The sound of an egg being crushed caused me to open my eyes. I could see the yolk oozing out from under a black robe and my eyes slowly scaled up Death's hooded figure and came to rest upon what was supposed to be his face. His face was shrouded in darkness save for two icy blue eyes which—unfortunately for me—were watching me. Oh my God, it actually worked, I thought to myself.
Never in a million years did I think someone could summon Death. He's a force not to be reckoned with and I thought he could come and go as he pleases. Even though I couldn't see his face, he didn't looked too thrilled to be here.
THIS BETTER BE A GOOD REASON. I WAS OUT TENDING TO MY GARDEN.
There was something about his voice that I couldn't explain. It didn't come from his mouth but instead reverberated around the room. You couldn't figure out the source and his voice seemed to be inside my head as well. It was deeply unsettling. My hope was that Bondy could talk because I was too surprised and horrified to even speak.
"Sorry to bother you, sir," Bondy quickly apologized. "We need your help and was hoping you could help."
I couldn't see Bondy because Death blocked my view but I could tell by his voice that he was nervous. Death turned around and his gaze left mine which provided temporary relief and I felt like I could breathe again.
GO ON. I HAVEN'T GOT ALL DAY.
Bondy looked around Death's figure and glared at me, wanting me to talk. I swallowed and opened my mouth.
"Erm...you see—I happened to get my hands on a copy of Black Magic. I've done one spell to summon the dead because I was curious, and well, something went wrong because he didn't go back to the ground after the flames went out and I dunno how to get him back. We were hoping you might know how to get him back," I said quickly. My hope was that he couldn't hear the tremble in my voice.
I'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE. SOME IDIOT ALWAYS THINKS IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO PLAY WITH BLACK MAGIC.
Death just insulted me but I was too scared to be angry. To be fair, I am an idiot. All I wanted was for him to tell us what to do. I can deal with the lecture later.
"Please help us get him back. I've learned my lesson and will never carry out a spell in this book ever again!" I begged. I was desperate to fix the mess I made. I regret stealing this book from Edith.
NEVER IS A STRONG WORD, DON'T YOU THINK? It seemed as if Death was smirking. I'LL HELP YOU ON ONE CONDITION: THAT YOU RETURN THE BOOK TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNER.
I nodded my head like an idiot. "Yes—of course!"
GOOD. AS FOR YOUR FRIEND, HE CAN ONLY RETURN IF HE WANTS TO. IS THERE SOMEONE WAITING FOR HIM ON THE OTHER SIDE?
My eyes widened as soon as he said that. His wife is waiting for him. He wants to know if she's buried next to him.
"I know what to do now. Thank you!"
YOU'RE WELCOME. REMEMBER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT. I'LL SEE TO IT THAT YOU DID WHAT YOU PROMISED. NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I'M LEAVING. I'LL SEE YOU WHEN IT'S YOUR TIME.
With one swoop, Death vanished into thin air and all the flames went out, bathing the room in darkness. The light filtering through the slats of the curtain illuminated the both of us and we just sat there for a moment, dumbfounded at what had just happened. The smell of smoke from the candles put out served as a wake up call to stand up.
"I can't believe that just happened," I said more to myself than to Bondy. "I reckon that went better than I expected."
I walked towards Bondy and held my hand out. He used it as leverage to stand up and then he went around to gather all the candles onto a metal tray. He set the tray aside to allow the candles to cool before putting them away. They're nice candles and he's gotten many uses out of them by the looks of it.
