up in the bed and looked at Dad in confusion.
He put his hand out, and I took it without thinking. With a gentle tug, he pulled me out of my bed and to my feet. He handed me a robe to put on, and it looked like the one he had on. “I know, son. But this is a special surprise. Just between you and me. You're a big boy now, and there's something special that we have to do to commemorate your coming of age.”
My little hand was so small in his, and I felt safe as he led me out of my room toward his office, which he'd converted from the garage last year. It was the only part of the house I wasn't allowed into. Even Mom stayed out of it.
His business partner, Konstantin Suliakos, was standing beside the door in a long robe. He gave me a weak smile before he spoke to my father in Greek. “It's to be the boy, then?” He gave me another look, then turned away.
“You've already given him yours,” my dad replied with a laugh in his voice. “I'd hate to do the same thing you did. Besides, it does go a little deeper, yes?”
“Is this like one of Mom's Romany things?” I asked him. He made a little noise that sounded rude.
“This is a Greek ceremony,” Dad said, and nodded to Konstantin. They both put their hoods up to cover their faces before Konstnatin turned and opened the door.
Dad crouched beside me and put my hood up, too. “You have to be very brave, son, and very quiet. This might seem a little scary, but I promise you, everything will be just fine. It's just part of growing up, is all.” I nodded and tried to be as serious and grown up as I could. We walked through the door together, and into darkness.
“ Ignus !” Konstantin said, and suddenly, candles lit all by themselves in a circle. Strange designs were laid out on the floor, and my Dad led me to one small circle and let go of my hand once I was inside it. He handed me a stick of burning incense. The purple smoke was sickly sweet in my nose.
“Hold this, son, and don't leave this circle, no matter what you think you see,” he told me. “It's all part of your ceremony.” I looked up at him and nodded with every drop of seven-year-old dignity I could muster. He stepped away from me, and a moment, later, I heard his voice nearby. He chanted in some language I didn't understand. Truthfully, I didn't want to understand it. It sounded ugly, and it hurt my ears just to listen to it. But this was part of being a big boy, so I stood still and listened as my dad and his partner chanted. The skin on my arms rose in goose bumps as a cold tingle washed over me, and I suppressed a shudder as the world went a little blurry around me. The chant started to repeat, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flicker in the middle of the big circle. Whatever was there, it felt very wrong . My first urge was to run like hell. The best I could manage, though, was to not look.
The smoke from the incense stick seemed to be thicker, now, and I was starting to feel a little dizzy. Another flicker in the center of the circle distracted me, even as I tried hard to look away from it. Then, it flickered rapidly and suddenly, there was something standing in the middle of the big circle. Terror swelled up inside me, and it was all I could do to keep from screaming. But Dad had said it would be all right, no matter what I thought I saw. Whatever it was…wasn't real. My brain clung to that thought desperately. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It became a chant of its own.
Then the thing inside the circle spoke.
“You summon me at your peril, mortals,” it said in a voice that reminded me of car wrecks and people screaming. “I am Dulka, Baron of the four hundred twenty second ring of the Abyss, commander of six legions of the Damned. For five thousand years have I dwelt in comfort in my palaces. Who dares violate my person, and summon me to this putrid dung heap of a world?”
“I am Stavros Fortunato, demon, and we two have an accord,” my dad said
He put his hand out, and I took it without thinking. With a gentle tug, he pulled me out of my bed and to my feet. He handed me a robe to put on, and it looked like the one he had on. “I know, son. But this is a special surprise. Just between you and me. You're a big boy now, and there's something special that we have to do to commemorate your coming of age.”
My little hand was so small in his, and I felt safe as he led me out of my room toward his office, which he'd converted from the garage last year. It was the only part of the house I wasn't allowed into. Even Mom stayed out of it.
His business partner, Konstantin Suliakos, was standing beside the door in a long robe. He gave me a weak smile before he spoke to my father in Greek. “It's to be the boy, then?” He gave me another look, then turned away.
“You've already given him yours,” my dad replied with a laugh in his voice. “I'd hate to do the same thing you did. Besides, it does go a little deeper, yes?”
“Is this like one of Mom's Romany things?” I asked him. He made a little noise that sounded rude.
“This is a Greek ceremony,” Dad said, and nodded to Konstantin. They both put their hoods up to cover their faces before Konstnatin turned and opened the door.
Dad crouched beside me and put my hood up, too. “You have to be very brave, son, and very quiet. This might seem a little scary, but I promise you, everything will be just fine. It's just part of growing up, is all.” I nodded and tried to be as serious and grown up as I could. We walked through the door together, and into darkness.
“ Ignus !” Konstantin said, and suddenly, candles lit all by themselves in a circle. Strange designs were laid out on the floor, and my Dad led me to one small circle and let go of my hand once I was inside it. He handed me a stick of burning incense. The purple smoke was sickly sweet in my nose.
“Hold this, son, and don't leave this circle, no matter what you think you see,” he told me. “It's all part of your ceremony.” I looked up at him and nodded with every drop of seven-year-old dignity I could muster. He stepped away from me, and a moment, later, I heard his voice nearby. He chanted in some language I didn't understand. Truthfully, I didn't want to understand it. It sounded ugly, and it hurt my ears just to listen to it. But this was part of being a big boy, so I stood still and listened as my dad and his partner chanted. The skin on my arms rose in goose bumps as a cold tingle washed over me, and I suppressed a shudder as the world went a little blurry around me. The chant started to repeat, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flicker in the middle of the big circle. Whatever was there, it felt very wrong . My first urge was to run like hell. The best I could manage, though, was to not look.
The smoke from the incense stick seemed to be thicker, now, and I was starting to feel a little dizzy. Another flicker in the center of the circle distracted me, even as I tried hard to look away from it. Then, it flickered rapidly and suddenly, there was something standing in the middle of the big circle. Terror swelled up inside me, and it was all I could do to keep from screaming. But Dad had said it would be all right, no matter what I thought I saw. Whatever it was…wasn't real. My brain clung to that thought desperately. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It became a chant of its own.
Then the thing inside the circle spoke.
“You summon me at your peril, mortals,” it said in a voice that reminded me of car wrecks and people screaming. “I am Dulka, Baron of the four hundred twenty second ring of the Abyss, commander of six legions of the Damned. For five thousand years have I dwelt in comfort in my palaces. Who dares violate my person, and summon me to this putrid dung heap of a world?”
“I am Stavros Fortunato, demon, and we two have an accord,” my dad said
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