Chapter 1: 1: Harmless Expenditure

I balanced a coffee mug in my hand filled to the brim with piping hot energy. Something that happened to be an obligatory pleasure around the business floor. Obtained from the community lounge and paid for by the company I worked for. Four years on the job and always thankful to have the bitter black goodness of this drink available, I sauntered over to my cubicle desk the way I usually do while greeting my coworkers. It’d become something of a well-accepted ritual to relax into the day by warming up the first hour talking with individuals I would be working with. Pulling out the leather office chair from its place under my desk I sat down and turned to face the computer I’d be working at for the next eight hours.

Usually there would be five or even seven sticky-notes attached to the monitor, usually detailing things my coworkers transferred into my care that they needed me to either critique or finish for them. I stared for a moment at the black screen in front of me, my brows furrowing into a perplexed state. Instead of the normal number of yellow notes dangling from various spots on or around the monitor, there happened to be but a single piece of paper. An orange piece of note paper sat taped dead center over the middle of my screen. All it read was:

 

[See Me]

[Gulliver]

 

“What is this…?” I couldn’t help but ask myself while staring blankly at the orange. Freeing the slip of paper from the monitor I flipped it over to see if there happened to be anything written on the back but of course the other side remained completely blank. What did Gulliver, the head of the HR department and Company Internal Affairs, want with me? Choking down a sip of coffee, I suddenly felt queasy with uneasiness. Gingerly I lowered the coffee mug to the surface of my desk, careful not to spill the contents despite the involuntary shaking of my body. ‘It’ll be fine’ I reassured myself. Maybe I’m getting a surprise promotion… A wry smile folded over my lips. My own mind couldn’t be fully convinced of the positive notion.

“You wanted to see me?” Pulling the folded up paper from my pocket I revealed it to the HR head.

“Yes. Please. Have a seat.” Gulliver motioned with the palm of his hand towards the swivel chair in front of the oversized corporate black mahogany executive’s desk.

Silently gulping down the anxiety I felt rising up into my throat I took to the chair, back straight and official as I could physically force myself to appear. Gulliver’s posture however remained official and dutiful, giving off both a serious and ominous air. He had short cut golden blond hair swept and styled to one side while his azure blue eyes never left the papers in front of him.

“I don’t have much time to explain so I’ll simply cut straight to the point. Our company’s numbers are way down this quarter and the higher-ups have elected for me to observe and cut wherever necessary to alleviate any unnecessary financial burden. Do you know what that means?” Gulliver’s eyes removed themselves from the stack of papers in front of himself for the first time since I’d entered the room. Despite the contact, it felt more like his eyes were staring right through me.

“I do not, sir.” I lied, but hoped beyond hope that the statement I’d hear following my confession wouldn’t be what I feared it might be.

“In reviewing the data, the board of administration has concluded that cutting labor costs by thirty percent will provide the largest benefit for a promising net gain in the coming few quarters. Regrettably Ono Tamaki, you did not make the cut.” Gulliver stated, sliding the pink slip to the end of his desk towards me.

 

*          *          *

 

“What the hell…!?” Balling my hands into fists, the sheet of pink paper I’d been left with crumpled. Out of the more than four thousand employees he could have picked instead, why me!? I couldn’t even comprehend the percentages right now. There were certainly more junior members of the staff that could have been chosen but they’d terminated me…!? To make matters worse, Gulliver even stated that the company would be withholding employee severance payments until the following quarter for all those who’d been let go! Now left standing on the street corner with an entire day of no work ahead of me, I pulled out my cellphone and unlocked it. “I was supposed to get paid today...” I cursed. Checking my bank account I couldn’t help but notice my funds were going to be short. Rent would be due in only a couple of days and I wouldn’t have the money to pay it. To make matters worse the landlord I rented space from had a zero tolerance policy regarding tenants who happened to be late in their payments. “Just great, twenty six years old, single, and now completely jobless…” I grumbled to myself, kicking a pebble out of my way before crossing the street.

I didn’t head home. I couldn’t with how agitated I felt. I’d wanted to argue with Gulliver about the pink slip but I already knew the act would be in vain. With the company I now formerly worked for, these decisions rolled down from the top, Gulliver was just there to enforce those decisions and make certain they were promptly carried out. If I wanted to fight it, I’d have to go all the way to the top, and that was nothing short of a losing battle already.

Perhaps my lost and wandering thoughts distracted my conscious mind but I didn’t notice the oncoming truck until I heard the blaring sound of its horn ringing in my ears. I didn’t look up. Time wasn’t on my side and if I did happen to look up, that would be all the time that Truck-kun needed. One wasted movement and my life would be over in an instant. So instead of reacting in cliché, I pushed forward. Heart pounding in my chest, knowing my chances were slim if I didn’t make a split second decision to vacate the Vehicle’s immediate path, I broke into a dash. Wind whipped violently at my back, I could feel the suctioning force of the truck passing directly behind me. I waited for the excruciating pain to strike me like a ton of bricks. But it never came…

Falling to my knees on the sidewalk opposite the street, I panted in astonished relief, sweat breaking out all over my forehead while I tried to catch my breath. Screeching tires marked the end of Truck-Kun’s violent agenda and a man threw curses at me from the driver-side window.  “That was way too close for comfort.” I exhaled, taking a brief moment to actually observe the lights behind me. The crosswalk lights shifted from red to white, indicating that it was now safe for pedestrians to cross the road… People approached, asking if I was alright but I waved them off informing them that I would be fine, that’s when I noticed the strange store.

Yevl’ar’s exotics? The ornate looking wooden sign scrawled over with golden text stared back at me. Under the large gold text read a smaller line drawn out in black and reading; ‘Let your wildest fantasies come true.’ It looked to be some form of rustic bookstore sandwiched into what I could only describe as an alleyway. My rational thought processes gave way to innate curiosity and I found myself drawn to the store’s stain tinted front door. The lights were dim and no one seemed to be inside, but when I pushed the door in, a bell chimed.

Old books ranging from occult writings to ritual and spell-books. All of these were things I held a secret interest in. This particular store looked like it might possess all of those things and more. As a child I’d liked to pretend I was a wizard or a summoner and though real life and a job had eventually gotten in the way of the countless fantasies I constructed for myself, my deep seeded interest in exploring the imaginative worlds of others had never abandoned me. Lifting a book from one of the disorderly and dust-ridden shelves, I thumbed through the pages. “What are these books made of?” I wondered, gliding my fingers over the unusually textured pages.

“Something you’re interested in?” A gruff female voice rang out from behind, nearly causing me to drop the book I held.

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“Uh, Hi… Yes, um…” Caught off guard, I couldn’t bring my words out right away. Despite the woman’s low sounding voice, she didn’t appear to be much past her forty’s. She wore a patterned red and brown one-piece dress. Sunken brown eyes stared up at me while an antique smoking pipe twitched between plump lips. “Do you have any books on summoning?” I blurted out.

“Summoning?” The lady squinted, inquisitive eyes boring into mine. With a click of her tongue she repositioned the pipe to the opposite side of her mouth and turned about, walking down to one of the bookshelves at the far side of the shop. “Summoning… summoning…” After several minutes scrounging through various shelves, the woman returned with a rather heavy looking book. Picking up my hands she proceeded to place the tome unceremoniously into them. “This’ the book ye’ be lookin fur.”

Bound in a black and charred leather, the tome possessed no title. An elaborate circle engraved into the cover and the binding were the only indications that it had anything to do with summoning. “It looks pretty old” I noted, observing the cracks along the leather-bound volume’s surface. It smelled too, like a tanned hide that’d been aged over several centuries... Cracking open the tome revealed more circles with instructions on how to construct them and what they were for. Some pages even depicted descriptions on when and where to use certain circles. What intrigued me the most however was the volume’s text and its odd familiarity? It wasn’t a common language… “How much is this?”

“Three hundred.” The woman stated flatly.

“T-three hundred!?” I stammered in disbelief. I knew old books could be expensive but really? Three hundred? “Would you be willing to go a bit lower? I’m kinda short on cash…”

“Two-fifty. Take it or leave it.” The woman huffed, her sunken hollows seeming to size me up with a spell of judgement at seeing my work attire.

“Fine… I’ll take it.” Letting out an exasperated sigh I pulled out my wallet. If it weren’t for the one page I’d glimpsed I probably wouldn’t have been willing to pay so much…

 

*          *          *

 

Kicking off my dress-shoes, I hastily turned the lock and set the chain to my apartment door. Ancient summoning tome in hand, I moved to the living area and dropped it onto the sofa. “Alright, let’s do this.” Being jobless sucked but it’d stirred in me, a need to vent frustrations. What better way than to perform a summoning ritual in my own apartment. I’d already picked out which one I would try out back at the bookstore. Unbuttoning and rolling up the cuffs of my shirt sleeves, I proceeded to push the coffee table all the way to one wall of the room. Thankfully the living area of this apartment was furnished with wood flooring and I’d been mindful enough to keep sliders underneath the feet of my furniture, making the moving process far easier than it would’ve been without. The only trouble arose when I attempted to move the bookcase. My overabundant collection of books spilled out from the strained shelves and onto the floor. “I’ll deal with it later…” I cursed, pushing the entire pile of books over to where I’d moved the shelving. Lastly I moved the sofa, pushing it to the wall directly behind.

Thumbing through the book I located the ritual I wanted and glanced over the title. “Call forth a demoness who will fulfill your darkest carnal desires.” An aptly named ritual, I suppose. I would feel stupid about it later due to the fact I’d be engaging in acts of make-believe, but for now I didn’t care. I just wanted to have some fun before the weight of reality sank in and I’d be forced to go looking for another job just to get by. “Chalk.” I read, pulling from my pocket, the bag I’d purchased from the same bookstore. I guess it made sense that a place selling ritual summoning books would also carry this stuff. I then spent the better part of an hour reading the instructions of the book and redrawing the images onto my living room floor.

“Done.” I exclaimed proudly to myself. With ritual summoning circle completed I referenced the old tome one more time. “In order to successfully summon the demoness you desire, envision your request and offer a sacrifice while reciting the following spell.” Sacrifice? Like a blood sacrifice? I didn’t really have anything to offer as a sacrifice… except myself. Well you only live once right? Retrieving a knife from the kitchen I braced myself for the reenactment. “A single drop of blood should be fine right?” The spellbook didn’t exactly identify any restrictions on how much or how little of a sacrifice I had to make. Shrugging, I figured make-believe could do without a full on sacrifice. That and I still wanted to be alive tomorrow… I pricked my finger with the knife, allowing a single drop of blood to fall into the circle while reciting the incantation.

 

“Erised yreve ym evres llahs ohw eno em otnu reviled dna ecifircas ym siht tpecca. Gnillac a dnamed I, Neth’lareese fo shtped eht morf!”

 

“Whew, that was exciting.” I cooed to myself, satisfied with my childish activity for the night. Holding my finger to stop the bleeding I looked over my handiwork for a moment and smiled with relief. Then my stomach interrupted my satisfaction, loudly voicing its own desires. “Guess I better see what’s left in the fridge to eat…” I sighed, walking towards the kitchen. Or I would have, if it weren’t for the fact my legs didn’t seem to be responding to the commands my mind was giving them. “What the!?” Panicked, I looked down. I could still control my head so why couldn’t I get my feet to move? That’s when I noticed the strange glow emanating and beginning to grow forth from the chalk I’d covered the floor with. “What the hell’s happening!?” I screamed in terrified surprise before even my voice cut out. With my entire body paralyzed by some bizarre force, I found that I could no longer move nor could I feel the sensations of any part of my body. Finally my sight failed, turning my world pitch black.

I floated, or at least I think I floated. I couldn’t see, couldn’t tell if I still had a body or not. There was no sense of direction. Nothing. Absolutely nothing… But wait. In the distance I could feel something returning, a sensation. Touch. I could feel something! My feet… On solid ground. A familiar sensation. Could I place it? Tiles. Warm tiles. Wet with… water? Another sensation resumed. My hands… A circular motion, it felt like… my head? Why was I scrubbing my hair? This bubbly feeling… Soap? And something else… Two somethings, oddly solid, and hard? Sensations drifted back to my returning consciousness. I could feel… Warm water flowing over the curves and crevices of my bare body… This wasn’t right. Nothing felt right… I couldn’t make heads or tails of these sensations. Flexing, I moved unfamiliar muscles, revealing a double sensation… A touch upon my leg. It was me, but something else was there as well… Am I naked? But where did my clothes go? How had this happened? The pitch blackness plaguing my eyes abruptly lifted. I can see now? My eyes are closed, yet I don’t remember closing them…

With physical sensations returned to my body I dared to open my eyes. It became immediately and undoubtedly apparent I was no longer in the living room of my apartment. I stood now, naked in a shower… and the water I felt splashing over my body came from a sprayer above my head… But this was clearly not my bathroom… A creeping fear rose in the pit of my stomach, my heart fluttering into a panic.

I looked down.

This was not my body…!

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