Terrible Friend

Chapter 21

Jax really did want to be free of his prison. To be able to walk freely again would be just what he needed. He would be able to give this bitch what she deserves. Stopping the end of the world had to come first though.<I'll promise to do whatever it takes to help stop the end of the world before I wreak any kind of havoc, if it helps.>

Beverly rolled her eyes.  She knew that Jax just being loose to move about the world would wreak havoc.  He couldn't help it. It was the nature of the demon. He was trying though. It counted for something.

"Fine. Come on Albert." Beverly turned toward the altar room and strode toward it.

Albert followed. His nerves suddenly caught up with him and he wondered if the process was going to be painful. He had seen exorcisms before, and they looked horrible. He hoped it would be easier if the demon was willing to leave. He couldn't wait to find out. "Wait. Will this hurt?"

Beverly didn't give any indication one way or the other. She strode into the altar room and kicked off her shoes. She padded toward the altar and knelt in front of it as she had before. She turned and nodded at Albert as he was kicking off his boots. He stepped to the center of the gold weave circle, as he had before.

Beverly pulled out the wooden box and shuffled through it. She turned to Albert. "You might want to sit down. Just make sure that all of you is inside the circle. This could take a while."

Albert nodded and sat down. He crossed his legs Indian style and looked all around himself to make sure he was completely inside the circle.

Beverly stood up and walked to where Albert sat. "I need the necklace." Albert clutched it tight in his hand and rubbed his thumb over the smooth dark surface of the stone. He felt much more confident with it. "You don't want to be holding it when he comes into it. Trust me."

Albert thought about it for a moment. Picturing a grotesque being suddenly being in his arms. He nodded and pulled the necklace up over his head and held it out for her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sure about what?"

"About this exorcism. I don't see any priests, a bible, or any holy water." Albert smirked.

"You watch too many movies Albert. If this were an exorcism it would be a lot simpler and less risky. It's not though, you should be fine."

That didn't calm Albert's nerves any. "If not an exorcism, then what?"

"I am going to summon him to stand before you inside the circle. He will put on the necklace and I will cast a temporary binding spell, binding him to the necklace. He will have a physical form but he will not be able to remove the necklace. He goes where it goes. No ifs, ands, or buts."

<Bound to the necklace, but not inside it?>

"Not yet." Beverly bore a devilish grin.

Jax thought about that for a moment. He wasn't happy about it, but it would have to do. He would be happier to be free of the damn necklace, and her. He was terrified of the way things could go if he didn't do this though.

<OK, got it. Thank you. I know the risk and I won't let you down.>

With that, Beverly set the necklace down in the center of the stone tablet again. As she whispered her chant and sprinkled ingredients over the cauldron, the glow around the necklace began to change colors again. Albert sat inside the circle and waited. "Is this going to hurt?"

"I don't know. Never done this before. I'm essentially going to rip a soul out of your body, so it could. Brace yourself."

Every muscle in Albert's body tensed. "Exorcisms always look like they hurt in the movies."

Beverly turned and looked at Albert. "They can and often do, but this isn't an exorcism. It's a temporary extraction. So maybe it wont be as painful as that." She winked.

She turned back to the necklace and started chanting again. Albert, nervous, asked another question, then another, and when he was about to ask a third, Beverly turned and glared at him. She sucked in a breath and exhaled before she spoke.

"I need to concentrate. This has to be done exactly right. One false chant or the wrong ingredient and you could end up on Pluto stuck with him forever."

Albert cringed at the thought. Pluto, with Jax sounded far from appealing. He mimicked turning a key in a lock on his lips and put the key in his pocket. He watched Beverly with his lips sealed.

After a moment or two, Albert started to feel a change. It wasn't pain, it was a giddiness. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he was finally going to be free of the voices in his head.

After a long moment though, he realized that the giddiness was not just his. Jax was excited too. He could feel Jax's movements inside him again. It was a strange feeling.

He held out his hands and looked at them. His eyes widened as he watched each of them turned into two. His and a very transparent second set. He waved them about in front of him. Watching with awe as they trailed his own.

Beverly turned around and looked at Albert. Her eyes opened to three times their normal radius. "It's working."  She continued to chant and watched as Albert's form slowly and faintly turned into two.

Her amazement waned as the form of Jax slowly made it's way into existence. He was taking shape. A very translucent shape, but a shape. She started to chant louder. He would need more than a ghostly appearance. She chanted louder and louder. Forgetting that he was a powerful deiety, she wondered for a moment if she would have the power that she needed to bring him forth.

She chanted louder and his form became more and more opaque but slowly. She was going to need more. She chanted louder and louder.

A wind started to blow from nowhere inside the small space. The flames of the candles flickered and rocked from side to side on their wicks. The light bouncing and dancing around along the curtain walls was almost dizzying. Jax's form started to fill in. He was still very easy to see through, but it seemed to be working.