12: Publiticy Blitz

It is not always easy.
Your successes are unheralded—
your failures are trumpeted.

John F. Kennedy

Logan wasn’t so lucky to head home when he’d planned. It appeared the priests were in contact with several newspapers, radio and TV news agencies. Cardinal Garcia saw this as a wonderful public relations opportunity for the church. A chance to present the Catholic faith as moving in new directions, getting ahead of their stodgy image of being centuries behind the times. While this wasn’t nearly as substantial as other changes within the church, it was one with few downsides. It would also help retain those troubled by the very idea of exorcisms.

“I’m not looking forward to this,” Logan grumbled, observing the growing crowd for their first press conference.

“Yeah, we know!” Leslie said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve never been fond of public speaking and preferred to sit in the back for most events—aside from school, where you’re always arguing with the teachers.” She grinned and hugged him. “Don’t worry. You keep us safe during emergencies, filling in for you on these few occasions is the least we can do.”

“This is right up my alley,” Ioana stated. “I’m comfortable talking with virtually anyone, and for once, I’m not the oddball conversing with people no one else can see. This is a piece of cake, though something tells me everyone will focus on the pretty girls.”

“We’ve all been taking a lot of flak at school this past week, given how our last fight turned out,” Aiesha noted. “Though you seem to have dealt with more of it than the rest of us. If this gets us out of the doghouse, then it’s a positive change rather than an imposition. It’s an opportunity to repaint ourselves as brave warriors instead of weird screw-ups.”

“Personally, I’m eager to discuss what we’ve done, especially all we’ve learned. Face it, no one else on Earth knows any of this stuff. Last Saturday was humiliating. This is our chance to shine, highlighting what we’ve accomplished.”

“Yeah,” Logan continued grumbling, “as I keep insisting with Ioana, I’m not in this for fame, recognition or money. I do it because someone needs to. I’d prefer avoiding the spotlight, as there’s little we can document. You’re also aware there are thousands of wackos who’ll decide we’re a danger to humanity and cause us endless trouble. It seems safer sidestepping the attention. If you think last Saturday was tough, wait until you see what people say after this.”

“You’re being silly,” Aiesha assured him. “We’re in Mexico, where everyone speaks Spanish. Of course, the Church wants us to play this up, as it’s still a predominately Catholic country. But the chances of anyone we know ever hearing of it is remote.”

A young lad, an acolyte, brought over water. “Be soon,” he said, if faltering English. “Drink, so ... speak?”

“Gracias!” Jie said, before asking the boy about himself in Spanish, one of the several languages she was fluent in. She then handed him a small book, similar to Logan’s sketchbooks, but since everyone was preparing to confront the press, no one asked about it.

Sometime later, hearing people speaking—though the thick walls prevented their understanding them—someone knocked on the door for them to come out. The girls stood, ready for the opportunity to speak their minds. Logan though, closed his eyes before standing in resignation, and led them out. They followed, wanting it to be clear who was in charge, even though they knew he wasn’t inclined to say anything.

Exiting, they faced a room full of reporters, with multiple video cameras positioned around the cathedral’s primary chapel. Andrea stood behind the main podium and a long table, equipped with an array of microphones, awaited them.

After a short hesitation, several journalists clapped. Flustered, Logan paused, glancing around, until Leslie nudged him, causing him to hurry to his seat. Selecting the furthest chair, Leslie scowled, but he refused to relent, and the others demurred. Leslie sat beside him, while Aiesha took the center seat, with Jie and Ioana sitting to her left.

Everyone shouted questions, their calls canceling each other out. As the girls looked on in panic, Ioana leaned forward, picking out a single reporter and pointed at her.

“Thank you. I assume you’re the newest member of the team, Ms. Dascălu?” The reporter had done her homework, pronouncing her name correctly.

Ioana learned in. “Yes, I am.”

“After reviewing the videos we were sent, I’d like to ask what your strategy was, and what role you each played.”

Ioana glanced at the others, and when no one volunteered, she began. “Our plan, devised by Logan, is fairly straightforward. It’s based on a basic punishment/reward system, where they’d first drain the spirit’s strength, then boost it, establishing they could either help or punish the entity. The extra energy allows the being to pass on, as was originally intended, with the clear warning that, if it refuses, it’ll face severe punishment.

“In this instance, which we practiced in advance, Logan developed a new approach, based on the difficulty they faced previously. We adopted a dual strategy. I told the being what we planned, and he screamed at us, so we simultaneously drained his energy while boosting the young girl’s.”

The reporters edged closer, too busy listening to take notes, as various cameras flashed. “While more difficult, this technique worked well, and soon the girl broke free from the evil spirit’s grasp, rolling clear as he left her body.” When she mentioned the ‘evil’ spirit, Logan cringed, and multiple camera strobes flared, catching his response, but Ioana continued, apparently not noticing. “The two priests then released her, taking her out of the room, as we redoubled our efforts.

“I then warned him he had a clear choice, as we supplied enough energy for him to pass on as God intended. However, at the last moment he lashed out, attacking us. That was when Leslie, as the group’s enforcer, intensified our vitality drain, and the creature simply ... ceased to exist. He will never bother anyone again.”

The reporters sat captivated, before they began fidgeting, many taking notes, as others called out additional questions. Ioana pointed out another reporter, a few rows back, and she stood and rattled off a prolonged question in Spanish for several moments. Everyone at their table glanced at each other, at a loss over how to respond, when Jie leaned forward and answered, speaking for some time. Andrea, standing behind them—also using Spanish—cut her short, saying something, and a moment later a screen lit up behind them. Jie continued, anticipating the interruption. As the others turned, seeing images she’d drawn projected behind them, she resumed, before reverting to English.

“As I just explained, we do not come from a religious background and don’t consider these spirits evil. Instead, we concentrate on their motivations, just as if they were living individuals. Unfortunately, since they’re locked in whatever situation trapped them here, they’re notoriously difficult to reason with. It’s not impossible, but it’s laborious changing their mind. However, because Logan can appreciate that single-minded devotion, he’s well suited for dealing with them.

“When Cat broke free, as you’ll see from my first picture, which was sketched from memory, the possessor was driven from her body and retreated to the back wall. Normally, these creatures can easily pass-through physical barriers, but it slows them down, allowing us to continue.

“As the next image shows, once we presented it an alternative, indicated by the ‘light’ to its side, he headed towards it, but then opted to attack. At that point, there was really no choice. If we didn’t act immediately, ending its existence, it would have escaped with no way to track. Especially because these spirits—when wounded—typically disappear for weeks, months or even decades as they slowly regain their strength, attacking again at a later date. Since we warned them what would happen and it knew what we’d do, we took immediate action.

“As they say, when you’re the only law in town, you’re tasked with being the police, judge, jury and ultimately, the executioner. We provided a simple option, offering a way out, but when he rejected it, we were left with no choice.”

Concluding her overview, the chaotic response worsened, as the majority of Spanish questions overwhelmed the few English ones, leaving the teens unprepared. But Jai indicated a male reporter in the front row. After rattling off his question, she considered it before responding, once more in his native language, before repeating her response in English.

“We play very specific roles in these encounters. Logan takes the lead, as he’s best equipped to handle emergencies and responds immediately and rationally. He also allows us to combine our energies, as we couldn’t do this if he wasn’t leading us.

“I’m the eyes, as I can clearly see these spirits as they move around. It took a while, but once Aiesha trained me in detecting and analyzing auras, they’re almost as easy to detect as anyone else’s. But I typically have to position myself behind the ghosts, indicating their location and size, so the others realize know to direct their attacks.

“Ioana, who we’ve just added, is our voice, able to communicate with these beings. Technically, they’d don’t exactly speak, but she can ‘feel’ their emotions, so she’ll ask specific questions and then infer their response. While it sounds vague, she’s proficient at it. However, since she’s always maintained her distance—not wanting to interfere—we never noticed she’s one of us, possessing yet another unique skill.”

As the inquiries resumed, she indicated another reporter, who spoke English.

“What role does the girl in the middle play?” She consulted her notes. “Ms. Asia?”

“That’s ‘Aiesha’,” she corrected, “though everyone calls me Ai. Although we each possess the capacity to share our auras and project our energies, my ability is locating and identifying others like us. While it’s not as useful during these episodes, it’s no less important to the group as a whole. Oh, and because I’m an empath like my mom, I can feel how these spirits respond to us, which definitely helps.”

“And how typical are these abilities?” the same newswoman pressed, not wanting to surrender her opportunity. “Are you the only ones who can accomplish this?”

Aiesha considered this, glancing at the others before continuing.

“That’s an interesting question, and one we haven’t solved yet. Four of us are from the same school, which indicates it’s fairly common, but not prevalent. We haven’t come across anyone outside our group, but we have consulted with someone who’s dealt with these issues before.” Ai faltered. “More than a century ago.”

The entire sanctuary exploded after that, and Aiesha stood and waved her arms until everyone stilled.

“Before we began seeking out the most dangerous ghosts, we encountered a friendly one. She wasn’t merely peaceful, she’s like us. The similarities between her friends and ours were striking and reinforced our roles. Her associates, or ‘pod’, also consisted of five individuals, which is why Logan started reconsidering Ioana’s role within our group.

“It seems the pod leader—based on the only two we are aware of—is usually male and has Asperger’s. It not only provides the necessary singular focus, it also establishes the outsider perspective and ability to relate to these lost souls.

“As for the rest of us, so far, we’re all female and we’ve each yearned to meet the ‘right’ guy, never quite relating to anyone we’ve met. Until we encountered Logan and realized we’d been waiting for him our entire lives.

“But that is the best I can narrow our specific roles, as our strengths only became apparent once we met Logan, our pod’s leader.”

“So, you prefer the term Asperger’s over the more general ‘spectrum’ reference?” someone else asked.

“Yes, but in this context, autism indicates someone overcoming a physical limitation, while Asperger’s conveys a unique set of applicable skills. Referring to his being autistic doesn’t illustrate why he’s so effective in this role.”

This time, as the journalists surged forward, one voice rang out, again speaking in Spanish.

After patiently listening, Jie responded in a single short response, but didn’t translate. Yet everyone reacted, and the noise was almost deafening!

This time she stood and shouted, and once everybody quieted, she continued before pausing before translating for the rest of them. “We’ll be here at least for another day. If you contact your local parish priests, they can reach us to review whether anyone is like us. But without someone like Logan to make the final determination, there’s no other way to be certain!”

They’d been warned by Andrea and Antonio to wait for at least a full day to determine the public’s response. But it was clear what the outcome was. The group got nervous when reporters began calling their private numbers to badger them for responses.

Ioana was the first they contacted, her identify the easiest of verify with her number listed prominently on her public website. It took her a while to parse the initial questions, and she sought Jie before encountering Antonio, who fielded the inquiries for her. Then Leslie started getting calls, followed by Aiesha and Jie, as some ingenious reporter discovered they could use their school records to reach them. Despite the restrictions on releasing private student details, it proved a temporary reprieve, as soon everyone’s phone—aside from Logan’s—started ringing.

“I knew this was a mistake,” Logan groused. “The grief we received after our last endeavor was tough, but it was likely to fade away over time. Now, we can’t even leave the country!”

“Relax,” Leslie urged, grasping his hand. “It’s not so bad, and while it’s nice for people to see your face, we’re handling everything, so you’re getting off scot free.”

“Still...”

“I’m enjoying it,” Jie exclaimed, still grinning broadly since the PR event, her dimples prominent.

“I wonder why?” Aiesha said. “You took control of everything, once they learned you’re fluent in their native tongue.”

She cocked her head. “Hey, it’s not my fault no one heren studied Spanish, but the whole thing went much smoother once I could field everyone’s questions.”

“Actually,” Andrea said, approaching from behind as they sat around the common dining room, “it’s getting worse. After your suggestion, every parish in the city is being overwhelmed with parishioners requesting to meet with us.”

“See,” Logan exclaimed. “It’s another train wreck!”

“Not necessarily, but we need to organize. The response is even stronger than we anticipated, but it’s mostly parents asking when their kids can speak with you guys. After speaking to a few parishes, Antonio and I agreed to prepare a list. You can pick one—to determine whether there is anyone like you—and we’ll proceed from there.”

“That makes sense, and as we all know, I’m better dealing with individuals rather than large groups. A few kids shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Uh...” Antonio said. “It’ll more likely be a couple hundred.”

“That may be a problem.”

“No, it isn’t,” Aiesha asserted, focusing on the two priests while Leslie pulled Logan against her, cuddling him. “This should be straightforward.” We need to control this, however many there are. There shouldn’t be many boys, so keep them segregated to the back, in each corner. We can observe if the girls are attracted to them, which will identify if the males are potential pod leaders, as well as whether the females are like us or not.”

“Though, we can’t assume those like Logan will be male,” Leslie argued. “They’ve been so far, but it’s only based on a sample size of two.”

“That’s true, so it’s easier to sort them by sexes. We’ll all need to survey them—including anyone who organizes and brings them together—to see who’s drawn to whom, and who isn’t. There will probably be a lot of paring off, since we’re likely dealing with tweens and younger teens. But once we identify what role everyone fits into, it’ll be easy to verify when they reach here.”

“Excellent, this is the planning we need to work out,” Andrea emphasized. “So, I’m assuming we’ll need to keep them separated until we can observe how they interact?”

“I’m afraid so,” Leslie agreed.

“Then, when we have a vague idea of where everybody fits, we’ll have Logan deal with them one at a time, so he isn’t overwhelmed, since they’ll all focus on him.”

“That’s sensible,” Aiesha agreed. “While I can easily identify who’s a potential pod-member, I can’t discern their specific traits. Logan’s not only considered the differences more, because he joins our auras together, they’re more distinct.”

“I’m not sure,” Antonio cautioned. “The feedback has been about you girls, and there’s barely any mention of Logan at all.”

“We sent the videos of our earlier interactions, including your giving everyone their marching orders, but you were so skittish, the press largely ignored you, championing the girls’ roles.”

“I’m sure that’ll suit my brother,” Leslie said. “The key though, is he’s the final determination. None of us can merge auras without him. We can strengthen each other, but it’s limited and not as easily discernible.”

“I agree. We’ll keep him up in front, possibly in an antechamber, and we’ll need to intercept people as they move towards him. How about this,” Aiesha indicated Andrea and Antonio, “you’ll remain in the back, keeping an eye on the boys. There shouldn’t be many, either way. Leslie, Jie and I will separate the girls, discussing what we do and discern what role they’ll play, and keep them occupied until Logan’s ready for them.

“I hate to complicate things, but given the age of these structures, Jie and I should probably explore each, searching for any lurking spirits. If we find any, we’ll need to determine how to deal with them. But if we have as many as a couple dozen candidates, we’ll likely be drawing quite a few ghosts too.”

“Speaking of complications,” Ioana said, putting her phone back in her purse. “I just got a message from one my prior contacts. I promised I wouldn’t do this any longer, but there are a few businesses here eager to have you do a cleansing. Seeing as these are mainly for business reasons, it makes sense to charge them, since they’re doing this for its promotional value. But the decision is up to you. But either way, it appears sensible. It’ll make a handy distraction from all this attention, reassure those still unsure about us, and they’ll readily treat us to a complementary dinner at some of the city’s better restaurants.”

“I’m not sure,” Logan said, considering it as he stroked his chin in thought. “I hate treating this as a service, because we’ll effectively lose the ability to turn anyone down. After all, one company’s pesos are as valuable as another’s, but you’re right, it’ll make for a great distraction and convince any remaining skeptics. Best of all, we won’t have to deal with crowds while doing it.” He surveyed the girls. “What do you think? Yeah, or nay?”

Leslie shrugged. “I say we go for it. They’re gaining something commercially for it, so it makes sense they’d expect to pay us a portion of what they make off it.”

“I’m not quite so laissez faire about it,” Aiesha said, “as I’d prefer focusing on those needing the help rather than whoever pays the most. As Logan says, once we get in bed with the devil, there’s no turning back.”

“True,” Jie admitted, “but it’s easy enough to pick from several, selecting the best one. Given our time constraints, I doubt we’ll be able to check each to see which is worse. So, even if we choose the closest, or who’ll impact the most people, we can take a minimal payment and not worry about it.”

“So, that’s two for and two against,” Ioana said, “and taking my checkered past in account, I can’t make the final decision. But in either case, none of you can accept money, since you don’t have a business license.”

“Neither do you, at least not in Mexico,” she argued.

“No, but I have a website, visible internationally, along with a valid U.S. company. Therefore, we can arrange direct person-to-person transfers, which both sides can declare as a legitimate expense. It’s not an insurmountable problem. Independent businesses like mine handle these issues all the time.”

“So, who gets the final deciding vote?” Ai asked, and everyone turned to Logan, who nodded.

“I agree with everything said. As long as they are making money promoting our services, and we can legally accept the payments, I say let’s go ahead. It won’t commit us to doing anything in the future and won’t set any unpleasant expectations.”

“I’ll arrange everything,” Ioana declared, “including picking the best choice, based upon your stated preferences.”

“That’s fine. Although I disliked you profiting from our non-financially motivated choices, I trust your judgment. You haven’t let us down before. Despite your background, you’re a decent person. You have our back, and we have yours.”

“Thanks for arranging this so quickly,” Logan said, glancing at the imposing International Hotel in the older business district. “It’ll take a couple days to arrange everything between the various parishes.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m glad to help and I still feel guilty for taking advantage of you.”

“Before, you were still a stranger, now you’re one of us,” Leslie said. “It’s a whole different ball game, even if we ignore Logan’s exceedingly high moral standards.”

“Uh, there’s one remaining sticking point,” she warned. “They’re planning to film the entire thing. If that’s a problem, we need to resolve it now.”

“No, I expected it. Besides, Andrea and Antonio already mentioned it. They’ve gotten the Catholic Church’s permission to take part in it. They obviously can’t accept payment, but the Bishop and his superiors are eager to capitalize on this new image for the church. They should be inside.”

“Yeah, I warned them, as well as putting the bug in Cardinal Garcia’s ear, but wasn’t informed how it was resolved. But we’re prepared to proceed,” she said, opening the hotel’s glass doors and leading them in. An older gentleman in a uniform waved, catching their attention.

“Jorge, we’re ready.”

“Excellent. We’d like to get a few shots of everyone in front of the hotel afterwards, if it’s not a problem.”

“Well, an ad like that, with the implied approval of the business by these kids, may cost a little more. Their cleansing the rooms is one thing, as there’s no personal commitment, but risking their professional reputations deserves something to cover any potential future damages.”