dunno , just seems like I mess stuff up a lot . Teachers are always yelling at me and I don ’ t even know what I did .” “ Sucks .” “ Yeah , but whatever .” “ Yeah , whatever .” “ Your nose is bleeding .” “ It is ? Fuck , if I get it on my coat , my dad ’ s gonna kill me .” “ Jesse ’ s an an asshole . I fuckin ’ hate that guy .” “ He beat you up too ?” “ Yeah .” “ Wish we could get him back somehow .”
Sean and Edward quickly became good friends . Their connection , kindled through a spark of shared alienation , was fueled by trust and complicity . Leaving school during lunch , they would shoplift , hitch rides on the backs of trucks , and sneak into abandoned buildings . They were always scouting for things to steal , bottles to break and trouble to get into . When they spoke , it was often an exchange of confessions that mixed catharsis and boasting . Sean had stolen a collection of porn magazines that he kept in a stand of trees near his house . He had also egged their gym teacher ’ s house the previous Halloween . Edward had stolen a collection of heavy metal tapes , accidentally lit his old neighbor ’ s shed on fire and was planning to learn black magic . “ How will you do that ?” “ I got a book about it ,” said Edward . “ Cool , can I see it ?” “ Yeah , but you have to come over . I can ’ t bring it to school or they ’ ll take it .”
“ Think this ’ ll work ?” It was cold . The first snow hadn ’ t yet fallen , but the ground was frozen hard . They were in Sean ’ s hideout . Near his house was a vacant lot where a dense cluster of trees had sprung up , mostly maple . The whole area was choked with dense weeds and stinging nettles , but Sean had spent his childhood cutting a labyrinth of winding paths through it . In the heart of the trees , guarded by a spiraling tangle of thorny branch walls , was a clearing . Sean had defended it against the other neighborhood children for so long and so savagely that nobody else even tried to enter it anymore . The ground was lined with layers of damp cardboard and black garbage bags . Underneath them , beetles slept and died between the frosted pages of Penthouse and Hustler .
“ I doubt it ,” said Edward , his breath showing in the chill air . “ Worth a try though .”
As pointless as it seemed in the pale afternoon light , they lit the two candles , one black and one white , just as the book instructed . Sean sprinkled salt in a crude circle . Edward placed the bowl of water between the candles . They looked at each other , nodded , and began .
“ I call upon thee , wandering spirits of the abyss ,” said Edward . “ Lamashtu , Pazuzu . Namtara .” “ This is stupid ,” whispered Sean . “ Just say it !” “ Alright , Jeez ,” said Sean . “ I call upon thee .” “ I call upon thee , spirits of hell . Asmodeus , Samael , Belial .” “ I call upon thee ,” responded Sean . After what seemed to Sean like an excessive amount of reciting , the boys each pricked one finger and squeezed a drop of blood into the bowl of water . Sean looked up at the sky , a jagged circle of flat grey ringed by gently waving black branches . He wanted to back out , even though he knew the ritual wouldn ’ t do anything . It felt like the first step on a path he didn ’ t want to walk down . It was started though , and there was no