Flashfire

Ch28

Caleb had summoned Liam back nearly at once. However, it was not a pleasant experience by any means of the imagination. Caleb felt as though he might literally die from the exertion this time.

As soon as he uttered the incantation, a sharp pain rammed him in the chest. It didn't stop there, twisting, seeming to coil down his extremities. He broke out into a cold sweat, trembling uncontrollably.

The candles around him flared to life. They had never behaved like this before; fire lept seven feet into the air, each candle a flickering, burning pillar. With it came more searing pain for Caleb. It felt like his brain was swelling, pressing against his skull, ready to burst. Just like always, the candles flared only briefly before returning to their natural burn.

However, that didn't stop the feeling of utter terror that made Caleb become violently ill in the circle he had so painstakingly made. His brain was screaming at him that something was wrong, really wrong. He didn't know what to do though; he didn't even know what could possibly be wrong.

Then, almost as though to answer him, the lights went out. All of them. Not just the candles, but the lights in the bar. There was a supernatural darkness, eating away any light that might have filtered in through the windows. Caleb became sick again from pain and fear. Tension filled the room that was suddenly freezing.

Abruptly the book of necromancy started flipping through pages on its own accord. There was no breeze, and Caleb was so petrified he couldn't make a sound. Once the pages stopped turning the lights turned on, and the candles came back with a soft glow, flames at their natural height.

Caleb laid, his heart hammering in his ears. It took everything in him to untense his body enough to move and look at the book. It was on a page he was sure he must have skimmed over before, but had never actually read. Wiping blood from his nose, he picked up the book with a trembling hand.

As he read he realized, no, he had never read this before. He would have remembered something like this. The page was elucidate on how the necromancy worked. The stronger the bond, the better outcome. Caleb had already worked that out for himself. However, he gagged once more when he realized he had made a grave error.

It wasn't just his imagination that summoning Liam was taking a larger physical toll. In fact, he was abhorrent to learn that doing such a ritual required a physical drain. More or less, he realized, there was an entropy involved.

Caleb threw up a final time when he understood fully what he had done. The last time he had summoned Liam had been with blood. It had been Caleb's own blood. The spell now expected that level of bonding, and it was going to take that physical energy from Caleb, willingly or not.

"I've gone too far," Caleb whispered to himself.

Numbly, Caleb got up and grabbed cleaning supplies from the kitchen. He barely paid attention to what he was doing, lost deep in thought. Question after question bombarded him, making the queasy feeling linger.

How had he never come across that page before? Did the book show him? Had he himself somehow willed the answer out of it? Did the book change? If it did, did that mean Paul really saw nothing when Caleb had shown him the book?

How many more summons could he physically pull off? What if it required more blood now? How much? Would he be willing to draw blood? Would he be able to safely procure enough blood?

Could he use other blood? Would it have to be human? Would using cow's blood work?

Where the fuck would I even get something like that? he thought bitterly.

Then another idea came to him. He was certain the blinding headache and chest pain was the dark magic taking life from him. It wasn't merely a panic attack; he truly felt like he had been dying in that moment. Caleb wondered, could he use something else to draw energy from? Something living so the spell wouldn't drain him?

Shouting in anger, Caleb threw the mop down, the wooden handle clattering loudly to the floor. The floor was clean, but he wasn't. Moodily he stomped up the stairs, going to get a fresh shirt.

"You're talking about sacrifices!" Caleb said to himself angrily, pulling a shirt over his head. "Jesus fuck, Caleb! You're talking about sacrificing animals! When will it stop? When will you stop?!"

Caleb left the apartment, stomping back down the stairs. When he made it to the bar, with a deep helpless feeling of being out of control, Caleb punched the door. He was near tears, and he hated it.

"I never meant for it to go this far!" he screamed at no one.

Heavily he fell against the wall. His eyes drifted to the ceiling, and he whispered now. "This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen."

A tear slipped out of his eye. He was beyond exhausted. Caleb didn't even feel like he was living anymore; he was just going through the motions. When had his life started feeling like that?

"I just want my husband back," he whispered into the silence.

Heaving a final sigh, Caleb swung open the bar door. He was not expecting what greeted his eyes. Why he was surprised, he wasn't even sure.

Liam was there, his face expressionless.