demon - camren

eight

Edgar went to fetch the paraphernalia Camila would need to summon the Shining Demon, and the moment he was out of the room Camila looked over at Lauren. "I'm doing it now?" Lauren shrugged. "Imelda said it took days of fasting and loads of preparation." "There's more than one way to summon the Shining Demon, " said Lauren. "Sometimes you don't even have to summon him – he'll appear right when you're at your most vulnerable." 

"Lauren, I don't know ..." "If you don't want to do this, say so. We'll find some other way." Lauren said, taking a seat next to Camila, staring into her eyes intently. "Is there another way?" Lauren didn't answer. Camila slowly clasped her face in her hands and dragged her fingers down her cheeks. Then she sat forward.

"So what do I say? How do I greet the Shining Demon? Do I call him sir, or lord, or master?" "He's not your lord and not your master, so you don't have to call him anything. Relax, okay? You don't have to be so nervous. Talk to him like you'd talk to me, but don't agree to anything other than the terms you want. Ignore everything he says that isn't on topic. He'll try to trick you. Listen to every word he uses, because he uses them for a reason." "You're not making me any less nervous." "Sorry." "Do you think this is a good idea?" "It's the best one we have." "That's not saying a lot, though, is it?" "No, it's not." Camila sat back. Her insides were in knots. "What do you think Imelda will do when she finds out I actually met the Shining Demon?" "That all depends on whether this plan works."

"How do you know her, anyway?" she asked. "How does anyone know anyone?" "I don't know. They meet?" "There you go, " said Lauren. "We met." Edgar came back in. Camila didn't know quite what she had been expecting – maybe a robe, or a ceremonial dagger, or a box full of candles with pentagrams moulded on to their sides. She wasn't expecting a large leather pouch, shaped like a deflated balloon. "It's a gunpowder flask, " Edgar said proudly, handing it over with something approaching reverence. It was heavy, filled to its leather stopper with what felt like sand. "Persian, nineteenth century, made from a camel crotch." "Ew." Edgar chuckled. "Don't worry, the camel's long dead."

"Still ew." "See those engravings on the hide? Those intricate little engravings? I don't know what they are. Pretty, though, aren't they?" "There's gunpowder in here?" she asked. He shook his head. "Something far more powerful. Far more valuable, too. The only reason I'm letting you use it is because I couldn't get it to work myself." Lauren frowned. "You tried summoning the Shining Demon?" "Everyone wants something, " Edgar said, a little sadly, "but I just wasn't interesting enough for him to bother with. Story of my life, huh? But, if this will work for anyone, it'll work for Camila, and then I can finally find out if it was worth the money I paid for it, or if I was scammed. Y'know, again."

"How do I use it?" she asked, handing the flask back. Edgar cleared a space on the coffee table and laid it down, then sat. "You pour the powder in a circle around you, making sure there are no gaps. You put a match to it. It catches fire. That's it." "It's that easy? And then the Shining Demon will appear?" Edgar hesitated. "What?" Lauren asked, suspicion in his voice. "The Shining Demon doesn't do that anymore, " Edgar said. "Appearing, I mean. You can't make him come to you. Instead, you go to him." Camila went cold. "I what?" Lauren frowned. "She what?" "I couldn't get it to work, so I just have to go by what the guy who sold it to me said, all right? You put a match to the circle, and when it's lit you ... arrive."

"Where?" said Lauren. "Wherever the Shining Demon is, " said Edgar. "Hell?" Camila asked, her voice small. "Maybe. But don't look so scared. It's absolutely fine. You'll be perfectly safe." "It doesn't sound perfectly safe, " Lauren said. "It is, though. She'll be in no danger whatsoever. As long as she doesn't step outside the circle." "I don't like this, " Camila murmured. "Will you both be with me, at least?" Edgar made a face. "We'll have to stay here, I'm afraid. Them's the rules. But you don't have to worry about a thing. You'll meet the Shining Demon. You'll explain your situation. You'll offer him the guy who welched on the deal in exchange for a way to protect you from your parents and their friends." "And only that, " said Lauren. "Do not deviate from the script."