Chapter 1: Demon summoning
It all seemed like a bad dream, yes it had to be a bad dream, if he just closed his eyes and opened them again he would surely wake up in his comfortable bed
'Okay let's try it…'
Mike closed his eyes and tried to shut out the ritual humming around him before he opened his eyes again a few moments later and looked around
'Nope didn't work… what's next..?'
As Mike tired to think of something the cultists around him kept murmuring, humming and chanting in foreign languages, yes it seemed like a bad joke, like a really bad joke but Mike was currently finding himself getting sacrificed to some kind of demon, it all started when he was on his way home from his psychiatrist when a black van had snatched him up and when he woke up again he found himself chained to a stone altar with people in hoods around him chanting stuff in an unknown language, now even though he tried to talk to them they didn't answer and just kept on chanting with slowly increasing speed.
'I guess this is real huh… who would have thought my soul was going to be sacrificed to a demon…'
As Mike accepted the reality around him a hooded figure suddenly stood up from the circle and slowly walked closer while carrying a knife that glinted in the soft candle lights, Mike looked over at the knife, he knew his end had come but instead of panic he kept himself calm, incredibly calm it was at that moment he remembered he had forgotten to take his medication that very morning, now Mike was not your typical mental patient, he was not psychotic, nor was he delosnial or even depressive…. He was just calm and his emotions were rather flat he had trouble with feeling anything other than 'flat' even now when his time seemed to have come as the runed knife drew closer he found himself calming down as he desperately thought of something to do, something he could do, anything but he found his mind clocking up evidently he was as calm as he thought as the knife hovered above his heart the hooded figure spoke with an aged and extremely husky voice
"I SUMMON YOU, BEEL TO THIS MORTAL PLANE...!"
Without a sound the knife descended and stabbed Mike in the heart, there was very little pain as the knife was extremely sharp, it was only when the hooded figure twisted the knife that the pain came, and oh boy did it come, Mike felt pain greater than ever before as he felt the knife twist around but thankfully he soon passed out as his vision went dark he only thought
'Huh… looks like I died…'
Mike woke up to the sound of birds singing, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up while massaging his aching temples before he looked around
"....it this another joke..?"
Mike found himself in a forest, and not just any kind of forest it looked like an ancient forest with giant trees that were covered in moss, Mike gave a sigh and suddenly felt something sticky on his T-shirt and looked down
"Eh… is this… blood?"
His T-shirt were covered in what looked like dark dried blood, it covered most of his T-shirt with a single hole in the middle of his T-shirt right were his heart was
"Don't tell me…"
Mike took his T-shirt off and rubbed the dried blood off his body with some moss and right over his heart was a big scar in the shape of a star, Mike touched the scar and for a moment he felt the knife he had been stabbed with again as the sharp pain ran through his body again Mike remembered how he had been sacrificed to some demon and should have died
"...what is this? Why am I still alive? And where is this?"
Mike kneeled down and held his head, he felt a headache come on but suddenly like the curtain lifting did the headache disappeared as Mike suddenly calmed down, no he was made to calm down by something
"....I should find some shelter and water"
Mike bent down to pick his bloodied T-shirt up but stopped mid motion before he stood up straight and mumbled
"probably not a good idea to smell of blood in an ancient forest…"
Mike then picked a direction at random and began walking… a few minutes after he left the clearing a low growl was heard as something walked up to the bloodied T-shirt and gave it a long sniff before it let out another growl and walked out of the clearing in the same direction Mike had walked
"Lucky this looks edible… Let's see… Smells fine."
Mike had found a fruit tree and picked some kind of unknown fruit. The fruit was round, blue and sweet smelling, as he was about to sink his teeth into the fruit he stopped and looked around before he quickly picked a few more fruits and kept on walking.
'I don't know why but it seems like a bad idea to stay still right now… Oh well.'
Mike sank his teeth into one of the fruits he had picked and found it tasted as sweet as it smelled, but instead of keeping eating he stopped and kept walking without eating anymore of the fruits.
'If it's toxic, the symptoms should show within a few minutes…'
As he walked and counted the seconds hapasazedly Mike suddenly heard something behind him and froze, before jumping to the side as something landed right where he had just been standing. Mike hurriedly spun around and saw what looked like a wolf, the reason it only looked like a wolf was simple, it was way too big to be a wolf as it was the size of a bear.
'Shit..!'
Mike felt his body freeze up as he was stared down by the salivating wolf that slowly walked closer.
'What do I do!?… What can I do, shit!'
As the wolf slowly walked closer Mike experienced one of the few moments in his life so far were he was not able to keep calm.
'Damn it!'
Mike failed to keep calm and turned and ran, this of course only provoked the wolf that jumped on him and bit deeply down into his left shoulder. Feeling pain shooting through his entire body like his shoulder suddenly was on fire as the wolf bit off a chunk of his shoulder, Mike tumbled forwards and landed on his back right before the wolf launched at him again. In defence Mike raised his left arm to cover his throat and half a second later he felt the large teeth of the wolf sink into left arm, in response Mike frailed around and hit it with his right hand as his vision grew dimmer.
'Damn it, if only I had a knife!'
Mike's hazy thoughts went back to when he was sacrificed to a demon, particularly to the knife that had pieced his chest.
'If only I had that knife...!'
Mike went limp as his vision turned dark but just then a flash of red showed up in the center of his vision before it shot straight out of his eyes and formed in the middle of his limp right hand. The light quickly condensed into the familiar sacrificial knife, but it held a red sheen as it glowed softly. Suddenly strength returned to Mike as he clenched his hand around the dagger and grabbed it tightly before he stabbed into the wolf with all his might. Without any sound the knife buried itself in the neck of the wolf that let out a howl as it let go of Mike's arm, beginning to roll around on the ground in pain as something weird happened. The wolf seemed to very quickly dry up like a sponge being twisted, as all the moisture seemed to leave the body of the wolf it quickly turned into a dried husk that was made of little more than skin and bone. The sacrificial knife which was now shining brighter than before then flew back and landed in Mike's right hand.
"What the fuck…"
Mike, that was momentarily forgetting his pain, looked down at the knife in his hand before he grabbed it tightly.
"This thing does not obey the laws of physics at all."
Just as Mike was stunned he suddenly felt an itch on his left arm and his shoulder where he had been bitten by the wolf and was completely stunned, as he saw his wounds rapidly healing while the light from the knife grew softer and softer until it stopped glowing entirely. Mike fell over backwards as he sat down on his butt and stared at the sacrificial knife in his hand and asked softly.
"....What are you?"
Mike didn't expect a response but the knife clearly reacted to his question as it showed a pulse of calm red light before the knife turned dark again.