The Summoning Ch. 01

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jessica asked for what had to be the third time that night.

Her sorority sister, a short, slight Asian girl named Macy, laughed. "Come on, Jessica, this is a fucking amazing idea. It's not every day you get to summon a demon. Can you imagine? Jessica, Alyson, and Macy, Demon-fucking-hunters. Hella." She flipped her long black hair back and struck a dramatic pose, hands on her hips and a determined expression on her face. It was enough to get a laugh out of everyone in the room, even quiet Alyson.

"Well.., I don't know. It's just...there's some things in the world you shouldn't mess with, you know?" Jessica wrung her hands. "Like, come on, you found this book in the back shelf of a weird hippie bookstore, it looks like it's bound with human flesh, there's weird drawings on the inside..."

Macy rolled her eyes. "Jessica. You know what's going to happen tonight?"

"What?"

"We're going to draw a circle on the ground with this shitty chalk I bought at the dollar store. We're then going to say a few stupid enchantments out of this fucking thing-" She raised the book in her hand "And when we don't summon a demon, because demons are fake and they aren't real, we're going to get plastered and end up drawing dicks all over the floor and think it's the funniest thing ever, which it is by the way."

Alyson nodded, a faint smile playing on her lips. It was kind of weird, but not entirely unexpected, that she was wearing one of her LARP outfits. Alyson was drop-dead gorgeous, with olive-toned skin and gorgeous green eyes that caught the attention of nearly all the men on campus, but she was so...well, strange. She didn't talk much, wore weird outfits in public, and beat up nerds with foam weapons in her spare time. Jessica, who grew up in a small town where everyone wore flannel and went square-dancing on the weekends, wasn't quite sure what to make of her. It was baffling that Macy, the stereotypical California party girl and Alyson were so close.

"Well, I guess..." Jessica tried not to think of what her staunchly religious grandmother would say if she caught her summoning demons in the basement of her sorority house. "Can we get this over with quickly, though?"

"It would go faster if you, ya know, helped me and Alyson with this fucking chalk circle bullshit."

Macy had insisted that they copy a chalk circle from the book, because of course she did. It was more complicated than they had first anticipated, and the bottle of wine Macy had opened for 'motivational purposes' wasn't helping much.

"You guys are almost done. I would just be in the way."

"Well set up the candles then!" Macy pointed to a shopping bag Jessica hadn't noticed. Wait, Macy brought candles? Sure enough when Jessica checked inside there was a Valu-Pac of scented candles, lavender-scented.

"Uhhh. What am I supposed to do with these?"

"Macy consulted the book. "Okay, so you're gonna lay one at each point of the pentagram."

"Uh-huh."

"Light one at the end of each stanza, starting at the north point of the pentagram."

"Uh-huh."

"When the light of the candles disappear-" Macy's voice deepened. "That means the demon has crossed into our mortal plane." She slammed the book shut, a wide grin on her face.

"Did the book say they had to be lavender scented?" She held up the bag and gave it a nice little shake.

"Nah, they were on sale."

Alyson stood up, dusting chalk-dust from her...robe, was it? "It's done." Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.

A shudder ran down Jessica's spine. Seeing the circle in the book had been one thing. Seeing it full size on the floor... it just looked like something out of a horror movie. Jessica could see it in her mind's eye, the floor covered in a wash of blood, screams echoing throughout the dorms as some nameless monstrosity tore through the walls, only seeking to satisfy its unholy hunger-

"You gonna stand there all night?" Macy gave Jessica a light tap on the shoulder.

Jessica sighed, pushing her red hair out of her eyes. "Okay, okay." Just like Macy said, she quickly laid out the candles on each point of the pentagram. When she was done she looked back at Macy.

"Now what?"

"Now get your lighter and whenever I say the word 'Vasa'ec' you light a candle."

With a flourish and a bow Macy lifted the book in the air. Then she opened the book and began to read. Jessica had no idea what language the book was written in but it sounded oddly familiar. It was like a song she had forgotten the words to and was just now hearing again. Every time Macy said 'Vasa'ec' she lit a candle. The scent of lavender grew stronger as one by one the candles were lit. Alyson watched on in silence, her eyes never leaving the chalk circle on the ground. When it came time to light the last candle Jessica almost couldn't do it. Something about being in that dark room lit only by candlelight was really starting to make her nervous. She was about to put the lighter away when she caught Macy staring at her, looking like she was about to burst out in laughter. Jessica's cheeks reddened with shame and embarrassment. Was she really so scared of lighting a stupid candle? She found the courage to light the last candle.

Jessica was almost expecting something to happen. A rush of wind, maybe, or an unholy voice booming from the underworld admonishing them for their sins. Of course nothing happened. It was just a stupid little ritual in a stupid little book Macy found in a stupid little bookstore.

"Wow. I didn't think you could actually do it."

"Screw you Macy."

Macy laughed. "You can curse if you want. I won't spank you over it. Probably."

"Macy you are such a little-"

Whatever Jessica was going to say next was cut short by Alyson's bloodcurdling scream.