I woke up to the sound of my calling bell. The sound echoed through the walls. I got up and went to the door, where I found an old man standing there. He wore several rudraksha beads around his neck and carried an old cane, so I assumed he was a sadhu. He stood quietly, not saying anything. I asked him what he wanted multiple times, but he didn't respond. He told me to look after my sister and then walked away. I thought he must be a homeless person who had nothing to do so I paid no attention to his words .After that incident with that sadhu, I went to study in my college library then I received a message on my phone. I opened it to check, and it was several pictures my mom had sent me. The pictures were disturbing; one was of my sister Kiara’s hand with bruises and cuts all over. This got me worried, so I called my mom to check if Kiara was okay. I had thought she had gotten into an accident.
My mom used to always complain about how the boys in our neighbourhood never looked while driving; if that were true, they would pay for it. My mom answered the phone and explained that it wasn’t an accident, but that my sister had done that to herself. This scared me deeply, so I took the fastest bus home. When I got home, I saw my mother treating my sister’s hands. When I looked closer, I realized those wounds were scratch marks. Her tiny, frail arms were red. I quickly ran to her.
“Kiara, are you okay? Why on earth did you do this to yourself?” I asked.
“Didi, I don’t know. Guess I must have done it in my sleep. I guess all that exam stress is getting to me,” she replied with a weak smile. Somehow, all the life inside her seemed to be drained out. She looked weak and sickly.
“Beta, don’t worry, let’s take her to the hospital. Your uncle used to scratch himself like this when he felt anxious. It is nothing,” said my mom, but her words seemed like a validation for herself.
We took her to the nearby hospital, and on the way, we saw a dead black dog. Kiara, who loved animals, insisted that we bury it. We told her we would after we went to the doctor, and she agreed. We walked into the doctor's office and spoke to him. The doctor said it was due to too much stress and gave her ointment for her wounds, telling her to skip school for a few weeks. My mother wrote a letter to my dad, telling him what had happened and asking him to come home because she thought Kiara would feel a lot better as she loved him more. Kiara seemed better for a day or two, but then everything kept getting worse. It pained me to see her that way. Every day, she would wake up with new wounds; she refused to leave her room and talk to us. We took her to every doctor we knew – psychiatrists, doctors, physicians, Ayurveda practitioners – all of them gave us endless amounts of medicines and bills, but with no result. My sister was getting no better; in fact, she was getting worse. She would try to kill herself and attack my mom if she tried to feed her. We were slowly losing the Kiara we loved. A doctor who was recommended by our cousin asked us to admit Kiara into the hospital, and we agreed. Kiara was completely normal there, and the doctor said nothing was wrong and sent her home after three days.
My dad sent a letter home saying he could come back in two and a half months due to a storm that is preventing flights..
For those three days, everything felt better, and both of us had found hope. Exactly two weeks after Kiara’s health started to deteriorate, my grandmother visited. My mother had not told my grandma about Kiara’s condition as she was worried it would cause her too much stress. My grandma sat down and asked me about my studies and how my mother’s health was, and all the usual small talk. She went on rambling about her health and her knee pain. I got distracted and looked around the room. I saw a newspaper on the table with the headline, "Pet dogs are being killed, and locals are worried." I thought that it was dangerous to leave Rocky, our monster of a husky, outside since he was getting old and couldn’t hide or run if he was ever attacked. Then my mom came into the room with tea and gave a cup to my grandma.
“Ma, how are you doing?” asked my mom.
“I am fine, dear, but where is Kiara? It has been months since I have seen my little Momo. I got her favourite sweets and snacks. I made them all by myself,” replied my grandma.
“Ma, Kiara is not feeling well, and I don’t know what to do.”
We took her to Kiara’s room and slowly opened the door. The room was freezing and dark. The smell of rotten meat was overwhelming. My mother switched on the light, and I saw my sister sitting on the edge of the bed frame. Her eyes were red with anger, her entire face was distorted and full of rage. She looked nothing like before; it seemed as if her skin was rotting while she was alive. Something was taking the life out of her, and it was taking it fast, as she was changing by the hour. Whatever it was, it was something no doctor could explain. She bared her teeth and lunged towards our grandma’s neck, but I was quick to react and tried to throw her off. She was somehow a lot heavier than before. My sister was always thin and short for her age. No, the thing that was there then was not my sister; it can never be and never will be.
The thing clung onto me, sinking its nails into my back. I was numb with shock, and tears rolled down my face. My grandma quickly started chanting quotes from the Bible. Kiara fell unconscious, and I hugged her close. I took her to my mom’s room, even though my shoulder was burning like hell, and put her on the bed. I covered her with a blanket because her skin was freezing cold. Her lips were blue and dry; it broke my heart.
I went into the hall, and my mother was standing there holding a first aid box. I could see her holding back her tears. She cleaned my wounds, and I winced. I turned around to see my mom crying. The last two weeks were hard, but I had never seen her cry until now. She always kept a hard face for us so that she could support us even at our lowest. I guess we were at our lowest. I hugged her and sobbed along with her; the reality hit hard. My grandma consoled us and told us she had a solution that would save Kiara.
My grandmother was convinced Kiara was possessed. I was sceptical at first, but I decided I would try anything to get my sister back. I was tired of fighting, and I just wanted my sister back to the cheerful girl who would beg me to play with her.
My grandmother explained that there is an ancient catholic church in Kerala. One of her friends had a similar problem, and she went there, so my grandma wanted to go there once. My mother started arranging to go there at once. She was somehow convinced that this would solve everything.
My grandmother said there was no need for us to come and told us that we needed to stay with Kiara. She said she would be back in two days. She told us to keep a cross near Kiara and that it would protect her soul. My grandma returned in two days, just as promised. Kiara hadn’t woken up since she tried to attack me. The day felt like it would never end.
My grandmother returned with a Father of the church. Father Francis, looked around the house and asked us to show Kiara. My mother took him to Kiara’s room, and he seemed concerned. My mother then showed Kiara to him. Kiara was still sleeping, and she looked like a cold zombie. Her entire face was swollen with scars, she was unrecognisable. Just looking at her made my eyes well up with tears.
Father Francis finally spoke, and he told us we needed to conduct an exorcism on Kiara. He told us she was possessed by a demon who wants to take her soul. He told us that he needs to contact the Vatican City for permission to conduct. This shocked me extremely. Why would a demon want her soul? She is just a kid. It must be a hoax to steal money, but still, I decided there was nothing wrong with trying.
This broke me, and I just ran into my room and closed the door, and cried. I cried and cried till tears wouldn’t come out anymore. My mom came into the room after a while. She hugged me and told me everything is gonna be alright and that this will solve everything. She told me would send me to my aunt’s house while the exorcism takes place. I told her I wouldn’t go and that I wanted to stay, so I did.
It took three weeks for Father Francis to get permission to conduct the exorcism.
The entire three weeks felt like there was a ticking time bomb in the house. Rocky was acting werid so my mother sent him away to one of our relative house.
Kiara slept most of the time. When she woke up, she tried to stab my mom with the cross under her pillow. We would hear screams from her room in the middle of the night. I used to feel like there was another person in the house following me, but when I looked around, there was no one there.
The whole week was terrifying, the entire time, we kept hearing different voices around the house. Sometimes I would hear a child crying, and sometimes I would hear a man's voice speaking in another language.
One day, I woke up in the middle of the night because I was thirsty. I went into the kitchen and I saw that our entire kitchen was covered with smashed food that was in our fridge. At the middle of the entire mess was Kiara. Her hair looked filthy, and she smelled so bad like a dead rodent. She just sat there eating the food. She was covered in crumbs. I tried to take her back to bed, but she bit me hard on my hand, and I screamed with pain, and my mother came running downstairs after hearing my scream. Both of us dragged Kiara back up while she was struggling and screaming.
Everyday felt like an eternity, and college passed like a dream. Every night, my mother used to pray to God, begging him to cure my sister and get rid of the evil in our home. My mother had finally sent a letter to my father after a long time because she was afraid that something bad was going to happen to us.
The three weeks were finally over. It has already been a month and a half since all of this started, and I was losing all the hope I had. Then, finally, Father Francis returned with two other members of the church.
My mother pleaded with him, asking him to allow us to stay. He told us it was best not to allow many people because it is dangerous for the people there, but he agreed to let my mother come. My grandma protested but finally agreed. Even I didn’t want to leave my sister’s side, but I was left with no choice.
My mother took them into Kiara’s room. They locked the door shut. I could hear them chanting in another language.
Soon, I could hear screams and the sound of furniture being thrown. I could hear guttural noises and multiple people speaking at once. It was horrifying, and it lasted for an hour. I clung close to my grandma, who was praying to God. The sounds kept getting louder and louder until they finally stopped.
They came out of the room. I ran into the room to see Kiara. Kiara was perfectly fine, all of her wounds had healed, and there were no scars. The transformation was immense. She was back to normal. I hugged her and let out a sigh of relief. She slowly woke up and hugged me back.
Father Francis said that Kiara would most likely not remember anything that had happened. I asked him why, but he just walked away. My mother and grandma came into the room and hugged us both. The battle was finally over.
A week after that, my dad came home, and everything felt normal. We never spoke about the incident again. We all returned to our daily lives. Kiara once again started going to school. Rocky had come back home. Our life was back to what it once was.
Kiara showed no sign that she remembered what had happened. She thought she had caught malaria and that was the reason she was sick, and couldn’t go to school.
One day, my mom and Kiara were home alone. I was in college, and my dad had to go to his office for some work. My mother left Kiara at home with Rocky and went to get something from the shop across the street.
When she came home and opened the door, the walls were red with blood. Kiara had stabbed herself and Rocky to death. My mom quickly called the police. The autopsy told us that she had stabbed herself 56 times with a knife from our kitchen.
They also said that she had killed Rocky by trying to eat him while he was still alive, because there were signs of struggle. Her body was semi-dismembered, but she still kept stabbing herself. My mom was shocked to an extreme level that she completely stopped speaking, and she hasn’t spoken to this day. I decided I must stay strong for my family and tried to console my dad and mom.
I called Father Francis and told him what had happened. I asked why my sister was dead after he had cured her. He asked me whether my sister had a habit of visiting, and I said no, because why would a 12 year old girl go to graveyards? To which he replied, she had visited a graveyard again after they told her not to, and that was the reason she was dead.
I was shocked, confused, and mad at Kiara for dying. I was too afraid to see her body, because it is better to remember her with good memories. I didn’t want to see her in that state. I then realised that the sadhu had tried to warn about my sister's fate.
To this day, the incidents that happened at the end of my sister’s life still haunt me and trouble me. I am trapped in a cycle of nightmares, each one scarier than the last. All of them have one thing in common, and that is Kiara.
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