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The Summons by Melissa Lopez
Copyright © 2005 Melissa Lopez
"You were wrong, Dr. Durston," the voice whispered to Morgan from the trees at his right. His hand froze on the sliding door he'd just closed. He stood still, senses on alert. Inside, Kali pawed at the glass and whined. This had to be what had her stirred up. She'd been off kilter since they'd arrived home moments ago.
"It's still here."
Recognizing the voice of Addison Day, an old client, his heart rate eased. "Hello, Addison."
"This time, you'll make it go away, won't you?" Her voice wavered. His sense of empathy picking up her emotions, her fear swirled around him. His fingers twitched in a need to reassure.
His teeth caught his tongue in a nervous habit. So the evil spirit had returned. Persistent sonofabitch. Addison had experienced a paranormal phenomenon. A few weeks ago, she'd bought an old home already inhabited by an earthbound spirit. The spirit had been friendly, saying "hi" and being playful. Addison's attention had invited more spirits, opening up a hole big enough for a demonic spirit to emerge.
He could have sworn he'd cleared the house and once he'd finished the job – damn, he should have checked on her. With the chaos in the world and all the unsettled ghosts rising, he'd gotten tied up elsewhere.
"Has it hurt you?" He turned toward her when she didn't answer. "Have you been physically harmed?" He moved in her direction, only to stop at her inhaled breath.
"Yes." She shifted nervously.
"Raped?" He hated to ask, but knew it couldn't be put past an evil spirit.
"No. Not that way. A few bruises. It terrifies me."
"I'm sorry." Why hadn't he checked in one last time? Busy was no excuse.
While in his circles, he was known as a leading authority on ghost hunting... his experience with demonic spirits was sadly lacking. His theory was that demonic ghosts most often killed before moving on. No chance of a removal if a human didn't report the ghostly being.
"No one believes me..." Her voice broke. Morgan took another step forward and awkwardly took her into his arms. Not any good at this side of his profession, he patted her back. His sixth sense guided his movements. She needed consoling. He'd offer what he could.
After a minute or two, her trembling stopped. Her hands brushed up his chest to wipe her eyes. "I tried calling."
Frowning, Morgan eased back a step. "My service didn't give me a message."
"No. I told them it wasn't important and hung up." Addison's now husky voice grew stronger. "I had hoped." She sighed. "I don't know what I had hoped, and your service said you were out of reach."
Yes. He'd been in Italy supervising a haunt investigation. Often, others in his line of work asked him to sit in. "I'm here now. Give me ten minutes, and we can head over to your place."
Morgan opened the car door once it stopped, and Kali bounded out to settle within his reach. He unfolded from the tight interior space and straightened. Immediately, the presence taunted him, just outside his natural radar.
Kali whined, brushing his leg.
"Hush." He needed all his senses on alert without any distractions. The hair along his forearms prickled. The air was too chilly. Something wasn't right. He waited until Addison came around the car and joined him. "What color is the sky above your home?"
"Dark." Her voice came out low, hesitant.
His teeth clenched. She couldn't have... wouldn't have. "Addison, this is no ordinary evil spirit, is it?"
A soft sound, a whimper escaped Addison.
Kali growled menacingly, his hand tightened on her leash. "Answer me."
"Oh, God, what have I done?"
Kali launched herself toward Addison, but he held her in check. Muscles strained in his forearm and shoulder. "Enough, Kali. Or I'll put you in the car." His companion came to heel at his side.
"She... she's not a... she doesn't act like a normal sight dog." Her voice trailed off with a soft breath. Her heels scraped cement. "Is she a wolf hybrid?"
"Hybrid or not, Kali is mine. Now tell me what you've done." He urged Kali toward the house, where the air turned even colder. A wolf howled in the distance, and Kali danced anxiously before settling. Her brethren had arrived. They never ceased to surprise him with their nearness. But their never failing protection couldn't help him now.
"I didn't know what else to do. I...I didn't want to call you." Heels clicked alongside him. "I... I didn't know it was possible."
"Did you cast a spell or simply invite him in?"
"I... I... Oh, God... I didn't know it'd come." Nearby trees stirred. "It was only a game."
He grunted. A game. Risk and ignorance was always a dangerous combination.
At the door, he stopped walking. "Who did you summon?"
Thunder rumbled overhead, nearly drowning out her whisper. "Lucifuges." A chill raced along his nerve endings.
Lucifuges.
Kali whined, pulling on the lead.
Morgan's feet seemed rooted to the pavement step. He could offer none of them any shelter from the malicious being. He didn't know the rituals of power to control a demon. Had never wanted to know.
Truth and faith were the only things on his side. Neither would provide deliverance or protection against a demon.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. What did he know about this particular being? Lucifuges shunned the light of day.
Vindictive.
Close to the devil himself.
His head pounded as his senses all overloaded. Wind stirred, rushing in his ears. There had to be more. Why target one lone woman when there were others in a better position to lead misguided souls astray?
"Why, Addison? Why did you contact me again instead of a demonologist, or at least a priest?" He helped lost souls find their way, extradited evil spirits. Solved mysteries. Demons were not in his job description.
"I'm so sorry. It made me." She broke off on a sob. His chest tightened with contempt and fear.
Kali growled, and he kept a close rein on her.
The wind turned ferocious. It beat against his shirt and jeans, blowing his hair across his face.
Who was he to judge? He relaxed as compassion replaced the anger. Only the very strong withstood a demon.
The door opened when Morgan turned the knob. He left Addison alone on the porch steps. He'd have preferred silence, but her tears wouldn't stop anymore than the blowing storm outside. Rage was everywhere, the house vibrated with it.
He knelt on one knee just inside the doorway. Kali licked his face. "Listen girl, stay with Addison. Go to your brethren if something happens." He removed the lightweight harness, quickly shoving what he could of it into his pocket.
Kali whined and nudged his shoulder, treating him with another show of affection. "Go on." He stood, listened, and waited until he heard her paws on the cement outside the door before closing it.
Kali growled, immediately pawing at the door.
He no sooner turned when an obnoxious odor invaded his nostrils. He gagged, fighting for control.
Lord, give me strength.
A harsh laugh vibrated along the walls. It rang in his eardrums, turning his stomach. "Look who has come to play." The gravely rough voice hung dead ahead. Eerily close.
He shivered. His senses, fine-tuned over a lifetime of perfecting them, were failing. Every living being and non-living matter gave off energy. He could feel when he approached a person, or a stonewall.
Now, he sensed nothing. Only a vile stink surrounded him.
"So, Doctor, tell me, what's it like to be blind?" the demon whispered into his ear.
He winced at the sharpness of the voice. His sensitive ears itched from the abuse. "No need to see you, your stench is a strong calling card. So, you wanted me here, to ask me that?"
Something wet and rough brushed up along his neck. "Do you know how you've annoyed us?" Bile rose in his throat. "Always getting in our servants' way when we send them on a mission."
So that was it, he'd stepped on a few toes. Vindication swelled in his chest; his abilities weren't evil as his mother had repeatedly accused. He was on the side of good and he was succeeding.
Movement sounded behind him accompanied by the click of metal. Hooves, he guessed. Clickedy-clack. Clickedy-clack. He trembled with nervousness. What could he do against this evil?
Maybe truth and faith were enough.
Gabriel. A guardian against harm and evil.
"Do you really think he can protect you against me?" Morgan's feelers picked up on traces of fear and doubt mixed in the demon's taunt. Another swipe of its harsh tongue skimmed along the other side of his neck. His head swam with the knowledge Lucifuges could kill with either touch or breath, and read his mind at will.
Archangels were the sentinels between humans and demons, always in constant battle with the Sons of Darkness. Gabriel could save him, if it was in his destiny.
"Gabriel!" His chest vibrated with the force of his summons. Like a demon, an angel could be summoned in time of need. "Gabriel!"
Lucifuges shrieked.
For the first time since he was a small child, light appeared within his vision. An angel. Morgan's eyes remained closed, but there was no escaping the intense glow.
Gabriel tsked.
Lucifuges roared. The entire house shook, shattering the windowpanes. Morgan's arms came up in reflex to protect his head from flying debris.
Gabriel chanted ancient words he couldn't decipher among the sounds of enraged screeches. Objects flew about him and towards the avenging angel as the demon tried to thwart his efforts.
The sky rumbled. The temperature in the house rose as if the gates of hell had been opened within it. Sweat beaded on his forehead and chest. Morgan's skin heated as if he was being roasted alive, but still he kept his position, held his faith the angel could succeed.
"Back to the Netherworld with you," Gabriel commanded. With one last scream of madness that seemed to shatter in a million shrieks, the demon vanished in a puff of sulfuric smoke that burned Morgan's nose. The house cooled and the light diminished. And it too soon disappeared.
Kali leaped through an empty window to skid across the room to him. He dropped to his knees and placed his forehead to his companion's.
Sirens blared in the distance. Kali whined as he replaced the harness. No one was going to believe this one.
Outside Kali led him past Addison. "My God, my house... It looks like a tornado went through it."
He nodded. "That's what it sounded like too."
"Is that our story?"
"Well..." He rocked back on his heels. "It's been my experience that the unbelieving aren't likely to start believing. And your insurance is more likely to pay out for a tornado."
Addison laughed almost hysterically.
The scene around them erupted. Police and news crews littered her yard. Morgan separated himself from them, and the turmoil they were causing to his senses. So far, they seemed to be buying the tornado alibi. It was so much easier to believe Mother Nature could target a single house than a demonic presence had been involved.
Kali led him to a tree. He rested against it and scratched her ears, letting her presence calm him. Inside his jacket pocket, his cell phone rang. "Hello." His voice rasped with exhaustion. "Dr. Durston speaking."
"The ghost hunter from the Internet?" A male voice with a heavy French accent asked.
"One and the same," he replied, stifling a yawn.
"J'ai besoin de votre aide," the voice continued anxiously.
Morgan scrubbed his face with a hand. The French registered. It had been a while since he'd heard it spoken. He crouched down to hug Kali closer, digging his hand into her fur. It never seemed to end. "Give me the details."
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