The Ritual

To most it may seem like a beautiful morning. The sun was warm, not too hot and not the kind that burns through the skin. The rays peacefully divided through the window and shone upon the wooden floor. Nothing was out of place. They never were.

They stayed at their chosen favourite spots and refused to move no matter how much she tried to shoo them away. Enkeli took a deep breath as she got out of bed, dangling her legs above the floor. With great hesitance, she took a leap with one foot far across the other and ran to the bathroom, trying her best to avoid the negative curse under her bed. The bathroom door creaked open and she freshened up, taking a quick shower with her eyes closed- she brushed her teeth, combed her hair and changed into a white T shirt and black skinny jeans.

“Today is the day.” She whispered excitedly, still covering her eyes with her hands as she walks out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen, ignoring the loud prayers that could be heard from nearby. She fixed herself some cereal and munched it fast.

Enkeli lived with her parents in a church. At least, it was seemingly an abandoned church turned to something good by her parents. One section of the church had a few bedrooms with private bathrooms and a kitchen with a dining table. The rest was just like a typical church with a twist.

She took her huge bag full of secretive materials and headed out.

“I’m leaving!” She called out as she left through the narthex. Her parents glared at the interruption during their prayer time. They were standing at the altar leading the prayer.

“What does it matter.. they aren’t even Christians.” She muttered. She couldn’t tell anyone, of course but all her parents were doing was.. putting up an act. Enkeli had had enough of their fake lies and dishonesty since a long time ago. It didn’t faze her anymore but she tried her best to make it seem like she was going along with it. After all, it didn’t make sense for her to create a fuss now when there was only a year left until she would turn 18. Then she could leave and do as she saw fit. She wouldn’t be under their command anymore, not that they had any hope left that she would turn out like them. They knew she was different.

Her parents, Bryan and Mikela thought she was leaving for school earlier than usual. However, not being ones to pry much into her life they chose to overlook it. ‘She must be going early to study up on her lectures, at least she isn’t getting herself into trouble like usual,’ They thought.

“Hah.. I have everything I need.” She walks to the nearby cemetery and sets her materials down on the ground.

Sheep’s blood, Dead mouse, Hyoscyamus Niger, Tamarindicus indica , Deadly Nightshade and last but not least, Human blood.

She put all of them into a large fancy cup, as if to appease the demon with her effort and took care of the last ingredient by slashing a knife against her palm. She held it up above the cup and let the blood pour out. The pain was momentarily stinging but the excitement of doing what she was about to do took over her.

For as long as Enkeli could remember, she had been haunted by ghosts and all negative energy associated creatures that are usually invisible to humans. She had tried everything. Salt barriers, garlic, rosemary and holy water- considering that she was living in a church, none of these things were hard to come by. However, none of them seemed to work for her. The negative energies seemed to always find her and latch on to her, sucking out her life force and energy. As a result, not only has she been chronically fatigued but also traumatised by the appearances of ghosts on a daily basis. They stick like molds in her room and stare at her throughout the day. It isn’t a surprise that she has trouble sleeping.

It may seem counterintuitive. She knew it could make her situation worse.

“But I have no other option left. I will summon a demon and make a contract with him. I will ask him to be my bodyguard.” She nodded for self reassurance as started the rest of the ritual. Her hands trembled as she mixed the contents of the cup. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what she was doing. She knew what it would lead to but she had done her research. The type of demon she was going to summon would be a contract demon. They aren’t known to bother humans unless it is to collect their part of the bargain.

She repeated the latin words carefully, enunciating each one slowly.

“ “Omnipotens sempiterne deus adesto magna[e] pietatis tue misteriis, adesto piis Invocationibus nostris ut speculum istud quod in tuo nomine bene dicere facto…”

Then she repeated a few lines for her own safety, to make sure the ritual didn’t backfire.

“Let them not Oh Lord God mighty Jehova, I doe beseech, come from out of that place of torment, until that I call them from thence, & that they will & doe obey my will & commandments with all meekness & humbleness, fulfilling my will & commandments to their uttermost powers, & then Lord hear my prayer, & grant my request to release them, & give me faith, might, & power to keep them always in awe, & let them fear & tremble before me whenever I shall call them.”

‘Did it work?’

She waited a couple of minutes, her breath heavy and palms sweaty. She swallowed but her mouth was as dry as sandpaper. Her fingers slightly shook as she reconsidered her choices. What if the demon’s appearance was worse than anything she had seen till now? What if it was more terrifying than ghosts and curses? Not to mention that a demon would hold much greater negative power than any ordinary spirit.

‘What am I doing? This isn’t going to work anyway.’ She turned around with a thumping heart, ready to walk into school as if nothing had happened. Enkeli could usually act perfectly normal but for the past few days she had been acting different enough for her classmates to notice, it was all because of the attention she put into researching demon summoning. Once she had figured it out, she had to collect all the materials and some herbs were especially hard to find. Despite going through all of that trouble, would she really gain nothing out of it?

She thought, perhaps it was better to gain nothing than to gain something worse beyond her wildest imaginations. She hadn’t thought of how she would handle looking at such a horrible monstrosity. If simple spirits were this ugly and unbearable to look at, could she really handle a demon?

She shook her head and closed her eyes, taking a few steps forward. She halted when she felt the sensation of bumping into someone. She looked up, half expecting to be scared to death.

“Wh..who are you?” She asked, suspicion laced in her voice. She gave him a proper look, noticing that she had never seen him around her neighborhood. Was he a kidnapper? A serial killer?

She was sure that if she had seen him before, she would remember him. Everything about him stood out. He had deep red hair and eyes of a similar color. To match these things, he was wearing earrings made of a ruby crystal. His eyes were almond shaped and were sleek similar to a cat’s. His red lips were in a straight line and eyes were slanted with judgment evident across it’s shiny surfaces.

“You know me.” He tells her, his voice low and raspy.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you. I think you have the wrong person.” She put her school bag across her shoulder and walks past him. She doesn’t make it far before he grabs her wrist and pulls her back.

“Hey, I came all the way here for you and you’re telling me you don’t know me? You called for me.”

“Excuse me? I called you? I haven’t seen you in my entire life.” She huffed. What did this man want and why was he being so persistent? At this instant, she thought her assumption of him being a serial killer might be true after all. Though he didn’t have any tattoos or scars, the sleek glare in his eyes mixed with the energy he was giving off made her think that this man has done very bad things in his life.

The negative energy he was imbedded with was no joke.

“Is that right? Then what’s this.” With one hand continued to grip around her wrist, he pulled her towards the direction she had walked from and kicked over the cup she had performed the ritual in.

‘That means..’ It took a while for it to dawn on her but eventually realization hit and she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Yo-you’re a demon?” It sounded like a question but it was more of a prejudiced statement.