The Ballestero Blog

You’re Scaring Me To Death! I Just Wished It Scared You Too!

Kaleen and Linda sat mesmerized on the couch in the darkened living room. The eerie blue light from the big flat screen flickered on their faces. The half-eaten bag of popcorn now sat idle and cold on the coffee table.

The screen showed a vampire holding the young woman in his arms. His fangs seemed to grow longer just moments before they sank into her neck. The blood flowed freely. The sight of blood excited the vampire and he immediately pressed his lips into the blood, not wanting to let any escape.

The girls watched the video with great interest. They actually found the moment rather titillating and sensual.

Linda had confided to Kaleen that her boyfriend Derrick asked her to let him bite her on the neck and drink her blood, and then he wanted her to bite him back and drink his blood. That way, they truly would be a part of each other, he had reasoned. Linda had refused.

They were watching this movie because it was all the rage and talked about so much at school. Quite a few young people from their church had even clicked its ‘Like’ button on Facebook.

The doorbell rang, momentarily scaring them and bringing them back to reality. It was their friend Anna. She was a member of The First Pentecostal Church across town.

Anna froze in her tracks as she saw what they were watching. “Turn that junk off right now. I won’t stay another minute if you leave that on! I’m serious!”

Kaleen complied with her demand.

“What wrong with you guys?” Anna asked in dismay. “Did your Holy Ghost just quit working, or have you overridden your conscience so much this stuff doesn’t bother you anymore? What’s the difference between you and the world now? Where are your Mom and Dad in all of this? Don’t they care what you bring into their house? Even if my Pastor didn’t care, my Parents would have put their foot down!”

Linda went into her defensive mode. “You’re starting to sound just like my Grandma, and she’s really old school.”

Anna ignored the insult and continued with her lecture.

“Two years ago, you said your Pastor said he was going to quit preaching against you guys watching videos. You told me then, that you didn’t see any harm in watching stuff like Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges.

“Well, I’m not your Pastor, so I didn’t say anything. After watching your funny clips, you eventually got bored and started looking for something else to entertain you.

“It didn’t take long for you to start watching all of the current and popular movies on the rack. You told me about watching romantic and love stories. Then the next thing you tell me is that you now love monster movies.

“Then it was not long before I heard you using names and terms like The Walking Dead, Twilight, and The Undead. I may not have those titles right because I don’t watch them. But, if those types of movies and shows are about what I think they are about, then I am very afraid for you. Aren’t those the movies that include stuff like witchcraft, ghosts, black magic and the occult? Evidently, for you it’s not a far journey from those innocent shows to this.

“Now, today I walk in here and I see blood sucking vampires on your screen. What’s happened to you two? You’re OK with the message this sends to young people? My Lord have mercy, and you’re acting like you are really into it!

“Don’t you know that all this mess you’re watching opens your spirit and mind up to the work of the devil? I sincerely fear that you are making yourself available for demon possession! Is that what you want? Aren’t you afraid?

“I wouldn’t even read a book that had any thing about black magic, ghosts, witchcraft or occult subject matter in it! None of this is Holy Ghost compatible and you should already know that!”

Anna looked at her friends. They had gone to school together all their lives. They regularly went to Youth Rallies together in the same van. She couldn’t believe the mess her friends were involved in. Vampires! Blood sucking! Oh, Lord help!

Her Pastor’s warnings were right on target. She was glad that he tried to be protective of her and guard her from the evils and wickedness of life.

Kaleen went into her defense mode. “Don’t come in here getting all super holy. How do you get off telling us what we can watch and what we can’t watch? What are you now, holier than everyone else? You are starting to sound like them holier-than-thou ultra conservatives, and you know how I feel about them.

Anna was silent, she’d didn’t want to argue with her friends. She had made her point. She could feel the resentment in the room. Their friendship had already been fragile enough over the last year, ever since she’d disproved of Linda liking Derrick.

Standing there silently before her friends, she was quickly brought back to reality of the moment by their loud words. She realized that they were both talking loudly and feeding off of each other.

“We don’t want friends that preach to us. I thought you were our friend!” Kaleen said. “If our Pastor said it’s OK to watch films, then who are you to tell us no? Maybe it’s best if you go.”

Anna looked at them both with unbelief in her eyes. “This is a sad day for me. I love you guys, and I’ll never stop praying for you. But, what you are doing is scaring me to death! I just wished it scared you too!”

With tear-filled eyes, Anna walked slowly toward the door.