Summoning Summer

Careful

Advice that has been handed down throughout the craft is never to mess with forces you don't understand. It was a dangerous pursuit to go after the unknown and even more dangerous to do it alone. It was the summer, though that usually meant rain where our story begins, and there was a plucky teenager waiting to go against that advice. 

Sam was sixteen, bordering on seventeen, and had always been intrigued in the spooky. Everyone who knew Sam knew they enjoyed anything to do with ghosts and the things that went bump in the night. That year for their birthday their friend bought them a book on summoning. "It's just a silly book. I thought you'd like it. Don't go summoning the antichrist!" Sure, it was very likely that nothing would happen when they read from it and followed the steps but they had to try. The curiosity was intoxicating. Sam lived near the woods and knew them like the back of their hand. They decided that for the ultimate spooky experience, they needed to go into the woods at night and summon a demon slave. It probably wouldn't work but a demonic slave doing their homework would be great if it did work. 

They waited until night before setting off. They brought with them a backpack filled with tealights, matches, the book of course and some red acrylic paint their sister used. The book didn't specify the colour but they presumed red would be the best. They pulled on their boots and zipped up their jacket. They left the house as quietly as possible as to not wake up their family. The last thing they needed was to explain what the hell they were doing going to the woods in the dead of night. In their hand was their phone and they turned on the flashlight. A few hours before they downloaded tons of Halloween themed songs for ambience. They took a deep breath, feeling a sudden sense of wrong. Like the world was desperately trying to warn them not to do what they planned to do. Sam shook their head and ignored the feeling. It was just a silly book, right?

Sam walked about an hour into the woods where they knew there'd be a clearing big enough to draw the inverted pentacle. They smiled when they saw it and set their backpack down near the edge. After clearing a few branches out the way as to not accidentally set them on fire and make Britain Australia 2.0, they fetched their red paint. They thought for a moment, drawing the symbol in the air to remember how to do it. Once they were sure, they got to work squirting the paint on the ground. They were careful not to step on the wet paint, knowing that their mother would flip if they tracked it back into the house. They then set the tea lights down on the five points and then took out the book to check it matched the picture in there. Sam smiled in triumph when it matched up perfectly. "Alright Satan, let's see if I can take one of yours for myself," they muttered to themselves. They turned on their hauntingly good tunes and got to work. 

Step 1 - make an inverted pentacle ✔️ 

Step 2 - place the candles ✔️ 

Step 3 - light them 

Sam rooted through their bag for their matches and did as they were instructed. They then went to each one and lit it, watching the fire dance on the wick for a few moments each time. Fire really could be beautiful.

Step 4 - hold hands with any other participants - you could summon a friend on pg 78

Well, there was no one else here. Who knew a book on summoning demons would be so rude?

Step 5 - read these words below - *DO NOT MISSPEAK OR YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES*

Opus autem daemonium

Et ego invocabo te

Tu nunc habes dominum

Ego *SAY YOUR NAME* quia ego dominus

Step 6 - take your demon home

Simple really.

After rolling their eyes at the dramatic nature of the book, Sam read over the words. Latin lessons came in handy. "Opus autem daemonium!" The wind began to pick up. "Et ego invocabo te!" Clouds began to roll in, grey and full of rain. A thunderstorm was coming. "Tu nunc habes dominum!" The red paint began to glow and the flames of the candles grew. "Ego say y- damn it!"

Terror washed through Sam in an instant. A terror they'd never experienced before. A cold sweat broke out on their skin although the temperature hadn't changed. Thunder clapped above their head as their heart pounded against their skin. The flames of the candles blew out and the smoke from them drifted to the centre of the inverted pentacle. Sam was frozen with fright. Their mind screamed for them to run away and grab a salt shaker once they were home but their body wasn't budging one bit. Bile rose up to their mouth as the smoke shifted into something humanoid. Lightening suddenly struck the earth where the smoke was and everything rumbled. Sam fell down at the force of it but still didn't take their chance to scramble away. Through terrified tears, Sam watched as the smoke and the lightning mixed together then was blown away. A man stood in the middle. He looked old. His skin hung off his bones and his eyes were milky white. "Finally!" he croaked. Thick black liquid poured out of every orifice and collected into a terrifying demonic figure. Horns protruded out of its forehead and long sharp claws reached out for Sam. They screamed and finally found the strength to get to their feet and run away.

Unfortunately, they were too late. Ropes wrapped around their joints and dragged the poor helpless teenager back to the demon. "Now now, don't be running away. You're my new puppet for the next century."

"No! Please! I'll do anything!" Sam shrieked as they clawed at the dirt.

"You knew the risk, Sam. Accept your fate." Sam continued to cry and call out for help but no one helped. The ropes tightened and bruised their skin as they dragged to the depths of which everyone feared. Hell.

No one knew what happened to Sam that night. Police theorised that they were a victim of some sort of satanic cult but there was no body to confirm it. Their family set up red ribbons for years in hopes of keeping their memory alive but eventually, Sam's name was forgotten. Their family moved on, knowing the case was cold. People say if you go into the woods at night you hear them screaming. Some may even see their lifeless body trudging around the woods, waiting for someone to join them in the afterlife.