Grave’s End
Elaine Mercado is a highly educated woman, but her scientific bent and innate skepticism prevented her from knowing the methods and practices that might have allowed her to end her family's torment sooner. As it was, she and her children endured eighteen years of physical and mental torture at the hands of spirits trapped in their home. She was told her house needed to be “cleansed” many years before the spirit work undertaken by Marisol, the medium who finally released them. When Elaine heard that word, she wondered briefly about its meaning but did not look into “cleansing” any further. This omission is odd, considering she attended a class about the paranormal and even read books on the subject. The solution to her family’s problem was right in front if her, yet it took several more years for her to finally grasp it.
Elaine was shy and reticent about talking to people about her family’s “ghost problem,” which is why she didn’t ask more questions when her boss in the ER raised the need to ”cleanse” her house. She had a rigid sense of propriety, becoming prickly when her boss ruined her party by bringing up the subject of the house being haunted. Her reaction was shortsighted, considering the conversation could have been a turning point for her and her daughters.
These qualities of personality, though, are the kinds of details that made the story seem so realistic and ultimately believable. Elaine described the shame and guilt she felt each time she experienced one of the suffocating dreams. Spirits were abusing her, and she felt she had to keep it a secret from her parents and coworkers. Naturally, she felt shame, just as any abuse survivor would. However, had the story been a fabrication, it would have taken a savvy author to know that feelings of shame would likely be a part of such a haunting. Many people do not know that shame is the legacy of those who have been victims of abuse.
Elaine’s description of the post-traumatic stress syndrome she suffers in the present day also lends a ring of truth to her saga. She and her husband still sleep in the “cheesebox” bedroom, avoiding the more luxurious quarters with the balcony under the branches of her beloved tree. I would feel the same way if I experienced a haunting like this. During my childhood and young adulthood, I experienced sleep paralysis. It would happen whenever I slept on my back. I would wake up to an overwhelming sense of dread and terror, unable to move or scream, and I would have auditory hallucinations. Thankfully I no longer have these episodes, but to this day, I cannot bear to sleep on my back. Experiences of terror leave marks, and Elaine Mercado describes these after-effects with an accuracy that attests to the truth of her story.