Chapter 32: Ice Cream

Chapter 32: Ice Cream

I pushed the door open. To my surprise, Matei was still there. Mila and Anton sat with him at the table eating straight from the tub of ice cream. I gritted my teeth and smiled warmly.

"There you are!" Mila jumped to her feet. "We waited a long time for you." She rushed over waving a spoon in my face. "You have to try this. We found butterscotch."

My eyebrows rose. Butterscotch ice cream was impossible to find on the shelf. I'd only ever made it at home. It was definitely my favorite. I couldn't help myself and accepted the spoon. I joined them at the table. Matei and I shared a glance. I slapped the spoon on my tongue and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Where did you go?" Mila asked.

I pulled the spoon from my mouth. "I got a phone call, then had to go pick up something."

Mila waited for more information, but when I didn't offer it, she turned to Matei. "How long are you visiting for, Daddy?"

He shook his head. "Not long, pumpkin. I just had some business to take care of and thought I would stop by while I was in town. I have to head over to the bar in a little bit."

Mila's lip pouted. "That's too bad."

Both Matei's and Anton's heads turned slightly to her. Even I felt what she had said was out of character. She should be crying, begging, or something, but again, the darkness just made her feel weird.

She smiled at them. "I'm so excited you got to visit and make us dinner!" She said excitedly, drawing her attention away from her previous reaction. She bounced up to her feet again then wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Matei stood and held her in a bear hug, seeming to forget the awkwardness. "Alright, little munchkin, I have to go." He offered an arm out to Anton and wrapped in him a hug, too. He looked at me and nodded.

I glared.

He gave me a sad look. "It was nice to meet you, Kira."

He pried Mila off of him and then left out the door with a few more hugs and much more goodbye-ing.

When the door finally closed, the mood dropped to depressing. It felt like the life had been sucked out of me. Both Anton and Mila looked similar. I wondered if that had anything to do with the incubus nature of Matei, or if it was only sex that regenerated him. For that matter, did Anton, Mila, and I all have the same nature? Did we feed off others' energy, too? Did I...

My thoughts were derailed as Mila sighed and plopped heavily in the dining chair. The chair creaked and wobbled, but did not collapse. It was such a Mila thing to do, I hesitated. Maybe it really was her. Then she tilted her head, reminding me again, the darkness had her.

I guess now was as good a time as any. I was ready for this whole business to be done with.

"Hey Mila, why don't we go for a walk," I suggested.

Her eyes lifted to mine. I would normally expect to see some joy like an excited puppy dog, but instead I saw dark cunning in her eyes. Did the darkness know what was about to happen? Was this a trap?

I pushed my worries aside. What choice did I have? I had to save my friend, right?

"Where are we going?" She asked, her voice sounding actually excited. But again, it wasn't in it's usually way. "It's pretty late."

"It's a surprise. Let me just get a few things together first. Go dress warmly."

She nodded and scurried off.

I went to the kitchen and picked up the discarded bloodied towel, then to my bedroom and found my long sleeve shirt with my mother's blood on the sleeve. I grabbed the vial of father's blood, too, just in case. I retrieved the black knife from under my pillow and slipped it into my bag, too. I had no idea where it'd come from, but I caught myself looking at it a little too long. Is snapped out of it then dressed in a dark hoodie and jeans. Mila popped out of the bathroom just as I dumped the items into my tote bag.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Of course! I love surprises!" She bounced up and down on her feet.

She followed me to the front room where she donned a jacket and a pack.

"What's in the bag?" I asked.

"What's in your bag?" She countered.

"It's a surprise."

"Then me, too."

I quirked an eyebrow at her, but decided not to fight. I just wanted to get this business done and over with. I wanted my friend back already.

I led her down the stairs of our apartment complex and to the sidewalk. We walked while Mila talked about nothing. Something about puppies, I think. I was so focused on remembering the words on the paper. I didn't hear a thing she was saying.

After a time, we made it to the park. The night was dark. I used the flashlight to light our path. Mila produced one, too. We entered the trees as I led Mila deeper into the park. I felt like I was leading her somewhere to get murdered. A cold shiver ran up my spine. Maybe I was...

Mila was oddly silent as she followed behind me. The trail closed in. The tree's thickened until I found the clearing. The six tall thick oak trees stood ominously. The circle I had drawn still lay untouched. I stopped at the edge of the circle. Mila stopped behind me.

"Are we going to play a game?" Mila asked.

I swung around. I felt like I was being bated by the darkness.

"Yes. Close your eyes," I said and took her hands. Mila obeyed. I led her into the center of the circle. "Sit here."

Again she obeyed, sitting cross-legged at the very center. I put my phone on the ground and earbuds in her ears. "Listen to this song then come find me."

"Ooh! Hide and seek. My favorite!" She cooed. She unstrapped the backpack and set it on the ground next to her. I gave it a glanced, but decided against moving it. Hopefully it wouldn't mess up the spell.

I placed the bloodied items on the points of the star, and the campfire items on the other points. I sprinkled pine needles all over the circle, then took the knife from my pack and cut the bottom of my hand open. My bloodied hand held the paper. It trembled as I read it. I was still surprised the words were in English. I was expecting Latin or some hard to pronounce gibberish.

"I seek the power of Azserroke, Demon of the Darkness. Bring to me my other half, my blood, my soul, my sister in the womb. I offer you the blood to seek my desire. I offer you the power of this soul."

The words seemed very straight forward and simple. I didn't know how all this mumbo jumbo worked, but if it was supposed to be straight forward, that wasn't exactly how I would have put it.

The blood from my hand dripped on the bottom point of the star. Mila's body went rigid. Her mouth lifted to the sky in a terrible scream that raised goosebumps to my skin. The circle and symbols within glowed an eerie green.

The forest dimmed under the starlight. The night descended like a cloud, blotting out everything but the circle and Mila's horrible form sitting frozen at the center. The scream pierced my ears, alerting my flight center that I needed to run for my life and piss my pants all at once. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot even though everything in my body was flinching in utter horror of what I was watching.

A wispy gold cloud drew out of Mila's scream, like the sound itself was producing it. The black cloud of darkness dropped from the sky at the center and enveloped the gold wisp, then sunk lower to envelope Mila's body.

Something didn't feel right. I tried to scream. I tried to move. I think I had just made a mistake.

The darkness billowed outward, masking all light from the circle. My vertigo took over. I swayed, but couldn't move to catch my balance. I felt like I was falling even though I wasn't moving. My stomach took over, swirling with nausea. It was more than I could handle, and I dry heaved in the utter blackness. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Like the cloud was suffocating me. It felt cold and lifeless. The black swirl on my arm burned to life at its touch, pulsing an inky black. It seared my arm with ice as pain danced up my arm.

It was too much. I tried to scream. I tried to say anything. The only thing I could think of was the one person I could almost possibly trust.

"Remi! Remi! Remi..." I couldn't say it. No sound would come out. Only Mila's dying scream could be heard. The words died on my lips, but my lips kept saying it.

Remi, Remi, Remi...