Alex Templeton is rural Ridgeland’s very own walking-tall version of justice who’s swung his hickory stick so long that he’s callused not only the hand that once slid a ring on Savannah’s — he’s callused his heart. Savannah wants her police officer hubby to respect her, but he continues to spray vile words her way and Savannah, believing God is ignoring her prayers to mend her marriage, dares God to prove he is real. For the next few weeks, water drenches the inside of their house while the Templeton’s search for the evasive source of the leak not realizing that God is answering Savannah’s dare in an unusual way.
read moreWith her marriage to the breaking point and on the brink of suicide, Savannah finds solace in the arms of another man, but when a dirtball Alex previously arrested threatens to harm the family, Savannah is determined to reconcile her relationship with Alex who sends her and their two boys, Ben and Isaac to a safe house. Alex catches the criminal, but can’t find the leak that continues to inexplicably spray inside the house. He directs his frustration towards Savannah who, again, turns to another man for the tenderness she craves.
A demon appears in Savannah’s mirror and continues to torment her, lurking at every turn on her adulterous trail. She wonders if she is possessed or simply going insane and begins chronicling the strange events in her journal.
Savannah knows Alex has screwed around on her and reasons that she is justified to get her own slice of action, but after numerous seductions, Savannah feels more guilty than ever and grapples with the reality that leaving Alex, the only true love she’s known, may be the only way she can respect herself.
As Alex searches for a murderer who may be a student in Savannah’s English class, Ben and Isaac witness dark figures, orbs and apparitions in the house. With the ever-expanding paranormal activities, and upon learning that Alex is having an affair with a not-so-dear friend, Savannah wants to take a one-way road trip out of Ridgeland and away from her husband, but instead pleads with God for help and is given a revelation — a demon is responsible for the virtual rainforest in her home.
The evil in her house supersedes Alex’s affinity for a bent-over brunette with handcuffs, so Savannah holds off confronting Alex, but tells him about the demon. Alex calls her a loon, leaving Savannah to figure out how to remove the evil creature. After considering a sage-wielding exterminator, Savannah calls the local priest who exorcises the house, restoring Savannah’s faith in the Almighty. Savannah severs her extra-marital ties, and persuades Alex to sign a contract agreeing to respect her. When Alex curbs his verbal temper, Savannah feels marital bliss is near, but continues to feel as if something or someone is stalking her.
In an effort to find out if she is paranoid or if something evil is actually following her, Savannah consults with a spiritual healer and, during a seizure, is liberated from a dark entity. The experience shifts her perception and she realizes her own choices are causing her unhappiness.
Alex solves the murder after a tip from Savannah and is in the news for arresting a student’s step-dad, but the limelight on Savannah’s family expands beyond police-work when rumors of a ghost in the Templeton house circulate. Savannah negates the stories with the truth and Alex forbids her from discussing the supernatural events, claiming the residents of Ridgeland will deem the family crazy. Savannah tells anyone who will listen about her renewed faith in a divine presence which demonstrated its power through exorcism and with a passion she’s never known, delves into writing about her brush with evil.
Michele Zirkle
