“Holy shit, mom?!”

I open the book and cast the spell to summon the devil so I can have a conversation but upon summoning I see a cloud of smoke why are they there Are they the devil? How could you be so evil and still, be my friend

Great heavens, I summoned you? How would someone like me Cross paths with something so fowl?

This is it, this is the moment Henry has been working towards all year. The moment he finally summons the devil, the one and only ruler of hell. He won’t admit it but Henry has wanted to meet this fabled creature since he was in middle school. The day he learned that people go to hell to be punished by him. Young Henry had thought to himself, why not bring the devil here so he could watch his foes be punished.

He was so excited to finally be able to do it, he was humming joyfully to himself as he put the last candle in place. Henry did one final look over everything, and then positioned himself just outside the circle drawn on the floor. He began to speak the incantation he’s been memorizing for the past month.

The room started to drop in temperature, and Henry could feel a small breeze blow past his ankles. As he came to the end of the spell, smoke began to form and rise in the center of the room. With a big smile on his face Henry said the final words and there was a bright flash of light. He had covered his eyes as to not go blind, but after a few seconds he looked up ready to finally come face to face with the devil himself.

“Grandma?!” Henry yelled in confusion

Smiling, Henry’s grandmother replied “Oh, Henry sweetie. Hello, how are you?”

There was a short silence, before Henry spoke again. He was trying to understand what just happened.

Finally he spoke up, asking the one question he was hoping would clear up his confusion “How did you get here?”

“You summoned me dear, don’t you remember?” his grandmother said giggling, “Did the bright light erase your memory?” She asked, fully laughing now.

Henry spoke “How am I supposed to get revenge on my enemy’s, if the devil is my grandma?”

His grandmother started laughing heartily before asking “That’s not why you summoned me right?” She looked him in the eyes, “You know better than that, right?”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked, slightly confused by the questions.

His grandmother’s face became serious as she looked at Henry. She didn’t think he could be this stupid, she thought he would do his research before going through with something this big.

After a few moments of silence she finally responded to him “My sweet Henry, when someone summons the devil it’s because they are ready to give up their souls and not be reincarnated any longer.”

Henry just stared at his grandmother, the words she had just spoken not yet clicking in his mind.

The first time I stepped in front of the mirror to find the Devil, I couldn’t believe my own eyes. He dresses like me— walks like me—talks like me. I mean, he is the spitting image of the white skinned and red-brown haired Jesus. The one with the white robe and the blue sash that little kids learn to associate with Jesus at vacation bible school and Sunday services.

And even if I can quote from both testaments and know that the Devil is a fun way of saying, “the adversary”, I still see the Devil in the mirror. Not because I feel wrong about who I am. I don’t see the Devil because I know that someone who looked like me gave the native Americans diseased blankets, or even because someone with my look burned women accused of witchcraft at the stake after seeing that their bodies followed the law of physics. I see the devil because when I didn’t see him I was sure that I knew he either looked like an angel or the image from the tome written by the doomed monk. And every morning, he becomes more normal to see in my pictures, car mirrors, and home videos.

Summoning the Devil doesn’t get on my nerves as much as it did when I first saw him. He’s usually just there with a comb running through his hair or a toothbrush in his mouth. In fact, I’m almost sure that the devil just wants me to remember he’s there. And that’s how I get up every morning.

The candles dripped their wax onto the basement floor. The flames being the only thing illuminating our agape mouths, and the furrowed brow of our new companion. His eyes glared at the three of us, like a cat that just had its’ tail pulled. He was angry, and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

His red skin and yellow eyes were the only thing cliché devil-like about him. He stood three feet tall, and had the features of a newborn baby. His head was enormous compared to the rest of his body, and his hands were feeble. His knees shook under the weight of his body.

“What the fuck,” Melissa managed to get out. His eyes darted to her, and then he grinned. He snapped his fingers, and her eyes widened as she began speaking gibberish.

“Free chickens, manage detector, explicit displease…” the devil snapped his fingers again, and Melissa started coughing.

“What did you just do?!” I grabbed her by the shoulders and placed her on the nearby couch. She muttered that it felt like her tongue was on fire. Alan stood in the same place, with the summoning book still in his hands, his mouth still open. He had gotten it from a friend of his, who said the book would be able to summon the devil.

“My name is Silas, destroyer of words. You summoned me here, you should know what I just did.” He began looking Alan up and down, like a cat about to pounce on a mouse.

“Worlds,” Alan squeaked. “Destroyer of Worlds.”

Silas chuckled. “Trying to summon an entity of that caliber with that children’s book? You’re even lucky to have summoned something of my power. I twist peoples words, make them forget things, I am that thing on the tip of your tongue holding back words. I can make mortals say whatever I want them to. I am a linguistic creature.”

Alan and I looked at the book together. The symbols and candles were all correct, and the chanting. What could have gone wrong?

Silas rolled his yellow eyes. “It’s the candles, you dipshits, the candles! What does your book say about the candles? Read it to me.”

“Six candles, one unscented, one cinnamon, one lavender, and in between these three, three vanilla,” Alan read back the words to him.

Silas walked to the edge of the summoning circle, to the supposed unscented candle. He licked the wax, smirking at us because he already knew the answer. “You have four vanilla.”

A silence fell in the room as we did not know what to do next. We were just three dumb kids on Halloween night, without even expecting anything to happen. Now, we were staring at a demon that controlled words.

“Why try and summon a Destroyer of Worlds anyway?” Silas asked. “Trying to rule the world? Only politicians and billionaires could ever summon them.”

The three of us shrugged, not knowing why we would ever think about dabbing into dark arts. None of us even liked horror movies.

“Ugh, teenagers,” Silas said as he vanished into a puff of smoke.

My stomach twists. 'Please tell me you're joking.'

The devil smiles languidly, waving a lazy hand over his - my brother's face.

He's wearing my brother's face.

The devil sighs. 'I cannot. This is, I suppose, a camouflage. My true form would boil your eyeballs. Thus, I am bound to appear as someone you detest.'

'But I don't detest my brother,' I reply, 'I love him more than anything. I died trying to save him. In fact, he's the reason I'm here.'

Here being Hell's Administrative Department. The second I died and regained consciousness in the underworld, I was shouting for Thomas. But my voice just echoed off craggy rocks and steaming streams of lava.

'And yet,' Thomas the devil smirks, 'he's not here.'

'Well, he... he probably... got lost.'

The devil makes Thomas' face - usually so shy and sweet - twist into a sneer. 'Are you saying I don't know how to run things down here?'

I cross my arms over my chest. 'I just want to see my brother.'

The devil composes Thomas' face into a smile. 'Oh Charlie, you already are.'

'No,' I snap, 'this isn't how it was supposed to be.'

'Don't worry,' the devil says, 'if you have a complaint, you can fill out one of our forms.' He steeples Thomas' fingers. 'But I should warn you, there's a hell of a lot to get through.'

“Aw hell, not again,” was not the words Pam expected to hear. To be honest, Pam was not sure what she thought would happen when she finished the chanting. The website online outlined how to set up the ritual. How to draw the containment circle, what herbs were needed, the right amount of blood, and the words to summon a devil were all laid out in detail. It even listed substitutions for the hard to get ingredients. Pam glanced back down at her notes, trying to see if she missed something. That is the only reason she could come up with why a woman in a housecoat and hair curlers was standing in front of her. Tapping drew Pam’s eyes back up.

“I don't have all day, dear,” stated the devil. “ There is a realm-wide address I need to finish getting ready for, so what did you call me?”

Pam gaped at the devil, not believing what she saw. The devil threw her hands up and stepped forward. She passed the lines of chalk as if nothing was there. Bending down, she snapped her fingers in front of Pam’s face. Pam jumped and scrambled backward. The devil tilted her head as if she was trying to complete a puzzle.

“You do have a reason, right dear,” a smile crossed the devil’s face. “It would be a shame if I was dragged up here for no reason.”

No words escaped Pam’s mouth, only frantic puffs of air. Her eyes darted back to her notes and then to the circle. Pam looked around the circle design and then back to the devil.

“You’re not supposed to do that.”

“Do what, dear?”

“The circle,” Pam pointed at the chalk on the floor. “It’s drawn perfectly. You should not be able to cross it.”

“It is a beautiful woven drawing, but there is a flaw.” The devil picked up Pam’s notes, held them up, and pointed at a section.

“I am not sure where you got your information, dear, but this part is wrong. Instead of a properly closed containment, it symbolizes a more fluid circle. Which is okay for a lesser being, but not for myself.”

“What?”

“Were you not aware of daemon hierarchy?” The devil stood and put her hands on her hips. “Where did you get your information? And why were you summon a daemon in the first place? Be quick, dear, because I do not have all day once again.”

“They left me,” Pam whispered.

“Who left?”

“My parents. When I was ten, they dropped me off at boarding school and never returned. They have traveled all over the world for the past eight years without contacting me. Now, as I finally start to find myself, they come back.” Pam jumped up and started pacing. “And you want to know their first words to me after being gone. It’s not we missed you, or we’re sorry. No, we have a husband picked for you, and here is the date of your wedding.”

Pam stops in front of the devil, with frantic puffs of air stopping her words. The devil reaches out and tucks a stray cul behind Pam’s ear.

“Why have you called me?”

“I don’t care if he is rich, handsome, or the nicest man on this planet. I do not want this wedding to happen.”

“So you called a devil, that is pretty extreme, dear.”

“This is my last hope. If you can’t stop it, then tomorrow I’m wed.”

“There is a price.”

“I’m willing to pay.”

“So you shall, dear.” The devil cupped Pam’s face. “Now, say my name and complete our contract.”

Pam whispered the devil’s name and watched it smile before everything went black.

“Audi dewy dumbella”

“Why does that sound like the chant from child’s play? Do you even know what you’re doing”

“Ha I was just kidding, can you google it again for me?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. She took out her iphone allowing it to futuristically scan the features of her face until it unlocked with a click. She proceeded to google.

“How do you spell summoning? Never mind I got it.”

   We sat on the ground, took hands and closed our eyes. We began reciting the spell in whispers. The room felt like it was closing in but I needed this to work or else my social life would be over forever. So we kept repeating the lines with eyes tightly shut. 

   On about the fourth go around I felt a burst of wind blow out the candles that flickered around us. I could smell the trail of smoke carrying the wax from the floor to my nostrils. I scrunched open one eye to take a tiny peek. Dumbfounded I was staring directly at what looked like a pair of size 3 Mary Janes. 

I shook Maggie profusely and together we stared in awe, puzzled and speechless.

“You summoned me?”

“Well.. Um..who.. who are you?” Maggie stuttered.

“I am the ruler of the underworld, the devil? You know? Lucifer. You can call me Lucy for short.”

I didn’t really think about what to expect the devil to show up as. Something terrifying I guess. Anything but an 8 year old girl in pigtails. I figured if I had to sell my soul to exact revenge on the cheer squad I would need strong back up. Like a tall dark figure, with uh crooked horns, snarly teeth and sharp claws.

“So you summoned me here, what’s your trouble? I don’t have all day guys.”

Maggie looked at me to speak, like we were a tag team.

I sighed and said.

“Okay. Here’s our trouble. The other day we tried out for cheerleading. Well Maggie made the squad, but I didn’t. The head cheer leader failed me because she was jealous. Her boyfriend stared at me the whole time at try outs. As if it’s my fault she’s insecure. I would make a great cheerleader. I feel so wronged it hurts. Not to mention my herkie was the straightest there, no offense mags. You see I’ve been training since middle school. I’ve won medals in gymnastics. Anyways, so I was wondering if you could like I don’t know take care of her for me?”

“Take care of her? I’m not a hit man, but alright” Lucy paused as she licked her rainbow lollipop. She snapped her fingers and a stack of papers piling nearly 3 feet high magically appeared in front of her.

“In order to move forward with your request you’ll have to sign every page of this contract.”

“Every page” I whimpered.

“Yes. And just so you know there’s no guarantee you’ll get a square deal from me and you’re going to hell either way. So do you have a pen?”

I was with my friends, we were doing ritual games. It was 3:00am. We thought they were fake. We had decided that the next one would be a game that supposedly summonend the devil.

We started by making sure the room was dark, only lit by 6 small ruby red candles. Then we put a mirror with the number six written on it with a red marker. We then said the ritual chant 6 times. 

We waited for a minute nothing happened. Then there was a loud noise that shook the entire house. A being that wasn’t there before appeared next to the mirror.

      The being was a tall shadow wearing a blood red crown with black jewels. We didn’t expect the ritual to be real. All of the other rituals were just games.