As the clock struck noon, the students that were gathered together in the lecture hall gradually ceased their conversations about what they were looking forward to doing when the weekend finally rolled around or whether they had bothered to do the assigned reading for the day despite it being, as all within the class readily agreed, exceedingly long and boring. The students got out their paper and writing utensils- pens covered in bite marks, stubby pencils that made your hands ache more with every letter written, notebooks covered in grime and doodles- in order to take notes on what occurred during that period, or at least to give off the appearance of doing so. In the front of the room this time stood not only their usual professor but another figure who none in the class recognized, and those who had not been following along with the syllabus expressed momentary confusion before their fellow classmates hushed them back into a state of forced silence.
The woman who the students were accustomed to seeing as their course's leader, a short chubby woman with rosy cheeks dressed smartly in a velvet mulberry-hued blouse and a long flowing black skirt, rapped a pencil against the podium to quiet the few who had yet to figure out that their class time was about to begin.
"Now, class, today we have a guest lecturer here to talk to all of you about what to do when summoning a demon. I was lucky enough to convince him to join us while he was in between field expeditions related to his research focused on the town of Gravity Falls- which those of you who did today's assigned reading should already be familiar with."
Many of the students broke out into smiles and nods during the pause after that statement, though some of these positive responses were more exaggerated than others. One or two of the others mumbled out excuses, though their teacher seemed to pay them no heed.
"And, having said that, I am proud to present to all of you one of the world's leading experts in the field of demonology, Dr. Corey Nash!"
The second figure who had been standing to the side of the podium, a pale, lanky man who towered over the class' teacher, took a step forward and waved enthusiastically to his audience of students. Unlike the formal appearance of the other professor, he wore a casual outfit composed of a long-sleeve plaid shirt, tattered blue jeans, and mud-encrusted hiking boots, along with metal-rimmed glasses so thick that his eyes could barely been seen through them. A boyish enthusiasm shown through his beardless, grinning face. If not for the streaks of gray that were scattered through his unkempt auburn hair and the deep laugh lines that surrounded the corners of his mouth, the man could have been mistaken for one of the course's students rather than their lecturer.
"Thank you very much for that kind introduction, Doctor Harding." The man's voice had a gentle Southern drawl. "Although, not to quibble with you too much, but there is one thing that you got wrong while telling your students all about me."
Doctor Harding's cheeks turned brighter, but just as she opened her mouth to apologize, her guest continued with his speech.
"I am not here to give all of you a big long talk about the basics of how to summon a demon, to stand up here behind this podium and talk your ear off while you kids just doze off or pretend to take notes or play with your phones when you think I'm not looking."
Some students laughed nervously upon recognizing the truth behind the guest lecturer's words.
"No, I know better than that. Hearing about demon summoning is one thing, but experience tells me that the best way to promote learning is through direct observation. That's why what I'll be doing for you all today isn't a lecture, but more of a… demonstration. Specifically, I will be summoning the demon Alcor the Dreambender." Dr. Nash flashed the class a grin. "And don't worry, I'll leave you plenty of time to get to your next classes afterwards."
A blonde girl sitting near the front of her class raised her hand, then spoke up after the guest lecturer nodded in her direction. "But Alcor is, like, one of the strongest demons out there, right? Isn't summoning him… you know, dangerous?"
The grin on Dr. Nash's face only grew larger. "Very good question, young lady! Now, you are absolutely right in that for an amateur like yourselves, doing this sort of summoning would be a very dangerous task indeed. But I've been dealing with demons for longer than most of you have been alive, so I have the experience necessary to keep even a demon as powerful as Alcor under control. Now, do any of you have any other questions?"
A couple of students shook their heads as the class went silent.
"Great! Let's get started, then! Now, Miranda…" The guest pointed to the teacher.
"It's Doctor Harding when I'm dealing with this lot."
Doctor Nash smirked and bobbed his head. "Yes, yes. Doctor Harding, then. Whatever your name is, can you help me out with setting up the summoning circle? I've got a diagram right here." The man dug through one pocket of his jeans, then another, before finally pulling out a folded piece of notebook paper and unfolding it, pressing it against the podium so that the two professors could see its details clearly.
"Of course I can help! And there should be plenty of space in the middle of the classroom for the summoning circle- I rearranged the desks today to be sure of it."
"Yeah, it looks like we'll be able to fit it all in. Good work."
Doctor Nash rolled up his sleeves, revealing heavily freckled arms, as he and Doctor Harding began to sketch intricate designs onto the white tile floor of the classroom in red chalk. A few minutes went by as the two professors worked, chalk scratching against the floor. Some of the students doodled in their notebooks, some put away their materials, and others gave up all pretenses to caring about what was going on and rested their heads on their desks. Finally, as the man drew a pine tree symbol in the center of the circle, the woman got out a batch of dark green candles and began lighting them one by one, releasing a scent that made the classroom smell as if it were inside of a dense forest, though the room's industrial lighting detracted from this illusory sensation connecting the area to the natural world.
A boy with a mohawk, who had been very intently working on a drawing of a dragon breathing fire onto a figure who greatly resembled the class' teacher, looked up and began to speak. "Wait, you guys are using scented candles? I thought demons like Alcor didn't like those things!"
Doctor Nash drew the last line of his pine tree sketch, which had turned out ever so slightly lopsided, and stood up to face his questioner. "You're quire right, usually demons don't care for the use of scented candles in summonings. But the use of this particular pine scent ties into Alcor's frequent use of and affinity for the pine tree motif- which I trust you've covered previously in this class, right, Miran- I mean, Doctor Harding?"
The woman nodded, her face a deep shade of pink. "I believe so, yes."
"So you should understand, therefore, that these particular candles are, as they say, the exception that proves the rule. Which is really a funny expression if you think about it, given that it runs contrary to the more modern use of the word 'proof'…" The man rested his chin on his hand and stared at a blank patch of wall.
"Corey- sorry, I mean Doctor Nash- I think we're ready to go!"
The guest jumped upwards upon hearing the other's statement. "Thank you for your help. I'll do the rest myself, if you don't mind?"
Doctor Harding nodded and went towards the walls, leaving the man alone in the center of the room, clutching a battered note card. He raised his hands into the air as he began to speak.
"Stellum splendidum, te invoce. Invoco te potentiae. Dico nomen tuum: Alcor!"
Almost immediately, he appeared, a humanoid figure wearing a black suit with glowing gold eyes and hands that ended with sharp claws.
"W̟̓ͩ͒̃̊ͪ̚͠H͂̊͏̺̬̙͍͉̟Ó̦ͣ̆̏̈́ͦͥ ͙̭͉̯͖͚ͅD̀A̪ͯ̔͊̈̾ͪR̂̂͗ͦͩ͋͝E͚͓͍͔̟̻̤S̹̍ͣͫͮͅ ̖̟͌̀̋̊̍͑̎͡T̷̤͖̲̟̤͉ͦͣͧO̡̤̼̻̻̼ͪͦ̏̇ ̼̩̦͗̽ͭͭ̂S̳͚̥͍͔̭ͩ͛U̧͓̣͇̻̼̙̒̅̿̾ͩM̲̯̭͎M̭͇̹͌͞ͅͅO̹͑ͥ̇͠Ǹ̮̈́͂̈́̆ ̱̭̞͍̹͖̙͗ͬͨ͊ͤͮ̚͢A͑͗ͫ́͏̫̯̲͍̼L̒ͫͭ̉́C̪̭̜̠͆͘Ő͓̰̦̝̟͟R͖̬̳̿̀ ̢̝Ṭ̻̣̱͊H̬̮̘̟͔͔ͨ͌̆ͮ̈́ͣE̤̦͚ͣ̂̾ͬͩ ̗̫̌̎̔̇̅ͅD̎ͬ̈͂͗̓̿͏̖̰̯͓R̂̾̂̆̆͛҉̬̺E̖̥̬̫̒͛A͖͠M̞̭̯͙̻̰̔̏͊B͠E̡̝͇͕̮̩̦̔̔̑N͓̻̮̥̦̳͑̋͐ͤ̏͌̀̕D̘̐̃̑E̯̮͕̲̋͢R̴̺̲̦̲̄̔ͮ͐ͭͦ̚?͇̱̙̼̹̲͚̅ͯ͢"
At the sound of the demonic echo, one girl covered her eyes with her hands and peeked out through the thin spaces between her fingers. Those who had been dozing off woke up with a start, sending pens and notebooks flying across the classroom.
The guest lecturer, however, stood firm, placing his hands on his hips. "It is I, Doctor Corey Nash!"
"Doctor Corey Nash? Doctor Corey Nash? Oh, you're a doctor, ooh, I'm so very frightened by your dear book learning! Now, what is it that you want from me, oh great Doctor Nash?"
"I don't have a request for you, Alcor. I merely wished to summon you here so as to teach these children how to summon a demon."
The demon cackled, a harsh noise that rang through the room, and snapped his fingers. With a loud crackle and buzz, the fluorescent light bulbs that lined the classroom's ceiling all simultaneously went out, leaving the room lit only by a dim circle of candlelight. Somebody let out a high-pitched scream.
"So, this meager summons was a total waste of my time. That's what you're telling me, isn't it, human?"
The man held one hand against his forehead while letting the other dangle at his side. "Well, that's not exactly what I would-"
"That is EXACTLY what you are telling me. You are telling me that you have summoned me here, with this sloppy circle, and these DISGUSTING candles-"
"I thought you liked the pine tree candles!"
The demon transformed into a grotesque caricature of Doctor Nash, his voie a childish, high-pitched approximation of the man's own. "'B-but I thought you liked those candles!'"
Rather than transforming back into the human-like shape he had taken before, Alcor's body turned black, lined with a golden brick-like pattern, though maintaining the same outline as when he had first appeared, rendering him practically a silhouette of his former form. Bright blue flames shot out from his hands.
"YOU. THOUGHT. W̰ͪ̈́͗́R̰̭̤͔̗ͤͅƠ̙̯͋̍ͧ͛N̮͖ͫ̈́̆͊͆͊͋G̿͆̉̅̌͌!͍̭̫̼͍ͧͦ̍ͣ͘"
"But Alcor-"
"Ṣ͎̙̂͊̐Ĩ̪̠̞̼ͬL͙E͔̗̥̥̣̘ͦ̒̐̑ͨN̎ͫ͊͜C̝̪̩̘ͣ̽͐̔́ͅE̓̍ͬ̐͌!̨̍"
The man's speech immediately stopped, though his mouth kept up the motions required to talk. It took him several seconds before he noticed the change and ceased his attempts to speak.
"You have made a mockery of my summoning circle. You have polluted the air with these rancid candles. You have used up precious amounts of my time- and, though my life may be endless, every second of my time remains more valuable than the entirety of your existence. And worst of all, after all of this, you tell me that you will give me N̡̥̠͙ͣ̃̿̆ͪǑͤ̊͟Tͬ̃̋H̡͈̜̠̳̩͇̎ͬ̒̈̚Ỉ͖ͨͦ̾N̹͉̬̻͉͓̻Ǧ̟͓̘̜͍̣̲̌̓ͦ̈̂?͖̱̘͉ͫ̔̀ͯ͆ͯ̉͠"
The now-mute man shook his head frantically, backing away from the summoning circle for several steps until he rammed into a wide-eyed student's desk.
"You said that you brought me here to teach these children a lesson, wasn't that right? Well, Doctor, I think the one here that most needs to learn their lesson is yͭ́̃̾ͮ͞ǫ͆̾ͦư̤̗͊͒̒̿͗!̴̤̞͇̝̬͍̟"
As Alcor approached Doctor Nash, seemingly unaffected as he crossed the bounds of the summoning circle, the man began edging his way around the classroom, holding his hands up in front of his head, a tear or two trickling down his freckled cheek.
The candles started flickering violently, to the point where the room looked as if it were lit by a strobe light, with those within the classroom only being able to see short flashes of each scene.
Alcor had his face pressed against that of Doctor Nash, his fire-filled claws stroking the man's chin-
Darkness, in which Doctor Nash must have been given his voice back, because he was whimpering and pleading for his life-
The man had wide gashes on one cheek, Alcor's claws were stained red, blood and tears were mingling together as they dripped onto the ground-
Darkness, darkness and screaming-
Doctor Nash was slumped on the ground, his body covered with blood so heavily that the source of his wounds could not be easily identified, his screams becoming coughs and gurgles-
Darkness, darkness and eerie laughter that made the blood run cold, darkness and a few hoarse breaths coming from the area of Doctor Nash's body, then an uneasy silence-
Doctor Harding was huddled in a corner, hands in front of her face, crouching on the ground, and Alcor was flying towards her, hands ablaze-
Darkness, darkness and cries of "NO!" and screams from many sources, and a hideous squelching sound that everybody in the room could hear all too clearly-
Alcor was clutching a human heart in his hand, it was still beating and oozing blood, and Doctor Harding had a large bloody hole in her chest, her eyes were wide, her face much too pale-
Darkness-
"And as for the rest of you, those who looked on as these two committed these mortal sins, those who made no attempt to stop them from grievously insulting myself, the great and powerful A̤̦̓̃ĺ̖̝͎̥͜c̺̳͇͙̓͗͛̓͢o҉̱̩̦̩̝̤r͘ ̷̟̹̼͒ͪ͗̓̒̏t͋̂ͪ̇̍͑͏̲̦̩̤͔̙̲h͔͔͎̣̊ͯͩͪ͋͞ê̦͚̝̝͇̱ͯͣͪ̃́̎ ̟̙̜̣͈̣͉̈̿̃̎D̡͖͖ͥ̈̾ͧ͒͗̏r͓̰͇̆̿ͨ̈́ͥ̂͋e͕̠͌̊ͪ͒̄ͅa͚͕̺̞̘̅̃ͬm̤̗͍ͯ̈́̿̆ͪ͋̄b͔̖͖ê͍̤͍n̲̬̰̜̮d̛̘̏̋̈̄ͮ̒ë̑͑̌ͭ͞r̸͚…"
"Alcor!"
The voice that dared to interrupt the demon was a familiar one, but none present were able to place it at the time, their minds too filled with fear to focus on such trivialities.
"Do not think that you shall go u̜̪͕̳̺̞̔ͧ͗͛ͅn̤̳̽̓̊̚p̦̭͓͐ͩu̍ͦ̀n̵̠̺̼ͦi͇̖̖̯̥̳̍͘s̡͉̘̗̟̉̉ͩ̑͂ͣh̖̣̦̠̪͎̳ͩ̀e͔̰͎̻̪̠ͨd̗̮!̧̈̓"
A gust of wind erupted within the windowless classroom and blew out the candles, leaving the room pitch black. The demon laughed, dark, maniacal laughter that rang in the ears and echoed throughout the confines of the room.
"Alcor?"
The demon's whole body lit up with blue flames, and he strolled from one side of the line of desks to the other, looking each student in the eye and taking in their expressions of terror.
"Ẃho͡ ̸f͡įr̶s͝t͟…̕ ẉ̱̤̤̥̖̤̏h̛͕̝̭͎͔͒ͅo̶̺͈̩̼͈̊ͪ͑͌̒ ͕̜̭̔͛͗ͧ̚͞f̛͖̗̹̠͛̇ͫ̋̐̍̐i̩̜͚̲̥̹͒ṟ̺̦̱̲͙̊͟s̨͔ͦ̇̇̓t̙̱ͭ̋ͧ̆͒͋.̣.̥͍̜̳̜͒͆͊ͤͣ͛̚ͅ.͍̩͖̜̱ͥ̑̉̔͊͟"
"Alcor, you- you can stop now! I think they've seen enough!"
The flames died out, plunging the classroom into utter darkness once more.
Then, with a hiss and a buzz, the fluorescent lights turned back on.
Doctor Harding was still huddled in the front corner of the classroom, but the hole in her chest was no longer there, and her clothes were in the same pristine shape they had been when the class had begun. Doctor Nash stood in front of the podium, and not a single sign of the vicious attack which he had undergone was now visible.
The students, meanwhile, had not made it out so unscathed.
One muscular boy wearing a football jersey was passed out cold on the floor. Several were embracing one another as best they could without having to leave the confines of their desk. Most had tears running down their face or snot bubbling from their nose. The girl who had first covered her eyes with her hands was no longer the only one to block out their vision.
A minute went by filled with sobs and sniffles, but no actual words to express any emotions, though they all had a sort of silent understanding of the shock and terror that was ever so slowly beginning to dissipate.
Doctor Nash was the first to speak, his voice loud and sharp, the man's drawl now absent from his voice. "Seriously? Nobody's going to ask what just happened? I'm disappointed in you all."
Those with closed eyes opened them upon hearing such unafraid speech; those covering their eyes set their hands down, once again willing to confront the world around them.
One boy raised a shaking hand, but didn't bother waiting for approval before blurting out, "What was that?"
"Finally! There we go." The man rubbed his hands together. "Now, Miran-" He paused and took a breath after spotting the glare of the class' professor, who had gotten up from the floor and was now standing on the other side of the podium from him. "Doctor Harding and I told you that I would do a demonstration about what to do when summoning a demon, and that's just what I did. But I'm afraid that I haven't been entirely truthful with you all."
"…about what?" a girl with a long black braid squeaked out after a moment of tense silence.
The guest lecturer gave the class a wide grin, revealing a mouth full of sharp fangs, and pulled back his ragged, untidy hair behind the tips of his now-pointed ears.
"There is no such person as Doctor Corey Nash."
The one who had gone by the name of Doctor Nash sat cross-legged and floated upward, hovering in place once the bottoms of his legs were even with the top of the podium.
"Now, kids, your teacher brought me here today to teach you what not to do when summoning a demon. First off, don't do it on a whim, or as a party trick, or to try to prove to your friends that you're not a wuss, or anything like that. You shouldn't even think about it unless you have a major, legitimate problem that you truly can't solve any other way. I trust that you all have gotten that message loud and clear."
One or two brave souls nodded. Two boys ducked out of their seats and started prodding their unconscious friend into waking up.
"Second, if you have to summon a demon for whatever reason, be careful! Double-check everything that you do to make sure you're safe- and that you're not offending whoever you're summoning. Though that usually ends up being an issue of safety itself. Wrong me or one of my kind enough, and… well, you can kiss the idea of safety behind."
The demon paused, but if he was waiting for some sort of response from his audience, his pause was in vain. A couple of the more devoted students had retrieved their notebooks and began writing in them, but what notes they managed to produce were on various levels of incoherent, far from containing any information of true academic value. The two boys had managed to wake up their friend and were quietly guiding him back to his desk while teasing him for having passed out in the first place.
"And third, don't rely on somebody else to think about this stuff for you. Check things yourself, and if something seems wrong to you, speak up and act up until it gets fixed. Because anybody can mess up this stuff for you, accidentally or even purposely, be it the leader of a cult you just joined, your best friend… or even your demonology professor."
The guest lecturer waved a hand in the general direction of Doctor Harding, who gave her class a nervous, tight smile.
"This time around, all of the pain and blood and death was just for show. But scenes like this really do happen every day, every hour… and if you aren't careful, the next victim could be you."
The demon paused to take in the students' faces, their visages displaying various combinations of surprise and fear and confusion, with only a few showing even the slightest glimmer of understanding. No matter. They would put the pieces together soon enough. They would learn their lesson, he was sure of it.
"Any ͡q͘ue͡s͝t͟iòns͜?"