I Accidentally Summoned a Demon and Named Him Fred

The Hunger Returns

Over the past few nights, I've been studying.

Shocker.

The old me would rather stay up watching reruns of old cartoons or anime than flip through How Do You Know If You're Really Connected to Your Spirit 101.

We're past "getting to know each other." We've rocketed into a relationship that is probably toxic.

Fred lives in my head like a podcast I swear I turned off—then it blasts at full volume at the worst possible moments.

My hope was that this book might have some answers.

Unit 1 — Ability to Manifest Your Spirit Guide

Feel your spirit's presence. Hear thoughts. Maintain the contract for at least fifteen minutes.

I snorted.

Fred could do all of this in his sleep.

Actually...

I wasn't convinced he even slept.

He appeared whenever he wanted.

Spoke whenever he wanted.

The real challenge wasn't summoning him.

It was figuring out how to shut him up.

I skim past a thick chapter on incantations. Lines of cramped handwriting, symbols that twist if you stare too long.

Yeah. Definitely not reading that out loud.

Unit 2 — Object Manipulation

Move a cup.

Flip a page.

Ring a bell.

Open a drawer.

Fred has already graduated from this unit with honors. He ran snack sacks through the cafeteria and dropped them at my table like some demonic DoorDash. Moving cups and drawers is child's play for him.

Unit 3 — Precision

Stack coins.

Write their own name.

Light a candle.

Pour water without spilling.

For some reason, I have zero doubt Fred could pull all of this off too. Which is exactly why I'm not letting him anywhere near fire. He'd set the building on fire just for shits and giggles—and then complain about the smoke.

Unit 4 — Shared Vision

*The student briefly sees through their spirit's eyes. Spirit and Summoner have to have a full connection. Review chapter one and incantation.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to see anything through Fred's eyes.

Unit 5 — Protective Manifestation

*detect cursed objects

*Protective charm against cursed objects.

*Voice Barrier: Keeps conversation hidden from non-summoners.

Some of these spells or magic weren't as appealing or what I wanted.

If anything, most of these spells could be done by just getting up and doing them.

As much as I loved not getting up, none of these spells didn't matter to me.

What I really wanted wasn't stronger magic.

I wanted one spell.

Just one.

A way to speak to my mom.