With your hands hovering above the water, chant the final incantation and summon the demon.
“In the very fibres of my being, exists both want and greed,
It’s three wishes I seek, and three wishes I need.
In pact, we’ll be tethered, all wishes made whole.
In return I offer everything, everything and my soul”
I closed my eyes, repeating the incantation as clearly and loudly as I could. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen…No, I was sure what was going to happen. Nothing, nothing at all.But as I spoke, it felt as though the air shifted, and the heat in the room had been dialled all the way up. It felt like someone had messed with the thermostat and now all the heat was rising to the loft. Thanks very much, science.
I peeked an eye open and saw the candle flickering.Odd. There’s absolutely no draft. I made sure to close the?—
One loud bang reverberated through the room, sendinga shudder up my spine and my heart careening into my rib cage. In the flurry of rising panic, my hand dropped into the bowl of water and my leg kicked a gap in my perfectly drawn salt circle. I whipped my head around from where I was sitting on the floor to find the window I was sure I’d closed, whacking against the frame.
Quincey Sterling, you talk a big game, but you’re a chicken like all the rest.I let out an exasperated sigh and pushed up on my hands until I stood up. I had spent my whole life around death. My grandfather had explained it to me when I was just about old enough to understand it in plain and certain terms. It was just a part of life. Something that happened to everyone. And whilst it was sad, it wasn’t anything to fear.
I wasn’t sure why I was startling so fucking easily. I found horror movies boring and knew that a spooky encounter could be chalked up to coincidence and tricks of the mind nine times out of ten. I scowled at the open window that had so easily gotten one up on me before looking down at the mess I’d created.
“Well, who would have guessed it, no demon?—”
An even louder sound sent my heart into overdrive, and a renewed sense of nervous energy coursed through my veins.First the window, and now the fucking doorbell.Making a mental note to clean everything up, I picked up the aluminium bowl, which was now mostly empty, and the half-empty tub of salt, and ran downstairs to fetch my pizza.
There wasnothing and I meannothingquite like a large slice of gooey cheese pizza. I sat at the kitchen island chomping downbits of bread and tomato as I scrolled on my phone. For the first ten minutes, I’d let my mind wander off on its own as I tried to convince myself I wasn’t becoming jumpier with age. But as a few of the sorority girls had stumbled back in through the front door, I had dropped a particularly cheesy slice on the floor before having to throw it in the bin.
I swiped through every social media app on my phone as I sat there, each and every one inundated with Halloween photos. Despite how drunk everyone seemed, the pictures were almost professional in quality. With crisp edges and good lighting and everyone with their eyes open. Deciding not to go to the party on Irvine Avenue had been the correct choice, as stories of sleeping people with ashtrays balanced on their heads and scantily clad women jumping into the pool flooded the stories of the very few people I followed.My exact version of hell.
I shook my head, laughing to myself as another text from Esme buzzed on screen.
Ezzy: QUINCEY
Quincey: ESME
Ezzy: Oh my godddddd. I wish you were here seeing what I am seeing.
Quincey: I’ve seen some photos. It looks as debaucherous as I expected.
Ezzy: You’re SOOOOO cayooooot and weird. Who uses the word deboocherous?
Ezzy: Fisherman getting with a mermaid right now!! He’s got her look, line and sinker.
My phone buzzed again as the photo came into view. And the groan that escaped my lips was involuntary but so,sovalid. Bitchy mermaid had managed to bag herself a veryattractive companion for the evening. However, I’d seen what that mouth could do, and all I could say was that I was slightly apprehensive about his safety. Another buzz, another photo, and this time the couple was in a more tangled position than they had been previously.
Ezzy: More like hook, line and sink into her.
Quincey: And the best pun of the night goes to Esme Morgan. Let’s get a round of applause everybody.
Ezzy: I’d like to thank the academy, and my very best friend Quincey Sterling for this award <3 <3
Ezzy: What are you doooooing?
I sent back a photo of me with a pizza held up.
Ezzy: Hawaiian pizza is grossssssss. How are we friends? I’d say save me a slice, but please don’t.
And that was exactly why I liked pineapple on pizza. Because I never had to worry about sharing. I never had to give up a piece. I got to keep it all to myself. Other than the champagne dress I was wearing, I rarely ever had much disposable income to spend. My loans went on tuition and the money I made at the bar went directly into paying my rent. I suppose I could have chosen to live at home, but it didn’t seem fair to come and go as I pleased, especially with my grandma being ill.
Ezzy: Isaac says save him a slice. He said he was happy to suffer through the pineapple.
