by Irene Ferris
The skin on the back of Mathieu’s neck crawled as the group began to power the circle. He could see the sigils of the spell start to glow, one after the other. Balling his fists, he forced his breathing to settle into a slow, steady rhythm.
“We summon you, Gaap. We summon you to us, to our world, to our time, to our reality. We summon you, Gaap.” Marcus intoned the words in a flat drone, his efforts bent on forcing as much power into spell as possible.
“We bind you, Gaap. We bind you to our circle, to our purpose, to our mission. We bind you, Gaap.” Jenn intoned after Marcus finished.
“We call you, Gaap. We call you from the darkness and cold, to come to us here. We call you, Gaap.” Eddie spoke in the same monotone as Marcus.
“We compel you, Gaap. We compel you to come forth and serve us. We compel you, Gaap.” Susan finished the incantation with a deep sigh.
Mathieu frowned as the air in the center of the circle shimmered and roiled. Gaap was fighting the call. With a grim expression, Mathieu stepped forward and gingerly put the toe of his shoe on the border of the circle and directed a small trickle of power into the spell. “I call you, Gaap. I call you to come forth and treat with us. I call you in the name of the eternal and the darkness and the chaos that you hold so very dear.”
The darkness within clenched in his stomach and then strained against his will, trying to push through the small opening he’d made. Not yet. Not yet. Soon, he promised it.
The center of the circle seemed to thicken into a mist and then into a dense fog, finally coalescing into two figures.
Matheiu frowned as he studied the first of the two figures.
Gadreel had favored a completely human appearance, even if it was of a human too beautiful to be real. Gaap’s chosen form looked to follow most of those basic rules-- tall and striking, narrow-hipped, elegant, chiseled features and long, dark hair—but there were obvious differences. The eyes were silvered like a night-hunting predator’s, and there was a pattern of scales—or maybe tightly held feathers—that traced its skin.
Jenn gasped from the south cardinal and Mathieu glanced over to her and followed her gaze to the girl who must have been Amanda. Or what was left of her.
While Gadreel had been very conscious of Mathieu’s appearance, often saying that Mathieu reflected on him and gave him status through his beauty, it was fairly obvious that Gaap did not follow that school of thought in the least bit.
Amanda’s clothes hung from her emaciated frame in tatters, the occasional blood stain brown and crusted here and there. The skin not covered with rags was covered with bruises or more dried blood. Mathieu squinted and cocked his head as he tried to make sense of a mottled discoloration that appeared to cover her entire body.
The physical damage was nothing compared to her eyes, though. Mathieu grimaced as he looked into them. They were still blue, but they were as flat and as dead as a corpse’s. No light penetrated them, no shine covered them and no soul looked out from them. There was no life at all in her eyes, and her posture was that of a marionette hanging limply from its strings. It was disturbingly familiar. Mathieu chewed his lower lip as he looked at her, his fists tightening as he fought to keep his hands from shaking.
Gaap looked around the basement, upper lip curled in distaste. It then looked at Marcus and asked, “Well?”
“Well?” Marcus repeated the word hesitantly, taken by surprise.
The strange scales on Gaap’s skin fluttered and then laid flat. “Well,” it repeated. “You called me back to this vile place. You’re on the main cardinal, so you’re in charge. What do you want?” Its voice was edged with irritation. “I suggest you proceed carefully, mortal.”
“Want?” Marcus played the idiot well. He’d almost fooled Mathieu the first time they’d met, after all. “I want lots of things. What can you give me?”
“A quick death. If I wished to, but I don’t.” Gaap reached out and touched the edge of the circle. Invisible before, the edge flared to life as the Demon tried to pass through, the barrier glowing and sparking around its hand. “Long and excruciating is preferable to me, if you would like honesty in such matters.”
“Honesty really isn’t what I want.” Marcus kept talking while Mathieu eased over towards the south cardinal, closer to Jenn—and Amanda. Gaap glanced his direction once and then returned its attention to Marcus. “I want…” Marcus paused, brow furrowed in thought, “a pony. Yes, definitely a pony.”
“A pony,” it replied, enunciating every sound. “You called me here to ask for a pony?” The scales lifted and flared again, this time lying down even tighter than before. Gaap exuded displeasure from every pore.
“Well, not really. But then I thought to myself, ‘Self, you’ve always wanted a pony, so why not ask for one now?’” Marcus was babbling as Mathieu drew within a few feet of what was left of Amanda. Watching from the corner of his eye, he saw Mathieu pause to control his trembling before continuing forward. It appeared that it was taking everything the former Familiar had to stay in the room, much less participate in a rescue effort. Focusing forward, Marcus smiled sweetly at the Demon and winked.
“Why not,” Gaap repeated in an incredulous tone of voice. “I could give you many reasons ‘why not’, you realize? Most of them end with all of you and your circle enjoying various degrees of agony and death. Or maybe I should say most of them end with my enjoying your various degrees of agony and death.” Gaap touched the edge of the circle again, pressing against the barrier and watching as the glowing edge stretched forward and then pushed its hand back. The circle held but Mathieu’s nerves screamed in pain as the limits of his spell were tested. Gaap was strong. Very strong.
Mathieu finally made his way to Amanda, facing her through the barrier that barely kept Gaap from roaring into the basement and killing them all. He could now see what he thought was mottled skin actually were hundreds of tiny, raw bites that covered her entire body.
He glanced over to Gaap and considered the possibilities of what might have caused such wounds for a long moment, his bowels turning to water with fear. There is no turning back now. Eyes wide with terror, he glanced over to the door and saw Hugh blocking the exit. He took the fear and pushed it down as far as it would go with a deep breath, and then made a hand gesture. A corner of his mind noted his hand only shook a little. Surely that was a good sign?
“Well, maybe not a pony. Too much poop and I’ve been told they’re a lot of work. Maybe a Porsche?” Marcus caught the hand signal, nodded and then stepped behind the second circle, motioning the rest of his group to follow suit—all of them being extremely careful to not mar the protective circle as they stepped over it. “How about our friend back instead, you murdering bastard?” The last words were spit out with venom.
Mathieu took a deep breath and stepped backwards as well, but not over the circle. Instead he carefully placed his heel on the south cardinal. The power in his gut rejoiced as he released a small amount to raise the barrier in front of Marcus’ group, effectively locking them away from Gaap. And him.
The power flew from him and the symbols in the protective circle lit up in quick succession. The air grew quiet and still between the two protective barriers, quiet enough that Mathieu could hear his heart thudding in his chest and the sound of his rasping breath in his ears. He was utterly and completely alone, with no hope of rescue.
So far, so good.
Gaap whirled and looked at Mathieu, cold eyes seeming to see through all of his machinations, from the slight quiver of the hands to the goose bumps on his arms. “So,” it said after a moment.
“So.” Mathieu took a deep breath and made an effort to not soil himself in fear. “Now we can speak undisturbed.” That same detached corner of his mind noted that while his innermost self gibbered in panic, his outside voice was very even and calm.
“Indeed?”
Mathieu could see Marcus over Gaap’s shoulder. The circle leader was watching with a slowly dawning expression of understanding. He
caught Mathieu’s eyes and shook his head violently. Mathieu looked away, directing his attention back the Demon in the circle.
Gaap glanced at Marcus and then back to Mathieu. “I certainly hope you aren’t going to ask me for a pony.” It had a dry voice
“I want you to release the girl” said Mathieu, cocking his head towards what was left of Amanda. “Give her back to her people.”
“You want me to release the girl.” Gaap repeated the words mockingly. “You want me give her back. You want me to release the vessel in which I’ve stored my power and memories after I was held prisoner in this very room for so long with no hope of escape? After I’ve worked so hard to make her exactly as I needed and to regain all I’d lost?” It cocked its head at him and asked in that same sing-song voice of derision, “What could you possibly give me so that I would be willing to forgo her company?”
Mathieu extended his arms and let the power go. “Me.”
Marcus let out a surprised shout from his side of the circle. “Not this way. Don’t do it this way, damn it.” He punched the circle wall and recoiled as it repulsed him. “Get this thing down! Bring it down now!” The others stood for a moment in shock before scrambling to do his bidding.
They’d wrought entirely too well, Mathieu knew. They were the best the Foundation had and had built their strongest circle--and would be unable to breach it or interfere until it was too late. He refused to look at the others who gestured through the rippling barrier of light. Then the power came up and swept his attention away and back to the subject at hand.
The darkness flowed and prowled and leapt as it tried to free itself from the containment between the two circles. The barriers flared and darkened as it searched for some way out, some pinprick of an opening, but to no avail.
Mathieu thought in that back corner of his mind that the pleasure that came from the sensation of freeing what was inside might have been as good as bedding a woman, or even better—if what his brother had said of the act ages ago was true. It probably was—Martin was seldom given to exaggeration on such things.
Gaap watched the power flow down Mathieu’s fingertips and across the floor, the scales puffing up so that the Demon resembled a cold parakeet. The power was heady, intoxicating and wanted Mathieu to laugh at the visual. He might actually have if he hadn’t glimpsed something white and glistening hiding beneath those scales.
Gaap went smooth again and fixed Mathieu with a penetrating gaze. “I see. And where did you come by that?”
“I don’t see how that matters.” Mathieu flexed his fingers and started to gather the darkness back into himself. The power, seemingly satisfied with its temporary freedom, came back easily. Maybe it knew what was going to happen next.
“I think it matters very much.” Gaap raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, roughly pushing Amanda to stand behind him, adding in a half-hearted slap when she didn’t move quickly enough. “It matters very much indeed to know who all that once belonged to.”
Mathieu ignored the statement. “You free her, I’ll take her place. You can have all of me, all the power, all the knowledge.” He took another deep breath and crossed his hands behind his back, clasping them tightly so the shaking in them would stop. He then jerked his chin towards Amanda. “I’m stronger than she would ever be. I’ll last longer, too. She’s almost all used up and you just got her.”
Gaap didn’t even glance at its Familiar. Instead it stepped to the edge of the circle and peered at Mathieu. “Will you love me? I thought she would love me but as you can see…” It shrugged one shoulder as its voice trailed off. The movement struck Mathieu as a strangely human gesture.
“No, I will not love you. You know as well as I that neither of us are capable of feeling anything like love or affection.” After a slight pause, Mathieu continued, “but I do offer you twice again as much power as you’ve already accumulated. And the knowledge of a different choir.”
Gaap’s scales remained flat. “Fair enough,” it said. It then looked out at the room through the two shining barriers of energy. Mathieu turned to follow its gaze. Marcus and Jenn were frantically building some construct with salt near the North cardinal while Carol directed Eddie and Susan in something at the East.
Dwayne stood stock still, arms folded as he watched everything unfold around him. Mathieu absently wondered if what was unfolding resembled any of the prognosticator’s visions and then turned back to Gaap.
Gaap’s scales were no longer quite as flat. They seemed to flutter in time with its breathing or heartbeat. It finally spoke again. “I am unsure if I should accept your proposal. I can see why they want her back.” The Demon’s voice hissed next to Mathieu’s ear. “But what do you gain from this proposal?”
Mathieu closed his eyes tightly and then reopened them, looking straight at the source of his fears. “Oblivion.” At Gaap’s tilted head, he continued. “I want to stop feeling. No more pain, no more fear, no more anything. I want to be numb again, trapped in the darkness inside.”
“That,” Gaap said silkily, “is something with which I can oblige.”
“I figured that. That’s why I lied and had them bring you here.” The words were bitter in his mouth, but they were close enough to the truth that Gaap would not detect the delicate shadings of falsehoods. He hoped.
“Really? That’s clever.” Gaap’s voice shifted lower, oily and deep. “Give them to me as a gesture of your good faith. Drop the circles and let me have them. Show me you’re serious.”
“No.” Mathieu bit the word off sharply. “This does not involve them in any way. This is between you and me, not any of the others. If what I offer is not enough for you, we’re done. She’s as good as dead anyway.”
Mathieu started to trace a banishing gesture in mid-air but Gaap spoke suddenly. “Stop.”
Hand frozen in mid-sigil, Mathieu raised an eyebrow at the Demon. “Yes?”
“You lied.” Gaap smirked. “You said you were unable to feel but…” It gestured out towards the others in the room and cocked its head. “But you hid the truth from me, naughty one.” It leaned forward to the very edge of the barrier, stretching the wall to bring its face to within a few inches of Mathieu’s. “You feel affection.” The scales puffed up in surprise again and then flattened as it looked deeply into Mathieu’s eyes. “You feel affection—love—for them. I see the terror in your eyes. I would smell your fear if the circle were down. I would taste it in the air. Only something as strong as love would make you ignore that fear and do this.”
Mathieu leaned backwards and away, controlling the urge to cringe with everything he had. “You know nothing of love. Besides, what I feel is no business of yours.” His lip curled in disgust as he spoke.
“Of course it is. I wonder what other secrets you’ll tell me when I make you mine?” The silvered eyes looked into and through Mathieu. “I accept your very generous offer. Lower this circle so that I may bind you.”
“There are conditions.” Mathieu shifted his weight away from Gaap, hands clenched into tight fists.
“There always are.” The Demon sounded weary as the scales fluttered lazily in some unfelt breeze. “Speak them.”
“You will not harm or pursue anyone in this room because of this summoning. You will not seek revenge or retaliate for the insult done you.”
“Done. And?”
“You will let me assume the binding from the girl. I will take the chain, you will not force it on me.”
Gaap appeared to think as the scales continued to quiver at their same rate. “That’s interesting to consider. Very well. Anything else?”
Mathieu froze, panic slowly starting to manifest as his brain searched frantically for any other condition he could name, anything he could do to prolong the time until he had to drop that circle.
After a moment, he shook his head and said in a small voice, “no. Nothing else.”
“Bring down the circle. Come and take her.” Gaap roughly pushed Amanda forward.
She sham
bled a few steps forward and then stopped. There was no independent thought or movement in evidence.
Mathieu paused and studied her again through the shimmering field of energy. Her dead eyes stared back in his general direction, not seeing him, not seeing anything for that matter. He shuddered and swallowed hard, terror and dread tracing lines up and down his spine.
Nodding stiffly, he stepped forward and put his toe on the edge of the southern cardinal. Eyes closed, he slowly drained the power from the circle, gradually weakening the shields. The sigils flared and then dimmed, finally going dark. The power spooled back into those who had given it and the barrier came down in a neatly controlled collapse.
“That was well done,” Gaap said. “I’ll give that you do know what you’re doing.” He pushed Amanda forward across the now powerless border.
She shuffled forward again, four or five steps, before inertia took over and she stopped. Mathieu wrinkled his nose at her smell. No, Gaap did not believe in taking care of his property.
Mathieu stepped forward to her, looking in her eyes the entire time, hoping for some kind of reaction. There was none.
He shook his head as he glanced back over to Gaap. The die was cast. If he refused now, Gaap would simply take him and kill her. And everyone else in the room eventually as well.
The rusted iron chain circled her throat. He could see her pulse beating under it.
With one trembling hand, he slowly reached up and touched the chain with one finger.
Cold. Piercing biting cold. Even as it brought tears to his eyes, he forced the rest of his fingers to touch and then to slowly wrap around it. He watched her eyes as he gently lifted the chain away from her skin, and then winced as the marks it left on her throat were revealed.
“I would hope,” he said quietly to Gaap, “that you would treat my body better than you’ve treated hers.”
“That was not one of your conditions,” Gaap replied.
Mathieu sighed at the answer. “Of course not.” He returned his attention to the chain, using his senses to touch the link between human and Demon.
