
The old man in my house - Connected by circumstances
After many years, they sat together again at the same table.
Two men, twin brothers, as similar to each other as an egg to an egg. Well...
From the outside. The similar style of clothing and hairstyle seemed to further camouflage the fact that despite their nearly identical appearances, their insides were diametrically opposed.
One of them cleared his throat before speaking:
"I have no doubt, brother, of your perhaps supernatural abilities..." he began at length, taking great care to pronounce the word s-u-p-e-r-n-a-t-u-r-a-l with appropriate sarcasm, his own. He also could not help noticing that his brother flinched slightly when he said "brother."
Joseph and Andrew. Once an inseparable pair, in elementary and high school. They'd played pranks, stuck together through thick and thin, and stood together through notes, tests, and trouble. Once upon a time... Like that's not true anymore.
"...but I don't think this case is for you."
Joseph and Andrew.
Today, it's impossible to believe that they once had such a strong bond, even though they'd been completely different since childhood. The older Josef, thoughtful and emotional, after studying at an eight-year grammar school, which was their last school together, headed to theological college and became a Catholic priest and exorcist. Only a few minutes younger, Ondrej was a psychologist, and as far as personal religion was concerned, he held nothing but atheism. Both of them had seen a lot in their practice. And perhaps the cases they dealt with daily could open the dam of silence that had appeared between them years before. Give space for discussion. To discuss the difficulties of the human soul from both points of view and to prepare a place for confessing one's own. But it never happened. Never - until now, when they were involuntarily joined by circumstances.
So once again they sit at the same table and bow their heads over the case that has been presented to them. It involved Joseph's friends Monica and Derek, a foreign married couple who had bought a house in the area last year. A "dream house" as they liked to say. They also invested a lot of money and time in it.
But what has led to the fact that, less than a year later, there is a photograph of the house in front of the two brothers, which its owners now think there is something wrong with it? Or maybe it's them?
"Well," Joseph replied, "help them yourself if you know how."
"Hm, " Andrew grumbled as he looked at the strange photograph, "I might send them to another colleague... to a psychiatrist. If the woman isn't hallucinating. After all - she's newly pregnant, she could be a victim of some... mental illness due to hormones. And we don't want that.
Although, from the looks of it... and comparing it to what I've had in my office..." he flipped the photo back and forth, "I think your couple is just playing a nice joke on us. After all, they're professional actors, right?"
"And what if you're wronging them?" Joseph retorted.
"What if it's all true?"
Andrew sighed.
"I mean, brother, I'm not taking away your faith, and I admit you've seen a lot of things, as you say, but you can't possibly believe this either!"
The photograph showed a low building of a family home in the middle of a November evening. A few bare trees around it, the front light on. Despite the extensive renovations the house had undergone, it seemed somehow... threatening.
Joseph, as always, remained icily calm.
"The existence of something supernatural doesn't always manifest itself the way Hollywood horror movies show it, Ondra.
It's not about strange noises, falling glasses, and the like.
Evil attacks primarily the human soul. It wants to disrupt relationships, to stir up hatred of one another and, indeed, of oneself. And a child is about to be born into this family... The family is currently the main target of attacks. Because the family has the potential to become the greatest security in a person's life. Which, as a psychologist, you should know.
So, I wouldn't rule out supernatural evil.
But I agree with you - until someone is visibly and demonstrably possessed, there's plenty of time for exorcism.
For now, they'll both be in my prayers. And you too, bro. May you have the wisdom to solve this case for their good."
At the mention of prayer, Andrew, as if stung by some troublesome insect, rose abruptly and shot out of the room.