He was quiet for a few seconds. “Ma minette, if you are doing this to spare me, I do not give you my permission.”
“No, Drake, it isn’t just for you,” I answered immediately, knowing that if I tried to convince him to do it in order to save himself, he wouldn’t go for it. Nope, the only way Drake was going to agree was if I built up the case that my safety was on the line. “If the entity defeats you, I have no defenses against it.”
“If what you say is true and this will be of benefit to you, then I absolutely grant you my permission,” he answered automatically.
I opened my eyes and simply nodded at Lovie, who offered me a relieved smile. “Tell him he needs ta stay with us, that the rest o’ the ritual won’t take long.”
I informed him of as much and then watched as Christopher pushed off from where he’d been leaning against the wall at the far side of the room. He stepped over the powder circle that surrounded us and then, taking up the bronze dagger, circled it around himself, repeating the same words about protection. He nodded to Lovie who then looked at me and smiled.
“I’m gonna retreat out o’ the circle now, Peyton,” she said and suddenly seemed incredibly tired. “Do not remove yer hand from the skull or we will lose our connection ta Drake.”
I simply nodded and watched her pull her hand away from mine as she picked up the branch of yew and circled herself with it in a clockwise direction. She said out loud, “I hereby relinquish mahself from this sacred circle. Let no harmful entities or powers follow me.”
Then she placed the branch back on the table and stepped over the circle of powder, retreating to the far side of the room where she took a seat on a makeshift chair they must have brought with them. She reached inside a bag nearby and pulled out a bottle of water, which she downed in almost one gulp.
“Peyton, are you ready to move on?” Christopher asked, studying me intently from where he stood in front of me. “Do you feel strong enough to continue? Because the rest of this ritual will require your strength.”
I swallowed hard but then nodded, figuring there was no time like the present to get possessed. He didn’t say anything more but simply nodded and turned toward the table where he added a small palmful of salt to a bowl of water. He mixed it with the index finger of his right hand. Then he drew something in the air above the bowl of water and then made what appeared to be a cross in the air. “I bless this water by the power of Michael the Archangel as well as that of my own that it shall purify this space and rid it of all malevolence.” He said the words with such authority that he almost seemed angry.
He then drew the same image (which I was beginning to think might be a pentacle) in the air and repeated his comment over the incense and over both candles. Stepping out of the circle, he picked up a bowl of what looked like salt and walked to the far side of the room where he closed the double doors. Then he sprinkled the salt in all four corners of the room, repeating, “By the element of salt of the earth and my power as a warlock practitioner, I banish all evil and harm from this room! Let only the spirit of Drake Montague remain here with us! All others shall return whence they came!”
He then stepped back into the circle and held up the white candle, but not before first blowing out the black one and allowing the smoke to dissipate from the air. “By this sacred flame, the element of fire shall cleanse and purify this space of evilness.” He stepped out of the circle again and visited each corner of the room, raising the candle up to each corner and repeating the mantra to cleanse and purify the space.
Following suit with a new stick of incense, he then did the same with a bowl of spring water. Apparently this possession ritual required calling on all the elements—fire (the candle), water (the spring water), air (the incense), and earth (the salt)—to cleanse and purify the room. When he returned to the circle, he picked up the bell and rang it four times, saying, “Let all things malevolent hear this bell and depart this space immediately! I banish all evil spirits from this place!”
Then he picked up the bronze dagger and the bowl of salt, stepping out of the circle. He approached the double doors and then each of the four windows in the room, drawing a cross with the dagger in the air just in front of them. Then he sprinkled a line of salt in front of the windows and followed suit in front of the doorway. “By this salt of the earth and the blade of bronze, I consecrate this threshold such that no malevolent spirits can pass by!”
When he returned to the circle, he placed the dagger and the bowl of salt on the table and then faced me. “Are you ready?”
I simply nodded and watched as he cleared his throat. “Begin your deep breathing in and out again. You must allow the spirit world into your lungs, into yourself. Imagine bringing Drake into your body, becoming one with him.”
I nodded again and started to breath in and then breathe out again for a count of five. I watched Christopher place his hand on top of mine, which still lay limply on the top of the skull. He closed his eyes and they immediately started to twitch as he began to chant something in his head, his lips moving with the words.
He opened his eyes, and with his right hand still on the skull, he placed the palm of his left hand on my forehead. “Is Drake with us still?” he whispered to me.
Figuring that was my cue to try to make contact with Drake, I closed my eyes and thought to myself, “Drake, are you still here?”
“Oui.”
I opened my eyes and glanced up at Christopher, merely nodding. Christopher looked down at the table and, picking up the lancet, faced my hand where it lay on top of the skull. He then picked up each of my fingers and pierced the fleshy pad of each one, squeezing until a drop of blood appeared. Just as with the last time, I couldn’t feel anything. Then he pushed my fingers onto the threshold of the skull, smearing it with my blood.
He faced me. “Do you, Peyton Clark, agree to open yourself up to the spirit of Drake Montague so that he shall inhabit your body?”
I figured my answer was supposed to be a “yes” so I answered in accordance.
Christopher nodded and then faced the air again, holding up his arms as he continued speaking in a loud voice, “This woman has agreed to open herself up to the spirit of Drake Montague. As she has shed her blood, so shall she offer domicile to Drake’s spirit only. No other spirits are given permission to become one with her body. As administrator of this ritual, I call forth the spirit of Drake Montague into this sacred circle.”
I suddenly felt a whoosh of cold air against my face, and the flame of the white candle began to flicker back and forth. I reminded myself to continue with my deep breathing even as my heartbeat began to escalate.
“Drake Montague, is that you?” Christopher called out as he glanced around himself. “If it is truly the spirit of Drake Montague, I beseech you to give us word.”
“Oui. I am here, ma minette,” I heard Drake’s voice in my head.
“He’s here,” I whispered, finding it difficult to speak when my heart was beating uncontrollably and I was starting to feel like I might pass out.
“Repeat after me,” Christopher started as he focused on me. “I, Peyton Clark, open myself to receiving the spirit of Drake Montague.”
I did as I was told and suddenly felt a wash of cold air all around my body, as if Drake had suddenly enveloped me in his cold embrace. My skin tingled all over my body as if I’d just escaped a freezing cold pool and now stood in a draft.
“Repeat after me,” Christopher instructed before taking a deep breath. “I, Peyton Clark, welcome the spirit of Drake Montague to enter me and become one with me, to make my body his body, to make my home his home,” he finished and I repeated the words immediately after.