I opened the door to my house and paused at the entrance as yelling reached my ears.
“James—”
“No, you said we’d be honest with—”
“This is being honest.”
“You know damn well it’s not!”
“Mom? Dad?” I interrupted, walking into the living room. They stood in front of each other, tense, and with their fists clenched.
If possible, they tensed up even more when they saw me.
“Venus, baby, you’re home early,” my mother breathed through clenched teeth.
“Classes were canceled,” I lied. “What’s going on?”
They glanced at each other and my father seemed to deflate. He offered me a weak smile.
“Nothing, sweetie. Don’t worry about it, alright?”
I glanced between them, furrowing my eyebrows when they refused to meet my gaze.
“It didn’t look like nothing,” I muttered as I crossed my arms. “Is there something going on you’re not telling me about?”
“Of course not,” my father said. He’d always been the most open person out of the three of us and I could tell that he was bothered about something. Before I could observe him more, my mother drew my attention towards her by stepping forward.
“Where’s this doubt coming from?” she asked. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head at me. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with that dream you had, would it?”
Of course it did, it’s all I could think about since it happened. But I couldn’t tell her that because her raised eyebrow and teasing smirk made me doubt everything I had convinced myself of up to that point. I couldn’t even look at her as shame coursed through me.
How did she do that?
“Oh, honey,” my mother said in a voice so gentle I could barely feel the sneer behind her words. “You’re going to be twenty-one soon. Don’t you think you’re a little too old to be believing in silly dreams like that?”
My face burned in humiliation. She was right, what was I doing? It was easy to believe anything when I was inside my head, but when it was said out loud reality came crashing down.
And right now reality was that I was building up walls against my parents because of a weird dream I had.
“Think about it, Venus. What kind of demon would have the kind of power to bring you back to life if you actually had been stillborn?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw my father stiffen at the same time I did. I ran through our conversation on Tuesday and couldn’t recall ever telling her it was me in her arms with a demon making the deal.
“Venus, don’t listen to your mother. She—”
I forced a sheepish grin on my face and scratched the back of my neck.
“No, it’s okay dad, she’s right,” I cut him off. I looked at my mother and shrugged. ”You’re right, mom. I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe it’s all the stress making me weird.” I forced out a nervous laugh.
“Oh, sweetie, I understand,” she said, walking closer and pulling me into her arms. “Why don’t you email your professors and take tomorrow off from school? You just need to relax for a bit and you’ll feel better in no time.”
“You’re right. I’ll go email them right now. Thank you, mom,” I said, returning the hug.
I slipped out of her arms and went to give my father a hug on my way upstairs. As soon as I was in the comfort of my room I released the metaphorical breath I’d been holding in.
They knew something about the dream and my mother tried to hide it by making me doubt myself. I didn’t know whether to be furious or impressed. I got dressed for bed as I contemplated what to make of the situation.
Marching over to my computer, I opened up the website I’d been on earlier and went to the summoning page. I browsed as quickly as I could how to summon a demon.
Five candles, salt, blood offerings (usually from goats), and a form of communication (such as mirrors) were all required items. Respect and lack of fear were also greatly recommended.
Was it really that easy to summon a demon? I sat for a few minutes debating whether or not I really wanted to do this. If it worked then I’d have a demon in my room. If it didn’t then I’d only have to deal with my own embarrassment. I didn’t know which was worse.
I ran to my bathroom and looked around to see what I could use. There were citrus-scented bath salts and about ten small jasmine candles under my sink. I grabbed five, the pack of salt, and went to drop them on my bed.
Kicking the rug out of my way, I opened the bag and made a medium-sized star on the floor with a circle around it. It was crooked and lumpy, but it would have to do.
I placed a candle on each tip of the star, lighting them up as I went. As a last minute thought, I went to my desk and grabbed my sage smudge stick, a gift my father had gotten me when I complained that our house was haunted. Once lit, I set it back by my computer.
The mirror was the only thing missing, but I didn’t have one small enough to bring inside the circle. Looking around, I spotted my phone on the bed, having spilled from my backpack when I threw it.
Walking over to it, I looked at my reflection on the screen and shrugged. It would have to be enough. Reaching inside the bag, I took out a box cutter.
Back in the circle, I laid my phone inside the star.
“Okay, Venus,” I whispered. “Don’t fuck this up.”
I tied my hair up into a quick bun and breathed in deeply.
Exhaling, I dragged a trembling blade across the side of my palm, digging deeper as the cut got longer. Blood immediately rose to the surface and I threw the blade onto my bed.
“Lucifer,” I called out in a strong voice that surprised me. “I respectfully summon you at this time.”
I watched three drops of blood fall inside the star. I closed my eyes and made sure my thoughts were on Lucifer— who he was and what I needed from him.
Goosebumps rose on my skin.
“Did you say something?” I heard my mother call from the stairs.
My eyes snapped open and heat rushed to my face.
“No!” I squeaked. Clearing my throat, I walked to the door and spoke with a clearer voice, “I was just reading out loud. It helps with memorization.”
“I tell her to rest and she studies?” I heard my mother mumble as her voice got further away. I leaned my forehead against the door and sighed.
“Idiot,” I mumbled to myself.
Did I actually think that my half-assed attempt would work? That somehow, just because I wanted him to appear, he would? He probably didn’t even exist and everything was my imagination running wild.
I turned and my body went cold.
Lucifer was standing in the middle of my room.
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