Summoned

Excerpt

Summoned
J.P. Jackson © 2021
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

“It’s how much?” Cam scoffed, glaring at Damien behind the counter.

“$299.99, plus tax.” Damien’s tongue piercing got in the way of the ‘s’, and the word came out more like ‘pluth’.

“Ignore him, Damien. New piercing? I like it.” Dev tried to ameliorate his best friend’s rude comment, then turned to scowl at Cam. “Honestly, why did I ask you to come?”

“Because you love me.” Cam tapped a finger on the box Dev clutched in his hands. “Dev, your parents are going to kill you if you spend that much money.” Cam cocked an eyebrow at Dev. “And seriously, man, how are you going to pay for…whatever that thing is?”

“With this.” Dev pulled out his wallet and flipped the black leather cover open to extract a brand new, slick, and shiny, never-been-used MasterCard.

“And where the hell did you get that?”

“Special offer for impending university graduates.” Dev sneered. If all went well, he’d be graduating in the next couple of weeks. Cam, however, had dropped out the previous year to figure himself out as a rebellion against his parents’ divorce. His mother had fiercely argued against the idea for two months until she gave up and agreed to Cam taking the year off.

“Oh dude. Just say no.” Cam had never been supportive of Dev’s interest in the occult, but this was going to be the last purchase.

Unless this purchase worked. And Dev knew it would.

It had to.

Dev placed all his hopes and dreams on the fact that this was going to work.

*

Dev couldn’t wait to open up his latest acquisition.

When he and Cam had arrived at Dev’s house, all he wanted to do was rush up the stairs to hide out in his bedroom, tucked away from any distractions or family drama, intent on inspecting his newest possession. Well, any distraction other than Cam, who had accompanied him home.

Instead, as Dev started up the stairs, looking back over his shoulder to ensure Cam was following, he careened into his sister Amna.

“Ugh, you oaf!” Amna shoved him backward, pushing him into Cam. “Oh! Whatchya got in the bag? It looks like it’s from that witchy store you like!” Amna slid a finger into the bag to pull it towards her to inspect. Dev pulled his prized possession towards him.

“Cam, come on, let’s go.” Dev snarled at Amna.

Cam, however, wasn’t keeping up. He’d wandered into the kitchen. Cam was playing nice.

“Hi, Mrs. Khandelwal.” Dev’s mom loved to cook and proudly fed her family traditional meals. Tonight’s fare, from the smell of things, was Rogan Josh. Dev hated curry with a passion. He wasn’t fond of lamb either and the two together were wretched. He decided going out for fast food was a better alternative.

“Cam,” Dev ground up his face with displeasure, “let’s go.”

Cam shot daggers back at Dev. He shook his head, rolling his eyes as he returned his attention to Dev’s mom. “Nice sari!” Cam smiled. “Later, Mrs. Khandelwal.”

Upon entering Dev’s room, Cam flopped onto the bed and began examining his too-long fingernails, preening them while lying on his back. Cam’s shoulder-length sandy-brown hair, which had a slight wave to it and a multitude of natural blonde and auburn highlights, splayed out behind his head, making his pose look model-esque. His three-days’ worth of stubble added to that. Dev would never have used the description of “male model” in front of his lifelong pal. The last thing Dev wanted was to feed Cam’s ego. Cam’s head filled most spaces he inhabited.

“Get your damn boots off my bed.” Dev slapped Cam’s feet.

“Oh my god. Yes, Mom.” Cam toed off the designer rainbow-snakeskin boots. The thud, thud ricocheted in the tiny bedroom.

“What are those things made of? Lead?” Dev quipped in response to their noisy removal.

“That’s the sound of a quality product, bitch.” Cam gave Dev the side-eye. Dev caught the glance. They glared at each other for all of a second, then burst into laughter.

He continued to stare at Cam, who returned to plucking away at some unseen dirt beneath a thumbnail. He had to admit, Cam was too handsome for his own good. They had known each other since grade school and had been, for the most part, inseparable. Dev had stood by idly as Cam used his good looks to get what he wanted. Not that Dev would describe himself as ugly. Far from it. But between the two, Cam always got the good-looking guys first, and that encouraged Cam to parade around, flaunting his beauty.

Dev had invited Cam to tag along on his afternoon shopping excursion. The out-of-the-way pagan store, Magix & Mystix, held all sorts of goodies, most of which Dev couldn’t afford, hence the credit card, but he’d had his eye on this particular object for the last couple of months and had squirrelled money away like a miser in order to afford it. All that saving, though, still hadn’t amounted to the amount of cash required.

But his luck had changed when a kiosk from a local bank had opened in the Student’s Lounge at the University. The handsome, bicep-bulging booth occupant, wearing a shirt obviously a size too small, promised an enticing introductory percentage rate on the credit card, stating the bank offered the cheapest one in the city. And with this purchase from Magix & Mystix in mind and the desperation to get his hands on it, Dev signed the credit card contract in a heartbeat.

All the way downtown, and during their short walk to the store, Cam had proclaimed he was being led through the seediest parts of Edmonton’s dark alleyways on their way to make the purchase and complained often about how they were going to be robbed, stabbed, or murdered in some grisly fashion.

None of that had happened.

But Dev had finally got his paws on the summoning board, and as he pulled the rectangular box out of the store’s signature black paper bag, his stomach tensed with excitement. The coveted item had a silver pentacle stamped in the center with one word superimposed over top.

Desires

There had been a whole series of summoning boards: Spirits, Wealth, Justice, the board Dev had been after, Desires, and the last in the series, locked away behind glass, Demons. Dev understood enough to know summoning demons wasn’t something even his expert level of knowledge should attempt. He was happy enough to leave that particular object where it was. Locked away.

After sliding off the box lid, the sought-after summoning board was professionally wrapped in layers of black tissue paper. Dev peeled each thin layer away, his enthusiasm growing with each sheet.

“Honestly, I don’t get what you see in all this stuff.” Cam waved his hand through the air, a flippant gesture meant to dismiss Dev’s impressive occult collection.

Of course, Cam was referring to the contents of Dev’s room, crammed full of books, candles, incense burners, and trinkets on every flat space. The occult was Dev’s jam. Crystals, runes, tarot decks—you name it, Dev had it. The occult. He had read, studied, and practiced everything from card readings to spirit summoning. But despite his keen interest, admirable level of knowledge, and dedicated study, Dev hadn’t had a single otherworldly encounter or brush with psychic phenomenon.

That killed Dev.

“Shush. You be nice. Otherwise my demons will get you.” Dev chuckled, knowing full well Cam’s interest level focused more on his latest pair of shoes. Dev made a mental note to check for holes in the floorboards.

Dev, on the other hand, would have done anything to be a witch, sorcerer, or seer of the hidden. A pastime his Indian-born mother did not appreciate.

“Devid, why? This is all bad. You need to find a nice girl, get married, have children. I want to be a grandmother.” Dev pictured his mother’s face as her lips mouthed words. He would sit in a state of catatonia while she spouted off such sentiments. Like this morning, at breakfast.

He had come out years ago. But Dev would close his eyes and sigh as his mother continued to say things to him, clinging to a misguided hope perhaps his penchant for men was a passing phase. So far, that had not proven true, and even though Dev had stabs of guilt about his attraction to muscled, hairy-chested bearded guys, those wretched guilt pains didn’t stop him from fantasizing about burly men and on rare occasions, pursuing them, however shyly. And Dev’s mom had little good to say about Cam. Cam was also gay. Scruffy too, and even more of a furball than Dev, although both sported a hirsute body. Cam, by his own admission, was a bit of a quandary. Walking down the street no one would suspect Cam’s sexual preferences. Cam’s tankish stride, wide square shoulders, set closer to the pavement than the sky, plowed through most crowds like a stocky football player. His unruly hair made him look manlier, like Jason Momoa. But when Cam opened his mouth, and these were his words, not Dev’s, “Unicorns and rainbows just fly out, and honestly, if you can’t figure out I’m gay, then how dense are you, really?” That was an exact quote. Flamboyant from sun up to sun down, which Dev loved. He wished in some small way he could be as brave and carefree about his sexuality as Cam. That wasn’t the case, especially growing up in a first-generation-born Canadian household that still held true and fast to many an Indian custom, like the kalava he wore around his wrist. The red string bracelet was there to appease his mother and signify Dev’s adherence to Hinduism, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Cam snapped Dev out of his mental wanderings. “Dev, the moment you actually manage to harness a demon and have it do your bidding, I’ll concede to wearing discount clothing.” Cam cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips at Dev, who met his gaze. They both smirked. In no world, anywhere, would Cam ever resort to wearing anything so common.

This was the nature of their relationship. Cam was eternally bitchy, and Dev was perpetually spooky. The dynamic was weird, but the friendship worked for them.

“Come on,” Dev said, pulling Cam’s attention to the task at hand. “Do this with me.”

“What? Bitch, no.”

“Why not? What the hell have you got to lose?”

“Just, you know, for some crazy-ass reason you manage to pull off some kind of beast wrangling, I don’t want to be dragged into the depths of the pit by some shrieking harpy demon. Especially in this outfit. I’m not ready to go to hell looking like this.”

“That’s not a thing, Cam.” Dev shook his head at Cam with a ‘god, you don’t know anything!’ kind of look.

“How the hell would you know?”

“I know. Now get down here.”

“Ugh, all right fine. It’s not like any of this has ever worked before.” Cam slid off the bed and sat opposite Dev on the floor, cross-legged. The comment bit at Dev. It hurt, but Cam’s flippancy wasn’t trying to put him and his interests down. Cam pointed to the newest acquisition, “What exactly is this thing?”

“A summoning board.”

“Yeah, you’ve said that. What is it, though? Like, what’s it supposed to do?” Cam asked, “And what are all those squiggly things?” Cam pointed toward the script patterning the outside of the board, his finger getting far too close to the board for Dev’s comfort.

“Shh. It’s nothing.” Dev slapped his hand away. “It’s only there to make the board look all gothic and shit.”

“Mmmhmm. K. So…what am I supposed to do? Run around the thing three times and chant ‘Bloody Mary’?” Cam asked.

“Oh my god, you’re such an idiot. No, you moron. It’s for summoning your greatest desires,” Dev instructed.

“Really? So, like, a big monster boyfriend?” Cam winked, cupped his own crotch, gave the bulge a couple of squeezes, and tossed Dev an over-dramatic come-hither look.

“I just…I can’t with you right now. Is that all you think about?”

“Nope. Bastard better be good-looking too. And rich. It takes money to keep me looking this good.” Cam ran his hands over his designer-clad torso and overpriced jeans.

“I swear to god, I don’t know why I bother with you.”

“Because you love me.”

“Sadly, yes. I do. Why? I have no idea.” Dev got up and rummaged around his room.

“Okay, so what the hell are you doing now?”

“We need things.”

“This is getting complicated.”

“Shush.”

Dev rushed around his room, gathering the trinkets they needed to do their first summons. And as fast as a desperate person would sell their soul to the devil, he returned to where Cam sat, mimicking his crossed-leg sitting position with the board between them. He handed Cam a marker and three post-it notes.

“And…?”

“Write down three wishes.”

“Damn, are we summoning a genie?”

“It’s called a Djinn, and no, we are not…at least, I don’t think. Why do you make everything a challenge? Write something down.” Dev prodded Cam with the end of his marker.

“Good lord, all right. Fine.”

Cam got busy scratching stuff down. He had his first wish written in a flat second, the other two he had to think on.

Dev on the other hand had already planned exactly what he was going to wish for. He’d come up with this plan the first time he spied the board in Magix & Mystix. He had dreamed of these particular desires for years. All his hopes lay on this last purchase.

This was it.

The last straw.

The last time any of this hocus pocus would be attempted.

Dev had promised himself if this didn’t work, he would give all of it up, for good. He was worn out from Cam’s remarks. The steady stream of one-liners and quick-witted comments were berating and made him feel hollow and silly. It was playful teasing on Cam’s part, but the jabs still hurt. His best friend thought his deepest held beliefs were nothing but nonsense and phooey.

Dev believed in magic. He would have staked his soul on a bargain with the devil.

Not having had any experiences with the supernatural had shattered Dev. The desperation every time he watched a movie or TV show where paranormal beings existed left a tennis-ball-sized lump in his throat. Why hadn’t he seen any? The sense of abandonment weighed heavily as if a hole of emptiness filled his chest cavity.

Yeah, okay, so TV wasn’t real. Still.

Dev spent many a sleepless night searching for some hint within the myriad of books he owned. Some trivial sign the Shadow Realm was waiting for him. There were so many others who had already travelled through the veil! All you had to do was go online. There were endless chat rooms and blogs of those who had seen ghosts, been visited by the fae, and seen horrifying encounters of those possessed by demons.

Dev believed. Wholeheartedly.

He believed in magic to the marrow of his bones.

So, this was it. And with all the heart-wrenching, utter loneliness and consuming desire for the Shadow Realm to be real, he wrote down his three wishes:

I want to have a supernatural power.

I want to see the Shadow Realm and be part of it.

I want my friends and family to respect me for my knowledge of the occult.

Dev folded the tiny notes in half. He didn’t want Cam to see them because then they wouldn’t come true. He tossed them into the copper cauldron he had placed in the center of the board. The instructions on the back of the box were specific. All wishes were to be written on paper, personalized with blood, and placed into the inner ring. Finally, the paper had to be burnt in order to release the energy created while making the desire tangible.

Cam gave Dev his pieces of paper.

“No! Not like that, geez.” Dev tossed them back at Cam.

Cam threw his hands up in the air. “What the hell?”

“Fold them in half like I did and put them in the copper bowl.”

“Fine.” Cam did as instructed. “There, happy?”

“Not quite. Give me your hand.”

“Why?”

“For the love of…” Dev grabbed Cam’s hand and deftly managed to stab a finger with a thumbtack.

“What the ever-loving fuck, dude?” Cam ripped his hand away and grabbed his finger. A small pinprick of blood welled up to the skin’s surface. He brought the finger up to his mouth.

“Don’t you dare!” Dev pointed at Cam.

Cam stopped and glared at Dev with a ‘well what?’ kind of look.

“Squeeze your finger so the blood drips onto your papers, but get it in the bowl, don’t get blood on my floor.” Dev pricked his own finger and held his digit over the bowl.

Three drops of blood fell into the copper cauldron. Followed thereafter by three of Cam’s.

Dev lit a match and pitched the flaming splinter into the bowl, pushing the post-it notes around so they caught fire.

“Go open the window,” Dev instructed Cam.

“Your mother will kill you if you burn the house down.” Cam got up, went over to the window, and slid the pane open. A gust of air blew into the room, ruffling loose papers on Dev’s desk.

“Okay, now come read this with me.” Dev gestured for Cam to sit beside him.

“I swear if anything happens…” Cam warned while he rearranged himself next to Dev, inspecting his finger and sucking at the miniscule wound.

“It will. I know it will.”

“You always say that.” Cam rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation.

“Come on, read this.”

“Ugh, fine.”

And together, they read the incantation off of the instruction sheet that came with the board.

“With passion of heart, I seek to find, those Desires I want. Wishes to be mine.”

“That’s it?” Cam’s head tilted to one side in disbelief.

“That’s it.” Dev shrugged.

They waited for a few heartbeats. Loud ones that thudded against the inside of Dev’s chest.

“Okay, I’m bored now. And my finger hurts. You owe me a macchiato.” Cam grabbed his designer boots and slid them on. “You coming?”

Dev gazed into the cauldron as the last of the papers charred and blackened and tiny wisps of smoke curled up toward him and dissipated.

Nothing had happened.

His heart ached. His shoulders slumped, and he hung his head.

“Come on,” Dev flinched as Cam threw an arm around his shoulder and squeezed him in a one armed bro hug. “I’ll buy.”

“Yeah, all right.”

But, Dev couldn’t give up hope. Maybe you had to sleep on it. Maybe the moon cycle had to change over in order to power up the wishes.

Something had to happen.

As the two left the room, Dev eased the door closed using both hands on the doorknob while silently praying to any god or being who happened to be listening.

“Please hear me,” he whispered.

*

Inside the empty room, behind the closed door, the summoning board’s squiggly writing around the outside edges that was ‘only there to make the board look all gothic and shit’ shifted. As if the doodles and lines were dancing or marching.

The entire border rotated, widdershins, and the inner ring of the board spun in the opposite directions, changing the symbols.

The wind blew in through the open window and the curtain fluttered in the breeze.