms, so...

Patient : So, you’ll allow the exorcism.

Doctor : Whether or not I believe you are Legion, you believe the exorcism has some power against you. From a psychological standpoint, an exorcism can simply fit into a kind of holistic therapy. If a patient believed he was a vampire, would it not prove to him the truth by taking him outside during the day?

Patient : Unless, of course, his skin started smoking under the sunlight. And your medical opinion would simply label that a psychosomatic symptom, right?

Doctor : Heh.

Patient : We think you would continue to hold on to your scientific dogma, even as he turned into a pile of ashes at your feet.

Doctor : Do you believe in vampires?

Patient : That’s not the issue. You know, it was people like you that carried out tests for the witch-hunters... Bind her hand and foot and cast her into the river. If she drowns, God will save her soul. If she floats, she’s a witch.

Doctor : Again, what do you fear? You sound like a lawyer arguing against an execution.

Patient : We have nothing to fear. We will continue to occupy this body despite any exorcism.

Doctor : Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?