devil in disguise...
An empty parking lot. It is just after dark, the area dimly lit by a couple of flickering street lights. Matt and Sarah walking at a steady, yet slow pace, full of apprehension. Meanwhile, Fran is a ways away setting up a circle with candles, and various substances in jars.
Matt shook his head, “Why does she always make us meet in the creepiest places she can find?”
Sarah and Matt take a long deep breath and begin walking towards Fran’s set up. As they slowly creep their way close Matt says to Sarah under his breath,
“I need to tell you something… I have a bad feeling about this… about Fran. Something isn’t right with it all.” Sarah looks at him, eyes filled with concern, “Nothing is right about this whole thing, Matt, what do you mean?”
“I don’t know, I just think… something is off. She’s different now.” Matt continues but then is cut off with Sarah letting out a stressed half-laugh. “Matt, this has been the most insane 24 hours of our entire lives, I know it seems impossible but let's just try to trust her. She knows the most about this stuff anyway unless you have a better idea…”
Matt stares into the shadows and lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re right. You’re right, let’s do this.”
Sarah takes Matt’s hand and they walk towards Fran’s setup as she kneels and begins striking matches to light the fire in the centre of the circle.
“Oh good, you guys are here,” Fran says without looking up at them. There is a sombre inflexion in her voice, as though she were greeting family members at a funeral. She rises to her feet and rests her gaze on her two friends. “I just wanted to say…” she trails off causing Sarah and Matt to wonder what she seemed so sad about. “I just wanted to say thank you guys, for everything. I know I could be a little wild sometimes and not many people in my life have stuck around the way you two have. So thanks.”
“Um, yeah, well, of course, Fran,” Matt says, slightly confused by the sentiment.
“We love you, and we’re always here,” Sarah adds.
After another deep sigh, Fran shakes off whatever sadness was lingering and says “All right, let's get this over with.”
The three begin following the instructions laid out by an ancient text Fran had found and printed out from a historical document archive website. Each of them tosses a material into the fire, a hand full of dirt, a sprinkle of saltwater, a bushel of dried flowers, a drop of amber-coloured oil. As they complete each step of the ritual, Fran holds the artefact in her hand and chants some sentences in Latin. Thunder clouds slowly begin to form in the night sky above them. Once again the energy in the air begins to vibrate all around them like electricity.
Fran’s chanting grows louder and louder, it turns into yelling as the wind blows around them. Sarah and Matt brace themselves for the crescendo, but suddenly Fran stops her chants. She begins laughing. She cackles so deeply that she almost doubles over. Sarah and Matt glance between Fran and each other in confusion.
“What’s going on Fran, is this a joke or something?” Matt says, cautiously.
“Yes,” Fran says in between gasping laughs, “It’s a joke, it's all a big joke! You two really fell for it!”
“Fran, this isn’t funny at all. Stop laughing,” Sarah begins, her face grew angry. “So none of this was about the artefact? What happened to Thomas?”
“No, no, you still don’t get it,” Fran yells, sending her into another howling fit of laughter, “They still don’t see!”
Fran seems to be talking to and listening to the artefact in her hand as though they were sharing an inner dialogue no one else could hear. After a moment Matt turns on his heels, tired and frustrated with the entire situation, “I’m going home, Fran, you’re too much.”
“Ah, Ah! I wouldn’t!” Fran says again, barely able to contain her enjoyment, as though they hadn’t even gotten to the best part of the joke yet.
Matt rolls his eyes and steps out of the circle back towards the parking lot, but upon placing his foot on the grass, his leg crumples. He lets out a ghastly scream and crashes to the ground. He begins to twitch and squirm violently, kicking up clumps of dirt and gagging. This only makes Fran erupt with more laughter.
Sarah screams in horror, “Fran, what the hell is happening? What are you doing? Stop it! Stop--” but before she can finish her sentence, Fran turns abruptly in Sarah’s direction and stares. The laughing halts and her face drops to a grave stare.
Slowly and calmly, Fran saunters towards Sarah who is trembling and hyperventilating but making sure not to step out of the drawn circle. Matt is still wriggling on the ground with his eyes open, seizing in pain, but the screams have stopped.
“Come here, girly.” Fran says in a sweet voice, “Come on, look at me!” Fran stands still, feet from Sarah.
“Say ‘Ah’,” She says in a soft voice, and immediately, Sarah’s mouth gapes open, her eyes wide and wild with fear. Sarah’s mouth continues to stretch further and further open, against her will, until her jaw unhinges like a snake eating an oversized prey. After a shrill screech, the girl’s jaw makes a cracking noise and her eyes roll back. She collapses to the ground in a heap and Fran giggles once more.
It’s quiet now. There is a stillness in the air and the trees. Fran lifts the artefact to her mouth and she whispers something unintelligible to it. After a pause, she smiles widely and steps over her friend’s lifeless body, strolling off into the darkness of the night, still laughing to herself.