PART 3
Beating A Demon At His Own Game
The first sign Joseph Oldfield had that something was amiss was a sudden knocking on his front door at midnight.
For three years he'd been living his dream; doing well at University, a damn good relationship with Julie Moore, buying a nice house in a good area, and landing a plum job straight after graduation. He'd almost forgotten the hazy details of the night that had made it all possible, but answering that knocking brought it all back in a dizzying flash.
Wick, still dressed as a road worker, stood smiling and expectant on the door step.
"Time to pay the Piper, lad." He said.
"What?" Was Joseph's rather pathetic reply.
"Now we've been through all this, I gave you what you wanted, now's payment time. You surrender your body to me and I get to possess you for six months, that was our deal and I'm here to claim my payment."
"But... No!"
With that Joseph slammed to door in Wick's face. To his surprise Wick took it with good grace, just called through the letter box;
"Well, I can only possess you with your consent, but there aint nothing in the rules that say's how I should get your consent... Thank about that for a minute."
And that's when things started to go wrong.
Julie started having an affair and left him, the exam board started looking at his work and asking awkward questions, the job was suddenly no longer there and the house repossessed...
And that was just the start, it got a bit gruesome as time passed.
Joseph was no idiot, he knew he had to fight back and started to study his subject; that's when he realised he couldn't beat the demon but, with a little cunning and a lot of luck, he could still win.
The house Joseph picked is about to be demolished, the cellar filled in with concrete, perfect for what he had planned.
Night was the best time and it took quite a while to recreate the correct symbols and gather the ingredients for the summoning, but it would be well worth it if it worked...
Hi, it's Joseph again, hope you remember the questions I asked at the beginning of this? Good, because now you're going to get the answers;
Once I'd finished the preparations I stepped into the circle and performed the summoning, it wasn't easy let me tell you! I wasn't summoning another demon, I wasn't calling Wick, you'd have to be an idiot to stand in the circle and do that - you'd be trapped in there with the damn thing. I was summoning my own soul, The only thing that can pass through the circle and not break it (obviously my body can also pass through, but it would break the circle, I didn't want that).
Of course, the problem with summoning your own soul is it kills you (surprisingly painless though), but I was going to die anyway; that's always how demonic possession ends.
So my body's dead, in the circle, and my soul is alive and well outside the circle. You may be wondering how this helps me? It's a good question, I'm glad you're paying attention. It's kind of tricky to explain but a soul can still summon a demon, so I did, I summoned Wick.
He wasn't best pleased and I won't repeat what he said, just that the look of surprise on his face was worth it when I told him that I give up and he can possess my body for six months.
"Well, glad you've seen sense. Now just break the circle and we can get this over with."
I think my smile at that may have unnerved him a little and my reply brought such a look of shock I wished I'd brought a camera (then realised that, even if I had, my soul is incorporeal and couldn't have used it anyway. But I have the memory to amuse myself with)
"No need" I said, "my body's in there with you."
"what?" He managed after a shocked silence.
"The deal was you got to possess my body, there was no mention of my soul still having to be in it at the time; and a deal's a deal, no point whining about it now."
That's when my soul was dragged to hell, the screams of Wick's frustration and anger still sounding sweet in my ears. Now you're wondering what I've gained from this?
It's simple; Wick can't escape the circle until it runs out (that takes about a thousand years unless it's broken).
If he want's out before that he has one choice, possess my dead body and wait for it to completely decompose - an agony for a demon apparently, then his soul escapes.
Still doesn't look like a win, does it?
It is, I outsmarted him. That means I get my own private little fire pit in Hell to run and, this is the sweetener, when Wick finally frees himself from the circle, I'm his boss for eternity.
