Summoning.

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The chill autumn air and the full moon did very little to calm his nerves as he stared at that single yellow and orange teardrop with equal parts disbelief and dread. Disbelief that the ritual might have worked and dread at the very real possibility that someone found the girl’s body.

Kevin quickly moved behind a tree as a shadow passed in front of the window, pausing long enough to show the silhouette of a small feminine figure. “She’s not dead.” He whispered, worry and anxiety twisting his guts into a knot. Fuck, fuck, fuck… she’s seen my face, she can identify me. He shook his head trying to dispel the idea of going to prison, avoiding rape in the shower room and lethal injection. Cursing himself for being twelve different kinds of stupid, he moved closer to the window on the south side of the cabin, moving from tree to tree. If I can look through the bedroom window, I can see straight into the living room.

He has always been fascinated by the occult and up until now satisfied his curiosity with impromptu visits to the local bookstore’s new age section and the occasional documentary. He would brag to unimpressed acquaintances about his supposedly extensive knowledge of the dark arts and felt validated at their feigned interest, never realizing that they were far cannier liars than he. But the intoxicating daydreams of untold power and the ability to harness forces that lesser beings could only hope to wield would eventually prove too much to resist. So he did the only logical thing he could think of…Find a sacrifice.

He approached the window making every effort to avoid dry leaves and twigs, careful not to alert the girl of his return, he peered through the grimy glass and paused. His mouth fell open with shock. “She’s… dancing?” He said aloud, all thoughts of surreptitiousness forgotten. He watched her twirl across the bare wood floor, her dark brown hair unbound and wild. The skirts of her bloodstained yellow summer dress flared as she spun, her arms holding tightly to an imaginary partner.

I have to run, I have to get away. He stepped back, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he turned to run and froze. His victim stood before him, the same girl that he stabbed in the heart, yet not quite the same girl. She smiled sweetly, her obsidian eyes gentle and filled with adoration seemingly for the man who murdered her. “I was quite disappointed when I awoke to find you gone, my love.” Her smile grew wider, making her eyes squint adorably, “But I knew that you would be back. You wouldn't have called only to abandon me.” She held her hand out to him. “Please my love, come with me.”

Unable to speak and unable to resist he took her hand and found that it was cold, far too cold. “Who are you?” He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

The girl turned with a giggle and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace as they stood in front of the open door. “Dialah, you can call me Dia.” She tilted her head, puzzlement was written across her pixie face. “So you summoned me without knowing who you would summon? That is both very brave and very foolish.” She admonished, surprising him with a sudden kiss. “But that means fate twined us together and forever it shall be.” Dia squealed with delight as she pulled him through the door.

Kevin watched the girl busy herself, dancing playfully around the living room, lighting oil lamps and more candles, humming happily. He stared down at the chalk summoning circle and the bloodstain in the middle. He winced as he recalled the girl’s cries for mercy and promises that she would never alert the authorities if he would just let her go. “Dia, what happened to the girl?”

Dia turned, her luminous smile rendering her answer even more chilling. “Oh, she’s burning.” She started to dance again, grabbing his hands and spinning with him in a circle. “Burning and screaming, burning and screaming!” Her sing-song voice threatened to rend his sanity to tatters. “Burning and screaming, burning and screaming, burning and screaming BURNING AND SCREAMING, BURNING AND SCREAMING, BURNINGANDSCREAMINGBURNINGANDSCREAMIINGBURNINGANDSCREAMINGBURNINGANDSCREAMING!!!!

Kevin tore away from her sprawling to the floor as he scrambled to the door, his heart pounding in his chest, madness clawing at his mind as his hand ripped open the door.

He stopped, his body rigid, bulging eyes wet with unshed tears.”This cant be.” He whispered. Blackness, he looked out into absolute blackness. He stared disbelievingly at absolutely nothing, a landscape of a forever night. He turned to see the demon staring with eyes like molten silver, head tilted. “Forever, it shall be… my love.”

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.