Get Me To A Church

CHAPTER 19: REFLECT

           Todd slammed a towering, teetering pile of papers down onto the coffee table in front of us. "I've been doing some research."

           The size of The Leaning Tower of Paper Todd had accumulated was something out of a cartoon. "No kidding, man," I replied breathlessly. I looked at Travis and his eyes were popping out of their sockets.

           "Did you write all of that?" Travis asked, voice cracking.

           Todd used a finger to replace his glasses on his nose. "Er... yes," he said sheepishly. "I've been quite interested in the—" he did air quotes— "'accidental demon summoning' you two witnessed in the apartment hallway. There wasn't much information, but no, it shouldn't be possible. This made me wonder if the summoning was, then, performed by something — someone — else."

           Travis and I exchanged glances. "So you think there's another cultist living in this apartment?" I asked.

           Travis scrunched up his nose. "'Another?'" he echoed.

           Todd ignored him. "Yes, that would not surprise me. The only other alternative is that Travis summoned the demon and pretended like it just appeared—"

           "Hey!"

           "—but I'll assume that's not the case," Todd finished.

           I rearranged my fingers, which were laced together, nervously. "Well, Travis does have this weird birthmark."

           "Sal!"

           Travis looked betrayed. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Trav, I'm not trying to expose you or make fun of you. I am sorry, though — I should've used a nicer word. It's just... interesting. Definitely resembles something that is associated with the occult." I realized my hand was still there on his shoulder, which now felt stupid, so I grotesquely dragged it away. "Are you okay with showing Todd?"

           He glanced at Todd, who was staring at us patiently, neatening the humongous stack of papers. Then he looked back at me, nodded curtly, and rolled up his left sleeve. There it was: the pentacle.

           Todd blinked but otherwise was unfazed. "Are we sure that's a birthmark?" he questioned. "That couldn't be natural."

           Travis looked ready to grill Todd, so I put my hands up and cut in. "Hey, it's not the strangest thing we've seen. I didn't believe in any of this stuff before I moved in here."

           "You didn't do that to yourself," Todd said. It wasn't a question.

           Travis shook his head like a madman. "Of fucking course not!"

           "But that definitely could've done the trick," Todd continued. He paused, pondered, then crossed his arms and said, "The Red-Eyed Demon resides here, so the question is... if that sigil is the reason why the demon was summoned, why didn't it appear when you first came here? Why didn't it appear when you were in the cult temple?"