CHAPTER 12
Carol stared at the door to her room and steadied herself by holding onto a hallway wall.
"Oh, Jenny," she groaned. "Help me!" Should she call her? Would Jenny be willing to help?
Would Jenny know how to get rid of the Ouija spirit? "God, help me!" she cried.
"Take me to Carol's house," Jenny told her mother.
"The doctor says you must rest with your leg up," Mrs. Seker said, checking the pillows under the cast.
"I've got to talk to Carol." Jenny tried to lift her broken leg.
"Why don't you call her?"
"She might hang up on me," Jenny said. She eased her foot onto the floor. "Will you take me there? Please?"
Mrs. Seker shook her head. "I know how important this is, but—."
"I've had nothing to do but sit here all afternoon thinking of how I blew it with Carol today. I have to straighten things out before it's too late." Jenny reached for the crutches.
Mrs. Seker studied her daughter's determination.
"Please, Mom! I've been praying about this. I believe this is what God wants me to do."
"How long will it take?"
"Fifteen minutes, tops, I promise."
When Jenny and her mother arrived at the Astrey home, Carol greeted them with a look of surprise. While Mrs. Seker joined Mrs. Astrey in the kitchen, Carol helped Jenny into a soft living room chair.
"What are you doing here?" Carol asked as she stood awkwardly nearby.
"I want to apologize for earlier today," Jenny said.
Carol sighed as hope welled up within her. "I'm sorry, too," she said.
"And I also want to tell you something that's very important. I'm not sure how to say it." She rubbed her cast, feeling a pain worse than her leg's.
"But the Ouija board has gotten between us," Carol finished.
"Right!"
"It's evil."
"Right!" Jenny wanted to jump up and hug Carol. "But how did you figure that out?"
"Anything that has the power to break stuff when no one's in the room and tries to break up a good friendship, too, has to be evil."
"What do you mean, 'break stuff?'"
Carol told her about the spooky things that had been happening. Jenny's eyes grew wider as she listened.
"But that's not all that convinced me it's evil," Carol said, happy that Jenny was showing concern. "The Ouija was the cause of your accident."
"Huh?" Jenny stiffened.
"Since you wanted to stop the Ouija board's powers, Phoenix and I asked the Ouija to stop you."
"You did what?" Jenny gasped.
"I didn't want it to hurt you," Carol added quickly. "I had no idea it would try to stop you by almost getting you killed."
"I don't believe you did that!" Jenny felt trapped in her cast. She wanted to jump up. "A couple weeks ago, you were my best friend, and now you're trying to kill me?"
"I tried to tell you I'm sorry," Carol said, feeling hurt by Jenny's reaction. "But I was afraid it would ruin any chances of us making up, because of what you said about your dad."
"What about my dad?" Jenny's eyes narrowed.
"You won't forgive him. I figured you'd never forgive me, either."
"How could you do this to me? How could you—you who used to be my best friend—you sent a demon to stop me from trying to help you!" Jenny struggled to lift herself off the chair.
"I didn't know it was evil," Carol said.
"I tried to warn you," Jenny shot back. "Mom! I want to go." She struggled to stand on the cast and fell back into the chair. "You did this to me. You, who used to be my best friend."
Mrs. Seker entered the room. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
"Take me home now," Jenny said.
Carol watched Mrs. Seker help Jenny hobble away on the crutches. As their car pulled out of the driveway, Carol grabbed her jacket and ran after them. Her sides ached and she could barely breathe by the time she pounded on Jenny's door.
She pushed her way past Mrs. Seker and found Jenny stretched out on the sofa. "I'm sorry," Carol said, stopping halfway across the room. "For everything. I want you for my friend, not Phoenix. And I already destroyed the Ouija board. What else can I do to get you to like me again?"
Jenny's face softened. She stared at Carol, thinking about what the girl had just said. "You don't need to do anything else. That's all I wanted."
"Then we can be friends again?"
Jenny nodded eagerly. Carol jumped over to her and hugged her. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" she asked.
"Well, my favorite stuffed teddy bear is upstairs, the one you gave me."
"I'll get it!" Carol bounced up the steps and into Jenny's room. As she grabbed the bear off the bed, she spotted the gold top of a familiar frame in the trash can. Peering closer, she pulled it out.
As she handed the bear to Jenny, she held out the cracked photo of Jenny's father. "Why did you do this?" she asked.
"You know why," Jenny said, looking away.
"Why can't you forgive him the way you forgave me?"
"You said you were sorry. I don't think my dad was ever sorry about his stupid drinking problem."
Carol studied the photo. "This broken glass makes him look evil," she remarked. "With new glass, maybe you could see him for the loving father he really was."
"What are you talking about?"
Carol explained, "Forgiving him would be like looking at him through new glass. If you forgive him, you can stop looking at the evil of his drinking problem and start seeing his love for you again."
"But he doesn't deserve my forgiveness."
"Do it for your own sake," Carol said. "It's no fun remembering only what he did wrong."
Jenny fell silent. It was hard to ignore the bitterness she felt, but she knew her friend was right. She longed to be able to remember her dad's love. "I want to forgive him," she said softly. "But God will have to help me. It still hurts."
Carol smiled at her. "Now that I've helped you solve your problem, will you help me solve mine?"
"Which is?"
"How can I get rid of that Ouija spirit?" She shoved aside some of the clutter on the coffee table to sit near Jenny.
"There's only one way. Jesus."
"Don't get overly religious on me," Carol moaned.
"You asked. The truth is, Jesus died on the cross to conquer evil, and that makes Him stronger than the Ouija spirit. So if you ask Jesus to fill your bedroom with His presence, the spirit won't be able to stay."
"Really?"
"Yeah, how do you think I stopped the Ouija from working for you and Phoenix the other day?"
"Jesus?"
Jenny nodded. "But getting it out of your room isn't enough. You opened your life to the evil spirit by playing with the Ouija board. The only way to get it out of your life and keep it out is to have Jesus fill your life."
Carol shrugged. "How?"
"Well, by praying. I need to do this, too, because of when I played with the Ouija board." She closed her eyes. "Dear Jesus, forgive me for using the Ouija board. Forgive me for all my sins. I want You to fill my life with Your presence, Your love, Your peace and Your victory over evil."
Carol repeated Jenny's prayer, then sighed deeply. "You know, Jen. I'd been feeling as if a scarey blackness was surrounding me. Now I feel like I'm surrounded with—." She searched for the right word. "Peace."
Just then, both girls glanced at the wall near them. Their eyes had caught a glimpse of something shimmering, a white image that blended into the air and disappeared.
"Did you see that?" Carol asked.
"It looked like an—an angel."
"With a sword."
"Yeah," Jenny said with awe. "And I have the strong feeling it's protecting us."
"Me too!"
~ The End ~
Overcoming the Power of the Occult