Furious Fiction September 2021
RULES FOR SEPTEMBER FURIOUS FICTION:
Your story must include either an attic or basement
Your story must include some kind of insect
You story must include the words EARTH, WATER, WIND and FIRE
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Contract
Mak slammed the door shut and rushed down the stairs to the basement. She was in such a hurry she almost tripped and fell, but she caught herself just in time, her hand gripping the banister so tight that the old wood splintered.
She stepped onto the basement landing, barely repressing her scream at the mini swarm of crawling insects that scuttled across the floor. She hated bugs and this was testing her resilience. Mak took a deep breath and braced herself. She hadn’t been down here since the night she saw her grandmother die, none of her family were brave enough to come to this old house, let alone venture into the nexus of power that was the basement and if Mak had had any other choices than she wouldn’t be here but she’d long since run out of options and this was her hail mary run.
Mak dropped the duffle bag, kneeled down and unzipped it. She pulled out the supplies, laying them carefully on the ground next to her. Four white, candles a lighter and her ancestor's spellbook. No one in her family had the gift, it had been generations since anyone even possessed a lick of magic, so long in fact that her family all thought it was just an urban legend. But Mak was desperate and she’d tried everything else. She took a deep breath and reminded herself, pray that magic was real, or be brutally murdered.
Mak opened the book to the pre-marked page, closed her eyes and took a deep breath inhaling the old book’s scent. She wasn’t religious, but she prayed to her ancestors for help before she picked up the candles and placed them in front of her in a diamond pattern. “Here, we go.” One more deep breath. She channelled all her belief into something she wasn’t sure wasn’t real and ignited the lighter, watching the flame flare to life.
“Earth,” Mak called confidently as she held the flame to the first candle. “Water, Fire, Air.” She lit each candle as she spoke the name of its corresponding elements. “I seek a contract with a being of power, to fulfil my deepest wish.” The flames of the candles flared brighter and a scraping sound filled the air as a rune was carved into the ground. The rune glowed and then a hurricane of energy swirled through the air, whipping her hair around her face. And then as quickly as it all started, it stopped.
“You shouldn’t have come back here.”
Mak’s head whipped around the room, trying to find the source of the deep rumbling echoing voice. She didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean that no one was here. “I summoned you because…”
“You want someone killed and the price for that, is your soul. So tell me, still want my help?”
Mak took a deep breath and gave her answer. “Yes.”
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