“This is your way of apologizing to me? Taking me to a forest at night, alone? What happened to the classic flowers and a nice dinner?”

Miranda Colmyre sat in the passenger seat of a parked car, arms crossed, glaring at the driver. The moonlight reflecting off the snow illuminated his mischievous grin.

“If I told you the real reason why I wanted to come here, you wouldn’t have agreed.”

“I’m not having sex with you.”

“That’s not the reason.”

“Then what? You’re going to kill me?”

“No. I promise you won’t get hurt. Famous, though, for sure. Come on.”

The young man got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side and opened the door.

“No, Derek, I am not going anywhere except you taking me home.”

Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car. “Since when are you opposed to doing some really crazy shit?”

“Last time I went along with some plan to vandalize the church, I got in big trouble, even though I didn’t do anything. And the time before that—”

“Yeah, well, this is way more crazy and fun. And you know you love me.” Derek pulled her close and kissed her deeply, and Miranda did not pull away until a few moments had passed.

“I hate you. You just happen to be a really good kisser.”

Derek chuckled and opened the trunk of his car, removing a cardboard box and handing it to Miranda. “Carry this for me, and don’t ask what’s in it.” He then took a backpack and a flashlight before closing the trunk. “Follow me, it’s a bit of a walk.”

With the flashlight in one hand, Derek kept his other hand on Miranda’s arm as if she were on a leash. The only sounds in the forest were their crunching footsteps on the snow-covered path. For nearly ten minutes they walked in silence, and just as Miranda opened her mouth to say something, Derek led her off the path and through the open prairie to a collection of trees in which some lanterns were lit.

“Are there people over there?”

“Yep. Some friends of mine.”

As they approached the cluster of trees, three people turned to face them, one of which shined a flashlight in the faces of the newcomers.

“We’re here,” Derek announced, then looked at the ground. “Looks great.”

All snow had been removed from the area, the dark ground now painted with intricate designs. A large circle was outlined thickly in yellow with a coiled serpent painted in black over it. A red square was in the middle of the circle, which was surrounded by four yellow hexagrams with a blue T in the center of each. Outside the circle were four pentagrams painted in yellow and red. A few feet away was a white triangle with a green circle in the middle and words written in red along each outer side.

“What on Earth is this?” Miranda said, staring at the creation.

“You didn’t tell her?” One of the strangers, a young man with long dark hair, approached Derek with a can of spray paint in his hand.

“She’d never come otherwise.”

Another man with long blond hair walked up and opened the box. “Decent job on these robes, Derek,” he said. “Better than the previous times.”

Everyone chuckled except Miranda. “Practice makes perfect,” Derek said.

“Did you make one for your girlfriend?”

Miranda scowled. “I am not his girlfriend.”

“She doesn’t need one,” Derek said, ignoring her. “She’s not participating. And as long as she’s in the circle with us, she’ll be fine.”

“Participating in what?” Miranda demanded. “Is this some sort of ritual? Am I a sacrifice or something?”

Derek put down his backpack and flashlight and put his hands on her shoulders. “I would never do anything to hurt you. I know you don’t believe it, but I actually do love you. I’m going to do something really amazing tonight, and I want you to witness it. All those times you and other people thought I was a loser, or worthless, or whatever…tonight everyone will see how powerful I really am.” He turned and pointed to each of his friends, introducing the dark-haired man as Ben, the blond as Chris, and the third, also with long hair but a lighter brown was Aaron. Turning back to Miranda he said, “After my parents went ‘born-again’ and started going to your dad’s church and made me go to high school there, my life has sucked. I’ve never been good enough, holy enough. But there’s one great thing your dad did for me that made me realize my true purpose, where I can truly get power. Every sermon he’s given where he talks about demons and how strong they are over humans, it stuck with me. I wanted to know more. And the more I learned, the more I wanted to see that power for myself. Then I met these three guys online and they taught me everything. They showed me the amazing things demons can do and taught me how to use them myself. And now you, the daughter of a televangelist obsessed with demons, will witness the truth of their power.”

Miranda stared at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. “You’re a Satan worshipper?” she squeaked.

Derek laughed. “No. Demons are summoned in the name of the Lord, not Satan. You’ll see.”

“You’re going to summon a demon?”

“Yes. But not just any demon. The most evil and vile demon of all.”

“Satan?”

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You can’t summon Satan. Just stay in that little circle over there and watch.”

But Miranda did not enter the circle, instead standing frozen outside of it, watching the four young men prepare their ritual. They each put on a white robe with mysterious seals embroidered onto the front. Chris took some incense and fumigators out of a box and began lighting and spraying it around the circle. Ben lit some candles—protected in glass jars to prevent the grass from catching fire—and placed them around the pentagrams. Aaron sorted through parchments and books that were stacked on a small fold-out table beside a lantern.

“You…you’ve done this before?” Miranda croaked out.

“Yeah,” Derek said. “The first time was a demon called Sallos. I tried to get him to make you fall in love with me, and it only kind of worked, seeing as you aren’t groveling at my feet and begging for it like I wanted you to, but you are still attached, aren’t you?”

Miranda blinked and said nothing.

“The second time was a demon called Asmoday. That one was tough to get but once I got him, well, how do you think I nearly aced my SAT? I was so full of knowledge after that, it was amazing.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“You summoned a demon to cheat? I knew you cheated!”

“Cheating would be if he gave me the answers. He gave me the knowledge to answer the questions on my own, therefore not cheating.”

Miranda crossed her arms and glared. “I don’t believe you. You’re lying. About all of this. You’re just trying to scare me and it’s not funny.”

“We’re ready,” Ben said, and Derek led Miranda into the small circle with the others.

“Stand right here,” Derek said. “Don’t speak or move or anything. Just watch.” With Chris to the right with the incense and Aaron to the left with a knife and sickle, Derek faced the large circle with Ben standing before him, holding a ragged book for him to read from. With a wooden wand in his hand, Derek began to read.

“I do invocate and conjure thee, oh spirit Buriel, and being with power armed from the Supreme Majesty, I do strongly command thee…” The conjuration was long and contained many names and words that made Miranda stare at the back of his head in confusion. When he finished, they all looked toward the circle in silence. Nothing happened.

“Do the second one then,” Ben said, turning the page.

“I do invocate, conjure, and command thee, oh thou Spirit Buriel to appear and to show thyself visibly unto me…” The conjuration continued similar to the first with more bizarre and incomprehensible phrases. But again, nothing appeared once he had finished.

“Not surprising,” Aaron said. “Asmoday did the same. Third one should work.”

As Ben turned the page again, Miranda rolled her eyes but remained silent.

“I do conjure thee, oh thou Spirit Buriel, by all the most glorious and efficacious names of the most great and incomprehensible Lord God…” This time, Derek made threats of sending the demon into a bottomless pit forever if he didn’t show. Yet the demon still did not show.

“This is ridiculous,” Miranda said. “Seriously stupid.”

“Shut up, bitch!” Derek growled. He glared at her, his anger freezing her.

“One more shot, dude,” Ben said. “If the Spirits’ Chain doesn’t work, he ain’t coming.”

With a deep breath, Derek continued, this time his voice stern and furious. “Oh thou wicked and disobedient Spirit Buriel, because thou hast rebelled, and hast not obeyed or regarded my words which I have rehearsed, I do by the power of these names of the true God curse thee into the depth of the Bottomless Abyss until the Day of Doom in chains unless thou forthwith appear to do my will. Come thou! Come thou!”

The candles and lanterns went out with a blast of cold wind and everyone gasped. No one spoke. Another blast of wind from the opposite direction relit everything and before them was the smokey shapes of thirteen serpents, each with the head of a beautiful woman. Miranda squealed and cowered behind Derek.

“What’s this about a bottomless abyss?” The largest serpent, standing tall on its tail in the center of the circle, looked down on the group with a smirk. “You humans are pathetic.”

Swallowing hard and with a trembling hand, Derek turned the page. “Welcome, Prince Buriel! By time pentacle of Solomon have I called thee! Give unto me a true answer!”

“Or you’ll send me to the abyss?” Buriel and his dukes laughed, their hoarse voices echoing among the trees. “You know, I can’t remember the last time some fool tried to summon me. They cast me away as soon as they realized I don’t listen. But I am curious. What do you want of me?”

“Thou art the most evil spirit of Hell,” Derek said.

“I am.”

“I command thee to destroy the mega church that lies just east of this place!”

Miranda gasped, her hands to her mouth.

“Now that does sound like a good time,” Buriel said. “I am quite tempted. But I won’t do it because some human told me to. Though perhaps if you were to give me permission to leave the circle, I can do it of my own accord.”

“Don’t do it,” Ben whispered.

“I shall tell thee my bidding first, then I shall give thee permission to exit.”

“No, you idiot!” Chris said.

“You can tell me whatever you like,” Buriel said. “But I make no promises that I’ll do it. I don’t ‘bind’ to a master’s whims like other demons do.”

Derek held Buriel’s smokey gaze. “Thou shalt go to the church and burn it. Then thou shalt go to the subdivision of houses to the south of it and burn them all, as one of them contains the pastor.”

Miranda screamed. “No! Derek, how could you?”

Ben reached for the wand. “You’re insane, dude!”

“Wow,” Buriel said, raising an eyebrow. “I think I like you, human. That’s quite savage indeed. But if I’m going to potentially cause a holy war—which could be fun I suppose—I’d want to do more than just fire. I prefer bloodshed and fire.”

Derek hesitated, trying to hold Ben off from grabbing the wand, then smirked. “Fine. Kill whoever you want however you want, as long as you take out the church and the pastor.”

Everyone else in the circle now tried to wrestle the wand from him, Chris trying to cover Derek’s mouth.

“So, so tempting,” Buriel said. “But I don’t do things just because humans tell me to. Let me out of the circle and maybe I’ll kill and burn as you say.”

Derek pulled his mouth free and said quickly, “But it’s a church! You should want to destroy it. You’re a demon.”

Buriel looked thoughtful for a moment, as if deeply pondering the situation. Finally he looked down at Derek again and smiled. “You’re right, human. I’ve decided I will do as you say. Just give me permission to leave the circle—”

All of Derek’s friends screamed and begged for him not to. Desperately fighting against their strength he said as fast as possible, “Thou hast my permission to leave the circle and do my bidding!” He flicked his wand as everyone screamed again, and they watched as Buriel stuck the end of his tail out of the circle as if testing the barrier. Apparently satisfied that freedom was in reach, he slithered across the line.

“Merosiel! Drusiel! Follow me. The rest of you, go back home.”

Two of his dukes followed, one with the head of a brunette woman and the other with red hair, their thick green scales matching their master. The other ten dukes all looked furious, but did as they were told and vanished.

The five humans within the circle trembled, four out of terror and one from excitement. “Go to the church!” Derek cried. “That way!”

Buriel laughed, his cackle loud and booming. “Oh, you stupid human. You get to learn the hard way to never trust a demon, especially me. I am not interested in starting a holy war right now, but I sure will take advantage of you giving me permission to inhabit Earth.” He slithered farther and stopped at the rim of snow that had been cleared away. “What is this?” He picked some up with his tail, watching the white substance melt instantly. He tried to taste it with his tongue but again it vanished from his heat. He looked back at the magical circle that kept the five humans safe, then at his brunette duke. “Merosiel, make something to push this…substance over their circle. Quickly, before it disappears.”

Merosiel’s tail became a large, metal panel that he then used to throw the snow at the humans. The power of it knocked them down, and after only a few scoops, the circle was disappearing underneath. “Don’t let it cover the circle!” Ben screamed, scrambling to his feet and trying to kick and scoop it away. The others attempted the same, but the demon was too fast and strong. Once the circle was well enough covered, Buriel slithered close and looked into Derek’s eyes. The young man froze, standing rigid, eyes wide and glossy.

“Remove your cloak,” he said.

Though his friends begged him not to, Derek did as told, his eyes never leaving Buriel’s stare. As soon as the cloak with the protective seal was on the ground, Buriel’s tail became a sword and impaled it through Derek’s stomach. Crying out, Derek looked down to see flaming, jagged lines spread throughout his body from the wound, and once completely covered he exploded into fiery pieces.

Miranda and the others screamed and ran. Buriel shouted for them to halt and they did, just as rigid as Derek had been. “Face me,” he said, and in unison the humans turned, their faces expressionless, eyes glazed and unblinking. Buriel ordered them to come near and once close enough, he had them remove their cloaks and his two dukes surrounded them.

“My favorite dukes,” he said to his companions, “since we cannot take a true human form on our own, we shall use these vessels. I like them. They suit us, I think.” Merosiel and Drusiel grinned. Buriel wrapped his tail around Ben, lifted him up and studied his body. “I’ll take this one. You two can pick from the others. Leave the female, though.”

He lay Ben on his back, and with his tail now a thick knife, he cut the young man’s chest open and removed his heart so fast that there was no time for him to scream. He then made a few other cuts along the body, picked it up again, and squeezed out the blood until drained. Then with his tail back to normal, he entered Ben’s chest tail first, disappearing within.

The body turned black, steam seeping from its pores. It twitched violently, then slowly the skin returned to normal, the steam subsided, and the cuts and open chest wound closed with thick, dark scars. Once still, the eyes blinked for a few moments, then the head turned slightly from side to side to look around. Little by little Buriel moved his new body, inspecting the hands, testing each finger, then sitting up, touching the scars on the bare chest exposed through the wet and torn shirt. He clumsily got to his feet, and with the help of his dukes he took a few steps, quickly getting the hang of walking. He grinned. “Your turn, my friends.”

While Merosiel and Drusiel repeated the same steps their prince had, Buriel approached the young woman, still frozen in place. He studied her, touched her face and neck, smelled her hair, tasted her cheek as if his tongue were still that of a serpent. He looked at his tongue, grumbling at how different it was. Then he looked down at his waist and touched a part of his new body that seemed to come alive on its own. He smiled. “I think I know enough about how humans work to really test this new body out.”