Notice: the following story is a fiction contains violence, morbidity, obscenity and features characters of dubious moral standing, emulate them at your own risk!

The face of the unknown liquid in the great dark cauldron perfectly reflected the empty night sky, an immaculate void that suggested nothing of that which may lurk within its unfathomable depths.

The first bubble to rise was soon followed by countless more, sprawling the surface as if to desperately dissemble whatever window it may have served.

At long last the time of the ritual had begun.

I adjusted my wide brimmed hat and held out my staff, both christened with symbols astrological and arcane.

And now the chant.

“Hark! At last our fortunes yield

Betwixt the trees, within the Field,

A devil, a fiend brought forth by we

Dreadful and great, us witches three,

Amid the black as witches ought

Upon this dark Walpurgisnacht-”

“-Wrong.” I was cut off.

“… Excuse me?”

I turned to Javinka who had barely said a single word the entire night, only deciding now to interrupt me right in the middle of my chant.

“It’s Halloween, not Walpurgisnacht.” She clarified.

“Give me a break, why are you always such a buzzkill?”

“Because it's wrong, It’s Halloween.”

“It’s the same thing! Quit splitting hairs you pedantic-“

“-It’s not the same thing, Walpurgisnacht is the night between April and May.”

“wh- eh? What?”

“No, she’s right. Did you not know that?” Heather chimed in.

“W- wait seriously? it's really not?” I looked back and forth between them for some indication this was a ruse.

“No.”

“But… Isn’t it just the olden day term for it?”

“Nope. That’s ‘All Hallows eve’, it's completely different.” Said Javinka.

“I… shite…”

I reluctantly accepted the truth, Javinka was not the type to play practical jokes, though she apparently had no issues with public humiliation.

Damn It! Now I look like an idiot!

Not that it matters that much in front of these two though…

Even our attire couldn’t be more different, I with my astrologer's robe, staff and pointed hat, hand meticulously crafted by myself over the course of countless hours, embroidered with golden esoteric sigils and embellished with tassels at its edges. Heather in her cheap, plus-size Halloween store costume and Javinka wearing her dads old bathrobe and a wide-brim hat from school.

“F-fine… give me a moment to think of something that rhymes with Halloween…”

“Why does it have to rhyme?” asked Heather.

“Because it does, real magic is in the power of words, manifestation and… all that crap. If I was a demon I wouldn’t show up for a chant that didn’t rhyme.”

“Are we actually trying to summon a demon?” she asked, a twinge of fear seeping into her voice..

“We’re not really trying, we’re just seeing what happens.”

“That’s such a weirdly vague thing to say. Just tell me yes or no.”

“We’re just three girls, doing girl things, having fun, seeing where the night takes us… if a real demon shows up well we’ll just roll with it.”

“I really don’t know about this Liz, it seems like a really bad idea-“

“-Come on, when are you ever going to get the chance to do something like this again! Once Kestrel finds this cauldron they’ll either lock it away or smelt it into paper clips or some other equally frivolous mundanity.”

“But why was this cauldron left here to begin with? Why hasn't Kestrel already taken it?” she asked.

“I dunno- who cares?”

“So, if a real demon shows up and offers to possess you and grant its power in exchange for your soul, what are you gonna say?”

“I’d politely decline of course…” I assured her.

Aye right, ‘No thank you mr demon, don’t make me a contractor I don’t want preternatural abilities, I’d rather keep my shittey soul’

I cleared my throat. “But anyway this ritual is supposed to call a wish granting demon anyway, not a ‘contract-possessing-power granting one anyway.”

“Is that why we’re using a cauldron instead of a black book?”

“Yes actually.” I confirmed.

“Ok and what's the difference? Couldn’t you just wish for demonic power? And what if it still wants your soul in exchange for that wish?”

“Look if it does show up, let's just hear it out, it’s not going to force us to deal with it, it’s something we have to agree to.”

“But how do you know that? what if we get cursed or something?” Heather appeared to be growing more anxious, Javinka as usual said nothing.

“Demons don’t dally up curses all willy-nilly, they only do it for a reason, to punish hubris and greed and what have you.” I replied.

“What kind of demons are these? Why wouldn’t they curse us for wasting their time? Or even just because they can? They’re demons! Since when did you become a demonologist? Is that not hubris you're showing right now?”

“Demonic accords are voluntary transactions, that’s something Kestrel PR has made clear.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Yeah, but you said ‘the K were a scheming pack of liars’, isn’t it in their best interests to convince everyone that all Contractors are monsters by choice? So no one feels bad when they get captured or flat out misted in the street?”

“Christ Heather-… just- just chill out ok? It’s gonna be fine, I researched all this alright? In the pretty unlikely event something does happen, the fence out of the Field is literally meters away, all we have to do is sprint down the hill, climb back over it and we’ll be fine.”

I gestured towards our exit but in earnest it was almost impossible to make out in the gloom, the fire beneath the cauldron was our only local source of illumination and if it weren't for the lights in the town just behind us, we may have been liable to wandering down the other side of the hill and into the depths of the Field.

Come to think of it, if sprinting is involved then she probably won’t be ok… the look on her face tells me she knows this too.

I was about to suggest she could roll down but I stopped myself. That would just be cruel.

“Is a chain link fence going to stop a demon?” she continued to press me.

“Well it's not like it can chase us through a populated residential area.”

“and why not? How could you know that?”

“Real life isn’t a horror movie, so relax already?”

“That's exactly the kind of thinking that gets the people in those movies killed.”

“The people in those movies are stupid, we are not.” I retorted.

“Are you sure about that Liz? You only just found out Halloween and walpurgisnacht weren't the same thing.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Will you shut up already? How long are you gonna drag this out? We are standing on the precipice of the unknown, a truly original experience and you wanna what? Run back home and rewatch your shitcoms for the zillionth time?”

She looked down at her feet.

“come on Heather, I already said it'll be fine, so just relax alright? At the very least It’ll make for a good story, how many people do you think can say they’ve ‘dabbled in the occult’ and actually meant it?”

This seemed to reassure her at least partially.

“Good now, it's kind of getting late so let's just do the offerings.”

I cleared my throat.

“I, Vescuria, thrice cursed of fate and scion of the shimmerless sun; giveth unto thee mine offering of blood.”

I took a capsule from my pocket inside my robe and poured the red fluid inside into the pot.

“Wait, is that real blood?” asked Heather.

“Aye?”

“Whose?”

“Who do you think?”

“Is it yours?! Did you seriously-?”

“-Shush, It’s not a big deal I’ve got lots left over.”

She still looked somewhat disturbed but she said nothing more.

“your turn.” I gestured to Heather.

She took a plastic wrapped tray out of her bag, in it was a few thin cuts of meat.

“my name is –maria… the uh witch, and here is- thine offering of flesh.”

She let it slide off into the pot.

“Did you just buy it from the supermarket?” I asked.

“It was on sale.”

“What?!”

“w-where else was I going to get some ‘flesh’?”

“I dunno, some dead animal from somewhere, not discount schnitzel.”

“Dead animal?!” she looked back at me in shock.

“-n-never mind it should be fine.”

Javinka walked up to the cauldron.

“I’m Ishtar and here is the offering of bone.”

She poured a small bottle of milk into the cauldron.

God, maybe I should hope this thing doesn’t show up after all… it might think we’re trying to piss it off.

“so… what now?” Heather asked.

“Now we do a summoning chant again… just give me a second to finish thinking one up…”

“You haven't found a word to rhyme with Halloween?”

“I did! I’m just putting it together, that's all.”

I cleared my throat and prepared my verse.

“Hear me, oh great demons of the Field!

Through rot and ruin ne’er shall we yield.

On tonight we witches three

have gathered here to summon thee.

Upon this Walpurgis- eh- ween,

Sweet gifts we offer for your… spleen.“

“really?” Heather nearly raised her voice.

“Can it Heather! -I mean Maria- you wanna do the chant instead?”

She said nothing.

“Aye, I didn’t think so. Just give me a minute, I’ll think of something better…”

“ahem… upon this hallow’s eve, sweet gifts we offer for your reprieve.”

nothing happened.

“No demon.” Observed Javinka.

“I can see that! It’s because you two have to say it with me, -and you gotta actually mean it…”

“Hear me, oh great demons of the Field! Through rot and ruin ne’er shall we yield. On tonight we witches three have gathered here to summon thee. Upon this hallows eve, sweet gifts we offer for your reprieve.”

They spoke my verse in unison, but did so only half heartedly, like they were singing happy birthday for someone they didn’t like.

“Come on, use your lungs!”

We chanted again and with each subsequent verse got more into it.”

We chanted six times in chorus, and by the end of the last we were out of breath.

But still nothing happened.

It occurred to me only now that shouting at the top of our lungs in the middle of the night here of all places was probably actually very stupid, and not trying to wash your eyes with soap stupid; the kind of stupid that would other instances have me roll my eyes at the newspaper article detailing the terrible and gruesome fate of who so ever just raised the collective iq.

Here and now at least, we seem to have gotten off alright.

Although our demon is still a no show, guess it was a long shot… unless there’s something I’m missing…?

“So is this demon gonna show up or what?” asked Heather.

“After all that I think I’ll be pretty-“ I began.

The cauldron suddenly began to boil much faster.

Oh!

Thick wafts of vapors rose from the giant pot.

“OH my god! That’s the worst thing I’ve ever smelt!” Heather squealed.

“What did you expect? After all that crap we chucked in there, not to mention whatever was in there already.” Said Javinka monotonically, though she herself leaned in for a whiff, only immediately wince backward, her glasses entirely fogged from the steam.

“I wasn't expecting it to smell nice! I just didn't think it would be that bad.” Heather insisted.

Unable to resist my curiosity now that everyone else had, I tilted towards the pot to sniff the air and almost instantly regretting it

“Jesus that’s vile!”

What else was in this thing before we got here?

It didn’t smell at all until we heated it…

That stench was dreadful, but it wasn’t unwashed public bathroom bad or nauseating chemicals bad, it was something else, something that I couldn’t recognise and yet I knew was setting off primordial alarm bells in my brain.

I made sure to hold my breath while I stood close.

The air suddenly grew cold and the world beyond the meager light of the flame seemed to darken further still.

The boiling began to grow more intense.

“hey guys are you seeing this too or…“ the words died in my mouth.

I could see shapes forming in the darkness just above the pot.

“Or what?”

“I eh- I…”

There was nothing there, only the wafting of steam.

I was sure something was just about to happen there!

“I must be mistaken…”

“So when does the demon get here?”

“I dunno… maybe it needs to cook some more… but let's have that picnic while we wait.”

We sat down on the mat we had brought and went about divvying up the food.

Our haul wasn’t too bad, Javinka had brought a large bowl of biryani cooked by her parents, which was as always, supremely delicious. Heather's parents had bought a few snacks for us and I only managed to bring the sweets I had to scrape off the top of my parents' Halloween stock.

Our humble ‘coven’ and our ‘convocation' was only a tepid affair. Despite our modest feast, I found myself unable to properly relax as the night went on, my head constantly flicking to look behind me, back at the pot and the darkness beyond. So much that my neck was starting to feel sore towards the end of things.

Javinka maintained her typical demeanor of ever aspergic monotonality, apparently unbothered by the situation but nonetheless a stilted conversationalist as always. Heather on the other hand was dealing with it worse than I was, sweating rivers and stuffing her face by the truckload, I nearly had to physically intervene to stop her from going on another stress eating binge. She was too psyched out for any worthwhile interaction.

I don’t know what I was expecting but I still feel somehow profoundly disappointed.

They say you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family.

But that’s a lie isn't it?

You can’t choose a goddamn thing in this world.