Chris Rogers, Author

Invite the Devil In by Chris Rogers

[ 1 ] – [ 2 ] – [ 3 ] – [ 4 ] – [ 5 ] – [ 6 ]

I gulped, remembering something from one of the books: "Invite the devil in and he'll claim your soul."

"WHAT THE HELL WOULD I WANT WITH YOUR SOUL? ONCE I'M IN, YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN. UNLESS YOU WANT SOMETHING, OF COURSE."

Sure. I wasn't sucker enough to believe him, but I didn't see how I could ignore him, either. Not without knowing exactly how strong he was and what he could do.

"If you want to come here, why don't you just come?"
"FROM WHERE I AM, IT'S NOT EXACTLY A CAKE WALK. FIRST WE HAVE TO PUNCH UP THE POWER ON YOUR CPU AND MODEM."

He gave me a list of components to buy and said not to worry about the money to pay for them. My credit would be accepted without question. He was right. But I refused to believe Abra could know my every thought every moment of every day. Distance, noise, atmospheric static, or something would interfere. I took a Walkman to school and wore the headphones between classes, with the music turned up loud. I had no idea if it was working, until lunch.

The seats were all taken at the table where Judy sat with her friends. I leaned over and asked if she wanted to move to another table with me. She said no, and turned back to the girl sitting beside her.
Could have been worse, I guess. Could have been a guy.
I kept the headphones on. If the music was interfering with Abra's mind reading, he was likely pissed and had worked his magic with Judy. On the other hand, I didn't think he'd do anything too drastic unless I refused to help him. Which I hadn't. Yet.

We had a pop history quiz that afternoon. I failed it.
I thought about leaving off some of the components Abra told me to buy, saying I forgot or they weren't available. But that would only delay the situation, not stop it, and might tick him off.

Mom came home in a new car that evening. Straight off the showroom floor, it had stereo CD and air bags and that smell that new cars have a monopoly on.

"Like it?" Her grin could light up a skyscraper.
"What's not to like? It's terrific. Can we afford it?"
"I traded in the old clunker, added a chunk from savings"
"We have savings?" We used to search under seat cushions at the end of every month for enough change to buy pizza.
"Not a bundle, but some. At first I worried that our good luck would suddenly turn bad again. But my job seems secure enough. We might as well enjoy some of the proceeds."

It was great to see her so happy.
That night, I dumped the electronic components on the table and stared at them. The chips and clips and connectors meant nothing to me.

"What am I supposed to do with this stuff? I don't know anything about hardware."
"RELAX. I'LL DRAW YOU A PICTURE."

The screen changed colors and lines faded in until a simple diagram appeared. It looked like a five-pointed star, but after reading up on sorcery, I knew better. It was a pentagram. Witches use them in performing spells. Abra had typed in some instructions for attaching the chips I'd bought to each of the pentagram's five points.

"What happens if I screw up my PC?"
"YOU CAN'T SCREW IT UP. TRUST ME."

I hit "print screen" and the printer spit out a hard copy. No matter how I stalled, I couldn't make the job take longer than an hour. I put the case back together and plugged it in. Then I sat back and looked at it awhile, afraid to turn it on.

All those nights I had cruised the late highway, I'd never noticed how creepy the house could get. The air felt charged, the light harsh and exposing. Every tiny sound jolted me. When the blood pounding my ears got so loud I wanted to scream, I reached out and turned the PC on at the power bar, my hand sweaty on the red switch.The CPU growled. The sound started low and harsh, like a cement mixer full of gravel, then grew shrill and loud. I thought sure it was ready to blow up, and then - silence.

Through all the noise, the monitor was blank. Now it swirled with color, a vibrant race through the spectrum as patterns formed and dissolved like a fast-forward film of crystals growing. I watched, mesmerized. The colors slowed and dulled and turned as murky as something out of a septic tank. Then an image began to form.

[ 1 ] – [ 2 ] – [ 3 ] – [ 4 ] – [ 5 ] – [ 6 ]

Return to top of page.