The Other Side

She finally did it.

Daisy had sliced a thick cut through her palm, the blood trickling down and oozing from the wound onto the soil below. It tainted the nearby growth and vegetation, like it was a disease to be destroyed. It became pitch black out, the birds leaving partially due to fear and partially due to the need for home; for warmth, family, and love - something Daisy lacked. This was the reason she was outside, this was her revenge.

It was a mere twenty minutes ago that she came to a halt where the trees thinned out, giving her room to squat down and place her items down carefully. It was a mere ten minutes ago that she created a circle with a stick, sluggishly drawing lines to form a pentagram. Now, candles lit in every crevice she could find, blood pooling in the ground beneath and in front of her, she waited. With bated breath, Daisy held the aged book with her other hand and lowly chanted the words written inside.

"Plentiful god below, grant me your ever guiding darkness to the other side. Teach me the fire, the sin, and give me the strength for your arrival. It is I, a mere human, who seeks the presence of a demon." She hissed the words, a key point that the book made sure to highlight.

Daisy had only gained the book from the nearby library in town, but she kept it a secret that she had to destroy a bookshelf to find it. As for the other materials, Amazon was very helpful.

This was the correct time, setting, and place for a summoning, or so the novel said. Daisy had no prior knowledge of the darkness below her feet, the evil that wrecked havoc on innocent people's lives. It was through Google that she discovered a keen interest in the topic, and of course literature.

Her thoughts were not heavy enough to distract her mind from the present. She waited, and waited, and waited until her knees began to ache from squatting for so long. With a frustrated breath, she wiped her palm onto her jeans and stood up, angrily pulling her bag onto her shoulders. It was by chance that her most prized item imaginable, a small, dainty key ring with a bear on it, fell off and into the dangerous circle of death. Then, and only then, did she begin to regret coming here.

Daisy looked away, throwing her hands up and stomping her left foot before blindly reaching down, grasping the bear, and attempting to pull back. Key word; attempting.

It was if, by magic, her wrist was being held in place. Her eyes widened, heart beating quicker than before and a gasp became stuck in her throat. She was frightened to look between her bangs that partially covered the blue gems behind it. Her bag now forgotten easily fell to the ground along with her hopes of escape. She, for the first time ever, reverted back to her primary, skittish years of a lonely child with no real friends, no true hobbies, and no way to express her sadness within.

What turned from seconds became minutes, which turned into hours - at least in her mind it did. Her ears, unbeknownst to her, tuned back into the present to pick up a sort of growling, gurgling noise. She distinctly heard teeth grinding on teeth, a chomp as they came together in a form of intimidation that rightly put her in place. Daisy was in the presence of something more powerful than she would ever hope to be.

Luckily or not, it was the first to speak.

"How pitiful."

It was not the first time Daisy had heard these words, but in the way it was said would forever stay with her. It was similar to glass breaking, or chalk scratching against a chalk board, but it was not as bad as she expected. After all, what did she really expect to happen tonight?

"A disgusting human, one who cannot even make eye contact, wishes to speak to me." It chuckled, a deep, throaty noise that was completely true. It seemed like it found this situation humorous, but Daisy was completely serious, if not scared shitless.

"Kneel!" Against her wishes, her knees buckled beneath her weight and the grasp vanished from her wrist. She was pulled to earth, her hands flying out to plant themselves against the ground below. It was the same soil the held her blood, Daisy could feel it. She wondered if she would ever be able to speak her mind, but her fear was greater than her courage.

"You don't even have anything to say? As you lie there, a heap of over flowing regret, you waste my time.. and my patience."

Daisy could barely see, but she could feel this entity leave the circle in front of her. It walked with grace and elegance, something she didn't know it even had. Daisy could not directly see his feet, but they made a small thump as he strutted around her body, acting like he owned everything in his touch.

"You're lucky I have better things to do than harm humans with no payment. Farewell, weakling."

When he said that, Daisy finally did the unthinkable; she spoke.

"Wait!" It was rushed, and not very loud either. She would be surprised if he heard her.

"I- don't go! I did this for a r-reason!" Daisy drew in a breath, prepared to spew her entire thought process and what she wished to achieve, but she was stopped before she could do so.

"Hush." Truthfully, it was not said with malice. Daisy could not detect a full change, but she could sense that maybe he was open to listening to her, hearing her speak and-

"I know what you wish." The entity had stopped walking, but stood directly in front of her once more. She could feel its' gaze sweeping over her body from head to toe, assessing her and her abilities, which were very few by far. Daisy could almost feel her relief, believing that it would do as she wished.

"Does that mean you will do what I need?" She would barely hide the shakiness from her words, her nervousness skyrocketing every few moments in anticipation of its next move.

"I said silence!" Daisy was almost shocked into calming down, but she didn't understand his hostility.

"Why won't you listen? I wish-" Daisy's mouth was forcefully covered by a somewhat looking hand, her body being hauled up so quickly that she did not have time to comprehend his appearance. She was then thrown over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes, meaningless. Daisy was finally forced into silence.

"I see your wants, your needs, and your dimwittedness! Your kind's stupidity will always be your downfall. We have no time, you will be coming with me.. willingly, or not."

It felt like arms were restricting her legs to a wide chest, a very warm one, by the way, but as Daisy looked down, it was not human legs she was looking at. It was blackened hooves, thick hair covering every inch of skin as they moved away from her circle. When she tried to pull back, possibly to see his face, something very harsh and pointy was shoved into her back. With some struggle, Daisy turned and witnessed.. horns. From one discovery to the next, a demon actually coming forward, her blood still pulsing from her hand, Daisy believed she had seen it all.

Her mind slowly went black once she fell against the shoulder once more, tears leaking from her eyes. What had she done? These were not tears of sadness, they were tears of relief, endless joy that she did a task and it actually worked. The consequences were unknown, but Daisy would be sure to tackle them head on, or maybe ass on, with the way she was facing. After all, her therapist said the first step to committing to something was to hope for it to come true. By god, it had worked. Her bear, lost from her mind, but tucked away in the demon's hand, was the least of her worries, but a top priority.

Once the light had almost left, only then did the demon speak once more.

"Goodnight, Daisy. Sweet dreams, my little rodent."