Butterflies flitted inside Jade's belly. She locked the front door, unlocked it, made sure no one was out in the street, before closing and locking it again. She debated turning off the porch lights too, so that no one would think they're home.
"Oh my god, hurry!" cried Em from the other room.
"Coming, coming!" Jade decided to keep the lights downstairs off. The upstairs windows had blackout curtains so it wouldn't matter, she thought.
She padded over to the other room where Em was struggling with two armfuls of stuff. "Grab some of this shit, yeah?" Em asked.
The girls took the stairs two at a time. Jade tripped over the last one and a candle shook loose from her pile of stuff and rolled into the hall. She snatched it back up, wobbling.
They picked the guest room for this,
just
in case they didn't want anything residual in their own rooms.
Together, they struggled to move the empty bed as far against the opposite wall as possible. It scratched into the floor, leaving long gouges in the wood.
Em brought out a stick, some string, and some chalk. With the string attached, she handed the stick to Jade; the chalk was attached to the other end of the string. Around in a circle, Em traced the white chalk across the floor. When it was finished, she dusted her hands and smiled.
Jade was already on her hands and knees, using another piece of chalk and a yardstick to finish the missing lines that go inside. Em couldn't help but admire Jade while she wasn't looking. Caramel, smooth skin, soft curly hair. She realized she'd been staring, blinked, and joined Jade on the floor. She jotted down the runes from her yellowed paper.
All in all, it took them no longer than ten minutes to draw out the circle. Another three to light all the candles and take a few final glances out the windows to make sure no one would disturb them.
And so they began to chant, the summoning circle complete.
Their voices were soft at first, unsteady and shaky with anticipation. They made eye contact once and Em faltered. Jade scrunched her face up but seemed to put it out of mind. They started over again.
After a solid minute of reciting the same three mantras, the house creaked. Little bits at first, wood groaning as it expanded and contracted. But then it became a racketing roar as a gust of wind blasted free from the center of the circle, down the hall, down the stairs, and into the bottom floor. Outside, trees slapped wildly against the windows, threatening to shatter glass.
As they finished their chants in unison, the world around them was slow to return to its static silence.
The girls stood, staring at the center of the circle, breathing heavily, their bodies slick with sweat. The head from the circle was surprisingly tangible, even then after the ritual was over.
Jade's knees wobbled. She sighed, "Okay, what the fuck?" She shook her head, "shouldn't it be here?"
"I think we must've done something wrong."
Jade cocked an eyebrow, "
We
? I'm sorry, but you're the one that slipped up and we had to start over."
Em felt her already hot face grow hotter, "that's not fair, I..."
There was a shuffling noise from downstairs. Jade and Em exchanged glances and then rushed to the head of the stairs. Down below was pitch darkness.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," said Em.
The light from above didn't shine down to the first floor. It just seemed to hit a wall of black mist and dissipate as though the darkness were so complete, nothing could penetrate it.
"I left the lights off down there so no one would bother us," Jade explained.
"Really?" asked Em, suddenly glad to have something to distract from her earlier error, "and in case we needed to grab water for the banishment or anything else, you were just going to-"
A long, trailing scratch on wood emanated from the dark.
"I think the thing is down there," said Jade.
"I think you're right," Em breathed. She glanced over her shoulder to the room with the circle. The warm lights were a little too welcoming. "I think I have a light in my room, maybe if I go grab it-"
"SHHH!" hissed Jade.
In the silence, there came another sound. Something sliding, like the dragging of a corpse.
"Yes, shhhh."
Jade looked at Em. Em looked at Jade. Neither of the two has whispered those words. They had come from the darkness.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Jade's feet began to rumble. She stared into the dark abyss before her and slowly, two lights stared back. Light the headlights of a distant, but fast approaching car, the lights shone brighter and brighter.
"
Eeeek!
" Em squeaked behind her, turning to run.
But the threat was in front of Jade, and she had learned to never turn your back to a threat if you could help it. Without taking her eyes off the two, glittering lights in front of her, she reached out with her right arm. Her hands were clammy with fright, but her fingers still gripped the base of a decorative lamp. She raised it high above her head.
"Oh, I see," whispered the voice from the dark. "You're the strong one!"
The pair of lights began to dance, back and forth in bobbing motions that took them up and down. Jade struggled to keep up, her aim wavering. She had one lamp and thus one shot to take.
"But my, oh my, how those arms tremble. Your weapon of choice must be
so
heavy," said the darkness.
Impossibly, the lamp grew just a little heavier in her arm. She lifted her left to help steady it.
"Ssso heavy, isn't it?" the darkness chided.
"St-stop!" she sputtered. She was sure she could feel Em's eyes on her back. Surely she would come to her rescue as soon as she turned to run.
"You could just... drop your weapon, couldn't you?" The eyes glittered brighter and Jade felt her mouth grow heavy, dropping open as she huffed for air. "It would be so much easier to let your arms drop."
"Easier," Jade's mouth said as her eyes were still struggling to follow the beautiful dance of lights.
"Ohhh, that voice grows weak. So does your body."
It was a war of attrition, Jade realized. Her arms now felt like lead, her breaths were becoming deeper and deeper, her head was feeling lighter. She began to sway. To some horror, deep within herself, she began to sway along with the dancing lights.
"That'sss it. You're starting to realize there's nothing of danger to you here. After all, you welcomed me."
"I welcomed you," Jade's voice repeated, far off.
"JADE, NO!" screamed Em, but her voice sounded so far away.
