The Demon’s Vow (K!nktober #24)

Chapter 1 – Lukas

LUKAS

The crisp October air bit at my cheeks as we walked through the fallen leaves.

My breath turned to faint white wisps under the pale glow of the moonlight.

I glanced into the night sky, the Hunter’s Moon—how fitting for the occasion—large and bright, providing all the light we would need.

This night, just a few hours before All Hallows’ Eve, the shadows seemed a little darker and sharper, more twisted.

An electric buzz filled the air as we made our way to our destination.

Jess and Darcy, my friends and roommates, walked ahead of me, their voices low with excitement.

They carried canvas bags and backpacks stuffed with candles, chalk, and whatever else they needed to communicate with the other side tonight.

Me? I was in charge of the snacks and drinks.

My own bag sagged with the weight of a six-pack, a bottle of tequila I may or may not have borrowed from my dad, a family-sized bag of chips, and—because Jess insisted on it—a bag of black licorice that nobody but her would eat.

Now it was a museum, at least during the day.

Tourists shuffled through its dark corridors in an orderly manner while tour guides recited the “sanitized” versions of the history, according to Darcy.

Jess had become obsessed with the place, convinced we were going to contact some of the former prisoners—spooky entities and ghosts from the other side.

She was certain malicious creatures, and the spirits of dead inmates, were still trapped there, festering in the dark, souls that could never move on.

So, we joined the tour. First, so she could get a feel for where the dark energies were strongest, and second, so we’d have an idea of the layout… for when we broke in later that night.

How were we going to contact the other side, you may ask?

By holding a goddamn séance. At least, I thought so.

That seemed to be the plan. We’d been holding séances in different locations around town every Halloween for a few years.

..or at least, we’d been trying to. Our efforts were usually thwarted by cops and security guards.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Halloween. It was my favourite holiday. As soon as September arrived, the countdown began.

“You’re worse than Starbucks with their damn pumpkin spice,” Jess would always tell me.

Halloween wasn’t just one night for us. October, or rather Spooktober, was a whole month of celebrations.

By October 1, our apartment looked like a haunted house threw up in it.

Fair lights shaped like ghosts and pumpkins hung around.

Jess’s special collection of fall candles covered every surface.

The spooky atmosphere, the cooler weather, getting to binge horror films all month with my buddies?

It was better than Christmas. Movie nights were sacred.

We’d pile onto the old couch with a nest of blankets, popcorn, and drinks while we watched our favourite scary movies.

Halfway through, I’d always end up clutching someone’s arm, getting scared at those jump scenes.

But that was the best part! There’s something exhilarating about getting a good fright.

It gave a high like no other. But it was all fake—not real.

No ghosts.

No demons.

No monsters.

I wasn’t a full-on skeptic. I wouldn’t mess with a cursed item or tempt fate; I wasn’t foolish. But I wasn’t a strict believer either, not like Jess or Darcy.

They took this shit to the next level. Darcy and Jess are what you would call Occultists—the real deals, experts and lovers of all things supernatural and weird.

No matter the season or occasion, they were dressed as if they belonged in an old gothic manor, in perfect company with vampires or witches.

The younger, modern-day version of Ed and Lorraine Warren. But they didn’t just look the part.

They were also the kind of people who could rattle off about the history of demonic sigils, significance of sacred texts, or the proper way to consecrate a cursed item without missing a beat.

I once made the mistake of asking about a weird symbol on Darcy’s new tattoo.

Forty minutes later, our kitchen table was covered with papers and Jess was tracing ancient sigils.

I’d learned more about 18th century sigils than I ever wanted to know.

The blackened candle stubs and faint sulfur smell that lingered after their “late-night study sessions” told me more than their vague explanations ever did. I asked to tag along a few times, but they would get super serious and tell me it wasn’t safe, that I wasn’t ready yet.

Jess had a whole bookshelf at home dedicated to sacred texts. Some of them were so old, the pages smelled like dust and dried herbs. Darcy, on the other hand, had once spent an entire summer deciphering a grimoire on necromancy in Latin, just for fun! His words.

The apartment we shared was filled with all sorts of “mystical” texts, as well as magical and cursed items they collected.

I’d be lying if I said I never screamed bloody murder at seeing some of the stuff around.

They learned over the years to at least give me a heads up.

Waking up to piss in the middle of the night only to find a bloodied, impaled voodoo doll in the sink because “it needed to soak overnight,” which was not a valid excuse, tends to make someone a little jumpy.

To me, however, it was like a live-action horror movie—still fun because it wasn’t real to me at the end of the day. I got to escape real life for a bit, have a good time with my friends, and get a little fright before we ended the night by getting drunk.

The penitentiary loomed over us like an old, cursed castle, its silhouette stark against moonlit sky.

We pried open a rusted service door at the back of the building, its hinges screaming like a dying animal as we forced our way inside.

We froze and immediately shut off our flashlights, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Fuck! We were done for. Any second now, security would come rushing down the hall, shouting at us to get the hell out.

But after a few seconds—nothing. No alarm blaring, no running footsteps, no shouting. Nada.

“Jesus,” Darcy said, shaking his head as he flicked his flashlight back on. “I nearly shit myself. That was too damn close. Let’s get going, guys.”

The air was thick with the stench of wet concrete, mold, and something fouler—old sweat, rusted metal, maybe even blood. It clung to the back of my throat, making me gag.

“Jess, what the fuck?” I muttered, pressing my sleeve against my nose. “It smells like something died in here.”

“Don’t be a child.”

Her flashlight beam sliced through the darkness, trembling slightly as she swept it over the walls to reveal the graffiti on the peeling paint—names, dates, crude symbols scratched deep into the stone like warnings.

I didn’t recall any of this from the tour earlier in the day.

The floor was littered with shattered glass, crumpled papers yellowed with age, and the occasional twisted hunk of metal that might have once been a bed frame.

“This wasn’t part of the tour,” I whispered.

Jess’s voice was tight. “Yeah, because they don’t want people seeing this.”

We walked in silence with Jess leading the way. I was starting to low-key regret this, and, as if to hit the point home, my stomach growled.

“Hey, guys. Are we there yet?” Jess and Darcy both whipped their heads back to glare at me. Jess whisper-yelled, “Lukas! Shut it.”

“Hey, we’ve been walking for a while, and it’s almost midnight...and I’m kinda getting hungry.”

“I’m with Lukas. I’m also getting hungry. Actually, are we even headed in the right direction?” Darcy asked, squinting at the glow of his phone. The screen cast his face in an eerie blue pallor, making him look paler than normal.

Jess shot him a withering look. “I’ll let you guys know when we get there. We’re headed toward where the energy is strongest. Until then, please be quiet. We don’t need to be chased out of here by cops...again.”

“We’re here!”

Jess’s whisper cut through the silence like a knife. She’d stopped abruptly in front of a cell at the far end of the block. The door hung crooked on its hinges, half-open like a broken jaw, creating a black abyss that swallowed our light.

“Let’s set up.” Jess walked right in with Darcy close behind.

I hesitated. Something seemed off. I didn’t know if my hunger was getting to me, playing tricks on my mind, or if there was some kind of noxious gas in the air fucking with me.

But suddenly I was thinking that maybe this was all a big mistake.

Why am I being such a chicken? Nothing is really going to happen. I cautiously stepped inside.

“Fuck, man!” My breath fogged in the air as an unnatural chill gripped me. A violent shiver racked my body, my teeth clattering before I could stop them. “Why the fuck does this room feel like a freezer?”

It was the kind of cold that didn’t just nip at your skin but slithered beneath it, coiling around and settling in your bones.

The fine hairs on my arms stood rigid, and I noticed the room’s dusty, broken window.

I checked my watch. Midnight on the dot.

Maybe the temperature drop is not too unusual for this hour?

I glanced down at my hoodie with a sigh.

I knew I should have at least packed a light jacket, but oh well.

“Hey, Jess,” I muttered, my voice barely audible. “You feel that?”

She didn’t answer. She was focused as her flashlight flickered over the walls, revealing deep gouges in the stone—long, frantic scratches, like something had tried to claw its way out. I looked down. The floor was streaked with dark stains, the concrete pitted and rough underfoot.

“Something is off here.”

Darcy stopped rummaging through his bag and looked up at me, a small smile on his face.

“Interesting…” He took a moment to look around before turning back to me.

“Yes. Something is off here. I can’t sense it to the same level as Jess can, but if you’re picking up on something too… we found the right spot.”

The back of my neck prickled. “Found what?”

Darcy’s smile vanished. He swung his light towards Jess, the beam illuminating her, catching the dust motes swirling around between us. Jess flinched and covered her eyes.

“Jesus, Jess! Did you even tell him why we’re really here tonight?”

Jess bit her lower lip, looking sheepishly at me. In the erratic flashlight’s glow, I could see the guilt lacing her face. Her fingers worried at the frayed edge of her cloak, pulling at the loose threads. Oh no. That was one of her tells. Fuck me. She’d been hiding something…something big.

I let out a loud sigh, shaking my head as I pushed myself up from the cold concrete wall.

My sneakers scraped against the floor as I made my way to the opposite side of the cell.

I sat down across from my friends. “Okay, guys. What exactly was I supposed to know that you both decided to keep me in the dark about?” I winced.

My voice came out much louder than I’d intended, bouncing off the concrete walls in the small space, making the echoes sound much harsher.

I crossed my arms tight against my chest, my fingers digging into my skin. I glared at both of them. “Is someone going to explain it to me? Are we not doing another séance, like last year? And just for the record, I’m not helping you two bury a body, just making that clear. Not crossing that line.”

Jess and Darcy shared a quick look before Jess moved toward me, her blonde curls bouncing with each step—those perfect spirals that always smelled like vanilla and made her look unfairly angelic whenever she pouted.

Oh, that damn pout. With that innocent face and those baby blue eyes, all wide and imploring—a deadly ass combo, may I add—it was impossible to stay mad at her, and she knew it.

She down sat cross-legged in front of me, the hem of her black lace skirt brushing my knees. Before I could react, she reached for my hands and gently pulled them from their defensive position against my chest.

“Lu,” she started.

Fuck me. She was using my nickname…

“That’s not an answer, Jess.” My voice had lost its edge, replaced by something more vulnerable. The draft from earlier returned with a vengeance, slithering down the back of my hoodie like cold fingers.

“Fine! We-we’re summoning a demon tonight.

” Jess’s voice dropped to a hushed whisper.

“Or at least, we’re going to attempt it.

” Jess gestured around us at the decaying walls.

“That’s the real plan for tonight. No ghosts this year.

The veil between our world and the other side is weakest on Halloween.

And according to our sources, we needed a place with suffering—anger, hatred, lots of negative energy. So, we picked this place.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me all this because...?”

“I dunno...” She forced a laugh, but it came out brittle, crackling at the edges.

“We didn’t want to scare you off. This is kind of our thing now, right?

Our little Halloween tradition. Even if this time it’s.

..well, more serious. Like, really serious.

We still wanted to keep it fun and have you here with us. ”

“Oh. Oh.” I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. They thought I’d be scared? I was low-key offended. “And why would I be scared? Worst case scenario, we get busted by cops again. Not, you know, get eviscerated by an actual fucking demon?”

Jess reached out and squeezed my knee, her grip just shies of painful. “Lu.” Her dark eyes locked onto mine, unblinking. I swallowed. Fuck, she was serious about this. “We won’t let anything happen to you. We promise.”

In theory, those words should have been comforting, but the way she dug her nails into my leg through my jeans told a different story.

Jess suddenly sprang to her feet, clapping her hands together with forced cheer. “Okay, boys! Now that we’re all on the same page,” she shot me a pointed look, “let’s get summoning!”

Darcy snorted. “Yes, ma’am.”

And just like that, the tension shattered.