A night in the cabin

The storm hadn’t really eased up at all, so the three of you were **** to huddle around the fireplace on the ratty old furniture. Marcus had torn up some of the old porno magazines, along with a few dry pieces of sticks he had found on the porch and got a small and smoky fire going. Surprisingly the chimney managed to still work, and they found themselves somewhat warm as the outside world was drench in rain and battered by howling winds.

You had flicked through a few pages of the grimoire, taking note of its introductory passages on _Those On the Other Side. _Demons, you assumed. Creatures that seemed vaguely humanoid, but with wings, tails, fangs, claws, tentacles, and all manner of strange biologies. A reoccurring figure was demon Lilith, and you found yourself staring at the ring often.

“This is so fucked,” Tina said, frowning at the photo album. She had been reading it with the same intensity you showed the grimoire. “These women were being used. Degraded. It’s slavery, and some of these fucking cultists are women themselves!”

She was getting worked up, and you reached out to gently squeeze her shoulder. “Hey,” you said, “it’s ok.”

“It’s really fucking not,” she looked at you with hard eyes. “Mike, these people have been doing this for so long. How many girls have they chopped up and buried out here when they got tired of fucking they?”

“You’re right, it’s not ok…but I promise you we’re gonna stop them,” you reached down and squeezed her hand. “These people might think they’re untouchable, but we can get them. What you’re holding…that’s evidence. That’s a smoking gun, and we can use it.”

She sighed. “They’re wearing masks.”

“Not all of them, and those are the ones we’ll look into. Starting with that chick who works with your parents.”

“Miss Nakumura,” Tina replied, trying to remember. “I’m pretty sure that was her name.”

“Well, there’s our starting point.” You nodded to the album, “we’ve got pictures of her, in a very compromised position. She’ll have to sing if she wants to save her ass.”

Tina smirked. “Seeing those photos, she’d probably thrive in a prison environment.”

That got a laugh out of you and for a moment things settled into a pleasant silence. Tina looked at you with deep and searching eyes, and for an instant you felt all air leave you. How had you missed the beauty of her eyes? How had you missed the way she looked at you with such adoration. It was love, you realised. Tina was in love with you.

And the truth was, if you were honest with yourself, you had probably felt the same way for a long time. But would you take that next step, would you irreversibly alter your friendship? Once the both of you crossed that line, it couldn’t go back to the norm. Still, it felt so good to look at her, to have her smile at you like that…

“Tina,” you began, inching a little closer, “have you ever…”

“DAMN IT,” Marcus voice cut through the air and startled you both. He waved his hand furiously, before sucking on one of his fingers. He had been fiddling around at the other side of the cabin, trying to find anything else that might be useful whilst also doing some impromptu cleaning. “God damn broken bottles. I swear to god I better not get fucking tetanus.”

“Just don’t step on any nails,” you called, smiling.

He gave you a dismissive wave. After a while he came back with a few pieces of tattered, rat-gnawed cardboard and went about feeding them into the fire. The warmth began to swell and made you all sleepy. Tina gave you another smile and then settled near the flames. The moment had passed between you, but you made an internal memo to revisit it in a better time and place. Though the furniture was old and broken in places, you didn’t have much choice and settled into a chair and allowed yourself to doze.

—-

You dreamt shapeless things, pulled back into the waking world by a feeling you couldn’t quite put a word to. Your eyes snapped open, and when you looked about the cabin both your friends had fallen asleep. Marcus in a chair, Tina stretched out on the couch. There was only the dim glow of fireplace, growing weaker from lack of kindling. The rain continued outside, creating a steady and almost deafening ambience.

The Grimoire, a voice whispered.

Looking down you saw that the book lay open on your lap, two pages describing different rituals that would call forth the energies from the other side. Transmutation, one of them was called, describing the way Those on the Other Side could lend power to reshape someone’s flesh. Women could be changed to have appearances more desirable for the caster, while even men could be bent and refashioned with the ease of working clay. The text did warn that only a master of the arts should attempt it, but as you read the words you felt a stirring within your loins.

The other page described a second spell, Dream Walk, which could bring someone into the minds of sleeper and manipulate it to your desire. It was an easier spell to master, though much more fragile. A dream might collapse, and the influence would be incomplete.

Both options made your heart race with eager and furious desire. Within your jeans you were achingly hard, the ring pulsing on your hand. It wanted to be used, to be the conduit that would allow more of the otherworldly energy to flow forth into this realm.

But could you really do it? These were your two closest friends, could you really use them as Guinea pigs for your dabbles of sorcery? Your conscience made you doubt it and there was struggle in your heart over which of your natures would win. Would you use a spell? And if so, which one?

You looked down at the book, and made your decision.