--LosAngeles, California, USA–
Grey eyes opened slowly, staring up at the bedroom ceiling. "Today is going to be a bad day."
Another pair of eyes, green, fluttered open. They drifted over to the man who had spoken–the one with the grey eyes–and smiled before closing his eyes again. "Mmm. What did you say?"
The first pair of eyes blinked. Turning his head, Hakan answered seriously. "Today is going to be a bad day."
"Mmm," Vincent replied with a grin, turning onto his side. He propped up his head in his palm, the other hand tracing over Hakan's bare chest. "Is it now?"
Hakan merely stared at the ceiling.
"And what tells you this, hmm?" Vincent teased his husband. "Your crystal ball? Your tarot cards?"
Hakan looked at him. "I'm being serious."
Vincent moved on top of Hakan. Hakan stared up at him, eyes wide, mouth partially opened. Vince smiled sweetly, entwining his fingers with Hakans. "Well, how can I make you not serious, Hakan?"
Hakan frowned, going back to staring at the ceiling over Vincent's bare shoulder.
Vincent moved down, kissing up Hakan's mid-section, then along his chest and shoulder. Pressing his weight against Hakan, he kissed along his jaw and then nibbled on his earlobe. "Let's make a good morning, okay?"
When Hakan continued to just stare at the ceiling, Vincent gently moved Hakan's head. Blinking, Vincent looked down at Hakan, deep concern on his face. "Hey...what's going on with you? Are you alright?"
Hakan blinked several times. His eyes focused then and he smiled, almost as though seeing Vince for the first time that day. Wrapping his arms around Vince's neck, he pulled him down and kissed him. "I'm fine. Now–what about having a good morning?"
Grinning, Vince kissed him passionately.
Later, Hakan was sitting on the bed as Vince stood in front of the closet getting dressed. He had on black socks, his briefs, and was currently buttoning the sleeves on his dress shirt. Hakan, still undressed completely, stared at his back.
"What did you mean before?" Vince questioned.
Hakan blinked and shook his head, feeling as though in a fog. "I'm sorry–what?"
Vince turned around, smiling at Hakan. "Earlier you said today was going to be bad. Why did you say that?"
"Oh." Hakan's unusual eyes dropped to the ground. They were unusual given he was Turkish, and most people from that region had dark eyes. He sort of shuddered, and shook his head. "I don't...I'm not sure, really."
Vincent, looking concerned, went and sat next to Hakan. For a moment the pair sat in silence. Then Vincent nudged Hakan with his shoulder. Hakan looked at him and grinned.
"There," Vince said with a soft smile. "That's better."
"I d'no," Hakan admitted, getting to his feet. He walked to the closet, frowning at the clothes hanging before him and then snapping through them. "I just have this really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. It just hit me right when I woke up."
Vince, who was pulling on khaki slacks, looked at him. "Alright I know I was teasing you before, but do you think it's got to do with the new stuff you've been practicing?"
Finally just pulling out whatever, Hakan started to dress. "It might be."
Vincent cocked an eyebrow. "Did you want to do a quick reading before work? Might make you feel better."
Hakan shrugged.
"Plus it's good practice."
Hakan grinned. "Good point. Thanks, babe."
Vincent kissed Hakan quickly. "I'll go start the coffee."
~
Hakan got on his hands and knees, pulling out a large box from beneath the bed. Sitting cross-legged, he opened it. Immediately he was overwhelmed by the smell of various oils, scents, and incense, and he took a moment to close his eyes and take a deep inhale, grinning. The smell of their mystical items always brought him peace.
The tarot cards were sitting right on top, being a fairly new addition. Hakan quickly took out the small, wooden, collapsible table. Taking out a few candles infused with sage, he put them down and lit them. Then, he took a piece of chalk, making a square on the wood. Finally, he took up the cards and began to shuffle. Breathing heavily and evenly, he closed his eyes.
He had been practicing witchcraft long enough to know that it was best to follow your senses. And, not to disparage others, but this was actual magic. How, or why, he wasn't sure, but Vincent and him had stumbled into a well of power.
Once, shortly after High School, they were just messing around with a ouija board. The pair hadn't even tried to do anything serious. The board had spelled out both of their names. Thinking nothing of it, Vincent decided to try and contact his long dead aunt. The board had reacted immediately, spelling out "Hello Gummybear."
Vincent had demanded to stop. Hakan was confused at his boyfriend's sudden upset. Vincent explained that his aunt used to call him Gummybear because they were his favorite treat when he was little. Hakan wanted to continue, but Vincent refused. That night, once Vincent was soundly asleep, Hakan had taken out the board again. He asked it some simple questions, receiving replies he wasn't making by moving his own hands.
After a little while the pointer had lurched suddenly out of his hands. He watched, terrified, as it began to spell out things on its own accord. Faster and faster it moved until, finally, the reader flew off the board and hit the opposite wall with a thud.
Hakan had screamed. At first Vincent didn't believe him, waking up after the thud and scream; but after Hakan swore up and down, Vincent started to come around. The next morning, the pair decided to try again. Oddly, the board was utterly unresponsive.
Months later, at a drunken Halloween party, the pair had decided to do something stupid in hindsight. Someone had brought a ouija board to the party, and it was passed around the party all night. Once it got to the pair, they decided to play with it.
Like any drunk nineteen year olds on Halloween would, they decided to try to reach a spirit. However, they got much more than they bargained for. Whatever they had contacted made it painfully obvious it was malevolent. The entire situation ended with the board spelling "murder" over, and over, and over. Abruptly the entire board flew across the room, smashing against the wall.
The owner of the board was pissed they had broken it, convinced one of them had thrown it against the wall for some reason. Hakan and Vince had left the party, deeply disturbed by their experience. Unfortunately, it didn't end there.
Whatever they had conjured followed them. For months they were haunted. It started mundane, but had escalated to a point where doors were slamming and items were flying out of closed cabinets. The final straw was when Vincent's forehead was cut open by a cheese grater thrown at him by the invisible force.
Desperation gripped them both, and they tried to find a reputable person who might help them. They tried every source they could find; most turned out to be frauds, or people who couldn't help them. They even went to various churches, begging for help, but most didn't take the young men seriously.
They had nearly given up hope when help found them. At a Valentine's Day party, Hakan was wildly bewildered when a girl began dancing with him. As Hakan stuttered, trying to explain that not only he was taken, but he was very gay and she was barking up the wrong tree, she had wrapped her arms around his neck. Hakan had stopped dancing all together when she began to close the space between them. At that point Vincent (who had been leaning against the wall, watching with a smirk in his face as Hakan get more and more embarrassed) began to make his way over to intervene.
"Uh, excuse me," Vincent had said, gently pulling her away and giving a sweet smile. "I'm sorry but he's with me."
She had looked up at him, clearly surprised. Then, flipping her long, dark hair, she had laughed. "Oh, I'm not interested in your boyfriend. I mean, I am attracted to him, but not like that."
Vince and Hakan glanced at each other.
The girl, clearly enjoying herself, put her hand on her hip and looked Vince up and down. "You're not so bad yourself."
"Uh," Hakan said, confused, trailing off.
"So, let me guess," she continued in a haughty way. To Hakan and Vincent's shock, she ran her long nail down Vincent's chest. "Halloween night. Messing around in the cemetery for some innocent All Hallow's Eve fun, right? Maybe did some chanting, spoke some words you found in a book at the library?"
Hakan and Vincent once again looked at each other.
"Or maybe you were doing Bloody Mary, but started throwing other names around. You know, chanting in mirrors with candles lit in the dark."
"Er, look," Hakan tried, "we really don't know what you're talking abo—"
She leaned forward, hands clasped behind her back, and whispered so only they would hear. "You've got a pretty nasty poltergeist following you around."
Vincent had laughed. "What?"
"Oh come on. Surely you've experienced bumps in the night? Objects moving? Lights turning on and off, maybe the TV randomly turning on. You're covered in its essence. Both of you. It's like, all swirled up with your own auras. Which by the way are really impressively bright. Like, damn, I'm surprised normal people can't see them—"
Hakan reached out and grabbed her arm. "Wait—are you serious right now?"
"Uh...yeah?"
"How can you tell all that?"
She flipped her hair over her shoulder again, looking smug. "I'm a witch, of course."
"Is there somewhere in private we can talk?" Vincent said urgently.
She grinned. "My name is Astar. And yes, let's go."
After an explanation about what had happened on Halloween and what they were living through since, she offered her help. After stopping at her house (she had insisted, and came back out carrying a duffle bag) they continued onward to their apartment. As soon as they reached the second floor where their unit was, she slowed down.
"Woah...the Hell did you guys do?"
Hakan and Vincent looked at her.
"That's not a poltergeist," she said, slowly following them as they continued down the hallway.
"What is it?" Hakan asked nervously.
"I d'no," Astar admitted, "but whatever it is is powerful. And pissed."
"Pissed?" Vincent asked tentatively.
"Yeah," she replied. "The two p's. Bad combination."
As though expecting something to leap out at them, they opened the door slowly. Astar poked her head in. When nothing happened, the trio walked in.
"What room does most of the activity happen in?" she asked.
"Er, honestly the kitchen," Vince replied. They were already standing in it, the door being situated right up against it.
"Alright," Astar said. She knelt right there on the tiled floor, opening her duffel bag and rummaging through it. "Two rules. One, do as I say so I can protect you. Two, don't interfere, and do not interrupt me, no matter what happens or what I do, got it?"
To their horror, she took out a can of spray paint, shook it, and then started to paint a strange pentagram right on their floor.
"Hey!" Vince had balked. "Our landlord is going to kill us!"
Clearly annoyed, Astar looked up at him. "Really Vince? You broke rule number two already and I haven't even begun?"
Just then the light that had been on shut off, plunging the apartment into darkness.
"Shit," Astar said, frantically grabbing a large container of salt and hastily drawing a large circle around all of them. "Do not leave the salt circle, do you understand me?"
Hakan and Vince didn't speak, very afraid. Astar took their silence as a yes as she took handfuls of salt, throwing it on them and herself. They watched her as she then got back down on her knees, finishing the strange symbols with the spray paint. Once done, she pulled them both onto it, and all three stood clumped together.
Just then, the cabinets began to shake. Without warning, objects started to fly at them. Hakan and Vince ducked. Astar, however, had begun to chant in a language that was foreign to the boys, and threw her hands up. Amazingly, any time something was about to pass over the salt line, it instead bounced off. Every time something hit the invisible shield, there was a brief flicker of purple energy, like static electricity being discharged.
Once all the cabinets were empty, there was a brief still. Then, with an audible thump that made the three scream, the creature threw itself against the shield. It was terrifying, with a sallow face, large fangs, and hollow eyes.
"Ah," Astar said with a grin. "There you are."
By that point Hakan and Vincent were clinging to each other.
Astar began chanting louder. There was a great gust of wind, and the salt began to be pushed around, stopped by the invisible force field. Even so, after a few moments the salt began to swirl violently, and then began to break, spraying them with salt.
Astar buckled down. The thing pressed its hand through the barrier. When it did a fully formed, flesh covered, charred arm with sinew skin came through.
Astar broke her chanting, crying out, and blood began to drip from her nose. Even as the hand came nearer and nearer her own face, she took up chanting again. Moments before its fingertips touched her face, Hakan cried out.
"Go away! Just—get out of here!"
To everyone's astonishment, the creature was thrown back. Even though just its arm was corporeal, there was an audible thud as the large thing hit the opposite wall. Astar ran over, pulling a necklace from under her shirt as she did.
"I expel you!" Astar screamed, holding out her necklace. "Begone!"
The arm disappeared. The wild wind ceased abruptly. Astar, panting, put her charm back under her shirt. She then whipped around furiously.
"Holy fuck you two!" she screamed at them. "I don't want you to touch a ouija board ever, ever again! Or at least not until you're trained! And you!" she pointed at Hakan. "How the fuck did you do that? That was a fucking demon and you just repelled it like child's play!"
Hakan looked between Astar and Vince, grey eyes so wide the whites of his eyes were clearly visible.
"I—I—I. I d'no."
Hakan then burst into scared, confused tears.