Liam approached the outskirts of Theria Woods, the large forest bordering the small college town of Lind. He was following Kayden; he suspected Kayden was up to no good. Liam worked at a local pawn shop and sold Kayden an ornate dagger on one occasion and a couple of old candles on another. Keeping a close eye on her, he also spotted Kayden buying a large ornate mirror that Liam saw he painted black and then shattered.
Sure enough, Kayden had the mirror, the dagger, the candles, and the incense all here, along with a group of three others Liam remembers occasionally seeing on campus, though their names escape him. Liam stayed behind trees and followed the group at an immense distance, the long lens on his camera was more than enough to get what he needed. But as the sun's light narrowed, Liam had to close in closer and closer, and just as he was panicking that he might not get any photos, the four stopped at a clearing. The clearing was circular, about 100 feet in diameter, with a few dead trees in its midst.
The group lit a small campfire, took out a plastic bag, and dipped a paintbrush inside; there seemed to be a bucket. Liam spied through the lens to see a red liquid on the brush. Blood? Liam looked at the bag more closely; no, just paint; the bag was from a hardware store, and the bucket inside seemed to be just a paint bucket. They began to paint out a pentagram and lit a candle at each of the corners. Kayden began tossing incense into the campfire and took out the dagger.
Liam feared the worst and snapped a picture before anything happened. But Kayden simply pricked her finger, letting a drop of blood into the fire before passing the dagger to someone else. It seemed methodical, not like they practiced but like they rehearsed this plan over and over.
Kayden reached into her bag and pulled out a small journal with scribblings on all the pages. She found the one bookmarked. Liam snapped another picture. Kayden began to speak loudly, but not loud enough for Liam to hear, so he moved closer. Eventually, her voice began to make sense to Liam.
"-We are 11 days chaste as you demand, and the blood of the chaste is burning as we speak to you."
11 days chaste? Before Liam could adequately think about the statement, they began to chant loudly in what Liam could only assume was Latin. One more picture, then he'd leave. Liam got a hair closer and then snapped another one. But he noticed something odd, something none of them noticed, their eyes sealed shut. The ground was shifting; the center of the pentagram, the area just below the fire, should've been the brightest but was darker than the surrounding area. It grew darker, and it was moving.
At first, it slightly shifted around, but now, Liam could see it swirling, almost like a whirlpool. Liam got a hair closer, and suddenly, the chanting stopped. Afraid he'd stepped on something, Liam froze. But when he looked at them, they were looking at the center of the pentagram in shock. The whirlpool suddenly and violently deepened, and suddenly, a tall, purple woman sprang from it with large wings and a long tail, and when she spoke, it sounded like a chorus of voices.
"Who dares summon me to this mortal realm?" She boomed. The students fell dead silent, some of them cowering in fear. She looked around at them. "Ah, followers," The chorus of voices slowly became one. "You will make fine sport." She lunged at Kayden, and in doing so, the rest of the group splintered, running off into the woods. She gripped Kayden by the throat and licked across her face. "You should know it is dangerous to summon that which you don't understand." She spoke to Kayden. Then she hushed to a whisper, unintelligible to Liam. Whatever she said, it scared Kayden to death. Liam had a stupid idea. He turned on his flash and- Snap. The demon looked in his direction, but he was gone; behind him, he heard some shuffling. Kayden seemed to have gotten away. Liam did, too.
~ ~ ~
Liam thought much about his stint in the forest that night, but nothing came of it. When he got home, the card in his camera was fried, and Liam did not see Kayden or any of the other kids in school the following week. Now, it was winter vacation, and while everyone else went home for the holidays, Liam, as usual, stayed in Theria.
On his way home from the pawn shop, Liam felt a shiver down his spine, followed by an eerie feeling of being watched. He looked around the empty street, before walking just a little faster towards his apartment.
Liam slumped down on his couch. His small one-bedroom apartment wasn't big, but he felt lucky to have it. Looking around his apartment, a wave of paranoia washed over him like nothing he'd ever experienced. He looked out his window to the still, quiet street... nothing. Just as soon as it had occurred to him, the paranoia vanished. Soon, he had eaten his dinner before the TV, washed up for the night, and headed to bed, taking off his shirt.
But as soon as his consciousness faded into sleep, he awoke again, looking around his room to see nothing. His desk, dresser, and floor were entirely empty except for his bed. He didn't have much time to question it before he heard a knock on his door. He reached for his phone to see the time, but even his nightstand had vanished. Groggily, he got up and headed towards his bedroom door; opening it, he found himself in his entryway. In the doorway stood the demon from before. Liam looked up to meet her gaze; she stood about a foot above him. Liam felt like he should've been scared, but there was something deeply mesmerizing about her.
