Westland, NY, Saturday, July 20, 1929
Preparations
Eric suggested that Arthur watch over them during the ritual, but Arthur said that with five, the original ritual resulted in two being dispatched. All of them would be needed if they wanted to keep control of events.
Eric suggested pouring some of the silver from their shells in front of the hearth to block access. Wilson suggested redrawing the pentagram with the silver powder. Sam was hesitant as it might affect the performance of the spell.
The investigators readied their equipment and set up for the ritual as the sun set behind the mountains to the west. They arranged their contingencies on the table within Sam’s easy reach..
Sam considered that the corpse in the basement could potentially reanimate. The investigators discussed what to do with it. Sam and Mookie went down the hatch to the basement. The room below had a low ceiling. While Sam pointed his shotgun at the dead man’s head, Mookie kicked his head. His foot pierced the skull. Mookie searched the rubble and found a pipe and a pouch of old tobacco.
They decided to use rubble to bury the hobo, but as they started moving rocks, there was a rumbling sound suggesting that the pile was unstable. They backed out of the room, and Sam shot off the hobo’s head clean off.
When they climbed back upstairs, Wilson demanded to know what the shooting was. Sam told him that he had shot a rat.
The Ceremony
The first twenty minutes of the ceremony go smoothly. Then thought they heard a loud thump on the ceiling. Coffin then said he heard a snuffling sound above them. Suddenly, every creak and rustle was threatening. Eric noticed that the wind was picking up outside, causing eerie shadows and drafts though the thing paned windows.
A moment later, Eric heard an awful howling from above, interspersed by grunts and foul sounds spoken in a harsh guttural voice. The old house sways and creaks, the sudden jolts shaking it to its foundations. Objects on shelves and the mantel fall and roll across the floor. Arthur was spooked. He drew his pistol and pointed randomly at the various moving shadows, but he did not stop chanting.
This violence and noise continued for a half hour, then a horrible smell began to creep down from the attic above, followed by a thick stinking goo that oozes through the ceiling and drips down the walls. They avoided the material, which sizzled when it hit the floor..
Near the beginning of the second hour of chanting, the monster quiets and the investigators chant without distraction. A half-hour later, Eric heard, from outside the door, a faint call for help—a woman’s voice. They ignored the sound and continued chanting.
Suddenly, Wilson stopped chanting, and a plume of smoke appeared in the center of the pentagram. It quickly took shape, though each saw something different. Arthur shot the thing, and the various images disappeared.
“I had to test you, you see,” Wilson said, his voice turning deep and resonant as he spoke. “The so called Cabal invested the rite with their sacrifices, both physical and mental. It was only a matter of time before they tried to undo what they had done. I need to know how far you will take it.”
“It was a stroke of genius for Jason Longborough to put all the pieces together for you to attempt the ritual,” Wilson continued incredulously. “He laid it all out before you. But things are not always what they seem,” she said after a pause.
“Dragon’s blood provides the summoning strength, the foundation for the spell,” the botanist continued in an instructional tone. Then her features changed to that of the sorceress from the Exotic Spice and Tea Shop, the cut of Wilson’s suit changing to accentuate her figure.
“The Five Leaved Flower of Light is a cleansing and healing agent intended to drive the entity from its refuge,” the sorceress said with a mystical flourish. “Using the roots grounds the entity to a physical form.” She adopted a concerned expression that remained as the face became that of Jack Barnes on the sorceress’ body in the lab coat and suit.
“But Goat’s Rue is a ubiquitous weed,” the restaurateur said matter-of-factly. “It’s purpose is to bind the summoned entity to this reality.” He adopted a mischievous grin. “I’m afraid that your mixture contains no binding agent.”
Sam shot it with a silver pellet shotgun shell in middle of its monolog. Its torso was riddled with holes, but it did not seem to be impaired. Eric stepped into the pentagram and threw the powder at it. Mookie poured some of the powder into his hand and slapped at the entity, but it evaded him.
Coffin shot the entity between the eyes, but it did not flinch. Instead it attacked him and ripped his right leg off. Blood splattered the thing as Coffin bled out. Eric poured the powder into his hand and blew it at Utgarda. The entity screams with all four voices and burst into flame. The wounds from the silver pellets start oozing a sticky green fluid, and then it vanished is a cloud of foul smelling smoke.
The entity was gone. Sam spread both powders on the spot where it had last been, and then shot that place with silver pellets.. He also verified that the corpse in the cellar had not moved.
They examined Coffin, but he had bled out. Sam rifled the detective’s pockets and relieved him of his possessions. They decided to burn the cabin down and everything related to the ritual, as a pyre for Coffin.
Westland, NY, Sunday, July 21, 1929
Conclusion
On returning to Westland, they went to where the Exotic Tea and Spice Shop had been, but there had never been an Exotic Tea and Spice Shop there. They were confused, but decided to have a Chinese meal to recuperate.
The following morning, they each received a summons to Dr. Feldman’s office. He will be pleased that the investigators were successful in dispelling the entity. He will then inform them that the medium that Longborough consulted, David Teplow, has mysteriously disappeared. He will offer them $2000 each, a year’s salary, to locate Teplow and learn what he told Longbough. He provides a post office box and telephone number in Brooklyn, New York.