The sound of Petey’s excited barking roused them both along with a voice, “Down Petey.” Marie and Derek exchanged quick glances before Derek rolled off the bed, pulled his shirt on, and said, “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

It only took a few minutes for the excitable Labrador to stop barking and, after five or so minutes, Marie decided to go downstairs. What she saw shocked her, a slightly taller man stood in the kitchen across from Derek.

He grinned when he recognized her younger self; she was as cute as he remembered. Unable to think of a more restrained way to explain how he had appeared in Derek’s kitchen out of thin air, he stated bluntly, “My name, as you already know, is Derek Collins, but I go by John now. I’ve come from the future to help you.”

He watched her reaction carefully, determining whether she believed him or would attempt to call the cops. Derek’s initial reaction had been exactly what he’d expected. Arms folded across his chest and a disbelieving stare that said, ‘I would never go by John.’

John, after all, was his father’s name, and his original first name, but he couldn’t stand it. No, he hated it. But with her, Marie, he was unsure how she would react. Rule one of time travel indicated that it was never a good idea to talk to, or interact with people in the past as it could drastically change the future. But as long as no one died that wasn’t supposed to in this time, he didn’t care. This was his mission. It was a special case.

Marie frowned in confusion. This guy looked to be in his late twenties, at least ten years older than her. She could vaguely make out similarities in his facial structure. His hair was longer, down to his chin, but still wavy and unkempt. It was the same light brown that she had become accustomed to seeing.

As for his attire, he wore a striped polo, beige shorts, and black sandals. It was typical of his clothing style. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing except for the eye patch.

She looked between them both, her face incredulous. Petey wagged his tail, seemingly oblivious of the weirdness of the situation. John was the first to speak.

“I’ve come back to ensure that he,” John pointed to his younger, eighteen year old self, “goes through the ritual in this book as soon as possible,” he finished, holding up an old, torn up looking book and smirking.

Derek frowned and replied, “It’s not happening. For one thing, I don’t believe you are from the future, I don’t know what you are. And second, aside from the fact that the book is complete and utter bullshit, it also says that a human sacrifice is necessary. That automatically puts it in the category of not going to happen.”

John’s smirk didn’t let up and he refuted, “Actually, the sacrifice part of it isn’t entirely accurate. You only need another person within the circle to speak the haiku. It works best with someone who shares your blood.”

This made him curious, but still unrelenting in his beliefs. There was absolutely no way that this could be real. His voice could easily be a coincidence. Perhaps a long lost relative or a prank set up by his younger brother. Slightly interested, he chose to play along.

It took ten minutes of calling his younger brother, Liam, into the living room before he actually arrived, blatantly peeved. When he entered the room, he asked, “Who’s that guy?” Derek hid his smile, saying with an almost serious tone, “He claims to be me from the future.”

“Okay,” his brother was nearly speechless. Marie sat down on the couch, not quite sure how to take this situation. There was no way he’d believe something as crazy sounding as this. Now if it had been Eleanna who had been in Derek’s position, there’s no telling what her reaction would be.

“What’s that book say otherwise?” Derek asked, watching both his brother and John carefully. John grinned, now he was getting somewhere. “Step one might be a bit difficult for you, so I’ll do it. It requires drawing a circle of your own blood wide enough for two people. Since I am you, I’ll draw the circle, but both people must be inside before I close it.”

“You heard that, right Liam? Come over here, I have the haikus and everything,” to Marie, he sounded more snarky than serious. She snuck a look at the book in the older man’s hands. She could make out faded inked drawings depicting gruesome scenes and stereotypically evil looking signs.

A sudden feeling like her stomach flipping or moving in some oddly uncomfortable way made her squirm. The writing was ancient, but the words…she had seen them before. She had written all of them. “Liam, I don’t think you should listen to him,” she whispered, barely audible.

Liam crossed his arms defiantly directing his statement at his older brother, “I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my dad.”

Derek was only slightly taken aback, but his surprise wore off quickly, “Don’t listen to her, she’s just worried about stuff that could never possibly happen.”

Marie continued, “Liam, he doesn’t really want you to do this, he’s just telling you to so you won’t. It’s too dangerous a thing to try.”

“What harm will this do? It’s a silly trick devised by someone to try and fool me for whatever reason into believing this garbage,” Derek stated bluntly. Almost forcefully, he grabbed Liam’s arm and dragged him closer.

John took one of the knives from the kitchen and sliced his finger open. Liam and Marie looked at him, wide eyed with horror, while Derek, still sure the whole thing was a joke, tried desperately to ignore how realistic it was. John was quickly drawing a circle around the both of them in his own blood. Afterwards, he wrapped his finger up, slowing, and eventually stopping the bleeding entirely. It seemed to stop far too quickly to be real blood, Derek reasoned.

Once the circle was completed, John told them to read their respective haikus at the same time. Grudgingly, Liam began his, “Given to this god/ I bestow myself fully/ and accept my place.”

As he said it, Derek spoke his, “God of elements/ air, earth, fire, sea all in one/ Invested to me.”

The brother’s exchanged disbelieving frowns for the two seconds after they had finished, but in that third second, everything seemed to happen. A red barrier of light appeared, circling them like the blood at their feet. Liam felt lightheaded, and he collapsed within the circle of light.

The circle shrank to encompass Derek before fading away. He looked down at his brother, curled up on the ground at his feet. A rush of unknown emotions hit him. Emotions he had rarely known for years. It was as if a fire that had never been lit before, was now a blaze. He looked around him, but his older self, John, had vanished.

“Help me carry him to the couch,” he stated, hoisting him up on one side. Marie picked up his feet and, together, they carried him over to the couch. Derek watched him, checked his pulse, and even tried calling to him.

He received no response. Derek was tense, Marie could see it. It was only made more evident when his normally calm voice had a cold, underlying tone to it, “Leave, go…into the kitchen or somewhere else, please. I just- I need to be alone for a moment.” Marie didn’t argue she knew what it meant. His brother would sleep, he would never wake up.

Marie picked the book off of the floor, for that was where John had left it. She went into the kitchen and kept glancing over her shoulder towards the doorway. Gingerly, she leafed through the fragile pages of the ancient book, skimming over headlines and images. She passed several lists of demon names and origins and only stopped looking though it when she heard a crash from the living room and smelled a hint of smoke.

A mixture of worry and curiosity, she restrained herself from running straight through the door and opened it cautiously. The couch was singed and slightly smoking, glass from some unknown object was nearby that and, standing against the wall, his hand slightly smoldering and his face twisted in confusion, was Derek.

“What just happened?”

He shook his head in disbelief, “I think I’m just destined to go insane. We’re moving him again,” he said, moving over to the couch and picking up the young boy’s feet. Marie grabbed his arms and together they hoisted him up.

“Where are we taking him?” she asked. His response was curt, “The backyard, we’re going to bury him. Deep.” Confusion clouded her face, “How deep is deep?”

“Very deep,” he replied, emphasizing the very. “I think I may be crazy now, but it’s possible.”

They dropped him on the ground, Derek grabbed two shovels and they both immediately started digging. About ten minutes into it, however, Derek made a comment, “At this rate, my parents will be home before we even get halfway-” he stopped midsentence, because the ground began to tremble.

The earth shook violently, causing both of them to lose their footing and fall to the ground. Marie clambered over to where Derek was sitting just as the ground split in odd places, leaving various chasms and holes around theirs and their neighbor’s lawns.

After the ground stopped moving, Derek, still slightly shaking, kicked his brother into one of the chasms, watching him fall into the pit of darkness.