Length: 2161
Rating: T
Warnings: cursing, cutting (not related to self-harm), blood.
Summary: Darcy has moved out of her parent's house at the ripe age of 18. Now that she's no longer under her parent's roof or rule she's determined to set things straight with the entity that had attached itself to her when she was 15. In the midst of doing so, Darcy makes a rash decision that will either hurt or help her situation.
Since the age of 15, Darcy had experienced some strange happenings within her parent's house. The most common occurrence is that her belongings would move around by themselves. While it was a known fact that her parents continued to work with the dark craft, the strange encounters were only taking place with Darcy. Her parents were well aware of the experiences she was having. However, they refused to help her out of the sticky situation. She had brought it on herself after all. She knew better than to mess with her father's Ouija board, yet here she was with some spirit attached to her.
Though unsettling at first, Darcy quickly became accustomed to the odd occurrences to the point where they no longer bothered her. Becoming comfortable with the entity around her was her only option as she had promised not to dabble in witchcraft under her parent's house. She held that promise until August 21, 1983. That was the day that marked Darcy's 18th birthday as well as the day she moved out of her parent's house. She now resided in a one-bedroom flat in the heart of London.
Upon her move, Darcy purchased her own Ouija board for the sole purpose of ending the strange experiences she had been having for the past three years. While she had grown accustomed to the chaos, she had also grown quite sick of it. Darcy was determined to put an end to the nonsense that had consumed her life.
There was no doubt that what had attached itself to Darcy when she was fifteen was still lurking around. During her move multiple items moved around by themselves, large moving boxes slid around the room before crashing into the walls, and she had heard her name uttered in the vacancy of her flat a multitude of times. The actions weren't new for Darcy to be encountering, but they certainly had gotten bolder. Back at her parent's house, the experiences were more subtle. Before moving out small items would move on their own, but larger items certainly did not just slide around the room like they were now.
With the increase in just how much she was experiencing after the move, Darcy was left wondering if what was messing with her was the same spirit from her younger teen years. Perhaps it was a different entity who had latched on to her. However, there was the chance that it was the same spirit from her parent's house and it now felt more comfortable out of the eldest Invidia's home. Darcy only knew of one sure-fire way to find out.
The Ouija board that she stored under her bed (although no one would find out as she lived alone) was now lying on the coffee table in the living area. Darcy hesitated for a moment before placing the planchette on the board. What if this only made matters worse? Surely not as she just wanted to ask one simple question. She sat there deliberating with herself for a moment. Eventually, she concluded that things couldn't get worse. If the situation were going to worsen it surely would have happened by now.
Darcy set the planchette in the middle of the board. She then moved the planchette in a circle around the perimeter of the board three times before letting it rest in the middle. "Are there any spirits here?" The age-old question was asked even though she already knew the answer. In a matter of seconds, the planchette jerked itself to the top left corner where it settled on yes. The corner of Darcy's mouth flicked upward for a split second before falling back to its resting position. It was nice to be getting clear answers as opposed to a repeated figure-eight like the time before. As she prepared to ask her next question the planchette began to violently move in a figure-eight motion one, two, three times, and it just kept going. It was wishful thinking for Darcy to assume this would go according to plan.
"Are you the same," Darcy paused as she pondered the correct term, "entity from-" she was stopped mid-sentence as the planchette nearly flung itself to the top left corner to settle on no. The planchette then returned to the figure-eight motion.
"Okay, well, what do I have to do to put all this to an end?" The planchette remained in the figure-eight motion. A frustrated sigh came from Darcy, "What do I have to do to put this to an end?" She spoke louder this time. However, the planchette remained in motion. "What do you want?" At this point, Darcy was practically shouting. The planchette came to an abrupt halt, and Darcy's brow furrowed at the sight. Panic began to swell in her chest as the anticipation of what was to come became apparent.
The planchette began to move slowly, barely inching across the board before finally reaching D, next it rested on E, then A, and finally came to a stop on L.
"A deal?" Darcy became aware that the scene before her was unfolding to be rather dangerous. "What kind of deal?" She needed the clarification. The planchette was set into motion, but it moved much quicker than the time before. It swiftly moved across the letters, and Darcy muttered them aloud when it landed on one. "B-L-O-O-D." The planchette settled over the last letter.
Darcy huffed, "I'm not making a blood deal with a demon. I might be new to all this, but I'm not an absolute dunderhead." She decided that she would rather deal with the goings-on of the entity than make a life-threatening deal with it. She knew enough about dark magic that making a deal with a demon is by far the worst thing one could do. Darcy went to close the board. As she tried to move the planchette it stayed put. She pushed with more force, but it still refused to move from its spot hovering over the letter D. "I'm not making a deal with you." Her word was firm. She sounded quite like her father at that moment.
While Darcy's mind was made up about this proposition for a blood deal, this entity had other plans. The planchette suddenly removed itself from its place on the alphabet and jolted to the upper right corner to stop on No.
"I'm not making a deal with you!" Darcy shouted. She attempted to close the board but to no avail as the piece refused to move once again. This ordeal continued for upwards of ten minutes.
In a last-ditch effort to close the godforsaken board Darcy settled into a calm rage before she uttered, "Fine. I'll make the goddamn deal. Where do you want the blood?" A low, hardly audible growl emitted and the board vibrated before the planchette began to move.
B-O-A-R-D
"On the board," Darcy confirmed. A sigh flew past her lips, "Can I close the board while I get a knife?" Though her safety had been launched out the window minutes ago, she still wanted to take every precaution she possibly could. The planchette jerked upward and landed on No once again. She was becoming aware that any attempt to do this safely was quickly becoming futile. Without a word she stood from the couch and meandered to the kitchen. She was reluctant as she knew her situation would only worsen once she made the deal. However, she was unable to close the board. Blood deal or not, the entity was out and fully capable of fucking with Darcy where ever she may be.
She realized that while her thoughts were racing she had been staring at her set of knives that sat on the counter. Without hesitation, she pulled the largest knife from the set and hurried back to the living area. As she entered the room she noticed the planchette had gone back to moving in its figure-eight motion.
Darcy's chest tightened as she sat in front of the board. She didn't have to do this. Surely there was a way out as she hadn't made the deal yet. Her father would know how to get her out of this. It would be a cold day in Hell before Darcy admitted to her dad that she got caught in the middle of a blood deal with a demon. The option of calling her parents was well out of the question. Unfortunately, she didn't know anyone else in the dark magic community. To put it simply, her luck had run out.
Darcy took a deep breath as she placed the blade to the inside of her left hand. The metal was cool, almost soothing against her clammy palm. She held it there, the blade was firm against her skin not yet penetrating it. She tried to come up with more options to get out of the situation at hand, but as her thoughts spun around nothing came to mind. Finally, she realized there was no other option. Darcy inhaled sharply as a stinging sensation was now present in the palm of her hand, and the warmth of blood soon followed. It felt as though her entire body was tingling. Whether that was from the pain or the panic she wasn't too sure.
"On with it!" A voice erupted from the direction of the board. It was raspy and high pitched. However, it wasn't any less unsettling than the low growl Darcy had heard earlier.
Without hesitation, Darcy held her lacerated hand above the board, and she made a fist and squeezed so that the blood would drip onto the board. It fell over the word 'goodbye.' A sizzling sound came from the board. Darcy watched as the scene unraveled before her eyes. Her blood, once crimson, was now a bubbling black. In a panic, Darcy grabbed the planchette and attempted to slide it over 'goodbye' to close the board. However, in her attempt, the planchette stuck to the black stain that now symbolized the blood deal she had made. She was able to remove the planchette from the board, and she could slide it around the area where her blood hadn't stained. It just wouldn't glide over 'goodbye.'
"Bloody useless," Darcy muttered as gathered the board and planchette. She then returned them to their home under her bed. After returning the items to the place in which they belonged she took the time to wash up and bandage her hand.
The small bathroom in her apartment was barren and rather depressing. Beige walls, white countertops, a toilet, and a small shower. The only thing that stood out in the vanilla room was the small aloe plant sitting on the counter. Once the cut was washed out, Darcy snapped off a piece of aloe and applied its contents to the cut that was sure to leave a scar. With a lack of first aid supplies, Darcy had to makeshift a bandage out of toilet paper and some packing tape she had lying around.
"This will have to do." She mumbled to herself as she examined her bandaged hand. For the most part, the bleeding had stopped, but there were still a few places that hadn't completely clotted. A few spots of blood were peeking through the bandage. Darcy shifted her gaze from her hand to her reflection. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" She shook her head before returning to her room.
Contrary to the bathroom, Darcy's room was full of life. There were bookshelves chock full of books, plants were lining the window sill, she now had a small altar set up. The altar had amethyst, rose quartz, and selenite. A brand new deck of tarot cards sat right in the middle of the altar. Her walls were littered with framed prints of works from Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet. Bundles of lavender were hung from the ceiling with yarn and thumbtacks. Sitting on the bedside table was a simple, black desk lamp. A stack of notebooks as well as a few fountain pens also littered the table.
Having decided to call it a night, Darcy changed into her sleeping gown and crawled into bed. With the bedside lamp still on, she retrieved a black, leather-bound journal along with a pen. She sat up in bed writing about the events that had unfolded throughout the day. The further along into the details she got, the sloppier her usually neat cursive became. Though her entry wasn't finished, her eyelids were becoming heavy. She set her stationary to the side before clicking the lamp off. While she cozied up within her blankets, she let the smell of lavender lull her to sleep.
Just as Darcy was nearing the edge of slumber the same high, raspy voice from before sounded, "You're mine." Once on the brink of slumber, Darcy's eyes shot open. She was now wide awake and well aware that she was in for a sleepless night.