Gone (Short Story)

Chapter 5

Dead. Dead. Dead

"But... How?" I asked. "You must be joking."

Haru bombarded me with questions. "This is not a time for me to be joking. How do you think I know your names? How do you think I know where you were or which hospital you went to?"

Even though it did make sense, I had a hard time believing it. Now I know how Athena felt when we told her our story.

"You could be some creepy, stalker guy." Athena muttered but the way she looked at Haru didn't make him look creepy at all.

Haru shrugged and just ever so calmly walked through the wall. He literally walked through it.

When he came back, I couldn't move. I was still in shock.

"We're not doing this, Prex. We can't trust a dead person." Athena stated.

I shook my head. "We have no other choice. If we want to make it out alive, we have to trust him."

"You can still save Jemma if you do the ritual properly." Haru informed us.

Athena sighed and shut her eyes closed as she nodded in agreement.

Haru snapped his fingers and nodded as well. "Great, now here's the plan..."

~*~

It's been a week since we started planning and doing research with Haru.

We left Jemma at the hospital with her parents and we were already standing infront of the basement's door.

My hands were shaking, even though I wasn't the one who'd perform the ritual.

Haru said it would be safer if Athena performed it since she didn't see the eye and wasn't affected by it.

When we got to the bottom of stairs, we pushed the bookshelves to the sides of the room to create a wider space. We then placed candles in a circular pattern. Haru started drawing on the ground with a thick red liquid.

"Is that blood?" I asked.

He nodded. "But don't worry. It's not human blood."

I really didn't want to find out where it was from but I was glad it wasn't from a human.

Haru and Athena talked about the procedure in private so I just picked up a book from the bookshelf and started reading it, though I did watch them from my peripheral vision.

After a few minutes, I saw them hug eachother. I rolled my eyes. Was that really necessary?

Athena walked to the center of the circle. She looked at me for assurance so I gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring smile.

Haru suddenly appeared beside me but I chose to ignore him.

"Why can I sense jealousy radiating from you?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" I retorted.

"I just hugged her because she was nervous, Prex. You don't have to act immature." He stated.

I huffed at the word 'immature' but somehow, his words seemed to calm me down.

Athena faced the wall where the eye used to be. She then started chanting phrases that I didn't understand. Haru probably taught her what to say.

All of a sudden, the wall blurred away and the eye appeared but it was closed.

I saw Athena's chest move up and down as her breathing became heavier. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she nervously looked at the eye.

"Don't stop! As long as you're chanting inside the circle, it can't do anything to you!" Haru called out.

The fire on the candles grew larger and brighter as Athena's voice grew louder. The eye seemed like it was struggling. We thought we were winning but then suddenly, it blinked open.

"Don't look into it's pupi-" Haru yelled but he was too late. Athena had already looked into it and she lost consciousness.

Haru turned to face me and grabbed my shoulders. "You have to continue the ritual or else the both of you will die."

"I don't know what to say!" I exclaimed, completely losing my calm.

He pulled my hand and we stepped into the circle together. "Repeat what I say. It'll only be effective if you say it right and remember, don't look into it."

Haru began chanting and I imitated what he was saying. Soon, we heard voices all around us. Wind came from all directions and hit us like trucks. I realized that this was what the eye wanted. It was getting us to step out of the circle.

We swayed with the wind but we refused to step out of the circle. Athena was still in the circle as well. Haru wrapped his arms around me for support. I almost couldn't hear his voice because of the wind and the whispers that were continuously growing louder.

I was losing my voice. I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. My vision grew hazy and I had to cling onto Haru for support. I was about to give in but then an orb of bright light shot out from the eye.

It stopped infront of us and slowly formed into the silhouette of a person. It's form seemed familiar to me.

"Mavis..." I whispered in between my chanting.

"Save them too, Prex. The spirits trapped inside. You have to save them." Mavis whispered before her silhouette disappeared.

That was all the motivation I needed. As tears escaped my eyes, I smiled at Haru. He smiled back, assuring me that we could finish this once and for all and help the people who died because of this demon.

Orbs started shooting out of the eye, whispering their soft "Thank you" into my ears before disappearing into the light.

A silhouette formed infront of us once again. It was a form of a little girl.

"Arigatou, Haru-nii. I always knew you could do it." The little girl said before disappearing as well.

Haru broke down into tears but he didn't stop chanting with me. I faced him with a concerned look but he just smiled, telling me he was alright.

A loud shriek suddenly came from the eye with caught our attention. It looked like it was struggling and... shrinking.

"You have to continue. I'll step out of the circle to kill it." Haru said.

I nodded and continued, the words flowing right out of me even though I didn't know it. It was as if the spirits were chanting with me too.

We watched the eye shrink until it was the size of a normal eye. Orbs stopped shooting out of it and the candles grew dim again. The voices disappeared, and so did the wind.

Haru picked the eye up, threw in a trashcan and set it on fire. I heard the soft shriek of the eye and the crackling of fire.

"It's over." Haru confirmed.

I rushed over to hug him just as Athena woke up. We then headed to hospital, hoping for the best.