Tied Up on Halloween - Again, part 18
Our rope-crazed poltergeist left us alone for several days. Either he preferred not to perform his tricks on us while our parents were around, or he thought we had suffered enough for the time being. The only sign of the ghost was a glowing message on the mirror in my bedroom "
Want to play this weekend?"
"No, I do not!" I yelled to my empty room. "Leave us alone!" The ghostly writing faded. I grew concerned later that day when our parents informed us that they were were going to be gone all day Sunday visiting our sick aunt out-of-town. Had the ghost known this before I did? His message on the mirror made me think so. My brother, sister, and I had a conference in the back yard. Hopefully the ghost would not overhear us if we weren't in the house. My brother and sister told me they both planned to hang out with friends on Sunday in order to avoid falling victim to the ghost's rope pranks while our parents weren't home. They recommended that I make myself scarce that day too.
"We can't spend the rest of our lives trying to avoid getting tied up by a ghost. I have an even better idea," I said mysteriously. "I'm going to get rid of the ghost permanently."
They stared at me, and then burst into laughter.
"OK, little sis. Whatever you say. Have you opened a branch office of Ghostbusters?" Sharon asked between fits of laughter.
"Mock me if you will, but you'll eat your words after I've saved the family from our sadistic ghost."
More laughter ensued. I'll show them.
Sunday morning arrived. Our parents said goodbye as Eddie, Sharon, and I started walking to church. It pleased our parents greatly that their three teenagers would go to church even without them. Our motives were good, but practical too. We each carried a tiny empty travel-sized shampoo bottle that would soon be filled with holy water from the font. Surely the ghost would stay clear of us when we got home if we were carrying holy water. Or was that only good against vampires? I wasn't sure, but the holy water was only plan A. Plan B was going to be even better. That ghost will soon be toast.
Our church was only a few blocks away and the weather was good, so we walked. We were dressed in our Sunday best. Sharon and I were wearing dresses. Sharon had on a pair of opaque black tights. I was wearing her skating tights. Shhhh, don't tell her! From a casual glance, it looked like I was wearing a regular pair of tan pantyhose. Only Sharon would have known on closer inspection that they were thicker (and more expensive!) than regular pantyhose. She didn't notice, which is just as well. As you may recall, I had tickled her feet while she was tied to a chair until she had agreed to let me borrow her skating tights, but only if I wore them in the house. She would not have approved of me wearing them with shoes outside of the house. Oh well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. She had blindfolded me with these tights, so I was wearing them now partly out of revenge.
After church, we filled our bottles with holy water. Eddie took off to go to his friend's house. Sharon wanted to stop off first at home to change clothes. I told her to go on without me and that I had to talk to Fr. Thorne first.
"Oh, needing to confess something? Like, how you tickled my feet while I was bound and gagged, and made me listen to that horrible book you read out loud while I was unable to escape?"
"Well, no ..." I answered. "I can't really confess about something I'm not sorry about. No, this is about something else."
She gave me a skeptical look before she started walking home. "Make sure you have the holy water bottle uncapped and ready to spray!" I called to her. She gave me the "keep it down, do you want people to think we're nuts" gesture and continued on her way.
I had to wait while the middle aged women and old ladies stopped flirting with the priest after Mass. There was hardly any female parishioner there over the age of 12 who did not have a crush on Fr. Thorne. He was VERY good-looking. His passions, other than his calling, were jogging and lifting weights. He was young too, having been a priest for only a couple of years. Being celibate made any flirtation relatively harmless. Most of the husbands didn't seem to mind that their wives talked about Fr. Thorne a lot.
When Fr. Thorne was finally left alone, I asked if I could speak to him in private. Once we were settled in his office, he asked how he could help.
"So, Father ... I know that you can perform an exorcism on a person. Could you perform an exorcism on a place, you know ... like ... a haunted house?"
Father Thorne smiled. He had obviously encountered this question before. "I have found, Carly, that there is always a natural explanation for whatever might be happening at your home. Strange noises that you may think are signs of paranormal activity could be caused by many things. Houses do settle sometimes, squirrels play on roofs, wind causes vibrations in the windows, ..."
"This ghost likes to tie me up."
"... small earth tremors, howling cats next door, well, it could be many ... I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"The ghost in my house likes to tie me up. I want to get rid of him."
"Oh dear ... oh ... my ... perhaps Eddie is playing tricks on you? Maybe he sneaks up on you while you are sleeping and ties you up. You wake up, still slightly groggy and in the midst of a bad dream, find yourself tied up, and you mix up your dream with the reality and assume a ghost did it."
"If only it were that simple. No, this ghost ties me up while I'm awake. As in flying ropes that bind themselves around my ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, and chest. Like, super fast. Faster than Eddie or any other human could tie me up. Then socks come out of my drawer and fly into my mouth. Then a pair of my pantyhose comes floating out of my drawer, and before I know it, it's wrapped around my head, over my mouth, twice, and ... Father, are you alright?"
Father Thorne was looking a little shocked. He wiped his brow with his handkerchief. This was the first time I ever saw him looking flustered. Then it dawned on me. I was making him nervous! Here I was, sitting across from him with my legs crossed. My dress had ridden up when I sat down so that it was well above my knees (Sharon and I were both wearing dresses today that were a little shorter than the ones we usual wore when attending church when our parents were with us). I was, pardon me for not sounding humble, looking pretty hot today! I was filling out quite nicely. Perhaps he was envisioning me tightly bound and gagged, thrashing about trying in vain to free myself from my bonds.
"Oh, dear ... oh my ..." Father mumbled as he suddenly looked away from me. "Is it hot in here?"
He went to the window, opened it, and breathed deeply. After he had composed himself, he sat down again.
"Well, Carly, there was a time when Eddie really did tie you up. I know, because I happened to be walking by your house two Halloweens ago and saw you as part of the "burning at the stake" display that Eddie had created. I had no idea you had been unable to escape and had been tied to the pole for hours, or surely I would have helped you. I actually thought you were a mannequin at the time. [Note to reader: you may read about this incident here
Found Guilty of Witchcraft ] Now, that must have been a very traumatic experience. Maybe, just maybe, you are suffering from traumatic stress syndrome, and you just think that ..."
I looked down, my eyes starting to glisten with tears. "You don't believe me. I guess I don't blame you. It does sound unbelievable. I'm sorry I wasted your time." I stood up and started to leave.
"Wait Carly," he said as he gently lifted my chin so I could look him in the eye. "I'll tell you what - let's try doing an exorcism first. If that solves the problem, great. If not, I'll talk to your parents and recommend a good therapist for you. There's no shame in needing psychological help, now is there?"
I knew I wasn't imagining things, but I agreed to his plan. "Will an exorcism work if you have doubts about my story?"
"Absolutely! I'm only the conduit. If there really is a ghost, he won't stand a chance! Now, shall we do some ghost exterminating?"
Father packed his crucifix, candles, rosary, and holy water in his special priest briefcase and gave me a ride home in his car. As I unlocked the front door, I told him how much safer I felt with him at my side. "The ghost only ties me up when my parents aren't home, and just my luck, they're out-of-town today. I feel much safer with you here."
"Not to worry, young lady," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I guarantee that no one, whether they be human or ghost, is going to tie you up today. I'll see to that. Let's go kick some ghost butt!"
I felt reassured. For about one second. As I opened the front door, the first thing I saw was a pile of ropes on the floor, neatly coiled in several sections. There was even a pair of socks and a pair of tan pantyhose lying there - the exact same socks and pantyhose that had become my gag this Halloween!
"Oh no!" I moaned and pointed to the rope. "This is how it starts! The ghost taunts me with the rope before tying me up! This stuff wasn't here when we left! Please don't let him tie me up again!"
Father held me in his arms. "There there, don't panic. This looks suspiciously like Eddie and/or Sharon are trying to play a prank on you. I'll give them a stern talking to. Of all the nerve! To frighten their little sister in this way!"
As we stepped further into the living room and closed the door, we both looked down and saw Sharon's church shoes. It was unlike her to leave her shoes lying in the middle of the living room. We heard a faint muffled sound. Walking further in, we both gasped. She was lying on the floor, still wearing her church clothes, except for her shoes. Her arms and legs were bound tightly with rope, and her tights-covered legs were bent into a very strict hogtie. She could barely move. She was severely gagged. She looked up at us - her eyes expressing a mixture of fear, anger, and embarrassment.
To be continued ...