H. Mallory - Ghouls Rush In

Then she reached for my index finger on my right hand and, at the same time, grasped a lancet from the tabletop. Before I could pull my hand away, she pricked the end of my finger. She reached behind her for the small black cauldron and held it underneath my hand as she squeezed out three drops of blood, which landed inside. What was strange was that my body was so numb, I didn’t even feel the prick of the lancet.

“I make this offerin’ o’ Peyton’s blood, that it may feed you, Drake. Come forth!” Lovie called out.

She then gripped my left hand and, overlaying it with hers, placed them both on the top of the skull as she closed her eyes. I followed suit and could only hear the sounds of her breathing deeply so I figured I should probably do the same. Almost immediately there was a vibration in the palm of my left hand, where it touched the top of the skull. The vibration climbed up my arm and seemed to reverberate through my entire body.

“The spirit current is flowin’ through us,” Lovie said, obviously explaining what the vibrations were. “Drake Montague, are ya there?” she asked in a loud voice.

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds.

“ Oui. ” I heard his voice as clear as day inside my head and I nearly opened my eyes in response but then reminded myself to keep them closed.

“Is that his voice?” Lovie whispered to me, which I guessed meant she must have somehow heard his voice inside her head as well.

“Yes it is,” I answered.

“I want you ta introduce me ta him an’ tell him not ta be frightened. He will only be able ta hear you,” she continued. “An’ you must converse with him in thought only. He will not be able ta hear yer voice.”

I simply nodded. “ Drake, ” I started. “ It’s me, Peyton. Can you hear me? ”

“ Oui, I can, ma minette. Are you well? Is everything okay? ” he answered immediately, his voice laced with worry. “ I do not understand how we are conversing as I cannot see you. I can only hear your voice. ”

“ Yes, everything is okay, ” I answered in thought . “ I want you to know that I have two people here with me. Lovie is a witch and she is the one who is doing this ritual so you and I can speak. She isn’t going to hurt you. ”

“Je comprends . I understand. ”

I took a deep breath. “ The other person is Christopher. He’s the warlock who came to visit you earlier, do you remember? ”

“ I recall, ” Drake responded. His voice suddenly sounded tired, exhausted really, and I had to wonder if he was in even worse shape than he had been the last time I’d seen him.

“You must explain ta him that we are gonna attempt a possession unitin’ the two o’ you,” Lovie interrupted. “You must git him ta agree ta it before we can attempt it.”

I nodded. “ Drake, we are going to do a ritual whereby you are going to…to possess me. It’s the only way to ensure this entity doesn’t defeat you, and at the same time, it’s also the only way to ensure that it doesn’t…hurt me. ”

“ Are you certain, ma minette? ” he asked, his voice reflecting alarm. “ Do you understand what this means for you? ”

“ I do, ” I answered immediately. “ It’s the only way to ensure both of us are safe, Drake. But before we move forward, I must have your permission. ”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “ Ma minette, if you are doing this to spare me, I do not give you my permission. ”

“ No, Drake, it isn’t just for you, ” I answered immediately, knowing that if I tried to convince him to do it in order to save himself, he wouldn’t go for it. Nope, the only way Drake was going to agree was if I built up the case that my safety was on the line. “ If the entity defeats you, I have no defenses against it. ”

“ If what you say is true and this will be of benefit to you, then I absolutely grant you my permission, ” he answered automatically.

I opened my eyes and simply nodded at Lovie, who offered me a relieved smile. “Tell him he needs ta stay with us, that the rest o’ the ritual won’t take long.”

I informed him of as much and then watched as Christopher pushed off from where he’d been leaning against the wall at the far side of the room. He stepped over the powder circle that surrounded us and then, taking up the bronze dagger, circled it around himself, repeating the same words about protection. He nodded to Lovie who then looked at me and smiled.

“I’m gonna retreat out o’ the circle now, Peyton,” she said and suddenly seemed incredibly tired. “Do not remove yer hand from the skull or we will lose our connection ta Drake.”

I simply nodded and watched her pull her hand away from mine as she picked up the branch of yew and circled herself with it in a clockwise direction. She said out loud, “I hereby relinquish mahself from this sacred circle. Let no harmful entities or powers follow me.”

Then she placed the branch back on the table and stepped over the circle of powder, retreating to the far side of the room where she took a seat on a makeshift chair they must have brought with them. She reached inside a bag nearby and pulled out a bottle of water, which she downed in almost one gulp.

“Peyton, are you ready to move on?” Christopher asked, studying me intently from where he stood in front of me. “Do you feel strong enough to continue? Because the rest of this ritual will require your strength.”

I swallowed hard but then nodded, figuring there was no time like the present to get possessed. He didn’t say anything more but simply nodded and turned toward the table where he added a small palmful of salt to a bowl of water. He mixed it with the index finger of his right hand. Then he drew something in the air above the bowl of water and then made what appeared to be a cross in the air. “I bless this water by the power of Michael the Archangel as well as that of my own that it shall purify this space and rid it of all malevolence.” He said the words with such authority that he almost seemed angry.

He then drew the same image (which I was beginning to think might be a pentacle) in the air and repeated his comment over the incense and over both candles. Stepping out of the circle, he picked up a bowl of what looked like salt and walked to the far side of the room where he closed the double doors. Then he sprinkled the salt in all four corners of the room, repeating, “By the element of salt of the earth and my power as a warlock practitioner, I banish all evil and harm from this room! Let only the spirit of Drake Montague remain here with us! All others shall return whence they came!”

He then stepped back into the circle and held up the white candle, but not before first blowing out the black one and allowing the smoke to dissipate from the air. “By this sacred flame, the element of fire shall cleanse and purify this space of evilness.” He stepped out of the circle again and visited each corner of the room, raising the candle up to each corner and repeating the mantra to cleanse and purify the space.

Following suit with a new stick of incense, he then did the same with a bowl of spring water. Apparently this possession ritual required calling on all the elements—fire (the candle), water (the spring water), air (the incense), and earth (the salt)—to cleanse and purify the room. When he returned to the circle, he picked up the bell and rang it four times, saying, “Let all things malevolent hear this bell and depart this space immediately! I banish all evil spirits from this place!”

Then he picked up the bronze dagger and the bowl of salt, stepping out of the circle. He approached the double doors and then each of the four windows in the room, drawing a cross with the dagger in the air just in front of them. Then he sprinkled a line of salt in front of the windows and followed suit in front of the doorway. “By this salt of the earth and the blade of bronze, I consecrate this threshold such that no malevolent spirits can pass by!”