Robin: "And we're so happy to have you!"
Leander: "..."
Robin: "...Well, I am."
You eat breakfast with your aunt, help her clear the table, and leave for school.
Grey Springs - Outskirts
You zone out as you walk the usual way to school; it's only been a few days but you're already getting so used to it it feels like you could walk this route with your eyes closed. Then you hear someone calling your name behind you. You turn around, and see Julian hurrying towards you, with Ezra following at a more relaxed pace behind him.
Julian
"Are you ready are you ready are you ready?" He's out of breath and he gives you an intense look as if he's asking you something important. You're not sure how to react.
Ezra
"Don't pay attention to him," he says with a sigh, a tired smile on his face. "He'll be like this until we actually get to the club, then get bored within the first five minutes and never talk about it again."
Julian
"That's not true! I'm gonna act so invested."
Ezra
"You are going to act invested?"
Julian speeds up his pace, he doesn't react to Ezra, almost like he didn't hear him. He chants "Let's go let's go let's go" as he does so; you wonder if he's saying it for you and Ezra or just himself. Ezra sighs again.
Ezra
"He's good fun when he's not obsessed with a girl, I swear."Afternoon - After school
You're packing up your stuff to get ready to go to the occult club meet. It's taking you a little longer than expected as Julian knocked all of his books out of his bag onto the floor and you're helping him put them back. Robin is diligently waiting at the door of the classroom.
Robin
Do you need some help...?
Julian
No, we're ready!
He jumps up and follows her to the door in a hurry. You're left following him, feeling slightly irritated, as you're holding one of his books you didn't have time to put back in its place. Julian absentmindedly takes it from you as you prod him in the side with it, his eyes don't leave Robin for a second.
Julian
Where's the club room at anyway? Don't think I've ever passed it in the halls. Or maybe I just didn't see the sign on the door, that's possible too.
Robin smiles, though she looks a little uncomfortable.
Robin
It's in an odd place, I guess. It's on the basement floor, where the music and science classrooms are.
Julian
I didn't know there was a space for a club room down there...
Robin
Well, there kinda isn't... You'll see.
She gestures you to follow. This will be your first time seeing the basement of the school; you'd noticed the stairs go a floor below ground floor, but you haven't been down there yet. Your old school didn't even have basement classrooms. You can't help but think it sounds a little eerie. It seems you're not alone in feeling a little unnerved; Julian seems quite on edge as well. His earlier smile has disappeared, though he's just as jittery as before.
Robin leads you down the stairs, to the end of the hall, to a door with a small plaque on it that reads "occult club". Some stars and moons have been shoddily drawn on the door with a golden marker. You're pretty sure in reality it's the door to a utility closet; and when Robin opens the door you see you weren't far off; the room is cramped despite only featuring a table, six chairs and one tall bookcase that's filled to the brim with books and folders. Two of the chairs are occupied, on one side you spot Ezra who gives you a small nod, and on the other side sits Leander, wearing his familiar scowl. It looks like the two were having an uncomfortable conversation before the three of you arrived.
Robin leads you down the stairs, to the end of the hall, to a door with a small plaque on it that reads "occult club". Some stars and moons have been shoddily drawn on the door with a golden marker. You're pretty sure in reality it's the door to a utility closet; and when Robin opens the door you see you weren't far off; the room is cramped despite only featuring a table, six chairs and one tall bookcase that's filled to the brim with books and folders. Two of the chairs are occupied, on one side you spot Ezra who gives you a small nod, and on the other side sits Leander, wearing his familiar scowl. It looks like the two were having an uncomfortable conversation before the three of you arrived.
Julian
Wow, um. Cozy space you got here.
Robin
The Occult club's never been a big club so they haven't given us a lot of space to work with. We've tried to make it as nice as we can!
The room is decked out in occult themed decorations, and someone (you suspect Robin) has strung fairy lights all over the room. You have to admit, it does look pretty inviting, if cramped. Julian and you take a seat next to Ezra. Robin sits down across from you, next to Leander. You swear you see him briefly make eye contact with her and shake his head, but it's such a small motion you're not sure.
Robin
"Here we are! Thanks everyone for joining, you've saved us, literally!" She smiles brightly. Leander crosses his arms and sits back in his chair, his eyes averted from you and your friends. "Um, so, I guess we'll do a little introductory round first? I know everyone here is only from two different classes, but maybe you can share a little bit about why you joined." She gives Julian a particularly toothy grin, though it also looks a little like she's ready to tear into him. Julian doesn't seem to pick up on that, however.
Julian: "Hey, I just thought it'd be fun!"
Robin: "I didn't realise you felt so pressured... Well, I hope you'll still have fun regardless."
Leander: "The club only had two people in it before you joined, there's better ones to join if you want to make friends."
Robin: "Come on Lea, don't be such a downer."
Julian
"Um, I'm Julian Weaver. I don't really know about ghosts and stuff but like, I thought I'd help save the club."
Ezra
"Ezra. You all already know me, I don't think there's much else to say. But occult stuff sounds interesting, so I'm game."
Robin has to prod Leander to get him to say anything. Even then he still seems annoyed.
Leander
"We run the club, why do we have to do intros... Ugh, fine. I'm Leander Goya. Robin and I have been running this club for the past two years. Take it seriously."
Robin
"...Thank you, Lea. I'm Robin, but all of you know that already! I took over the club from the previous leader when she graduated. We like to look into anything occult related, but recently we've really been into demonology specifically."
Julian
"Did you just call him Lea?"
Leander
"She did. What of it?"
Julian
"You don't think that sounds kind of girly? I mean-"
Leander
"No."
Leander's eyes are locked on Julian, it's as if he's trying to bore a hole in his skull with his stare. Julian quickly looks away.
Julian
"N-never mind."
Robin
"...Anyway! We think we found something really compelling before summer break." She pulls a small book out of her bag and puts it on the table, along with some white chalk. "There's a ritual in this book for opening a portal into another dimension, and every time we've tried it something weird has happened. But we never quite figured out how to actually make it work..."
Ezra
"Weird? Like what?"
Robin
"When we tried it in here the chairs suddenly all shot away from the table into the walls. At Leander's house all the animals went crazy after we finished drawing the sigil, and at my place one of the bookshelves in the store caught on fire. But no sign of the portal."
Julian
"That really happened?"
Leander
"Why would we lie to you about that? Do you think we want you to think we're insane?"
Julian
"No! But we haven't seen it, so yeah it sounds wild! No need to bite my head off over it, geez."
Robin
She places a hand on Leander's shoulder. He slouches down in his seat a little bit, but doesn't seem any less irritated. "Seeing is believing, I understand. Which is why I want to ask you guys to follow me, we think we found where the portal is."
You follow her out of the cramped room, up the stairs, and out of the school. After a few blocks of awkward small talk Robin stops in front of a place you're already familiar with: it's the factory ruins near the train station.
Robin
"It's just through this door. Well, where the door used to be."
You all follow her inside. It's the same space where you saw Temperance when you first arrived, and where Julian scrawled his phone number on the wall. From the corner of your eye you see Julian eyeing the number; you wonder if he's had any luck, but it's doubtful. Ezra is smirking at him.
Robin
"Now I know this might seem crazy, cos it's just a half destroyed factory, but I swear there's something weird about this place." She briefly locks eyes with you, and you give her a knowing look. This seems to strengthen her resolve a little, and she continues. "There's a magpie we've seen around here, and it's... off."
Ezra
"An "off" magpie?"
Leander
"It doesn't act right."
Ezra
"Yes, I know what "off" means..."
Robin
"It's hard to explain. It's almost like... There's something human about it. Ezra, you know I'm afraid of birds right?"
Ezra
"I remember."
Robin
"That's the thing, this one, it doesn't scare me. It doesn't act like a bird."
Robin: "Three heads? I can't say I noticed it having more than one head... But then I never got really close, so maybe..."
Ezra: "Tell me about it. I've been here before but something about it feels kind of eerie this time."
Robin: "You too? It's just so strange, isn't it? I've never seen a bird act like that before."
Julian
"Okay cool so what do we do?"
Robin
"Does any of you know how to draw a circle? We're kind of not very good at it..."
The three of you look at each other. Nobody gives a clear answer; you don't know if you're good at drawing a circle really, you've never had to draw one bigger than a coaster.
Robin
"It's fine, don't worry! This might just take a few tries..."
Robin opens the little book on a specific page somewhere near the middle and her and Leander begin drawing on the floor with chalk. You notice a faint burn mark near the center of where they are drawing. It takes them a couple of tries, but after a little while they have drawn a pretty perfect looking circle, with many strange markings in and around it you've never seen before. You at least expected you might recognise at least some signs from movies or edgy band tees, but you don't. There's a lot of lines ending in odd angles and small circles and arrows.
Ezra
"Can we help...?"
Leander points at his bag, which is sitting against a nearby wall.
Leander
"There's three candles in there, you can place them on the right spots inside the circle and light them. Be careful not to knock them over, that could prove disastrous." His eyes flick up to Julian, who is leaning on the wall with his number on it. "Better not let the little one near."
Julian
"Little one?!"
Robin
"Lea, please..." She gives Leander a rather intense look, which seems to calm him down a bit. It's almost done, she seems to say.
You and Ezra take some time to place the candles and carefully light them. Ezra initially uses his hand to shield the flame from the wind, but as soon as he lights the first candle it seems the air has suddenly become still. You feel a wave of a strange feeling go through the group; everyone seems alert but nobody speaks as Ezra continues to light the candles.
Ezra
"Last one," he says, mostly to break the silence, but all it does is amplify how the atmosphere has taken on something peculiar.
His voice seems to bounce off the walls as if you're in an enclosed space.
The moment the final candle catches the flame from Ezra's match, all three candles suddenly flare up and the flames shift from their normal yellow tone to a fiercely bright blue. You hear Robin take a sharp inhale of breath, and Julian utters a swear but it's cut off by the sudden darkness that engulfs you all. For a moment you don't know if your eyes are open or closed, you can't see a thing. Then the light of the candles returns, dimly lighting your surroundings and showing your friends are still with you.
The moment the final candle catches the flame from Ezra's match, all three candles suddenly flare up and the flames shift from their normal yellow tone to a fiercely bright blue. You hear Robin take a sharp inhale of breath, and Julian utters a swear but it's cut off by the sudden darkness that engulfs you all. For a moment you don't know if your eyes are open or closed, you can't see a thing. Then the light of the candles returns, dimly lighting your surroundings and showing your friends are still with you.
Ezra
"What the hell..."
He is clenching one of Julian's sleeves in his fist, as if he expected Julian to slip away from him. You can see the outlines of Robin and Leander standing on the other side of the circle; the flames flickering in the reflection of their eyes.
Robin
"I knew it would work." She turns to Leander. "Do you think we can use these candles to light our way?"
Leander
"Only one way to find out." He turns to you and the other boys. "I'll take one, you and shorty can take the other two. YOU-" he suddenly raises his voice as he addresses Ezra, "do not touch them."
Julian
"Why can't he touch them?"
Leander
"Just do as we say."
Julian
"Jesus, fine..."
Julian picks up one of the candles and hands it to you, then picks up the last remaining one. You begin walking, simply following Leander, but the light of the candles doesn't seem to reveal anything new in the darkness. There's a smell of dust and something else, something strangely familiar that you can't quite place. It's not unpleasant, but it feels out of place despite your struggle to identify what it is to begin with. Ezra is walking right behind you; Julian behind him. While everyone else seems relatively fine considering the circumstances you can hear Ezra's breathing becoming less steady. When he finally speaks up he's stammering, almost as if he's freezing.
Ezra
"This feels bad. We shouldn't be here. Do you know how we can get out?"
Robin
"It's okay Ezra, I promise. Something will appear soon."
Ezra
"It's coming."
The abrupt change in Ezra's demeanor alarms you. Robin tries to reach out to him, as do you, but he jerks away from your outstretched hands, his eyes are so wide the flames of the candles almost look like they're dancing inside of them.
Ezra
"H-help me! They're here!"
You feel a sudden shift in the air nearby, as if a massive object moved rapidly towards you, like a train passing the platform you're standing on at full speed. It knocks you all off your feet and makes the flames flicker wildly. When you open your eyes again, you see a giant door has appeared in front of you. It exudes a bright light, and you can barely make out the relief on the doorframe that tells you it's shut. But your attention is quickly pulled away from it.
Ezra is grabbing at his throat and gasping for air. Julian scrambles over to him on his hands and knees.
Ezra is grabbing at his throat and gasping for air. Julian scrambles over to him on his hands and knees.
Leander
"Don't touch him!"
Julian
"Fuck off! You can't tell me what to do!" He turns to Ezra and tries to pull his hands off his throat with trembling fingers; he wants to help but doesn't know what is going on with his best friend. "I-I think there's something stuck in his throat... Yon, help me get him up!"
Robin
"There is nothing in his throat."
Robin's tone is so cold it startles you and Julien and you look up at her. She is glaring down at you; the change in her demeanor is so stark you feel like you're looking at someone you've never met before.
Leander
"Seriously, let go of him before they take you instead."
Julian
"No..." He turns back to Ezra, though his earlier fire seems to have left him.
Ezra is still breathing with difficulty, but his hands have relaxed somewhat, and he is no longer grasping at his throat. His eyes are staring at nothing, his eyelids flutter softly. He almost looks like he's about to fall asleep.
Julian
"W-we have to call a doctor!"
Robin
"No we don't. A doctor can't do anything about this." Her hands ball into fists at her sides. "This isn't how this was supposed to go."
Leander
"I warned you this was dangerous. I said we shouldn't do this."
Robin
"Then why did you come along anyway?" She snaps at him. Unlike you and Julian Leander doesn't seem affected by Robin's anger.
Leander
"To protect you." He points at the three of you on the ground. "And them. I wasn't going to let you go alone."
The two of them start bickering. Meanwhile Julian is trying to wake Ezra up, who is breathing steadily but unresponsive. He has gone limp, and his eyes are closed.
You need to get out of here. You're about to yell this at everyone else, when a new voice cuts through the commotion.
You need to get out of here. You're about to yell this at everyone else, when a new voice cuts through the commotion.
???
"Do you guys want to get out of here or what?"
Everyone looks at the source of the voice and abruptly goes silent. In front of you sits the three headed magpie, looking up at you, waiting for a reply.
???
"I can leave you to it if you want, but you'd probably die pretty soon." He points at Ezra with one wing. "Plus we should probably do something about that guy. I can help with that too!"
Robin
"I-it's you..."
???
"Yes! I've been following you all for a while. But only two of you ever noticed me. That hurt my feelings!"
Leander
"You said you could get us out of here. Please."
???
"Good! I'll get to it then!" The magpie hops closer to Robin. "Can you please give me your chalk?" She meekly drops it in front of the bird with a trembling hand. "Thamkmyoo," it responds with the chalk in its beak as it hops a few steps away. It mumbles something else and drops the chalk on the ground. "Yeah, this isn't gonna work. Give me a sec..."
The magpie flies into the shadows. The flutter of it's wings abruptly stops, as if it suddenly vanished. Then you hear footsteps, and someone steps out of the shadows. He bends down and picks up the chalk. He gets to work drawing a circle around you all, doing his best to ignore your stares.
???
"Please don't ask, I really don't have time to explain."
He continues with the sigil, drawing an effortlessly perfect circle and adding in the runes with practiced ease. He steps inside before finishing the final sigil. The candles briefly flare up again, and your surroundings rapidly shift once again.
You find yourself back inside the ruins. The candles have gone out. The magpie is once again a three headed bird.
You find yourself back inside the ruins. The candles have gone out. The magpie is once again a three headed bird.
???
"Excellent. Now, we should probably do something about him," he says, nodding at Ezra who is still lying on the floor.
Julian
"They did something to him." He still hasn't left Ezra's side.
Robin
"You chose to come along," she hisses back.
Julian gets to his feet. He walks up to Robin with fire in his eyes; her icy look is fixed on him.
Julian
"We did you a favor. You knew this was gonna happen, didn't you?!"
Robin
"A favor? Do you think I didn't know you had ulterior motives for joining the club? You didn't even pretend to care, your real reason for joining was so obvious. Do you even know my last name? Are you even interested in anything about me aside from the fact that you think I'm pretty?" Robin does not allow a moment for Julian to cut in, to barely even take a breath. It's almost as if you can see him shrink in front of her. "Yes I knew something might happen here today. I knew it was dangerous. And you were bait. If you don't see me as a person, I don't have to treat you as one either."
Robin
"I didn't expect Ezra to get attacked..." she adds a little more quietly after a moment.
Julian
"So me and Yon were fair game." he sounds like all the energy has left him.
The ruins are quiet for a moment, though there is an uncomfortable density in the air; almost like a thick humidity. Then the magpie breaks the silence once again with a loud tacking noise.
???
So do you guys wanna save your friend or should I leave you here to your petty fight?
Julian
"Should we call an ambulance?"
???
"Nah, that'll do no good. He'd just be harder to exorcise if we only have access to him during visiting hours."
Julian
"Exorcise? What?"
???
"I'll explain, but it's probably better to move him somewhere safe first before someone stumbles upon this little scene."
Julian
"We can't take him home like this... We could bring him to my house, he stays over all the time so his parents shouldn't immediately get suspicious. And my parents both work night shifts so they're not going to see us carry him in."
Leander crouches beside Ezra and carefully lifts him onto his back. Ezra's arms hang limply over his shoulders. He turns to Julian.
Leander
"Okay mouse, show us where you live."
Julian doesn't seem to have it in him to respond to Leander and simply obeys his command.
Julian
"It's not far."
The magpie follows you through the air, to Julian's house. Leander carries Ezra up the stairs, and you and Robin follow behind, Julian sets up a second bed next to his own with a mattress and a well-worn sheet he pulled out from under his bed.
Leander
"Good. Now that's taken care of I'm leaving."
Robin
"What? But we don't even know what happened-"
Leander
"Ezra is possessed. I've already involved myself too much with these forbidden practices, I'm not waiting around for that demon bird to return."
Robin
"Lea-"
Leander turns away and leaves Julian's room, closing the door behind him. Robin sighs. You think you spy a little guilt on her face. Then you hear a light tapping on the window. The magpie is back. You walk over and open the window.
???
I see you've found a place to let him rest, that's good. You probably won't have to tie him down, but if you have materials to do so around it'd be smart.
Julian
"Tie him down?!"
???
"Hey where's the tall guy gone?"
Robin
"He stormed off. I'll try talking to him later." She's taken a seat on the edge of Julian's bed.
???
"Aw, I liked him. But that's okay, we shouldn't need him to excorsise your friend."
???
"Now I can't really assess the damage from outside, but considering he's unconscious it's definitely more than one spirit in there. It might take some work to get him back to normal." He makes a sound that sounds like a chuckle. "Well, as normal as one can be after being possessed."
Robin
"Okay, so what do we actually do to get him to wake up?"
???
"Eh, you can't really do anything now except observe him for the night. It's not safe to try anything until I'm certain what we're dealing with. Plus I need some help... Meet me tomorrow, at the ruins, same time as today."
Julian
"Okay, we'll be there." He briefly looks at Robin, and then at you. "Well, me and Yon will be there."
Robin
"So will I! Ezra is my friend too, I never wanted this to happen!"
Julian
"Oh yeah, if it'd been me or Yon lying there it'd have been fine though, right?"
Robin
"That's not-"
???
"Look, I know you guys aren't best friends right now or whatever, but if you wanna get your friend back you gotta get over yourselves for a bit, okay? Save the drama for later."
Neither Robin or Julian say anything to this, they just look at the bird and eventually resign themselves to its advice if they want to get Ezra back. Robin has gotten up off the edge of the bed, she's now standing next to the door, looking ready to leave.
Robin
"Okay. Tomorrow evening at the factory ruins. Got it."
???
"Good!" The bird flies back to the window, makes to leave, but then turns around. "By the way, what're your names? I have no idea what to call any of you."
Julian
"I'm Julian, that's Ezra, over there's Yon." He points at each of you as he says your names.
Robin
"I'm Robin. Leander left." She's holding onto the doorhandle; you can tell she feels quite alone.
???
Good! Nice to meet you guys. You can call me Solomon!
And with that he flies off.
You hear the bedroom door close shortly after, the only goodbye Robin gives you as she flees the Weaver residence. Julian checks on Ezra. It's only now you notice Ezra's hair has gone completely white.
Julian
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I... need a while to process all of this, I think."
You nod, so do you. You leave Julian alone with Ezra and walk home. The rest of the evening your motions and thoughts feel mechanical, all you can think about is what happened in the ruins, but you can't quite process it. You go to bed and try to tell yourself to get some rest, that tomorrow will bring answers, but it's hard to convince yourself.