"C'mon! The night guard is on the East Side he won't even know we're here. That is if we don't hesitate." Emilie said pointedly to Marie, irritating the scared girl. Marie scowled and retorted, "Well excuse me for not wanting to be arrested or go into the catacombs." Although she didn't want to, Marie climbed the fence after Emilie, getting a boost up from Lennie. After Lennie dropped down beside them, the three girls set off. They stopped at the dark entrance to the catacombs. Emilie stared hard at the two girls beside her. Then she asked a question that struck a fight between their fear and morality. "Last chance to turn back, any takers?" Emilie, Marie, and Lennie look at each other, none admitting their true feelings. With no answer they open the iron gates and enter the unlit caverns.
After ten minutes of walking, they found the spot. The damp, cold walls of the room were huge yet suffocating. The earthy smell was overwhelming to Marie, and was making it hard to ignore the terrible feeling she had.
"Why are we summoning him again?" Lennie questioned. Marie wasn't the only nervous girl, Lennie's doubt only grew as Emilie pulled out the candles. Emilie looked at her and glared, her face illuminated by the now lit candles.
"You had your chance to back out Lennie. We wouldn't want everyone to know about your brother, do we?" Lennie stepped back and closed her mouth. Emilie knew what to say to ensure the girls fear of her. Emilie used blackmail for friends, keeping them in check by using threats.
"Its midnight lets start now." Emilie arranges the candles in a circle and joins hands with Marie and Lennie. They all connected eyes and spoke the dreaded words.
"Veni et ego invocabo. Veni et ego invocabo."
Lennie snapped the chicken bone in half, completing the ritual. They waited, but nothing happened. Marie sighed in relief and dropped her hands. Emilie was confused, they had done everything right but it hadn't worked. The girls waited for an hour, with still no sign of the monster they had summoned. When nothing appeared, they decided to leave. As they retraced their steps to the entrance, not one of them noticed the creature staring from the opposite tunnel. The dark, robed figure watched them from the pitch-black corridor, unnoticed.
They made a pact to come back the next night to try again. When they reached the main streets of Paris, each girl went their separate way. They snuck past their families and into their rooms, each dreading the next night.
They were back at the entrance. None of them wanted to go but none of them wanted to back out. Emilie would release their blackmail if they did. Marie didn't want anyone to know about what happened in her old town. Lennie didn't want anyone to know about what her brother had done. Neither of them were going to back out.
The next night the trio traveled back to the place where they had attempted to summon him, the Black Skull. They all agreed everyone had to stay the whole night, and if they left, their social lives would be over. Talking as they set up camp, each girl had a gut feeling something would go wrong that night.
"A man was taking a road trip and had to stop for the night. During that night a gh-" Lennie was interrupted by the sound of clattering bones. They froze, petrified.
Marie scrambled to her feet and grabbed the hairspray and lighter she had brought. "I heard fire can defeat him. It's supposed to scald his bones." Marie stood in front of the two terrified girls, ready to protect. The clicking of bones stopped. With a paranormal shove the girls flew apart. Lennie was thrown to one corner, Marie, the other. Emilie was left against the far wall, unable to move.
A polished, black skeleton dressed in ebony robes emerged from the dark tunnel. He was headed straight for Emilie. The invisible force that had pushed them apart held them in place. The skeleton, the Black Skull, walked to Emilie, bones scraping together. He walked with morbid grace, the flow of his cloak like ripples in a pond of oil.
Without touching her, his hands cupped as though he was strangling her. Although his skeletal hands did nothing, the shadows mimicked his movements. The sinister silhouettes grasped her throat, compressing it. With his power focused on Emilie, Lennie and Marie were free of his hold. Marie stood up, grasping the hairspray and lighter in her hands. Lennie followed but instead of moving towards Emilie to help, she ran. Marie looked helplessly after her as she disappeared. Emilie was turning purple. Marie sprinted to them, using the two objects in her hands as a makeshift blowtorch.
As she scorched the Black Skull, his grip on Emilie was diminished and she fell, gasping. The fire died and he stood there unaffected. His face didn't change but Marie envisioned him scowling at her. He lifted his hand and with one swipe, tossed Emilie across the room, her body crunching as she hit the wall. Marie stared on, horrified and disgusted.
She looked back at the dark skeleton terrified. She knew she couldn't run but she would fight. Marie braced herself for the lift of his hand. Instead, the Black Skull tossed his robes with a quick swish and disappeared.
Marie looked over at Emilie's body. She wasn't sad about the other girls death but she was shocked. Shocked that she had seen a death and shocked that the monster hadn't hurt her, or even attempted to. With one last look at the crumpled body, she began to gather her things, but then remembered, Lennie.
Lennie was running. She had no idea where she was, she had gone down the wrong tunnel. She paused to catch her breath and heard a combination of a poof and hiss behind her. She slowly turned around. The Black Skull was standing solemnly behind her. Lennie backed up, her back hitting a cold, dirt wall. It was a trick of the light but she could have sworn he grinned. He lifted his hand and the shadows engulfed her.
Marie followed the screams. She almost got lost through all the turns but eventually found them. Yet, by the time she got there it was too late. Lennie fell lifeless to the ground, tear trails dripping off her cheeks.
The Black Skull looked at her and with a raspy voice, talked without moving his skinless mouth. "You have been avenged. Those who have wronged you are gone." He moved forward and his cold, bone hands grasped her arm. They seemed to move through the shadows to the entrance of the catacombs. Marie turned and watched as he sank into the packed dirt, vanishing within seconds.
As she exited, Marie was swarmed by police officers, each asking where the other two girls were. Marie relayed what happened but only got pensive looks by detectives. She watched as the sun rose from behind the trees and came to rest above the gate. Although she had witnessed true horror, relief flowed through her. Her secrets would not be spilled. After all, she had stuck to the pact. She had survived the night.
