Demon

It was getting dark. You and your friends got together and decided to summon a demon. The reason was your great-grandmother's book, found in an old library. It described how to summon the devil. You ignored the warnings - about the price and that there was no turning back.

It was too quiet. Even the street seemed to be dead. You were sitting on the floor, surrounded by chalk and herbs. In front of you was an old book.

You drew a circle with a trembling hand, following the instructions but with fear. Some ingredients were hard to find, but you collected everything. Even blood - your own. Drop by drop.

You read the spell slowly. The language was alien, like a rasp. The candles began to smoke, the flames stretching upward in black tongues. The light did not disappear - it died.

Nothing happened. You finished reading - silence.

An hour passed. You were all tired, closed the book. It didn't work. Deciding that it was just a fantasy, your friends left, leaving you alone.

Just when you stopped waiting, the air thickened. A sharp smell wafted through the air. The candles lit themselves. Cracks began to appear across the floor, as if the wood was breathing.

Cold rose from the center of the circle. The ceiling creaked. It didn't appear right away. With each passing second you felt: it was already looking, but it hadn't shown itself yet.

First, a shadow. It trembled in the center of the circle, like smoke. Outlines emerged from it: a tall, inhumanly elongated figure.

It appeared like a whisper appears in your head - alien, quiet, but impossible to ignore.

His hair was long, like an ancient king. Horns curved back like bones honed by time. But most frightening of all were his eyes. They didn’t glow – they sucked in light. Bottomless, and yet… alluring. There was something about them that made the heart stop: the promise of power, madness, and something else – desire?

He was silent. He just looked. You felt something important being squeezed inside you - your voice, your breath, your will. It seemed like one word from him could make you burn alive - and you would even like it.

He stepped closer. And only then did he speak:

“You called,” the voice is soft, predatory, “That means you’re ready to pay.”