The Last Swordmaster

The Summoning

I made my way up to my room, taking the claw out of my pocket as soon as I closed the door to my room. After a glance around, I put the claw in the jar of ingredients. It began to bubble, so I closed the lid, watching in a disturbed awe as the claw melted in as well, turning the fluid entirely black. It stopped, and I couldn't help but open the lid, which triggered a gag. Apparently, demons were attracted to things that smelled like a rotten fish burrito. "Damn," I muttered after closing the lid. "Demons are more f'd up than I ever imagined if this smells good to them."

All right, I might have wanted to summon a demon to help me get my revenge through murder, but I was not going to say the f-word. I wasn't that bad yet. 

I looked back at the paper to see the requirements to summon the demon. "Okay, so one pentagram circle thing, splash the liquid fish burrito in the center, and I have to say..." I furrowed my brow and squinted at the Latin on the note. "Creatura noctis conjuro te ut serviant mihi. Veni, et vocatus est respondere." I sighed. "What does that even mean?"

This had to be done on a new moon at midnight, which was tonight. I sighed happily. I'd be able to leave this place. I would soon be free. 

I had four hours, which I used to pack up my clothes, valuable possessions, the knife set I kept under my mattress, and steal nonperishable foods from the kitchen. I took everything I could, meaning pasta, soups, canned fruits, and canned vegetables. I hated canned foods, but I knew I had no other choice. I doubted this demon had any snacks. After everything was in my bag, I had two more hours. Just for a little fun, I carved my name into the wall, cracked the glass on my window, and pretty much ruined things about the room. It's not like I would be using it again. Hopefully. It was the worst room in the house, anyways. Only the most troublesome kids had to use it, with its lack of heating and air conditioning.

One more hour. I decided to start heading out. I knew everyone would be asleep, so I snuck outside of my room.

Turns out that someone snitched on me, because Miss Tivisky was waiting with a furious face outside of my door. Who told? Who even knew? If it was Zach, he'd be getting a beating of a lifetime after this. "Going somewhere?" She hissed.

I giggled in spite of myself, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Of course I am. I'm getting away from you and the rest of you lunatics. I'm never coming back!"

Her face turned tomato red from anger. "Listen, young lady, you aren't goi-"

 I ran past her, and she screamed for someone to catch me. Some of the kids came out of their rooms to see what was happening, but I dodged everyone and jumped out of an open, first story window before anyone could catch me. Thank goodness for track hurdle jumping. I ran until I couldn't run anymore, and when I couldn't, I collapsed by an alley. I looked at my watch. Was I already too late? How long had I been running for? 

Thankfully, I had six minutes until midnight. Perfect. I walked into the dark, empty alley and took my things out of the bag. First, the chalk I stole from the science teacher, then the fish burrito smoothie, and the Latin chanty thing, which had to be done at midnight. I drew my pentagramy thing as quickly as possible, throwing the contents of the jar into the center to make sure I was on time. As soon as my watch turned to midnight, I began to read my slip of paper, and after I was done, I looked up and bit my lip.

Nothing. Nothing at all. I took the jar that once held the black liquid and threw it against a wall. It was all for nothing. I had nowhere to go, now. Oh, I should have known. I was sixteen! Wasn't I old enough to know that these things weren't real? I put my head against the brick wall to my left as a chuckle came from behind me. For a moment, I stood still, registering the noise. No... it couldn't be... did this... work? I spun around to face the source of the human noise.