We both looked again. Guy was right, there were about six or more people plus Mark and Lucy (?) standing in the living room. They were all dressed in black, candles were placed around the room, making it difficult to see what was going on.
I surveyed the inside of their house; This would be impossible! What would we do? We’d have to take on 8 people against just two.
Lucy was looking at the wall, chanting something and the group repeated it. On the far wall they had drawn a rectangle, a bit like a door shape. What the hell where they doing?
I looked at Guy. We couldn’t back out, but we needed to change the plan.
‘Change of plan: find the symbol first, weaken the monster and then we’ll figure out how to stop their plan..sometime after that’ I stared Guy in the face, determined not to show him how scared I really was.
‘The Symbol is in one of two places – attic or closer to that group. They aren’t going to let it move too far,Charlie’. Guy’s face dissolved into mild panic ,as he realised that we didn’t really have a plan at all.
We decided that I’d find the Symbol and Guy would keep an eye on the front in case a distraction was needed.
‘Good Luck Charlie, do you have your phone on you, and on silent?’
I did. We would communicate that way if it all went wrong.
Okay,now the hard part for me. Peter’s house, attic and symbol search.
I left Guy, and ducked below Peter’s window line towards the sideway down past his house and into the Garden. I crept past a waiting Berenice, who gave me a What’s going on? look.
‘Stay there, change of plan; I’m going for the symbol. Wait for my signal’ I whispered to her. She nodded her head as I carried on into the slim passageway at the side of the house. I was starting to believe that I could do this. Overconfidence, I would later think.
I snuck down the side and into the utility room. I checked the house again, eyes just present above the drier, scanning for a shape. I caught sight of Peter’s tall form, standing like a statue, in exactly the same place he had been before. Is he waiting for something? I thought? a sign? He was definitely on standby mode.
My chance I thought. It has to be now, but could I get behind him without him noticing?
I summoned all of my courage, willing my legs to move, when they really didn’t want to.
I made my way into the kitchen easily and paused, still, silent. All the time, checking on Peter for a sign of movement, recognition or the monster awakening. For now, he was just a dark, immobile, shape. He was staring at the far wall.
Back to the wall, I slid, slow, inch by inch into the living room.
Take …it….very…slowly I repeated to myself, over and over again.
I moved, knees trembling, along the wall. All the while, getting nearer and nearer to going right behind Peter’s form. I was almost behind him, when I lost my nerve; I felt like I wanted to scream, the tension was unbearable. I was sure that he would turn around and that the demon within him would reduce me to dust.
But he remained still.
I stretched out with my right arm, grabbing the next section of wall like a rock climber on a narrow precipice and sidled along. My hand shook violently,all the while, my eyes never leaving Peter.
I moved and reached for the banister at the bottom of the stairs, I grabbed it, swung myself around in a circle and laid flat along the first few steps of the stairs. Keep going Charlie, keep going. I turned my head towards Peter. No movement.
I stayed on my belly, staying flat, using my elbows to get up the stairs, commando style.
By the time I reached the top I was covered in sweat and had almost forgotten that at the bottom of the stairs stood a demon capable of wreaking havoc. Instead, I moved like a cat: I grabbed the cube cushion, raced to bedroom two and slid open the attic doorway.
I propelled myself into the attic;It was pitch black.
I sat, turned my phone light on and surveyed the attic area for the symbol.
From next door I could hear a number of people reciting some sort of chant. It didn’t contain the word embrace, in fact I couldn’t understand what was being chanted. It sounded like latin.
Conjuro potentiae Lucifer, something something…
Sic urantar mundi
Lucifer? I thought to myself. What exactly are they doing? trying to summon the devil himself? I sent a text to Guy with some of the words I heard written phonetically.
Guy sent a message straight back
‘I heard it too. I’ve just checked in with Berenice. They’re trying to open some sort of gateway, like a hell gate. They’re trying to bring something else in or get themselves somewhere else. Big deep shit Charlie. Your fiancée has terrible taste in neighbours’
I read that with dread and felt like it couldn’t be true. It didn’t seem real.
I took a deep breath, reminded myself of my lovely Peter and whirled my torch around the attic area
I checked behind water tank. No symbol
Under the Christmas tree box. Nothing.
I sent another text to Guy.
‘The symbol isn’t here. What now?’
‘It must be in their house Charlie. I’m sorry, but the only way to find it, is to get into their house. Good Luck’
I bit my lip. I’d gotten this far, but now I’d need real courage. I took one massive deep breath and made my way over the tiny wall diving the attic and looked for a doorway.
I found the attic door, slid the door across and lowered myself down into what looked like a spare room. I searched around for danger, all i saw was old hats, coats, a Ouija board, lots of books on the occult and a pointy hat.
‘Obsessed with the occult much?’ I mumbled to myself. These two were serious weirdos
I poked my head into the open area outside of the room. It gave a clear view down the stairs. I could see Lucy and Mark standing in front of the group, they had black robes on and held a massive dusty looking book.
Lucy read from it, as the others looked on
‘By dark of night, this spell to cast, I invoke..’ she was just at the end of reading.
Mark had a number of candles, which he placed by the drawn rectangle. As Lucy finished speaking, the candle flames rose,shooting a foot into the air, bursting into life with some ungodly power.
Was I too late? Had they opened the doorway? I didn’t think so, but they were trying. I touched the amulet around my neck Please protect me I thought, putting all my faith into it’s power.
‘Now, we will enjoy some of the wine I have provided before we complete the ceremony. Please fellow worshippers, come with me and we will take a break before finalising his arrival’
How civilised, I thought. A glass of wine before we summon the devil. Suburbia really sucks.
I looked down and realised that under the drawn doorway they had placed the symbol. What is it doing there? I didn’t care, no time to hesitate! I touched the amulet again and crept in my now usual ‘ninja style’ down the stairs.
I checked both ways. Bizarrely, everyone had congregated in the kitchen area and were discussing daily life in the midst of this devil worshipping ceremony. Incredible! I felt a slight pang of guilt before remembering that these were the people who committed my fiancee to a terrible fate. I jumped off the final step of the stairs and without stopping, grabbed the symbol and ran back up the stairs towards the attic.
Nobody in the coven had noticed, but something had: The lights started flickering on and off, on and off, still I continued by race upstairs. I could hear the coven moving from the kitchen, but didn’t look back. I jumped up, into the attic, clutching onto the symbol and raced across into Peter’s house, where I jumped down into bedroom two.
I sent a text to Guy ‘I’ve got the symbol, now get into Peter’s house and lock the door behind you. The Coven are coming’
UnHallowed Embrace 