Part two:The terror of midnight
1081 Words
By the time the clock struck eleven, the laughter had died.
The streets were empty.
A cold wind swept through the town, carrying with it a strange silence.
The abandoned chapel looked even darker than it had three days ago.
No one admitted it...
But they were all thinking the same thing.
Was this a really stupid idea?
Evelyn's POV
The last three days had passed surprisingly fast.
Every morning was the same.
Wake up.
Meet everyone.
Serve our punishment by cleaning the abandoned library.
Funny enough, after agreeing to perform the ritual, nobody ever brought it up again.
Well...
Almost nobody.
Scoba never missed the opportunity to tease Daniel.
"I still can't believe we're risking our lives over your grandma's bedtime story," he'd say.
Or...
"I wonder what kind of wine your grandma drank before writing that piece of nonsense."
Daniel would simply sigh and pretend not to hear him.
Nessa didn't seem to care about the book at all.
Whether the Devil appeared or not made absolutely no difference to her.
Justina, on the other hand, had spent the last three days researching the mysterious book.
She found articles claiming it was centuries old.
Some believed it had been destroyed long ago.
Others claimed it had disappeared without a trace.
The strangest part?
Every article ended with the same warning.
Do not attempt the ritual.
That alone should have been enough to stop us.
It wasn't.
Author's POV
Three days came and went.
Now...
It was finally midnight.
The night they had been waiting for.
The night they would test whether the ancient ritual was nothing more than a stupid legend...
Or something far worse.
Everyone reacted differently.
Nessa looked bored.
Justina could barely hide her excitement.
Daniel looked nervous, although he tried not to show it.
Scoba...
Well...
Scoba was simply Scoba.
Evelyn was the only one who finally asked,
"Doesn't anyone else think maybe we shouldn't do this?"
Nobody answered.
The instructions were surprisingly simple.
Gather at a sacred place.
The abandoned church citadel was perfect.
Draw a large circle using white chalk.
Sit around the circle.
Light six candles.
Recite the chant three times together.
That was it.
It almost sounded too easy.
"Hurry up before someone catches us," Evelyn whispered.
Nessa didn't even look up.
She was still applying lipstick using her phone as a mirror.
"The Devil doesn't care how you look," Scoba said.
Nessa smiled confidently.
"Maybe not."
"But I refuse to summon him looking ugly."
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
Justina rolled her eyes.
Finally Nessa snapped her makeup bag shut.
"Okay."
"I'm ready."
"Finally," everyone muttered.
As they started walking toward the chapel, Scoba couldn't resist one last joke.
"Let's just hope Daniel's grandma doesn't steal your beauty tonight."
Daniel shot him another death glare.
"Can you stop bringing my grandma into this?"
"I'll think about it."
Scoba's POV
"If I were the Devil..."
I looked around at the abandoned church.
"...why would I show up in a place like this?"
Nobody answered.
I wasn't really expecting one.
Honestly...
These people were seriously underestimating the Devil.
Think about it.
If I ruled Hell...
Would I leave my throne because six teenagers read an old book?
Probably not.
Truth be told...
I was scared.
Not for myself.
For them.
If this ritual failed, Justina would probably be heartbroken after spending days convincing herself it was real.
If it worked...
Well...
I wasn't even sure I wanted to imagine that.
Still...
There was this tiny voice inside me hoping something would happen.
The same reckless part of me that always wanted to see what happened when people crossed the line.
Maybe that was why I'd agreed to come.
Author's POV
By the time they reached the abandoned citadel...
No one was talking anymore.
The silence felt heavy.
Even Scoba had stopped making jokes.
Nessa had finally put away her phone.
Something about the place didn't feel right.
It felt...
Alive.
"So..." Scoba finally broke the silence.
"Are we really risking our lives over Daniel's grandma's bedtime story?"
"I'm not saying I'm scared..."
Evelyn glanced around the dark room.
"...but are we really doing this?"
"What's the worst that could happen?" Daniel asked.
Justina nodded.
"Exactly."
Scoba sighed dramatically.
"If the Devil actually shows up..."
"I'm sacrificing all of you for my freedom."
Everyone stared at him.
"What?"
"I'm just planning ahead."
Even Evelyn couldn't help laughing.
Nessa folded her arms.
"You all sound like cowards."
"I'm bored."
"Let's just get this over with."
Daniel nodded.
"Okay."
"Let's begin."
He used the white chalk to draw a large circle on the stone floor.
Six black candles were placed around it.
One by one...
The flames came to life.
Daniel opened the old ritual book.
He carefully taught everyone the strange chant written inside.
The words felt unnatural.
Heavy.
Almost like they didn't belong in a human language.
It took several minutes...
But eventually everyone memorized them.
Daniel looked around the circle.
"Ready?"
No one answered.
They simply nodded.
The six of them joined hands.
The candles flickered.
Then together...
They began chanting.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Silence.
Nothing happened.
No thunder.
No shaking ground.
No lava.
No Devil.
Scoba suddenly burst into laughter.
"I told you!"
He laughed so hard he almost fell backward.
"Daniel's grandma was a fraud!"
Daniel groaned.
"Can you stop calling it my grandma's book?"
"So..."
Nessa looked around the empty room.
"Why didn't anything happen?"
Scoba shrugged.
"Maybe we should summon Daniel's grandma instead."
Even Daniel couldn't argue anymore.
"It was worth trying," Justina said quietly.
"I guess."
Daniel closed the ritual book.
"Evelyn..."
"Can you hold this for a second?"
"Sure."
She smiled as she took the old leather book from him.
For some reason...
She couldn't stop staring at it.
Something about it felt...
Strangely familiar.
As she slowly turned another page...
A tiny rusted pin hidden inside sliced her fingertip.
"Ouch."
A single drop of blood rolled down her finger...
And landed...
Directly in the center of the chalk circle.
Nobody noticed.
Scoba quickly tore a piece from the bottom of his shirt and wrapped it around her finger.
"There."
"You're welcome."
Evelyn smiled softly.
For one brief, foolish second...
She wondered if maybe Scoba cared about her more than she thought.
Then-
A freezing gust of wind exploded through the chapel.
The candles didn't go out.
They burned...
Black.
The old wooden doors slammed shut on their own.
And somewhere beneath the stone floor...
Something awakened.
- Writer
