Five: Out of the Dark

by Anderson, Holli

  Halli broke the silence. “Do you really need to ask for more of that horrible stuff? Why don’t you just wait until no one’s there, unlock the doors and explore on your own?”

  “I thought of that,” I answered. “But the outer door, the one to just get into the classroom, is heavily warded. I’d be willing to bet that the inside door is even worse. I’m afraid I’ll need an escort.”

  “You aren’t planning on going in by yourself, are you?”

  “Well … I’m not sure how anyone else can go with me. Carrying out a drug deal isn’t something you usually share with friends and family.”

  “I really think one of us should go with you,” Seth said. “We can think of a plausible excuse.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll go by myself and one of you guys can follow at a safe distance. I’ll activate the necklaces if I get into trouble.”

  “I don’t like this,” Alec said.

  “I don’t either,” Johnathan agreed. “But, whether we like it or not, Paige is the one they slipped the stuff to, so she’s the one they’ll expect to want more … to need more. It has to be her. And I will be the one that follows her.”

  The other two boys protested, but Johnathan stopped them with an even look. “I have extra-sensitive hearing. I will probably be able to hear any trouble before she can summon us with the necklaces.” No one could argue with his reasoning.

  “Okay. So, tomorrow I’ll approach one of the flunkies and tell him I need some more Sentience with the hope that he’ll take me to Davis’ classroom and into his secret lair. Johnathan will follow … at a safe distance. I’ll find out if the tank-thing is in there and look around for anything else that might be of use to us. I’ll get the drug and come back and report to you guys. Then we plan to take these monsters out.”

  “That about sums it up,” Johnathan said, though he didn’t look at all happy about it.

  “Okay, well, since that’s settled, I’m going for a walk.” I stood and grabbed my jacket.

  “Wait, isn’t it kind of late for you to be going out by yourself?” Alec asked.

  “I think I can take care of myself, Alice.”

  “Well, at least take your gear belt,” he said.

  “I’ll go with you, Paige. I need some fresh air,” Halli volunteered.

  I really wanted to go by myself. My objective was to go to the occult bookstore and find some info on summoning Demons. Halli knew I was searching for a way to cure Johnathan, but she didn’t know that search included a plan to summon evil from the depths of hell in order to find the answers. And I didn’t want her, or anyone else, to know about it. But I didn’t want to further raise suspicion by trying to talk her out of coming with me. It might have become a habit of Johnathan’s to disappear by himself, but it wasn’t mine. I would just have to be sneaky about what I was researching.

  We both grabbed our belts, as Alec had insisted, and headed for the stairs. Outside, where I could be sure we were out of earshot of Johnathan, I turned to Halli.

  “My real objective is to go do some research at that bookstore you went to. Hopefully they’ll let us browse long enough to find some information.”

  “Okay, it’s up by Pike Place Market. I wanted to look at that book some more, too. I hope it’s still there.”

  We walked in silence. My mind flipped from one thought to another—from the plan for school tomorrow, back to the horrible night at the party, forward to the wickedness I was planning on calling forth—hoping with all my heart I was strong enough to contain it and send it back to the Netherworld after bargaining for the information I needed. I thought about Johnathan and my fervent desire that he not have to endure one more changing. I thought about the possibilities of what the Demon would ask of me in return for information. I had no idea what to expect. My contemplations were interrupted when we reached the bookstore.

  The clerk behind the counter looked up as the chimes on the door announced our entrance. She had jet-black hair—dyed, I’m sure—all except her long, stringy bangs, which were dyed neon green. I counted at least ten piercings in her face—eyebrows, lips, nose, cheeks—and more than that in her ears. She was dressed all in black, which was fitting for her place of hire. She wore a large pentacle pendant that hung down between her breasts and about a gazillion bracelets on each arm. She was pretty much status quo for a place that sold occult books and paraphernalia, I figured.

  She rolled her eyes and looked purposefully at her watch. “We close in fifteen minutes.” She returned her gaze to the grunge magazine that was lying open on the counter.

  Halli and I shared a smile as we walked deeper into the store.

  “This is perfect,” I whispered. “That girl isn’t going to pay any attention to what we’re doing.”

  Halli walked straight to the back of the store where the Werewolf book had been before. While she looked for it, I searched a nearby shelf labeled Rituals. My eyes fell on an old book with a broken spine. The title was faded to the point it was barely readable—Daemonic Rituals. I looked to make sure Halli was occupied. My hand shook as I pulled the book from the shelf.

  I’m sure it was just my nerves acting up that caused me to think the book’s cover was made from human skin—that was just insane … there had to be other types of animal hide that looked similar to the heavily pored skin of humans, right? My instincts all screamed at me to drop it—and I almost did. My hand continued to shake and become sticky with sweat.

  I took a determined breath and opened the book to the chapter listing. It looked to be handwritten in old English script. I ran my finger down the chapter listings and stopped at Daemonic Summoning. My heart beat heavily in my chest; I closed my eyes, the guilt of what I was planning almost too much to bear. I forced my thoughts to Johnathan, to the anguish he suffered every second of every day, to the changes in his personality … to the very real danger he posed to me with the end result being that we couldn’t be together. I opened my eyes and turned to Chapter Thirteen.

  I had the information I needed. Now I just needed to get rid of Halli. I’d decided I had to complete the summoning that very night—while the steps and incantations were still fresh in my mind. I hadn’t written anything down for fear of being found out. Halli had seen me sliding the book back onto the shelf but didn’t say anything.

  There was another reason I wanted to do it tonight; I had an important mission to accomplish the next day and I didn’t want the distraction of a pending summoning to cloud my concentration.

  “Did you find out any new information from that book?” I asked Halli.

  “Not really. Just stuff we’ve already read or seen for ourselves. What about you? Did you find anything useful? Why were you over in the Rituals section?”

  Crap! She’d noticed. “Well … I was just looking to see if maybe there was a ritual that would help us rid Johnathan of the lycanthropy. Something that maybe Madame LaForte doesn’t know about … or that she doesn’t approve of and doesn’t want us to attempt or something. I didn’t find anything useful either.” The lies came out pretty smoothly.

  “Hal … if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a little walk by myself, to clear my head. I’m just a little bit freaked out about tomorrow and just need some alone time. I won’t be gone long. You should head back home. Just tell the others I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  She frowned. “Paige … I don’t think that’s a very good idea. I understand wanting to be alone, though. As long as that’s your only reason for ditching me.” She looked into my eyes.

  I decided to be straight with her. Well, mostly straight. “The truth is I need to do something I’m not very proud of and I don’t want you or anyone else to be involved. Please just go home. I’ll be right behind you as soon as I get this taken care of.”

  Again, the frown. “Paige …”

  I didn’t let her finish. “Halli, just go—I don’t want your help with this. I’ll be fine. Go. Home.”

  “Okay,
I’ll go. I just want you to remember I’ve been with you on this from the very beginning. You can trust me. I want to help Johnathan, too. He found me … and saved me. Without him I would be dead and I’d do anything to repay him. You all are the only family I have … I have no remembrance of the time before he found me huddled in the darkness and scared out of my mind. You guys are my past, present, and future. And … you’re my best friend,” she added quietly.

  Ugh. She had to play the guilt card. It wouldn’t have affected me so much had she made a habit out of it—but she’d never played the guilt card with any of us, as far as I knew. I really didn’t want her to see what I was going to do, but I felt like I needed to throw her some sort of bone.

  I took a deep breath and released it. “Okay, you can come with me. But, you have to stop where I tell you to and stay there until I come get you. No arguing.”

  She smiled. “I won’t argue. Paige, what exactly are you going to do?”

  We started walking again. I headed for a nearby abandoned building. “I’m going to get some information from someone—someone I shouldn’t be dealing with. That’s why I need you to stay back, because I don’t want you to be associated in any way with my bad decisions.”

  “Just how dangerous is this?”

  “Um … I’m not exactly sure. It’ll be worth the danger if I can get the answer I’m seeking, though. Totally worth it.”

  I turned into the alcove of the empty building I planned to use. The door was chained and locked with a heavy-duty keyed master lock. There were no windows—none were needed in the old warehouse. I took the lock in my hands, closed my eyes, and reached out with my mind to feel the lock’s mechanisms. I concentrated for only a few seconds before feeling the mechanisms slide into alignment; I pulled on the lock and it opened in my hand. I was getting really good at the lock thing.

  We entered the warehouse and closed the door behind us. I turned to Halli. “Stay right here by the door. That way you can make an escape if you need to.”

  She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t argue.

  I walked across the concrete floor, my footsteps echoing in the nearly empty building. Bile rose in my throat at the thought of what I was about to invoke. I walked to where I was partially hidden behind a large, empty shelving unit, about fifty yards from where Halli stood.

  I closed my eyes and breathed deep to calm the increasing edginess that had crept up on me. I rehearsed the words of the incantation in my head … once … twice … three times. The time had come. I pulled the chalk out of my gear belt and drew a careful and concise pentacle. I pulled several hairs from my head and placed them in the middle of the pentacle. This was the part that scared me the most; the Fae could cast some pretty nasty spells when they got their hands on your hair. But, it was necessary. The book had called it an offering of trust—my guess was this trust was really just insurance that the Demon would be able to find me when the time came to pay up.

  I pricked my finger with a needle, not even feeling it as it penetrated the skin. The blood welled into a nice-sized drop, and I bent and smeared it on the line of the circle where one tip of the pentagram touched it. I repeated the act with each of the remaining four sites where the star touched the circle. When the last drop was in place, I willed the pentacle closed. I felt the familiar snap, the change in the atmosphere between our realm and another, and knew it was sealed.

  “Cieo ciere civi citum, accio envoco precari. Cieo ciere civi citum, accio envoco precari. Cieo ciere civi citum, accio envoco precari. Shalbriri. Shalbriri. Shalbriri envoco,” I chanted.

  I opened my eyes. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the circle began filling with blue smoke that stayed within the confines of the chalk lines I’d drawn. I felt a moment of hysteria when the idea popped into my head that a chalk drawing was the only thing keeping me from being devoured by a soul-eating Demon.

  With a roar of protest that nearly broke my eardrums, the familiar form of the first Demon I’d ever fought—alongside Alec and Johnathan—erupted into the center of the pentacle. It grabbed the strands of my hair with an ethereal appendage that could have resembled an arm if it hadn’t been so … well … ethereal. The Demon Shalbriri still wore the nerd glasses that just hung in midair due to the fact that the wraithlike Demon had no nose or ears. It turned to face me and said in an eerily quiet voice, “Who dares to summon me?”

  “I do. I want to bargain with you for some information.” The book had said not to show weakness but also not to act superior. In other words, treat the Demon like you were on equal ground—even though, if I wasn’t able to hold him in the circle, he had the power to wreak apocalyptic havoc throughout the entire Pacific Northwest.

  “And, who are you to invoke this summons? A Human girl-child can’t possibly hold me to this realm.” It actually smirked. And laughed, as it looked me up and down like I was a prized horse it was considering for purchase.

  “I am seeking information. And I am strong enough to keep you contained within the pentacle. Are you willing to bargain with me, or should I send you back to where you came from?”

  The Demon showed me a grotesque mouthful of razor-sharp teeth in the semblance of a smile. It pushed against my will that held the invisible prison erect. I stumbled backwards into the empty shelves.

  “No!” I yelled, forcing all of my will into the circle. The Demon pushed harder. I felt like my eyeballs would squeeze right out of my head from the pressure of its attempted escape. I was going to lose. The Demon would be loosed on the unsuspecting people of the world and it would be my fault. My only comfort was I would probably be dead and wouldn’t see the results of my futile attempt to make right the wrong I’d caused to Johnathan.

  The pressure was too much. I was going to implode. That was when Halli decided to ignore my order to stay put. She stepped around the shelves and stood by my side, adding her considerable will to mine. The pressure in my head instantly receded and with our combined force, the furious Demon was brought to submission.

  It bellowed in frustrated rage. I stayed silent as it continued its tirade for a few long minutes. When it finally quieted down I said, “Are you ready to bargain now?”

  “I will bargain with you, Human, as you leave me little choice. However, you may not like the price I ask. You had best weigh the importance of your need.” It spoke with a slight English accent that sounded funny coming from a blob wearing glasses.

  “The importance is mine to determine—and I’ve already determined it. I would not have summoned you had I not been willing to pay the price.”

  “Fine. What is it you seek?” It plopped down in the center of the pentagram and played with the strands of hair it held. It reminded me of a pouting preschooler that hadn’t gotten his way.

  I wanted desperately to look at Halli to see her reaction. Was she upset? Angry? Scared? But, I also didn’t want to see her reaction—what if she was staring at me with anguish or, worse, pity? I had to concentrate on keeping the circle intact and on bargaining with a being that had thousands of years of practice at making such deals lean heavily its way.

  “Answers. I seek answers. My … our … friend was bitten by some sort of Fae changeling …”

  The Demon interrupted with gales of laughter. It literally rolled around on the floor within the confines of the circle. My anger was piqued, to say the least. And I have yet to learn to control my actions well when I’m angry.

  I started toward the circle, intent on inflicting pain on the laughing Demon. Halli grabbed my arm and pulled me back, “What are you doing? Are you completely crazy? Are you just going to walk right in there and—what?—zap him? Not to mention, break the circle and release him!”

  I shook her hand off my arm and glared at the Demon. Halli was right, of course, it would be suicide to break the circle now. Not to mention homicide and a few other unforgivable sins.

  “What has it done to your precious friend? Is he turning into a rotting Troll? Or, mayhap a Revenan
t of some sort? Do tell, into what sort of beast has he turned?”

  “A Werewolf,” I yelled. “He is cursed with lycanthropy.”

  “Ahh… I see. I suppose you want me to tell you how to reverse such a curse.”

  “I think I know a way. I just need confirmation … and some direction … before I proceed. I think I can soul-gaze with him, lock him in a gaze and then … well, it’s the then I’m needing help with. How do I extract the curse from his body?”

  “You have the right idea, girl. And I know the answer to your query. Before I answer, we must strike a deal. What are you willing to give in return for your answer?”

  Anything, I thought. “What do you ask of me?” I said.

  Shalbriri paced back and forth as it thought. It even removed its glasses at one point and hocked a big glob of slime onto them then wiped them off on its flowing, sheet-like body before placing them back on its face. “I, Shalbriri, ask in return for my knowledge …”

  he hour was late when Halli and I returned home. I had difficulty sleeping for what remained of the night. I rehashed over and over the conversation with the Demon Shalbriri, committing to memory the steps of the exorcism it had explained. Before Halli fell asleep I asked if I could practice a soul-gaze on her—it was something we all knew about but had always been reluctant to do, not wanting our innermost secrets revealed even to each other. I hated to ask her now, but I needed to be sure I could do it. The only gaze I’d been involved with was the involuntary one with Mr. Jorgenson that, I’m sure, seared a big globule of my brain cells.

  Soul-gazing with Halli was probably not my best idea. When we first locked gazes I saw and felt something of her life since joining our group. That went by in an eternal flash—I know, that really didn’t make sense, eternal was long, flash was short. What I meant is I knew and could feel that those memories took only a short time to experience, but it seemed like forever. Really, truly, forever … like I’d always been in her mind and always would be. It was hard to explain.