Circle of three

They weren’t witches. Not really.

Heidi found the ritual on an obscure Reddit thread buried deep in the occult boards. Krystal skimmed half of it and shrugged. Alyssa thought it would make a hilarious TikTok series: Three girls summon a demon on Halloween—what could go wrong?

It was all for fun. For views. For clout.

They waited until just after midnight on Halloween. The moon was fat and low, smothered in clouds. Inside Krystal’s half-renovated apartment, the air was sharp with candle smoke and weed. They used cascarilla—powdered eggshells, supposedly—to draw the circle and sigil across her living room floor. It looked convincing enough.

Heidi read the incantation out loud. Krystal lit the candles, giggling. Alyssa filmed a few seconds of it on her phone, but stopped when the lights flickered.

That’s weird.

Still, they laughed. They were drunk enough to ignore the way the air shifted, how the room felt heavier, like someone had stuffed the walls with wet cement.

And then he appeared.

No puff of smoke. No fire and brimstone.

He was just there—sitting in the worn recliner in the corner. As if he’d always been there. Watching.

They didn’t see him at first.

Not until their eyes opened after the final chant.

And then they screamed.

He looked human. Sort of. But his eyes were too black. Too still. His skin was perfect in a way that made your stomach twist, like a mannequin dipped in oil. His smile didn’t move his face.

“Cute little game,” he said. His voice was calm. Dry. “You called, so here I am.”

Heidi bolted for the door. It didn’t open.

Krystal clutched her phone, trembling, but it was dead. Every screen was dead.

Alyssa stared at the man—thing—trying to remember what exactly she’d asked for when she joined in. Fame? Fortune? She’d barely taken it seriously.

“I can deliver,” the demon said. “But everything comes at a cost. That’s the fun part.”

They didn’t speak. Couldn’t.

His first request was a joke, or felt like one: “Place three candies in the center of the circle.”

They did.

“Now, a gift for the spirits. A rolled offering, burnt. You know the kind.”

Krystal had a blunt in her hoodie pocket. She lit it with shaking hands and dropped it into the circle.

The smoke curled, and the candles flickered.

The air changed again. The lights dimmed like they were sinking underwater.

And then the smile faded.

“Now,” the demon said. “Who dies?”

The girls blinked, unsure if they heard him right.

“One of you,” he said, almost bored. “Must be given. Willingly. Your fame and fortune require a sacrifice. Choose wisely.”

Krystal laughed. It was nervous, stuttering. “Is this… a joke?”

Heidi stepped back. “No one said anything about—”

“You didn’t ask,” the demon replied. “Fame is expensive. Wealth even more so. Souls are the currency.”

Alyssa was pale. “There has to be another way.”

The demon crossed one leg over the other, tapping his fingers against the armrest.

“You have one hour,” he said. “Choose, or I’ll choose for you. And trust me—what I pick won’t be clean.”

The room grew colder. The walls seemed to stretch. Time slowed.

And the girls began to turn on each other.

The demon watched. Waiting. Smiling.

Alyssa spoke first.

“I shouldn’t die,” she said, her voice cracking. “I need this more than either of you. I’m the eighth out of nine kids. We share one bathroom. We split meals. My mom still works doubles at the diner and cries when she thinks we’re asleep.”

Krystal nodded slowly. “She’s right. I get it. I’m not rich either. You know my mom’s sick. My brothers are always in and out of jail.” She turned to Heidi. “Your family owns half the town. You’d be fine even if this never worked. You’d be more than fine.”

Heidi’s jaw dropped. “You’re seriously saying I should die because my parents worked hard? That’s how we’re doing this?”

No one answered.

The demon smiled.

Ten minutes crawled by.

No decision.

Just three girls staring at one another, sweating in silence, the air thick like boiling oil.

The demon sighed.

“This is getting boring,” he said. “Let’s spice it up, shall we?”

He waved a hand, and the candles flared like flares.

“Let’s talk loyalty.”

He turned to Krystal.

“Did you know Alyssa kissed Marcus? While you were out of town visiting your dad in hospice. A little tongue behind the bleachers. She told herself it didn’t count because it was ‘just once.’”

Krystal’s mouth opened. Her face twisted. “Is that true?”

Alyssa’s face drained white. “It was a mistake. I was drunk, it didn’t—”

“Didn’t matter?” Krystal snapped. “He cheated on me and you let it happen?”

“I didn’t let—”

The demon cut her off with a look, then turned to Alyssa.

“Did you know the rumor about you and Coach Macabi? That wasn’t from nowhere. Heidi started it. She told one girl at track practice and by lunch it was wildfire.”

Alyssa spun toward Heidi. “You bitch.”

“I never said you did it!” Heidi shouted. “It was a joke! People were already whispering—”

“And that night at Bull Ride?” the demon continued, voice low and slick. “The hundred-dollar bill you ‘found’ on the bathroom floor? It wasn’t yours. It was Heidi’s. You took it out of her purse.”

Alyssa’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Heidi stood frozen.

Krystal looked between them both, stunned and

silent.

The circle felt tighter now. The walls leaned in.

The demon leaned forward in the chair.

“Funny, isn’t it?” he said. “You came here for fame and fortune. But look at you. Greedy. Petty. Rotted from the inside already.”

No one laughed anymore.

“I don’t need to pick,” he said. “You’ll do it yourselves.”

****

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