Wicked Hungry

“I,” Zach intones. “I call you, Old Ones.”

“No!” I shout. “No, go away!”

“Do you banish us already?” booms the voice.

“Come forth!” Zach shouts. “Ignore the human!”

“We come!”

The room grows hotter, and I choke on the sulfurous smoke.

“You fool!” shouts Gilroy. “You can’t bring them here!”

But it’s too late. We are all going to burn to death.

Chapter 37: NISWER, NISWER, NISWER

Above the ring of fire, I see something coming. Something huge, made out of fire and smoke.

“We’re all doomed!” Gilroy shouts. “You idiot boy!”

“Father!” Zach calls out. “Help!”

I feel Karen’s hand on my arm. “Do something, Stanley. Quick, now!”

I shake my head. Do what? I bite my lip in frustration, taste my own blood.

That’s it: blood in my mouth. I turn toward the demons forming in the fire. And spit not onto the floor, but into the flames.

I can barely breathe. Holding my shirt up to my mouth, I take a breath of hot smoky air and shout out three words: “Niswer, Niswer, Niswer!”

“Who speaks my name?”

I never thought I’d be so happy to hear that voice.

And he’s beautiful now. A column of pure energy, hot and bright, up above us.

“What are you doing, you idiot?” he asks, looking down.

Zach just stares.

“Can you send them back?” I ask him.

“No one can send us back!” the Old Ones roar in unison.

“Right,” Rewsin says. “A challenge! I may need to call a friend or two.”

What happens next is hard to describe. Rewsin circles around the room, a spinning column of light and energy, joined in a moment by two others, looping around the sulfurous fire.

The last thing I feel is Karen pulling me back.

Chapter 38: DEALING WITH ZACH

The next thing I know, they’re gone. Zach is standing there, stunned, covered in soot. In my ears, a voice echoes. “My debt is fulfilled. Farewell, Stanley!”

Zach focuses on me, then holds out my athame and reaches out and grabs Meredith. I feel the beast in me surge, and he takes a step back.

“Let. Her. Go,” I growl.