Work Text:
“On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair,
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air”
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, my acoustic guitar practically cradled in my lap, I played Hotel California. Looking up from the strings, I stared at the ofrenda in front of me, an altar to the dead. Even though I obviously don’t believe in that kind of stuff, I still lit some candles, and placed a picture in the center. My mother’s loving eyes stared back at me. Somehow, it’s only been 3 months.
Trying not to get too depressed again, I resumed singing. Hotel California was always one of her favorite songs, and it also happened to be one of mine. I continued to sing. I was solemn, but still smiling, even as I messed up some of the words. I remembered the two of us singing along together, and it made me smile even more.
“Any time of year
any time of year
You can find it here…
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted
She got the Mercy…merca…medcadies? Mercamatates mercedes Benz” I blabbered out, giggling to myself.
With a puff of flame, and a prevailing feeling of wrongness, the candles snuffed out, and my mother’s picture ignited and burned up in a flash. Just as quickly, something replaced it. Some small creature popped into existence, looking like a fat, ugly, bipedal and hairless version of a pug.
“Picture!” the demon said, before also burning up in a puff of flame.
“WHAT THE FUCK!” I screamed, dropping my guitar as I scrambled backwards, my heart beating as fear gripped me. I stared wide-eyed at the unlit candles on my dorm floor, as if they would drag me into hell itself. A million things rushed through my head, while the adrenaline also made it hard to think. I told myself to breathe, putting a hand to my chest, as if it would somehow help slow down my heart. What the fuck was that? Am I on drugs, or am I just crazy? What…what… my mind raced and raced as I sat there on the floor for a while. And then, I had an epiphany. I jumped up from the floor and ran over to my desk, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pencil. My hand shaking, I wrote down every last thing I could possibly think of that happened before whatever I just witnessed. I wrote down the time. The date. The brand of candle, and their orientation on the floor. I even wrote the random gobblygook that came out of my mouth when I fucked up the song.
I have no fucking idea what that was, I thought, but whatever it was, I’m going to do it again.
-------------------
“Hello future watchers, this is the 9th experiment investigating the ritual’s rules and properties.”
Still nervous, I awkwardly played with my phone on the desk, making sure it was stable as it recorded.
“Ok, now. Hypothesis: There is an orientation of candles that are so close together that the ritual cannot trigger.”
Kneeling down, I placed 5 candles on the floor, making the shape of a pentagram. Unlike how I’d done each previous experiment, I moved the candles until each was touching its neighbors. I placed a paperclip in the middle of them, then lit each candle with a cigar lighter. Sitting down, I looked at the camera for a moment, then at my notebook, reading the gibberish within.
“Mercymercamedcadiesmercamatatesmercedes!”
With a puff of flame and the same feeling of dread as the first time, the paper clip disappeared, and the same little demon thing popped into existence, looking rather cramped in between all of the candles.
“Paper Clip!” the imp squeaked, before disappearing again.
I grinned. Even after a half-dozen times, I still felt the rush of excitement. I wrote down the result in my notebook, then looked up at my phone, and said “It looks like as long as the candles are a perfect pentagram, you really can fit them in as tight as you want, at least I think so. My hypothesis was unsupported. I also observed that the demon also seemed to appear even faster than normal after my chant, but I’ll have to look back at the video to verify. Oh! I’ll also have to test what happens when I use larger or smaller candles another day. Maybe birthday candles would work? Anyways, this concludes experiment #9.”
Getting up from the floor, I ended the video. Looking down at my notebook for the hundredth time, I fetl even more giddy about the experiment I had saved for last.
Day 1 Hypothesis’s (hypotheseese? Hypothesi? Need to google that later):
1. The candles must be lit to trigger the ritual. Result: Confirmed
2. Exactly 5 candles are required for the ritual to trigger. Result: Confirmed
3. Candles must be a perfect pentagram to trigger the ritual. Result: Unconfirmed
4. Candles must be *roughly* a pentagram to trigger the ritual. Result: Confirmed (will investigate more another day. This must be why the first ritual triggered accidentally.)
5. Candles must be equidistant to trigger the ritual. Result: Unconfirmed
6. Candles must be *roughly* equidistant to trigger the ritual. Result: Confirmed (also will investigate later)
7. The Ritual can be triggered without anything inside of the pentagram. Result: Confirmed (demon pops in, then immediately pops out)
8. Each summoned imp exists for a set amount of time. Result: Confirmed (By using a camera and going frame by frame, the demon seems to exist for about 2.8 seconds. I went back and watched the previous experiment and that Imp existed for 0.74 seconds, so I’m assuming adding an item adds 2.06 seconds? Wait, what happens if I have two items in the pentagram at once?)
9. There is an orientation of candles that are so close together that the ritual cannot trigger. Result: unconfirmed
10. Placing 2 of the same object inside the ritual will summon 2 imps. Result:
Overwhelmingly curious, I quickly turned on my camera, set it back down on my desk and began speaking. ““Ok, experiment te-number ten of testing out the ritual’s rules and properties. Hypothesis: Placing 2 of the same object in at the same time will summon 2 imps.” I grabbed 2 paper clips, placed them right next to each other in between the 5 candles, lit them, and declared “Mercymercada…wait, fuck…uh…Mercymercamedcadiesmercamatatesmercedes!”
With a puff of flame, an imp appeared. This one seemed ever so slightly different from the usual one, possibly taller?
“Steel paper clip!” it said, before disappearing again. I looked at the empty candles, confused for a moment, before my jaw dropped.
“Oh…that was not what I was expecting. Wait, are…is…does sacrificing more things make the demon talk more? Does that mean…holy shit…I am going to need a lot more paper clips.”
----
After promising myself that I would eventually stop testing, I finally crawled into bed, my mind still racing. So if adding more of an object somehow makes the demon talk about the object more, what upper limits does that have? And I also believe I noticed the imp getting taller, does that scale with the objects too? Or is it the size of the object that matters? I really need to get some sleep, I’ll test all this tomorrow night.
I closed my eyes, thinking to myself to stop thinking (always an effective strategy). Eventually, I began to nod off.
My heart pounded. I shot up out of bed, ripping the covers off myself as I turned on my lamp. Feverish, I grabbed my candles, assembled the pentagram, and placed a paperclip in the center. I grab my phone and unlock it, even as my hands are shaking. I opened the recorder app, and spoke the phrase into it. I then quickly lit all of the candles, cranked up my phone’s volume, and replayed my voice. Mercymercamedcadiesmercamatatesmercedes my past voice said, sounding like a loud whisper. Nothing happened. I then snuffed out a candle, recorded my voice with as normal of a cadence as I could, then re-lit the candle, and let my voice play again. Again, nothing happened.
Still shaking, I laid down on the floor, panting as if I’d run a marathon. Oh my god oh my god, that didn’t work. I can’t tell whether to be heartbroken or relieved. If that had worked…I could have recorded a ton of random sounds, used a computer to randomize them…this cannot be the only ritual in the world, I refuse to believe that.
My thoughts raced as I stayed laying down on the floor. Eventually, I heard a familiar sound: my door unlocking. Slowly and quietly, my roommate opened the door, then stopped as our eyes met. He looked tired, his red hair ruffled. I sheepishly waved. I could clearly see his looks of confusion, exhaustion, exasperation, and, eventually, concern.
“Rafael, are you ok? Please tell me what’s going on,” my roommate said, serious as always. He must have noticed how jittery I was today, now I feel bad. Oh…oh fuck…should I tell him about the ritual? There’s no way that’s a good idea. As the saying goes, two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead. But…Alex is a great guy, I really do trust him. He’s not religious, so that part isn’t a concern. Oh, he could even help me come up with expireme-
“Rafael! Really, are you ok?”
I sighed, then nodded, and got up from the floor. “Alex…say you discovered something amazing, but also something that’s dangerous. Would you immediately reveal it to the world, or would you keep it to yourself and test it first?”
Alex raised an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes.
“You can’t just come up with a question like that and expect me to answer it! It depends on a hundred different factors. I’m tired, and given that you’re asking me random hypotheticals, you must be feeling somewhat ok. Really though, why were you on the floor?”
Good enough, I thought. It’s not like I could keep this from him forever as long as I live here anyways. He’s a good friend and a great guy, so I think this is worth it.
“Ok, second, much more important question. If I show you something amazing, will you promise not to freak out?”
Another eyebrow. He dropped his backpack next to his desk, thought for a moment, and nodded.
“Sure, why not.”
---
“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT?!”
---
2.5 years later
---
“Sweet Caroline!”
“Bum Bum Bum!”
“Good times never seemed so good!”
The two of us sang, totally drunk, as I lay draped across the couch. Ever since we dropped out of college and started a business, life had been a constant adventure, so Alex and I took every chance we got to enjoy ourselves. Finished with the song, I placed my guitar beside me, and smiled.
“Hey Raf, how’s the book coming along? I saw you writing earlier today.” Alex asked, while pouring himself another glass of liquor.
“Great! I’m finally done with my section on farming, I think. It’s gonna be great”. I said, feeling proud. Ever since I discovered the ritual, I’ve been slowly accumulating everything I’d learned, and I’d gone out of my way to get as much information as possible that could somehow help humanity. I leaned back, letting my mind wander, and I thought about how the two of us got to this point.
So, it turned out that the ritual didn’t just tell you what the object was, like I originally thought. It actually gave you knowledge about that object, which had some world-shattering implications. The only limit was that the number of objects you sacrifice was roughly proportional to the information you got back, with diminishing returns of course. Burning a paperclip would just result in a little imp that said it was a paperclip, while burning 10,000 paperclips would summon a full, bona-fide demon, which would answer any possible paperclip-related question you could think of.
Talking to demons was pretty fucking freaky though. The first time Alex and I sacrificed over a thousand objects, he literally screamed, running out the door. After getting my wits about me, I ended up talking with the demon myself. The demon wasn’t…sentient, per se—more like a robot or AI or something. At first, I thought demons only spoke fluent, immaculate English, but I quickly learned that if I asked it something in Spanish, it would answer back in the same language. And I was too drunk to even think about all the times I tried asking Demons about where they came from or what their goals are, just to receive answers like “Your basement” or “answering your questions about paperclips”. Anyways, at least I was right about the time that demons stay around for, so that was a bonus, I guess. Wait, why was I thinking about this again? Oh, right, how Alex and I got to this point.
We owned a very successful consumer research business! The best part was, we’d never even had to interview a single consumer, we just used demons. It was my job to make up believable numbers for what consumers would say, and then I would write up a report on how our company thought that they could improve their product. We told the companies that used us that we’d developed a super-duper advanced AI that took consumer responses and used that to create an answer, but in reality…demons. And it worked! Alex was an amazing businessperson and salesman, something I would never be able to replicate. Combined with me focusing on logistics and getting our “research”, we’ve made a great team.
It was funny to remember all the things I’ve sacrificed. Medicine, food, clothing, random household appliances, almost anything we could get our hands on in large quantities. Alex was especially interested in having me ask them food questions, which has made him a freaking fantastic cook. Sadly, the demon couldn’t answer things like unsolved math problems, all we got back was the proper cellulose formula for constructing optimal paper. The only things we hadn’t tried were electronics (so we wouldn’t end the world by creating an AI) and, well, non-rodent animals. Seeing a lab mouse get burned up like that…never, ever doing that again. I suppose I still hadn’t gone through with the fly burning idea, but still not particularly excited about doing it. At least those things are dumb, unlike mice…wait a second, how the hell had I never thought about this before…
My eyes shot wide open, and I drunkenly scrambled upwards, probably looking like I’d gone insane. “DEMONS!” I practically yelled, exhilarated. “WE’VE NEVER TRIED SACRIFICING DEMONS TO THE RITUAL!”
Alex’s drunken mind took a second, then his eyes shot up too. The two of us tried our hardest to come up with a plan. Even though we were drunk, we both recognized the same thing: we might end up changing the world.
---
Hangover…hangover, ow…ok nevermind, we’ll do it later…
--
Lighting the 10th candle, I turned around and looked at Alex, who looked nervous as usual. He usually didn’t participate in this, but he wanted to see this too badly to chicken out. “Mercymercamedcadiesmercamatatesmercedes!” I declared with practiced ease.
The inner pentagram flared, burning up the paper clip and causing a demon to pop into existence, which then burned up in a horrific screech. An amalgamation, for I don’t know what else to call it, popped into existence, its limbs flailing, as if two imps had been violently mashed together.
“D̶̖́͛̈́̈́e̶͔̩͍̓̽̑m̵̙̑̇ỏ̸͍͊́ņ̸̨̳̙͂̉͑!” the thing shrieked, without a mouth, its broken limbs being stopped by the candles.
Then, the thing disappeared, as if it never existed at all. The two of us looked at each other, horrified, neither of us knowing what to say. After a moment to think, I gulped, then began to speak.
“I want to go through with this”, I whispered. “I can’t just stop now.”
Alex looked at me, his face unreadable. Then, he sighed. “Well, I doubt I’ll be able to stop you, so I guess I’ll help. Are you sure about this though?”
I nodded, determined. “With enough time, I think we can ask the demon some questions. We’re going to want a lot of candles, though.” Then, I grinned. “Plus, I want my mom’s picture back.”
---
Turning on the right blinker, I slowly took the cargo truck off the road. From there, I drove until we’d reached the middle of the empty field. Opening the door, barely able to contain my excitement, we walked around and opened the back of the truck. Inside, stacked in boxes, lay exactly 1,250 of the smallest candles we could find that burned reliably. The two of us hauled them out, and I looked at Alex, grimacing. “This is going to take a lot longer than I thought”, I said “Yup”, he responded. Sighing, I mumbled “No one told me that changing the world would require any work”, and I saw Alex smile out of the corner of my eyes.
---
“All 250 rituals are in place, including the candles and the paperclips?” Alex asked.
“Check.” I answered.
“Including the five outer ones, and the five phase 2 candles?”
“I was including those, yes.”
“Wire to connect the candle wicks?”
“We’ve checked like 8 times, yes they’re all in position.”
“Drone?”
“Check.”
“Is the camera on?”
“Check.”
“Phone?”
“Working”
“Your evil notebook?”
“It’s name is the ‘Book of Evildoing and Applied Blasphemy’, for your information”
“...”
“Fine, check.”
“Lighters?”
“Check.”
“Do all of them actually work?”
“Last I checked.”
Satisfied, we each grabbed 2 lighters, putting a backup in our pockets. Brimming with nervousness, the two of us ignited them. “3, 2, 1, GO,” Alex shouted unnecessarily loud, and the two of us raced to light every candle before any burnt out. We had stuck flammable wire to each wick, which worked just like it had in the tests, igniting candles 5 times faster than it would have taken us normally. After quickly lighting one candle from each ritual, the two of us stepped back, observing all the tiny pentagrams. Using our drone, we confirmed each and every one was lit, after having to go back and re-light a few. We then lit 5 special candles, much larger than the others, creating one massive pentagram encompassing the smaller ones. Finally, we lit 4 more candles, placing these a few feet from, and surrounding, the massive pentagram. We intentionally left one unlit, which stood behind us.
The two of us looked at each other. Alex was clearly nervous, though I couldn’t have appeared much better. I nodded, he nodded back. Ready. I nervously unlocked my phone, and opened up the timer app, my finger hesitantly hovering over the button.
“MERCYMERCAMEDCADIESMERCAMATATESMERCEDES” I yelled, knowing the phrase by heart, and pressed the button on my phone the millisecond I finished.
With a fiery roar, 250 paperclips ignited, and 250 imps were summoned. “PAPERCLIP!” They all shouted at once.
Then, reality broke.
Darkness enveloped the frail men, even as the 5 candles became pillars of flame. Space seemed to rend and shudder, as a demon filled the pentagram, massive and bloated. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of broken limbs, twisted mouths, or hungry eyes it had, though at that moment, I couldn’t think at all. It had what generously could be described as arms and legs, made of mashed together animals, imps and demons. A sense of doom was building in the back of my head, my chest tight, the screams of the damned rattling in my soul, and all I could do was stare.
I heard an ear-piercing screech, as Alex turned around and desperately tried to run, but behind us was darkness, impenetrable as night. I looked down, and saw the unassuming lit candle sitting peacefully on the grass, right in front of the darkness. Then, it spoke.
.
.
W̖̣̮͎̠̼̯͑̾͆̉̓̓̕͘͝A̴̢̛̘̮̠͎̥̣̽̏̽͢͝R̴̡̖̗̻͙̺̱̩̲̒̈̄̔͂͐͛̚͟͝͝L̸̩͙̜̙̻̦̤͍̈̍̊́̀̌̌̅̿ͅͅO̷͓̹̭̻̮̱͍͂̍̾͆̾͘C̶͚̬̲̩̥̎͂̐̂̔̃̾̈͝Ķ͚̰̝̬̩̦͓̊͋̓̽̒̊̕͟Ś̷̨͓̺̱̮̼͇̑̅̒́̀̅͞.̢̦̮͕́̈͛̒͑͘! Ị̷̢̡̟̰̱͖͕̫̽̂̑̉͑̓͋͊͛T͍̠̫͎̰̪̠͂͆̔̉̄͒̿͢ H̸̛̱̻̥͓̦̟̖̰͉͆̓̿̐͝A̷̹̟̝̠͖͖͗̽͒̔̈͋͗͘̚̕͟ͅŞ̷̺̙͚̇̐̑̅̽̕͜ͅ B̴̳̪̞̝̥̱̯̉̀͒̓͂̍́̚͡Ḛ̸̡̨̝̝̳̽̌̓́̌̔͠Ě̡̧͍̜̭̭͇͎̺̮̄̆̈̓̏̄̉Ń̴̝̘̲͚̟̺̗̯̠̑̾̈̓͂͢͞ À̻̹̙̫͍̦̘̠̅̉̏͑̽̕G̷͎͚̪̜͈̩͍̓̇͊̋̚Ę̨̛͇̮̠̗̦̿̏̃͒̎̀̿̀̂ͅS̨̡̤̬̻͌͑́̒̋͒́̔̐̚͢ Ş̙̭̭̱͎̺͔̺̈̈́̒̈́̕I̸̧̺̟̞̺̟͇̩͗͊̓͐̉͋̕͟Ņ͍̭̩̪̖̱̑͂̋̄̓͗̔̓͊͘C̡̢̙͙͎̰͈͉̜̃̓̍̈͘E̡̛̯̤͓̳͇̠͋̉̚͡͝ Í̦̪̰̘̞̈́͛̃̈́̅̍͋ H̴̨͔͇͓̠̾̽͒̿̈͋̐̕͜͡ͅA̧̛͍͔̭͉̪̟̠̔̒̀͋̔V̸̨̠͓̺͕̞͒̔̆̎͐ͅE̲͖̬͇̹̺̣͛͋̆͋͆́͑͂͘͘ S̴̼͈̬͎̠̹̞͊̔̂͘͠͡ͅE̘̣͈̫͎̰̜͚͒̆̑͆̕͞E̵̢̟̲̮̬͑̋͑͋̀͆͂̍̀͟N̨̡̯̓̿̓̉͆̈́̓͢ͅ Y̸͍͍͎̫̦͉̍̾̑͒̋̈͜Ǭ̡̛̼͚̅͒̑͢͢Ư̵̜̟͖̣̩͓̭͋̂͆̔̃̕̚Ŕ̷͔͍̫̣̥̱̙͓͒̔̒̏̏̽͘͟ K̨̦̝͖͇̘̻̟̯̞̒͌͋̓̿͊́̾̈Ị̜̱̞̏͋͒̂͋ͅN̝̫̹͖̤͙̼͍̻͒̆̾͑̿̈͋̅̑͠Ḑ̬̟̞͖͓̈̇̐̑͘͡.̧̰̲̼͎͐̽͌̇̄̄̋̀
.
.
I heard its voice, which seemed to come from a thousand mouths. Finally breaking free from my fear, I gasped and walked backwards from the horror, unable to look away. I bumped into the nothing behind me, and I held back a scream, trying to somehow grab it or push it or rip it or SOMETHING.
Ï̵̜ ̸̫̳̿̉H̷̦͌͌Ä̴̼́V̷̺̉͝E̵̡̘̋ ̸͍̄S̷̠̜̀E̴̼̅E̵͈̐̈ͅŅ̵͗ ̴̧̛̲̍Ý̴͕̬̓Õ̸̞U̶͓̩̕R̷̹͎̍̒ ̵̝̒I̵̖̓͗M̶̓͜P̴̫̗̓̚R̸̠̀E̶̜͐S̵͔̀S̴̛̹͂I̶͓͒͝V̵͇̀̕E̸̘̰̐,̵̨̬̆͊ ̴̱̃T̶̹̓Ȧ̶̻̿S̵̮̮͋͠T̷̬́͝Ĕ̸̱L̶̮̔E̵̢̒͝S̵͍̒S̷͓̟̊ ̸̪̰̓W̴̳͊̚O̷̪̒͗R̷̢͋͒K̶̲̈́S.̷̰̠̿̚ ̶̷̫̤̈̓́B̸͉̊Ủ̷͇̚Ţ̶̟̐ ̶͖̌N̸̯̐̍Ȏ̷̥͘W̴̜͔̌̈́,̶͔͙̃ ̵̲̣̋́Y̷̭̲̒Ö̸̼́̓U̸̳̾͌Ȓ̸̳͖ ̴̼̌Ơ̸̰͔̍V̸̛͙̓E̵̛̤̎R̸̤͔̄C̵̼͎͊O̴̪̔͠Ņ̸̞͂F̶͓̤͆͛I̶͈̾̂ͅD̸͈͑Ė̴͔̃ͅṊ̷́C̸̻̩̅E̸̱͛ ̷̡̹̍W̴͙̰̍̏Ǐ̶͕L̵̘͊L̵͔͛ ̸̳̾͛B̷̢͂̊E̴̜̻͂̈́ ̶͎̥̋P̷̘̏͜Â̴̺̮̑I̸̫̚D̷̞̱͠ ̸̠͎̉͑W̷̟͝Í̴̧T̸̗̠̈́H̶̼́ ̵͈͊Y̸̨̜̍̏Ỏ̴̺U̵̟͋͝R̵͚̭̎́ ̷͚͊ͅS̸̡̤̈͋O̸̙̅͝Û̶͍̥L̴̻̾̉Ș̵͖̎.
I couldn’t look any longer. Shaking, shaking harder than I ever have in my life, I sat on the grass, averting my eyes from the beast, hoping my death would be quick.
I’ve killed myself…no, I’ve killed us all. I thought. I looked back at the abomination, glimpsing the screaming, twisted beings that it was composed of, and I shuddered. Fuck…fuck…e…eternal torment…maybe I’ll have wished for death. Tearing up, shuddering, I held my knees to my body, trying to block out the thoughts of guilt and death and decay.
“No.” I glanced to the right of me, and there stood Alex, shoulders back and chin high. “No, if you could kill us, we would already be dead.” His voice cracked once, and his fists were shaking, and I knew better than anyone the kind of fear he was trying to hide.
W̷͙̋Ḧ̶̘́E̴̬̪̽N̴͚̹͛̍ ̴̨̤̃͆T̴̜̓̈́H̴̱̞̋̀Ë̸͔̣́ ̴͚̂S̵̪̜͛Ĕ̴͍À̴̰L̵̝̜̅͌ ̴̡͊Ị̵͑S̵͎͌̾ ̵̯̦̔͝B̸̘̲̅͆R̵̩̰͌O̷̤̤͝K̸̻̖̎Ë̵͓N̵͚̞̒͊,̷̨̂͆ ̸̥̦́͋S̷̤͑͝O̵̘̅̾ ̶͕̪͑̔W̷͈̓I̵̟̳̍L̵̰̆͆L̵̖̺̂̇ ̴͙͈̈Y̵͇̤̏Ȏ̷͉̱Ų̷̐͝R̸͇̟̽̆ ̷̧̜̊B̴̩̉Ő̸̭̠̆D̸̡̛́I̸̗̋͜E̷̳͖͊̂Ş̶̦͒́ ̷͇́A̷͔̹̔̈Ń̵͓̲D̷̖̋͜ ̵̙̏M̷̜̣̄Ȉ̷̪͖͑N̴̛͇D̶̛̥͑Ŝ̸͖̰
I could see the candles surrounding the thing, meak and small in the oppressive darkness. But, still lit. Could I relight them? No, no of course not, I tested that years ago. To my right, I could hear Alex arguing with the demon, arguing with a demon!, that letting us free would let us sacrifice other people, and the demon screamed a response. At that moment, I decided to tune them out, trusting him to do what he does best, and open my tattered Book of Evildoing and Applied Blasphemy. I passed the first page, my scribbled notes about the first day I discovered this cursed thing, but I had no time to reminisce. I frantically read through each and every page, through the dozens and dozens of experiments I had done, trying to glimpse anything that could get us out of alive.
Can’t think of any way to fight off the demon. Can’t think of any way to increase the ritual’s duration. No way to fight off the demon, obviously. How could we convince the demon to let us go? Alex already tried to bribe the demon with more souls, but that didn’t work. Fuck, we could ask the demon to work for it? No, if the demon won’t accept souls from us, it certainly wouldn’t trust us with anything else. Fuck, we just don’t know enough! I don’t know what the demon wants, what it fears, how valuable a soul is, weaknesses, strengths, ANYTHING!
I looked up at Alex, who continued to speak to the demon. He stuttered occasionally, something I’ve practically never seen him do, so I could tell he was at his wit’s end. I must have made some sort of noise, because he turned back at me, wide eyed. While he didn’t say anything, I could guess what he would say to me. You’re the smartest guy I know, and more knowledgeable about demons than anyone else on Earth. If anyone can get us out of here, it’s you. I almost wished he looked at me with anger, or blame, or something, but all I saw was hope and determination. Guilt eating my insides, I dropped my notebook, stood up, turned around, staring into the black, and thought.
Huh, could we break the seal behind us? I glanced back at the darkness surrounding us, then shook my head. I have no fucking idea what that is, it’s not like the seals I’ve seen. Looking down, I noticed the unlit candle sitting there, resting right on the barrier of the darkness. Surprised, I looked at the border of the darkness around us, and far away I could discern another candle, that one lit. Right, the second phase of my stupid plan, to try sacrificing a bigger demon. The darkness is bordering those candles. Could I trigger the ritual from inside of it? I’ve never tried that before…because I would get sacrificed too, fuck.
My thoughts racing, I shoved my hands into my pockets, as I often did. My fingers touched my cell phone and a lighter, and after a moment, my eyes widened.
I have an idea. It’s an awful plan, I absolutely do not want to rely on this, but I can’t think of anything better.
I frantically grabbed my notebook, skipping to the back until I found the notes for this experiment.
250 rituals sacrificed
2.06 extra seconds per ritual
60 seconds in a minute
Flat time added after: 0.74
Total time to ask demon questions: about 8 minutes 35 seconds
Dropping my notebook, I unlocked my phone, staring at the timer. 7 minutes 12 seconds, it read. Pulling out the lighter with my other hand, I ignited it, holding it lighter far tighter than necessary. I lit the candle behind me.
I closed my eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“DEMON” I yelled, turning back around. Alex turned, shocked, but I didn’t even see him, all I could pay attention to was the mass of suffering staring back at me, somehow looking victorious.
“IF YOU DON’T LET US GO, I WILL TRIGGER THIS RITUAL AND SACRIFICE US ALL!”
Alex’s eyes widened, horrified, but I looked back at him, hoping my face communicated that I had a plan. Our eyes met, and he nodded. It would have to do.
T̴͔̓̅Ḩ̴́E̴̪̎ ̴̜̣͂Ṣ̶͓͒E̶̥̥̎Ą̴̱̊͆L̸̨̩̎̓ ̵͎̜͛͋B̷͉̜̈́I̶̩͌N̶͚̤̽D̵́͜Î̵͈̭N̵̦͗̈G̵̺̾ ̴̛͈Ḿ̸͇̍E̷̲͠ ̴̠̇̚Ī̵̡͎S̶̖̥͂ ̷̟̔I̷̭̗͝M̵͙͋͐Ṕ̵̗̿Ë̶̻́Ǹ̶̯̼̕È̸̯T̶͕͠Ŕ̶̦́A̵͚͗B̶̲̀̏Ľ̵̢̮E̵̲͉͌,̸̯̓̿ ̷͎̟̽C̶̭̈́͂Ŏ̴͎Ñ̷̪͇S̸̙̏̕T̵̜̽͜R̴̠̝̈́U̷̙͓͒Ĉ̶͎T̸̀̚ͅĔ̶̗D̵̞̥̐ ̴̬͋͑͜B̴̡̪̄Y̸̗̫͒̕ ̶̤̃T̵͖̹̅͗H̵̠̄̈Ẻ̸͉̣ ̶̤̼̍̓F̷͕͗I̷̗͑͋N̶̼̑Ȇ̷̟̬́S̷̰̀̽Ṯ̸̌̕ ̷̖̣͝F̶̗͕̎̅O̴̬̲̊͌O̴̹͐́L̶͕͆S̶̻͎̓͗!̶̯͚̽
Fuck, ok, plan B it is.
“THEN AS SOON AS YOU’RE FREED, I’LL DO IT!”
Ÿ̵̨͙̕O̶̖͉̒U̵̹̳͒͘ ̵̮̏͠Ą̸̻͐̄R̶̳͝É̵͈ ̸͍̿̅N̵̜̽͐O̸̝͎͑͑T̶̯͐̅ ̴̪̟̋̚F̵̛̺Ą̴͖̀͝Ş̶̥͋͂T̴̙̀ ̶͓͚̄Ê̷̻͈͑N̵͈̊O̵͓̳͒̕Û̵̫̬G̴̞̉H̵̥̦͌!̶̞̭̏ ̸̦̰̋͑
Y̶̤̾Ö̶̡̭̼́Ǔ̸͔̣̋̕ ̵͉͆Ȧ̷̢̻͙̍̎R̵̫̺͚̿̕E̶̞̹̔̍̇ ̸̫̑̑ͅN̵̥̰͗͌̕͜O̷̮͔͒̾͝T̸̋ͅ ̸̡̟͋̓́S̸͇͇͕̉̌̑T̶̤̤͍͒͌R̴̘̒Ơ̸̧̱͕͛̒N̸̫͈̆G̸͚͌ͅ ̶̭͆̋͜Ẹ̶̰̥̈́̀N̵̗͚̄O̴͎̾̆͠Ủ̵͕̗͋͂G̸̨̯͒̓̚H̶̹̤̿!̸͎̖͓́ ̸̖̽͑
Ĩ̶͓ ̷̜̲̅́ͅW̵̢̥̝͘I̸̙̰̅L̶̬̈́̽̑L̷͎̈́́ ̶̖͇͚́T̷̫̖̀͂̇O̶͖̲͂̽͝R̵̜̣͝M̸̠͗̕ͅE̴̹̋̾̍T̴̜̐̈́̔ ̶̜͐͊Y̴̩̝̑́͝Ô̴̤͉̽U̷̻̓̈́ ̶̳͕̠̈́̈́F̸̗͇̌͛͝ͅO̷̖͒ͅŘ̴̨ ̶̨̼͒͗̚Ã̴͚̬̍̇ͅ ̷̫͇̱̑H̷̠͉̥̉͠Ű̸͔̝̕N̸̜̫̉͋D̸͎̳̩̎R̵̯̓E̷̳̖̍̂͜D̷͇͆̌̀ ̷͖̺̟̎̓T̷̮̬̤̐H̷̼͓͇͆Ỏ̷̡U̴̼̺̤͌Ŝ̷̰̐̐A̶̠̜͗Ṅ̷̚ͅD̸̤̯̿Ş̸̰̰͝ ̶̗͝Y̵̘̐E̶̮̔̌́Ą̶̬̝͌R̴̻̲̃̆S̶͈͉̦͆ ̸̫͍̈Í̶̩͓̤̃F̸̜̾ ̸̾ͅY̷̹͚̭̌̆Ọ̴̦̑̂ͅU̵̦̓̈ ̶͕͍͆͆ͅĚ̸̻̣̮̄͘V̶͈͎̆̚̕È̴̥͕̔̎N̸̜̆ ̷̞̜̌̏͝T̷̝̹͔͛Ȓ̷̲̟͆̇Y̴̘͓͙̓!̷̥̜͈̋
Horror gripping my chest, I turned my back, and looked down at the timer. 20 seconds left. Wait, fuck, how long does it take to say exactly? I repeated the code phrase in my head, trying to discern how many sec-
M̵̬͚͓̉͆̾͝E̵̹̎R̸̺̥̬̍͘C̶̖̰̣͇̑͋́Ȧ̴̬̐͗E̷̤̹̙̫͒͂̒Ṃ̴̢̗̒͋̂ͅL̶̰̜̬̘̃̂͂̓M̶̫͙̰͇̀È̴͉̪̭͍͌̀͠Ä̸͔́́͒È̵̜̭̍͠A̵̘͙̓̎̒M̶̯͙̫̦͊͋͠Ë̵̺͖͒̄D̵͙͒M̵̦͎̫̰̒̀̒͝E̷̫̬͓͌̾͛Ä̵͚͎͕́Ǎ̶̱̾̽͠A̸͉̹̲͛̋͠͝
The demon roared, and I instinctually held my free hand to my ear, feeling as though the sound of nails on a chalkboard were rammed into my eardrums, unending. But the sound didn’t get quieter, not in the slightest. My hand violently shaking, I kept trying to time the length of the trigger word in my head, jumping each time the scream changed in violent pitch. The number in my hand ticked down, uncaring of the pain or the urgency. 9…8…7…6…5…4…3
“MERCYMERCAMED-
The demon’s roar shook my soul, the pain sharp and burning and excruciating. 2 seconds.
CADIESMERCAM-
Tears obstructing my vision, I had said these cursed words too many times to forget, even as the demon’s screech felt like a knife stabbing the inside of my skull. 1 second
ATATESMERCED-!”
With one final screech, one sounding less of horror and more life fear, the candles snuffed out exactly as the timer hit 0, and the demon disappeared with a warping of space, as if it was never there at all. Right as the timer hit zero, I managed to stop myself from finishing the last 3 letters, though the demon's threat of torment made me so very tempted to finish. I stared ahead at the totally mundane field, motionless except for the shaking. I dropped my phone, turned around, and saw Alex curled up in the fetal position, his fingers in his ears, tears running down his face. His eyes opened and frantically took everything in, until he saw me, and realized we were alive. He looked up at me, and I smiled. “It’s over” I said.
Then, I vomited.
---
That was the last demon I summoned. At a loss as to what to do, we closed the company, swearing off using rituals ever again.
Utilizing the scraps I’d collected, I finally managed to publish my book on what we had learned, published anonymously. Being anonymous while also trying to spread a book worldwide was a challenge I hadn’t considered, and it’s one that began eating up a lot of my time.
After a few months, I stood outside the front door of our office, watching people pack up my belongings. Alex opened the door behind me, and sat down, looking at me with knowing eyes. I can’t forgive you, and I know you can’t forgive yourself. I’m sorry.
He smiled, even as I tried to look away. “Rafeal? I know you put your heart and soul into this business. This is hard for the both of us, but I appreciate you not falling back onto your old habits.” I know how much you loved tinkering with magic and rituals, he left unsaid. Thank you for being safe and moving away from it.
He smiled, and gave me a hug, even as I visibly flinched. “T…thanks Alex, I’ll miss you too” I stuttered out, surprised. After one last smile, he got up and walked away.
As he closed the door, I watched the movers load a small safe into their truck. Inside it was my tattered notebook.
Sorry Alex, as soon as I find a way to safely use rituals again, I’m throwing my soul back into it. I know myself too well to give up here.
I grinned. Plus…how could I give up now, I still need my mom’s picture back!
The End.