“About time,” Birgit says, stepping into the circle, holding the bowl of water. “Now, please leave the room or stay and be quiet. I’ll have to concentrate on this next part.”
“You’re welcome,” William mutters, sending the others a look. They retreat to the kitchen. William places himself in the opening to the living room, so that he can keep an eye on Birgit. Mostly because he’s curious to see the macabre ritual, but also because he still doesn’t trust her.
She sits down in the middle of the circle, crosses her legs and places the bowl of water on her lap. Then, closing her eyes, she starts running her fingers across the surface of the water while mumbling to herself. It goes on like that for a few minutes. Then she starts flicking water drops at the tarp, her voice raising slightly with each flick.
“Begone what was never born, be free what once was. Let the gros bon ange rise once more, let it cleanse itself of the curse. We ask of you, oh, Good Big Angel, reclaim your rightful place in this tormented soul. Begone what was never born …”
At first, nothing happens. The zombie just keeps wriggling as much as the improvised straightjacket allows it, the droplets hitting the tarp and running down to the floor.
“This is so fucking stupid,” William scoffs.
“Shush,” Dan says, suddenly standing next to him. “Look at it …”
“Look at what?”
Dan points to the zombie. And then William sees it. The zombie has stopped moving.
“It’s probably just …”
“Begone what was never born!” Birgit shouts, taking a handful of water and splashing it at the tarp. “We ask you, oh, mighty gros bon ange, rise! Rise now! Take back what is yours!”
Another handful of water, then another. The zombie is still not moving at all. Then Birgit takes the bowl and flings the rest of the water onto the tarp, it goes splashing everywhere. She just sits there, staring at it.
Still nothing happens.
William watches with bated breath, noticing absentmindedly that both Liv and Dennis have also joined them now, squeezing together in the doorway.
Silence for several seconds.
“Rise,” Birgit whispers, breathing fast and staring at the tarp. “Rise …”
One of the candles is blown out. At least that’s what it looks like. Except no one blew at it. Then the one next to it goes out too.
“Holy shit,” William breathes.
“Rise,” Birgit whispers again, closing her eyes.
In rapid succession, all the candles put themselves out, leaving the living room in almost complete darkness.
Then, without warning, the zombie in the tarp jumps violently enough to almost rip the duct tape free from the floor. It writhes and thrashes like a bull, and William can hear the fabric starting to give way. Then there’s a loud, drawn-out awful sound. It’s a wailing, like someone being tormented. And it comes from inside the tarp.
“Holy fucking hell,” William hears himself say.
“Mom!” Dennis shouts.
Liv gasps and backs away.
Birgit gets to her feet, grabs a handful of the crushed chalk and tosses it at the tarp, most of it sticking to the wet surface. It’s like cutting the power. The wail dies out and the zombie stops thrashing.
It’s still for a few moments.
Everyone is waiting.
Then it starts moaning and moving around inside the tarp again. But now it’s like in the beginning; like a regular zombie would move and sound.
Birgit sighs deeply. “It didn’t work.”
“No shit,” William says, swallowing to try and get his heart back down his throat. “But you sure as fuck made something happen. What was that?”
Birgit goes to the table, and Dan steps into the room. William reaches out to grab him, but Dan slips past.
“Why didn’t it work?” he asks, going to Birgit.
She shakes her head. “Something was missing.”
William exchanges a look with Liv, then steps into the room, Ozzy right at his heel.
“What was missing?” Dan asks.
“It was what I feared,” Birgit says in a low voice, leafing through her book slowly.
William joins them, still eyeing the zombie in the tarp, expecting it to begin breakdancing and screaming again at any moment.
“What?” Dan presses on. “What did you fear?”
Birgit looks up at them. “It will require a sacrifice.”
Dan nods. “Like the seven animals you used for the first ritual?”
“Not seven,” she says, glancing down at Ozzy. “We only need one.”
“Hey, hey,” William says. “You’re not fucking with my dog.”
Birgit looks at him, her expression very cold. “We need a sacrifice if the ritual shall work, and …”
“Well, then you’d better go out and catch a bird or something! No, wait. You know what? Be my fucking guest. Try it.” He points to Ozzy, who’s staring fixedly at Birgit, obviously sensing the tenseness in the room, the hair on his back starting to bristle, a low growl beginning from deep in his throat. “What are you waiting for?” William goes on, smiling at Birgit. “Go ahead. Try and sacrifice him. We’ll see how that works out for you, you crazy bitch!”
Birgit just stares at him. “If you’ll let me finish, I’m not talking about your dog.” She shifts her gaze to rest it on Dan, her icy blue eyes seem to glow in the darkness of the room. “A spell like this will require a human sacrifice.”
TWENTY-SIX
“You’re fucking kidding me,” William says.
Birgit obviously isn’t, because she doesn’t even flinch. She just keeps looking at Dan as though he’s the only one there. “I wasn’t sure until now. But there is no other way.”
Dan takes a deep breath. He feels something falling into place within him. Something huge.
“Well, that’s just great,” William says, scoffing. “We’ll just pick one of the many volunteers and we’ll get going.”
Birgit doesn’t look away from Dan. “We will need to replace the cursed blood with clean blood. That shall be the last step of the ritual, and it will seal the spell that will drive the curse from the poor soul.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” William says. “This is just a waste of
