"So, how to start the ritual?" Baxter asked one of the questions I wanted to know since he was probably getting anxious already.
The longer we waited the more we got nervous.
Draco Krauss straightened his body, looking like he was about to demonstrate it to us. Even the word demonstrate fit together with whatever I was doing at the moment.
"First and foremost, Lisa must be ready to do it" He looked at me, getting a nod in return. "Second, she must summon the demon, open the door for him" Draco continued. "Once he's here, you must say what you want in your heart, because he hears your soul better than any psychic could" He focused on me with his eyes. "Third, when he agrees with the deal, I will close the door back. That's it"
"That's it?"
"Yes, as simple as that"
The next time this Draco guy used that simple sentence, I would shove the candle in his mouth.
I took my cell phone out from my pocket, placing it on the floor in front of me since I was getting uncomfortable by it, poking inside my pants.
"Alright, but how to summon this demon?" I asked. "Do I need to recite anything?"
"You would only need to recite something if you already know which demon you want. I also have their names in my list"
"They have names?!"
"Of course, with a different sets of power too. Like a demon named Andras can help you if you're looking for revenge. Belial can help you with your career"
"So, which one I would need to summon?"
Draco chuckled.
"From the list?" He asked back with a tease. "None"
"What?" I pressed my eyes together.
"The kind of demons you need aren't in the list"
"Why not?"
"Because they are not cheap demons that you can just call and demand them to come to you, Lisa" Draco smirked. "They are so full of arrogance since they know they are more powerful than the others"
I sighed.
"How to get his attention then? Since I can't just call him"
"Hmm, that's the hardest part" He answered. "Because they only answer to fears, which you don't have" Draco massage his temples, probably having the tense in working with someone like me. "Calling him is a thing, but to attract him to buy your soul is another thing"
"What?" I started to complain. "Why can't they just buy it?"
"It's the same like selling a car, your soul is the car" He answered. "If your car is in a good condition, you might attract a buyer"
"Is that mean-" Nick interrupted. "This ritual will only work if the demon itself chooses Lisa?"
"Absolutely!" Draco exclaimed. "The demon has to choose you, not you choose the demon. Do you understand that, Lisa?"
I nodded.
"But how to attract him though? Lap dance?"
Nick looked at me in surprise as his head turned abruptly, and I could tell how shocked he was for hearing that suggestion coming from my mouth.
"Your lap dance will only attract Detective Baxter, Lisa" Draco laughed a little, making Nick's cheeks turned reddish.
"That's just-" The red haired man looked like he denied the claim, shaking his head.
"Your soul has its own value. The higher the value, the more the demon wants it" Draco continued with the explanation. "Like the souls of the believers. Those are among the most valuable. The stronger one prays and loves God, the higher his value in demons eyes"
I huffed in annoyance.
"Which demon wants to buy my soul then?!" I began to get mad. "I don't even believe in God! My soul has no value for sure!"
"We don't know that yet, Lisa" Nick placed his hand on my lap, giving me soft pats there. "You can try offering it first"
Draco nodded when he approved what the other man in the room just said. "What kind of person you are will attract the same kind of demon too, detective"
"But, how to know if the demon is interested in buying?"
"He will show its presence here" Draco took a deep breath. "Demonic energy will always cause electrical interference like lights flickering, electronic system failures, things like that"
My brain was hit by the memory of what happened to the CCTV footage at my apartment, guessing if those were the signs of the demonic force that chained my girlfriend inside. But who would have the right answer? Even technicians couldn't explain what was the cause of the strong and sudden interference.
"Alright, is there anything else I need to know?" I pushed my hair behind the ear. "Can we start now?"
"There's one thing, Lisa" He cleared his throat. "As you can see, I don't light up these candles" The man spoke and my eyes went straight to the things he put in the tray. "If these candles ever lighted up, that means the demon wants to buy your soul"
I nodded, feeling how fast my heart was thumping at the moment.
"And when he wants to buy, there's no turning back for you. Do you understand?"
"Why not?"
"Because no one would want to piss a demon off, Lisa" He pressed his voice, getting more serious on that part. "I don't want any trouble with a demon tonight, chasing him back to where he comes from wouldn't be easy if he's mad"
I rolled my eyes.
"What a cunt. Why can't demons be as easy as guys at bars or pubs?" I gave out my critics when I just knew that these stuffs would turn out to be complicated.
"Because they are not just guys, Lisa" Nick was the one who answered me as he grabbed my hand. "Are you ready?"
I blew a heavy breath out in response to that question. I didn't even know what I was doing in this room, sitting around a circle with candles in front of me. I wasn't sure about what I was intended to do, or if demons were all real.
Someone like me would never be ready for things I had no knowledge about, let alone believing them.
But I nodded anyway since I just wanted to get it done.
"Detective Baxter, I need you to turn around" Draco commanded as his voice lowered. "Whatever you heard, don't ever, ever, look back" My eyes were on Nick when he hummed to the other guy. "Because I will only sell Lisa's soul tonight, we don't want the demon to get attracted to yours"
Letting go of my hand, Baxter did what he was told, facing away from the candles.
"Good luck, Isaac" He gave me an assuring smile that I replied with chuckles.
"Good luck to all of us" I said back, looking away from him to give my full attention to the ritual.
Draco took out a pocket knife, alerting the self defence force in me as soon as I sensed danger. But he handed the knife to me, gesturing for it to be taken.
"Cut your finger a little and drop your blood in the circle"
I stared at a knife that was now in my grip, swallowing my throat.
"Is it sterile?"
He looked at me in confusion. "Are you serious, Lisa? We are in the middle of something here!"
"I'm just asking," I shrugged. "I don't want to get infection or anything"
"The knife is clean"
"Are you sure? It doesn't look like it"
Draco didn't even answer me with his voice since his sharp eyes were good enough to express how annoyed he was getting.
"Alright, let's do this" I shifted on the floor slightly, extending my arm and staring at the knife that was penetrating my skin with a push that I put on my own.
Feeling that small pain on my index finger, my blood started to drip. I guessed I had mistaken the amount of force to put on the knife earlier because I might have cut myself too deep.
My blood didn't look like it would stop dripping anytime soon since it kept on flowing out, wetting the floor at the same spot and it spreaded out upon each contact.
Draco in the other hand had his lips trembled, looking like he was reciting something in whisper that I couldn't hear its details.
I waited for several minutes, and so did he, but nothing happened yet.
And I was getting impatient. Even the blood that was coming out from my finger had slowed down, telling me that at least 5 minutes had passed ever since I cut it.
"Is this working or not?" I whispered to him in frustration.
He brought his head up, looking at me.
"How can I scare you?" He sighed, sounding like it wasn't actually a question for me to answer but close to his own monologue instead.
Draco shoved his hand into his pocket and took out a weapon that was famous during the cowboy era; a black revolver.
My heart responded to the gun even worse than it did to the knife earlier, pulling my tongue down as it didn't allow me to warn Baxter who couldn't see what was happening behind him.
I couldn't even make a sound, totally speechless.
Pushing out its cartridge, Draco showed me the revolver's empty chambers and he revealed what was in his other hand next; one bullet.
He shoved the bullet into one of the 6 available chambers, rotating the cylinder and he pushed it back into its body, not knowing which chamber was under the hammer.
The gun was pointed straight to my face, giving me a kind of fear that I never felt before in my entire law enforcement career; oblivious about the loaded chamber.
Draco pulled the trigger without giving a moment of thoughts about it, causing me to flinch with my eyes squeezed shut. The adrenaline kicked in, sending cold shivers along each of my veins and my blood vessels as I could feel all my muscles contracted in response to what was happening; I was going to die.
The cylinder rotated again right in front of me when the second trigger was made, making my eyes watered in split second and thinking of how many times more it would take for Draco to take the shot until the hammer finally met the loaded chamber.
But both of us were distracted by the lights in the room when they started to flicker, making sharp noises at the same time. That was when Draco pulled the gun away from my face, smiling a little.
My vision pulled towards my cell phone that I put on the floor as the screen started to turn on, blinking on its own without anyone touching it. My chest felt so heavy, holding the heavy breath that I had no other option but to breathe anyway.
Draco sat back on the floor, keeping his revolver away while his eyes wandered around the room. I didn't feel good straight away when the look on his face wasn't convincing enough to calm my nervousness down, because I knew what kind of look was that.
It was a kind of look when you could tell something wasn't right; fear.
"Now, Lisa" He gave me the command with his low voice. "Talk to him now"
I bought few seconds of time for myself before I closed my eyes, feeling the wetness in them until my eyelids were properly closed.
How does Chae smell like? She smells like a smile on my face whenever I can sniff her; candy. It's a kind of smell that draws me to nibble her skin; candy. She still smells like my flattering heart for having to call her baby even though she just finishes her work; candy.
It is candy. Her perfume smells like candy.
Chae loves to spray it extra on her neck after shower, and she will walk to me with her pink pyjamas just to sit on my lap, blocking my view when she knows I'm watching the TV; tease.
It is one of her ways of tease. She smells like tease.
Chae loves to get tickled whenever she disturbs my TV time. She will throw her body on the sofa when her stomach is exposed for my fingers to dig on, and she lets me do it to her as she laughs; happiness.
It is the sign of her happiness. She smells like happiness.
Another surprise hit Draco and I when the fluorescent tubes just exploded, one by one as those broken tubes made noises of them hitting the floor and shattered into much smaller pieces.
I put my arms up automatically to protect my head from the sharp glasses if there was any fluorescent light above my head.
And the whole room turned dark with no other source of lights anymore.
"Mr. Krauss?" I called for the only man in the room who probably knew what was going on. "W-what just happened?" My whole body was shaking as cold sweat was all over my skin.
"It's-"
He was about to answer me but his mouth met with silence when those 3 candles lighted up all of the sudden, burning the white wicks while being witnessed by my big, shocked eyes.
Did I just see a fire that came out of nowhere and burned the candles?
Goosebumps began to attack me and I looked at Draco again, noticing the fear in his eyes as his jaw was slightly dropped. I gulped, holding the urge to repeat my question again but I didn't.
Because I knew someone was behind me, or something.
Because I could feel its body heat, so close at my back, and I believed Draco Krauss was staring at it.
Because I just took a glimpse at my left side, where the illumination of the candles travelled on the floor and created a shadow that looked like a shape of a half, folded wing.
Draco sniffled, dragging my attention back to him and I saw how hard it was for him to talk. He looked like he put all the strength in him just to push his voice out.
"With the desires you asked and your soul in return," He finally be able to open his mouth. "Do you agree with the blood you have shed, Lisa?"
I took another swallow as my throat had became so dried. "I-I agree"
He took something that looked like a small bottle out from his pocket and he uncapped the cover while his eyes remained on me.
"The deal is sealed," He said, pouring the clear liquid out from the bottle onto his right palm. "And with this Holy Water you should not come until you are called" He began to sprinkle the water all over my body from where he was sitting. "The God's cross forbids you to come until it is her time to go" He continued. "And you may leave until it is your time"
Draco lifted his arms up above his head before he continued.
"In the name of God, and the Holy Spirits," He pressed his stammering voice, tears flowing down on his cheeks. "I command you to return to your place!"
And he sprinkled the water for the last time, turning the whole room into pitch-black again when those candles had stopped burning in an abrupt manner.
I heard someone was wheezing shortly after, sounding like it came from the man who sat in front of me.
"Jesus!" I heard Draco's voice as he exclaimed. "What the hell!"
"What's going on?!" Baxter interrupted. "Is it over?! Can I look back now?!"
"Yes you can, it's over now" The other man answered and I saw a light, poking into my eyeballs when Nick just turned on his flashlight.
He scooted closer to me as his hand grasping my thigh.
"Hey?" He called me. "Lisa, are you alright?"
I gave him a faint smile because I wasn't sure if I was fine or not. I thought I was fine but I didn't feel good either. So I moved farther from Nick, turning my body to the right and starting to vomit on the floor.
Following my gesture earlier, Baxter grabbed my shoulder in panic. "Lisa!"
Nick placed his flashlight on the floor with its glass facing the ceiling so the light could help to lighten the room a little.
"That's why I didn't recommend you to drink before," Draco's voice was heard again. "Don't worry that's just the side effects from the demon"
Nick handed out his handkerchief and I took it to wipe my lips.
"What the hell was that?!" I asked Draco after I sat straight up again.
"What?"
"Why were you scared?!" I scolded him. "You scared me too! I thought you were a professional!"
Draco chuckled and I noticed how his hands were still shivering.
"Everyone should fear him, Lisa" He blew his breath out as his voice was still unstable. "I have done these things for almost 20 years, but only tonight I got the chance to meet him"
Nick joined in. "Who was he?"
Draco took his eyes off me and brought them to Baxter instead.
"The one who will never settle for less," He spoke as his face was stained with his own tears earlier. "The one who loves too hard, full of the darkest jealousy" He voiced his fear for this demon out. "The most beautiful and once loved" Draco got up from the floor, walking towards the same cabinet he took those candles from. "The most powerful God ever created,"
His hand reached for a bottle of drink but he turned his head towards me again. "He is not even interested to buy the soul of the most pious priest in the world," He shook his head in disbelief. "And he, the Lucifer himself, left hell just to come here, and buy your soul?" He questioned while his shaky hands were struggling to open the drink. "What the fuck are you, Lisa?"