Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
JOSH
After an evening spent snuggling on my couch watching movies, then a night of explosive fireworks, Ewan left early Sunday morning to see to the animals while I sent a message through the demon website to NEDDT.
I worked hard to achieve the perfect balance of “in need of help” yet not “crazed and desperate,” and I think my message was okay.
But the wait is killing me.
Especially since I don’t even know if NEDDT even got the message. Do they still visit the site? And if they did get it, maybe they’ll decide not to bother replying. Or worst of all, maybe they’ll reply, but whatever they say will be useless to us and we’ll be back at the beginning.
After two full days of waiting and checking my emails every half hour, sometimes more, I’m a nervous wreck. And tonight is my first official date with Ewan.
He suggested we head to the next town over, where there’s apparently a great Korean barbecue place.
I haven’t eaten out since I got here, unless you count dinner at Ewan and Daniel’s or the few times I’ve had a meal in the staff break room, so I’m game to leave the estate and let a good-looking, sexy, sweet guy romance me. But I’m also scared I’ll fuck it up.
Which is why Skye decided to tell me about the worst dates he’s ever had. Kind of like a what-not-to-do. Technically, it’s his day off, but he claimed to be bored and came in to watch TV with the ghosts.
“…and then he told me he’d pay for dinner if I jerked him under the tablecloth,” Skye’s saying. “Ewan’s not that kind of guy, though, so you won’t ever have to worry about that.”
“Until the next guy,” I say gloomily.
He gasps. “Why would you even think that? Things are going to work out for you two and you’ll live happily ever after.”
I study the dreamy expression on his face. “You’re a romantic, aren’t you?”
“How’d you guess?” He laughs. “Seriously, though, I know it’s early days, but you have to think positive. Focus on the good and exciting parts of being together. If it doesn’t work out, fair enough, but don’t borrow trouble.”
He’s right. Just because I’ve never been in a relationship before doesn’t mean things will fail with Ewan.
He’s already seen my bitchy side, and he knows about the ghost thing and is cool with it.
That puts me on a level playing field with every other guy out there for the first time in my life.
I’m still nervous, though. I like Ewan a lot and really want things to go well.
From the reception desk in front of us, my phone makes a weird chiming sound.
My mind is so full of Ewan that it takes me a few seconds to realize that’s the notification sound I allocated to my fake email account.
I snatch it up so fast, I drop it and have to scrabble around on the floor in search.
“What are you doing?” Skye asks bemusedly.
“Phone! Email! Demons!” I gasp, finally returning to my chair with my phone clutched to my chest.
For a moment, he looks confused, but then his eyes go wide and he darts a worried glance around us. Whoops. I used the D word in a public part of the estate.
Luckily, there’s nobody around, and he leans closer as I unlock my phone. Pleeeeease don’t let this be an email from the VPN company… or spam. I swear, if someone’s trying to sell me Viagra, I’m going to have a hissy fit.
But the email that appears on the screen is from the demon-summoning website. You have a new message. Log in to check your messages, it proclaims.
Skye and I look at each other and bolt for the office. There’s no computer at the reception desk, because it doesn’t fit with the historic vibe, and I definitely want a full-sized screen and keyboard for this.
As I log in to the site, Skye adjusts the door so it’s half open and we can see if any guests need us. My hands shake as I type in my username and password, and I must have hit a wrong key, because I get an error message.
Skye groans. “C’mon, Josh. Pull it together.”
Taking a deep breath, I shake out my hands and try again.
You have one new message.
“Yes!” I punch the air in victory, then click through to the private message.
NEDDT:
Sounds like you made a mistake buying that house. I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is, that circle would summon a soul-eater demon. It’s trying to kill you so it can eat your soul. Get out of the house NOW.
Skye and I exchange wide-eyed looks. “Sounds like they know what they’re talking about,” I venture, and he nods.
More bad news: the reason you have a soul-eater on the loose is because the circle is slightly wrong.
Burn that drawing so nobody else can try to use it.
That circle will summon the demon, but it won’t contain it.
The summoner would have no control over the demon and would likely be their first meal.
It wouldn’t even have to kill them first—the summoning bond would make them vulnerable.
“Checks out,” Skye murmurs. “Poor Emma.”
The good news is, it’s possible to banish a soul-eater. You need to find a medium—someone who can talk to ghosts and interact with beings of the otherworld. Try to get proof they can. They’ll need a shitload of salt, quartz, sage, rue, and dill, and…
I read through the rest of the directions carefully.
They’re a lot simpler than I would have expected.
There’s no fancy circle needed, no chants or spells.
I’m not sure what rue is, but dill and sage are herbs, so maybe it’s one too?
The idea seems to be to contain the demon within a circle of salt and quartz and then use the herbs and my power as a medium to banish it.
“Can you do it?” Skye asks. I can feel his gaze on the side of my face.
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “I have questions.” I click into the message thread and begin to type.
HauntedByMistakesOfOthers:
Thank you so much for replying! Please forgive me for taking advantage of your generosity, but I have a few more questions.
1: I know someone who can speak to ghosts, but he’s never been trained as a medium, and he’s never said anything about the otherworld. Would he be able to help me?
2: Where does a banished demon go? Back to where it came from?
I ask a few more technical things about the ritual, then hit Send and sit back in my chair. “Hopefully we don’t need to wait another two days.”
Skye stares at the screen. “More likely less than a few minutes.”
I glance back and see NotEvenDemonsDeserveThis is typing at the bottom of the thread.
“Quick, call Kieran. Tell him everything and ask if he has questions. We might not get this chance again.” We each grab our phones, and while Skye calls Kieran, I shoot a text to Arissa, Ewan, and Daniel.
Arissa’s in her tiny office off the kitchen, but I think Daniel might be doing a farming demo.
He was scheduled for one. Ewan’s probably doing chores, so there’s a chance he’ll see the message and reply.
Skye’s still talking to Kieran, making notes, when Arissa appears in the doorway, breathless. “What’d they say? You can’t just text ‘got a reply’ and nothing else, Josh!” She comes to lean over my shoulder just as my phone chimes.
Ewan:
OMW
“Read for yourself,” I tell Arissa, pointing to the screen. I should get up and let her have the chair so she can see it better, but if I hand over the control seat, I won’t get it back. I haven’t known these people all that long, but definitely long enough to know that much.
The reply pops up a moment later.
NEDDT:
If your friend can talk to ghosts, he can definitely help.
Training to be a medium is usually just an experienced medium teaching a newbie their favorite habits.
Most of the important stuff is instinctive.
And the majority of mediums have never had to interact with the otherworld and don’t know it exists.
No, the demon doesn’t go back to where it came from.
I’m not sure why we say “banish” when we really mean “destroy.” A soul-eater’s energy comes from the souls it consumes.
If it hasn’t been eating lately (try to find out if anyone’s died in the house within the last few years), it’s probably already pretty weak.
And they’re dumb fuckers. It doesn’t really occur to them to leave the place they were summoned to.
So you’ve likely got a weak demon that you’re going to trap with the salt and quartz.
Then your medium is going to sort of squeeze the remaining soul energy out of it, leaving only the demon essence.
The herbs will rip that apart and return it to the universe.
“Does that make sense to you?” Arissa asks. “I was following until the end bit.”
I’m about to say it makes no sense at all—I mean, squeezing? WTF?—when something inside my brain clicks. Not to be all metaphorical or anything, but it’s like a doorway opens and light floods in, only the light is knowledge and understanding.
“I think I get it,” I say slowly, looking at her. Into her. It’s not… “Where are the ghosts?” I want to test something.
“Not sure. Freddie’s probably hounding one of the housekeepers. Want me to check?”
“No need for that,” Hattie says, bustling in with Ewan right behind her. “I saw dear Ewan racing up here and knew something interesting must be happening. What do you need?”
“To look at you, I think.” I study her carefully, and now that I’m searching for it, it’s so readily apparent, I almost want to laugh.
Unlike Arissa’s soul, which is tethered to her physical body, Hattie is her soul.
That’s what a ghost is—the essence of a being contained in the memory of its life.
I can’t believe I never realized that before.
Looking at Hattie, I’m swamped by the understanding of what a medium can do. If I wanted to, I could scatter her mortal memories, and her soul would be forced to move on. Everyone calls it “crossing over,” but suddenly, that doesn’t feel right to me.
I push it aside. There’s time for an existential crisis later.