The Malphas Treaty
This incantation grants the user three wishes.
Beware: Nothing is free of cost. A demon’s power is vast. Consider carefully before you proceed.
“Now this sounds like an activity for Halloween.” I smiled, disregarding all notions in horror films where the main female protagonist does something stupid and inevitably gets all her friends killed. I looked down at the list of instructions to conduct the ritual.
Items Needed:
Black Candle
A silver bowl of water
Three locks of hair.
Salt (to mark the circle)
I wasn’t sure what the social etiquette was on trying to summon a demon in someone else’s house;hell,I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to find all these things in the house, but I would certainly give it a good go.It’s not like these incantations are actually real.I darted back downstairs to the kitchen and droppedto my knees in front of one of the many cabinets, undoing all the tidying I’d done before as I pulled out saucepans, woks, and frying pans until I found a bowl. The instructions had specifiedsilverbut the steel salad bowl I found would have to do.
What’s that old adage about running with a pair of scissors? Whoever came up with that had never felt the uncontainable excitement of trying to summon a demon in the early morning on Halloween. I stopped in Esme’s room, rifling around before coming across a small tea candle. “No silver bowl and no black candle.” I chuckled to myself, knowing that my friends would likely be saved from anything evil because of my inability to follow instructions. I placed the candle, the scissors, and a random pink lighter in the bowl, which currently held a tub of fancy salt, before heading back up to the loft.
My phone buzzed once in my pocket as I placed the bowl on the side table next to the bed.
Ezzy: I wish you were here and I miss you :(
I smiled, locking my phone and moving to put it on the bed when it buzzed again.
Isaac Pooton: Todd hasn’t stip tak abot you
Oh, brilliant, there is nothing more thrilling than the validation of a drunk man.Given the onslaught of drunk texts I seemed to be receiving, I put my phone on airplane mode and turned my attention back to the task at hand.
Step 1.
Draw a circle with salt on the ground, ensuring it is closed. Fill the silver bowl with water and place it at the centre of the circle. Place the black candle beside the bowl and lay three locks of hair in front of you, representing the three granted wishes.
“Okay, easy enough,” I told myself. I got to work, humming ‘I Wonder Why’as I prepared the ritual circle. This might not be everyone’s idea of a good time; in fact, I knew most people weren’t willing to risk even taking part in anything occult or macabre on the off chance that it was real, but for me? I couldn’t think of anything I would rather be doing.
Step 2.
Light the black candle and whisper into the flame.
“Demon of darkness, Prince of Hell
I beckon you forward, with one simple spell.
Through the veil of night, I seek you out,
Dedicated till the end, on my knees devout.”
“If this is real, please don’t be creepy, please don’t be creepy,” I whispered. “Like Esme said, I deserve ahotdemon husband,” I repeated the incantation, stopping occasionally to see if I could sense anything amiss in the house. But all I could hear reflected back at me was silence, and the gentle hum of party revellers from outside the closed window.
Step 3.
Place each strand of hair into the fire.
Okay, not particularly overjoyed at the idea of cutting my hair, but…I do have split ends, and I’ve been saying I need to go and get a haircut.What’s a couple strands between a human and her demon, eh? I snipped off a particularly frizzy curl and then snipped it into three equal parts.
Step 4.
