CW in the description

Chapter 7 

Candles

Lee wasn't able to sleep long. They craved it with every ache in their body but after a few hours of laying in the dark room drifting in and out of sleep they gave up. Somehow it made them more tired to try and sleep when they couldn't than to just throw in the towel. Alice was resting next to them and didn't seem to notice when Lee sat up. Lee had a very strict no ghosts at home policy, well except for Alice but that was because she was, well, Alice. She always  was such a presence in Lee’s life now that they had never thought to bring up this boundary. Nick had tried to come upstairs many times which had led to fight after fight until finally he gave up. Most ghosts were nice and left when Lee asked them to. But because of this Lee had never known if ghosts slept. Alice was assuringly asleep.She looked so peaceful curled up on her side. Her chest rose and fell as if she could still breathe. Her eyelashes fluttered as she dreamed and Lee thought about how peaceful she looked there. Suddenly the distance between the two was too close for Lee and they carefully stood up and opened the closet door.

The box was as Lee had left it and after just a second of hesitation they went for the book. At their desk they turned on the desk lamp, whipping their head around to make sure Alice hadn't woken. She stirred just a moment and turned onto her other side away from the light. She had always been a deep sleeper. Lee began to reread through the journal. They wrote occasional things down in their notebook, the same one they had taken notes in at the library, but as they tried to translate the pages they realized there was some order to the pages. Some were organized as lists, having items that Lee recognized, simple herbs and some minerals that they assumed were in the pouch they had found earlier. One page near the beginning of the book was written entirely in Spanish, in a different person’s handwriting. 

A Mi querida estrella te regalo este diario parap que lo llenes con tus conocimientos. To my dear star I give you this diary so that you may fill it with your knowledge. Os dejo una manera de empezar todo. I leave you with a way to start everything. Ofrenda al qye esta en el bosque, el lago y la tierra. Offering to the one who is in the forest, the lake and the earth. 

Below the unsigned note was a description of ingredients and instructions written as simply as a cook book recipe and as Lee read they glanced back at the box now outside of their closet door. 

………

Getting everything they required was surprisingly easy. Aside from the supplies already in the box they needed only a few herbs from the pantry, some salt, a new candle and lighter that they stole from the living room along with a bell from a box of christmas ornaments their father had decided to bring down from the attic earlier that day. They filled the bowls with different mixtures of herbs, salt, water and, after 20 minutes of looking up what different rocks looked like, they were able to choose the right ones to place out. At least Lee hoped they did. With a safety pin Lee carved into the candle with the symbols that had been written on the page they were following. Their heart was pounding heavily and Lee looked back at Alice to make sure she couldn't hear it. She was still resting. They almost went to wake her up but something held them back and suddenly in the middle of all of this madness, with all of these items around them, Lee felt ashamed.
They were supposed to be helping Alice with figuring out who killed her, not playing around with what Lee was beginning to regret, sounded like magic. If Alice woke up Lee imagined that she would be furious with them. But Lee felt the pull inside of them like they never had before, bubbles of anxiety and excitement were brewing inside of them. They needed to do this. Quietly they set the bowls around them in a circle and sat holding the candle. They placed the book on the desk and read the words quietly , mouthing the words that were supposed to be said out loud. Lee had never seen them before and they looked different than the rest of the page. Lee flicked the lighter and lit the candle and began to whisper the incantation stumbling throughout.. 

“O Spiritus, qui in silva, in lacu et in terra jacet, pro tuaprotectione peto. Inclina, quaeso, aurem tuam ad me invocantem.”

Lee rang the bell shutting their eyes closed tight.

They expected to feel the ground shake, walls come down and fire to rain upon them in the room but there was nothing. They  looked back at the book. There was only one sentence left, it said that the author was  proud of their mother. Lee stood up and turned to place the book back onto the desk but couldn't see it. They looked down at the floor below them where they had placed the bowls and offerings on the bedroom floor but they saw nothing. Lee looked around and found themself to be standing in an inky void. They waved their hands around, light of the candle flickering off of their arms but they couldn't feel anything around them. The air was thick and cold and Lee could feel their lungs breathing quickly as panic set in. Their legs were heavy as if encased in lead and they couldn't move. Lee thrashed around but with all the effort they gave they could not move.  Behind them they heard a bone chilling rattle in the distance that creeped up slowly. They froze in place and the sound grew louder as they felt the presence of something pass behind them.  

Lee whipped their head back and forth tracking the sound. It was circling them. A low deep voice growled out around them, vibrating in Lee’s ears as it spoke softly. “I have laid claim here,” the voice was smooth, deep and masculine; he seemed to smile as he spoke.”Who are you to summon me?”

Lee frantically looked around. In the void around them they could see something moving in and out of the low light, a glimpse of white and red out of the corner of their eye each time.”I-I’m sorry.” They stammered, their voice was small and broken, a fragile thing being strangled out of their throat. They felt so small. The void around them felt too vast and claustrophobic all at once. They heard the harsh tapping and scraping of claws to their left.

The being laughed, a roaring animalistic sound that banged on Lee’s ears like drums. Lee felt pressure on their shoulders and looked up at what stood behind them. A creature stared back, its skull twisting to look down at Lee from its tall frame. Long horns, sets of them, protruded from either side of the skull, deep red painted on the tips. Lee felt the harsh claws tighten on their shoulders. They couldn't move, they couldn't even scream. Lee whimpered and the creature threw its head back and laughed, each bone in its neck josling back and forth making a horrible hoolw rattling sound. It lowered its head again craning its long neck around so it could see Lee face to face. His eyes glowed yellow in the dark pits of his skull and stared unblinking at Lee with a skeletal grin. “Heed my warning child,” the creature said, bringing a hand to Lee's face, gently stroking their cheek, “Next time I will not be so friendly.”

Lee filled with hysteria as the creature brushed them. Their breathing became erratic and to their horror they puffed the candle they were holding out, sending them into darkness. The void consumed them and all they could hear was their erratic breathing and feel the burn in their lungs as they huffed in and out. It wasn't until they felt cold hands on them that they opened their eyes to see Alice above them. Her eyes were blurry and she was trying to shake Lee too. Slowly Lee was able to blink and flung onto their side and coughed. It took a few minutes for Lee to calm down. They looked around the room. The creature was nowhere to be seen and the room was beginning to fill with early morning light. The bowls around Lee had fallen, swept aside and their contents spilled. The candle in Lee’s hand was burned down almost to the wick. 

“Are you ok?” Alice asked leaning over Lee, holding her palms to Lee’s cheeks the best she was able to. The cold sobered Lee. 

Lee shook their head. 

“ I think I met the One the Book is about.”