Of Summoning Demons

“Come on, Lenore,” Lenore talked to herself while she worked. Like any other normal person, of course! As some students did, she supposed, especially when they were on the verge of collapsing or at the end of their wits because of the exam season. Not that she would know. Lenore wasn’t a student, she had never been one; she was an up-to-no-good kid who grew into a professional clue sniffer. An investigator, if you will. “C’mon, you can do this.”

Of course, she could do it.

It wasn’t the doubt in herself that made her palms sweat with anxiety. Lenore had been on the case numerous times by then. The practice she worked for could hardly be called practice. They barely had an office, after all, although in the constant struggle going on around them, she supposed that permanency wasn’t something to be expected after all. She was good at what she did though. Finding clues and finding people. She could do this.

And sometimes, well, the clients paid her for sketchy, seedy things. Sometimes they paid her for easy things and sometimes for stupid things. It made no difference to Lenore, but she tried her best to remain level no matter what challenge was placed before her. She knew how to keep her neutral face. It didn’t mean her palms didn’t sweat.

The hair at the back of her neck rose as she read from the open book in front of her. Demon summoning, as it turned out, required a lot of knowledge, ink and space than she thought it’d need. Thankfully, it required a lot less blood, too. She was reading — she wasn’t trying to make the words fall flat, but they did sound like chanting regardless, and she was hoping that whatever came through the portal that opened would ignore her abysmal accent.

Because something would come through. Lenore was certain of this if nothing else.

The more she chanted, the more room filled out with smoke. She thought, hazily, that idiots who summoned demons probably died from choking rather than the underworldly appearances of the damned. Well— better to keep that thought to herself. She was, after all, one of the idiots summoning the damned and all that.

It took her way too long to notice another presence in the room, and she only did so when the person spoke.

“Hey, wait,” a voice sounded right next to her ear. “Isn’t that a bit of an overkill?”

And so, having summoned a demon, Lenore panicked.

And when she panicked, she never did anything smart. She hardly even thought about it, so she swung her first wide and it connected with the side of the demon’s face. Lenore had seen demons before. She knew what they looked like, and she tended to avoid them — them and Angelus both, because steering clear of everyone was the only way to be left alone anyway. And thus she’d never been this up close and personal with one of their kind.

“Oh shit!” She breathed out, “Shit. Hey, uh, sorry?” She tried to stammer out as the demon clutched their nose. At least it wasn’t broken. Of course, it wasn’t broken! Demons couldn’t just… She couldn’t have just… right?! So no hard feelings there! Right?! “I’m soooo sorry! I’m looking for Ora Yorke.”

The demon blinked, their eyes — dazzling, very nice to look at, shining with mischief and malice and stop Lenore — looking at her with clear confusion. Oh yeah, confusion was a big thing there. Apart from, well, being nice to look at.

“The fuck is an Ora Yorke?” The demon asked.

“What do you mean?” Now it was Lenore’s turn to be confused. “It’s the previous person that summoned you.”

“No it isn’t,” the demon retorted, fully confident and, well— who was Lenore to question them, really?

“Alright. Maybe I summoned the wrong demon,” she concluded in the end. “But I don’t really need you for anything other than Ora, so, uh… Sorry?”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” the demon snorted, a little off-put, as they eyed the room with the distaste. At least the smoke was clearing out.

“Well, uh… What do you want?”

Wait. Wasn’t she supposed to ask for things and have her wishes fulfilled or… was that it? She didn’t know much about this. As she’d thought before — she was avoiding these things for a reason. With the situation being as it was, all she wanted to do was go home and think about it some more, and find the missing person she was paid to find. She didn’t want to deal with the demon.

All in all, she felt less fear than she should have, probably.

“Well,” the demon said, “You summoned me. Now you come with me. Don’t make me ask twice.”

Lenore didn’t ask, and she followed. She rolled her eyes as she did, but if the demon had seen it, they chose not to comment on it.