Dealing With Demons

Chapter 9: A Tempting Offer

Avi was laughing when Riley approached them.

"What's funny?"

Avi put away their phone. "Oh, just something my friend said."

"Would this friend happen to be CosmicCat on Spotify?"

Avi's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Why?"

"No reason, just curious. Let's get on with the mission." Riley moved to open the car door.

"Actually," Avi leaned back against the door to close it. "If it's just going to be the two of us I'd rather teleport. It'll be faster."

"Oh, uh, okay."

"Now, what's the closest address?"

Riley told them.

"Okay. First, I'm going to need you to get rid of that amulet."

Riley grabbed said amulet protectively. "What? Why?"

"Silver doesn't teleport very well."

"I've never heard that. And I've seen teleportation runes made of silver."

"Well, I don't use runes. It works differently."

"Where am I supposed to put it?"

"Car's glove box?"

"It's not my car!"

"But you have the keys, right? So no one else will be able to take it while we're gone."

Riley paused for a moment.

"If you don't want to come with me—"

"No. I'm going with you. But do we have to teleport?"

"Do you want this to take all day?"

Riley deliberated for a moment before they took off the amulet and stashed it in the car. They instantly felt like they had gotten onto a rollercoaster with no safety bars.

"Excellent. Now, take my hand." Avi held out their hand and Riley gingerly grabbed onto it. "You're going to want to hold your breath."

Riley did so.

And then everything went black. And silent. And numb. For a terrifying moment Riley thought they were dead, but then the world came back all at once. Riley fell to their knees as their mind tried to process their surroundings.

Avi grabbed their shoulders and hauled them to their feet.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to that."

"Great."

They were in an apartment. It looked like an average middle-class home except for the lack of life. Dust had long since settled over the surfaces, even law enforcement hadn't been here in a while.

"Well, did they summon a demon?"

Avi inhaled deeply. "Not within the last week."

"That's all you can tell?"

"Unfortunately. The rest will require some old fashioned manual searching." Avi put on gloves and tossed a pair to Riley.

"But the initial investigations have already cleared out anything occult."

"Evidence that someone has summoned a demon isn't always obviously occult. Look for cleaning products they could have used to get rid of the blood rune. Look in the fridge for apples or pomegranates, anything that's symbolically connected to demons or the soul."

"Right." Riley started looking.

The ritual used to summon spirits was unusual, half normal ritual and half symbolism ritual. A person had to put a lot of themself into it, including an offering--consumed by the ritual--they thought would entice the demon or angel they were summoning. The offering could be almost anything, as long as the summoner believed it would work and that it in some way represented what they wanted to achieve. Riley pretty much had no idea what to look for, but soon Avi sauntered over carrying a fistful of pure white feathers.