#buddy clapped back with the best response video in history but I already had so much lore stacked up for Bob so there was no going back lol

[otiksimr]

Oh, similar origin of nickname! My go to nick is also basically "cool sounding keysmash" But on a more serious note - whats the origin behind Bob Beloved? In a way, why or what made you create him? If you dont mind telling, of course.

It's- it's a bit embarrassing.

I'm a fan of this one youtuber but I had a hard time drawing them so I made this design that was fun and not hard on my hands to draw. That youtuber proceeded to get outed for some heinous stuff quite literally a few days after me becoming a fan of theirs.

So I proceeded to cut all ties that design had with that person (Because I genuinely really liked the design), slapped some lore onto it and a (literal) ribbon to tie it all together. And woah would you look at that a little guy woah-

[yeocult]

lover’s guide | s.mg

genre: fluff, slight ansgt, college au

wc: 4.2k words

synopsis: 5 steps to love by song mingi

step one: being noticed

“mingi, are you even listening?” the male jolted up at the sudden call of his name from his professors, earning a few stares from his classmates.

“um y-yes.” he mentally slapped himself for stuttering. mingi sighed and closed his eyes, desperately trying to kill off the feeling that welcomed itself into his mind.

just a few days earlier, during lectures when he laid his eyes on you. he thought it was maybe admiration at first. you were one of the top students of the class and the way you carried yourself with such grace was so attractive to him. your range of style was captivating, each day came with a new outfit. he liked the way you were confident and also was experimenting with different styles. not to mention you killed every look.

the sudden attraction seems like one of those middle school crushes that he could get over within three days, maximum. but even after three days, he didn’t. he couldn’t stop himself from staring at you from across the room and he often caught himself thinking about you.

he would use every chance he got to interact with you, although he couldn’t say he was the best at it. he knew that small smiles whenever you two pass in the halls or that silently complementing your choice of accessories was not enough for you to get the hint of his crush on you. but he did it anyway.

today was nothing new. mingi found himself stealing glances at you once in a while, especially since lectures were long and he rather had his focus somewhere else than some boring discussion about costume history from the professor’s monotone voice.

“mingi can you be any more obvious? if i was them, i could feel you basically staring into my soul from across the room.” his friend whispered leaning closer to mingi to avoid making a scene. mingi scoffs and wooyoung earned an elbow to his side. “don’t word it like that…” mingi fixes his eyes on the professor to avoid getting called on again, “is it that bad?” he quietly asked and wooyoung nodded.

the boring lectures came to an end and granted him a long desired freedom. since it was his final class for the day, he was free to go home and take that nap he craved for. wooyoung was long gone with yeosang as they walked out of the room together, while mingi was a rather bit slower when packing his supplies.

it wasn’t until you came up to him that he felt his whole body freeze. his insides were jumping and he didn’t know if it was from excitement or nervousness, probably both. you held onto your tote bag with one hand while the other was playing with the hem of your shirt as you approached the tall male.

“hey mingi!” you happily greeted him and mingi mirrored your smile and waved back at you. your smile was continuous, how could he not smile back even if he looked like a huge idiot. 

“i really like your style. you always stand out,” you paused for a moment realizing how that sounded. “you dress really well, um your style is different from others, i like it.” you added for clarifications, not wanting to sound impolite or anything in that manner.

within less than a minute, you manage to make mingi do cartwheels in his head and the happiest man alive. “o-oh thank you! i actually made this shirt myself. it didn’t turn out well so i just wear it casually—sometimes even to bed…” he trailed off. “thank you, uh i really like your earrings, by the way, they’re pretty.” he tells you. mingi wanted to evaporate right now after so much he just stuttered and rambled right in front of you. he shyly scratched his nape, hoping his nervousness didn’t make the air awkward.

your soft giggles filled the lecture room as you thanked him. then you waved cheerfully and made your way towards the exit, leaving mingi there stunned. you noticed him and that was all mingi needed to know he was in love.

step two: being friends

mingi has been falling asleep with a soft smile and waking up with full energy the past week. because ever since you interacted with him, you two have grown closer. he felt more comfortable and less shy around you. the short greetings have turned into telling each other how his days went and him listening to you praise the new album your favourite group released. the two of you would walk to the bus station together after the bell rings, spending lunch breaks together, and facetime once in a while.

he learned a lot about you during the period he started to hang out with you more. mingi took note that you often wore dangly earrings over studs and that you like to eat strawberries to fuel your body during study sessions. he also learned that you went into fashion major simply for the interest and passion of it, he admired you for that. mingi likes to think that your jewelry choices match you fairly well; bright and attractive.

the two of you have been spending lunch breaks together. during those times, you noticed that mingi is a slow eater and he told you he also makes music with one of his friends, hongjoong, who was a year older than him. you noticed his little habits of laughing with his whole body. throwing his head back and sometimes clapping his hand in amusement. although he might come off intimidating or cold to some people, mingi is definitely the most wholesome person you’ve come across and you still can’t wrap your head around his duality.

you two would sit at the bus station waiting for your ride home. mingi’s place was within walking distance but he insisted on waiting with you. after all, it was a perfect opportunity to spend more time with you. and if there’s anything mingi likes more than you, is spending time with you.

the both of you were browsing your phones while waiting for your bus to arrive. getting bored with the lack of notifications on his phone, mingi leaned in to glance at your phone screen.

“you like cats?” mingi asked you as the both of you watch some fluffy cat video on your instagram feed. you shifted your phone for the better view for him and nodded. 

“they’re just so cute, right?” mingi hummed in response. he held back on telling you that he thought you were way cuter than the cats, but decided to save it for another time. you proceed to tell him that your mother is allergic plus that you probably wouldn’t have much time to take care of a pet being in college and all that. he watched your eyes filled with glitter as you continue to watch more cat videos on your screen.

the bus finally arrived and you quickly stood up. it saddens him a little that he couldn’t watch you become all smiley over cats.

“thanks for waiting with me again, mingi. i’ll see you tomorrow.” you gave him a quick hug from the side and softly smiled at him. silently hoping your swift  action wasn’t weird or sudden to him, because you really were appreciating the little things mingi does for you. including companying you while your bus arrives. 

mingi softly smiled at you. “anytime.” he kept his response short because knowing himself, he wouldn’t know how to speak normally with stutters and rambling if he continued.

he tried to cover up the fact that he’s blushing like a fool right now and his heart is beating extremely fast over a simple and quick hug. didn’t go very well as mingi stood there with his cheeks painted a crimson colour and heat rushes throughout his body. a damn hug. you simply warped your arms around his figure and made your way towards the bus like nothing had happened. like you hadn’t made mingi the happiest person alive.

overtime, mingi was proud to call you his close friend. even though that wasn’t what he exactly hoped for, he hoped for a little more actually. but at the end of the day, he was happy nonetheless to have you with him.

step three: first date

today’s a special day, making you want to doll yourself up more than usual. “is this too much?” you’ll never admit it out loud but being around mingi made you feel a bit timid and shy. the total opposite of how people view you, bold and charming.

you weren’t the type to care about what others thought about you. after all, fashion was how you expressed yourself and you didn’t limit yourself to one style. if you felt like adding one more hair clip to your hair, then who’s gonna stop you? on days when you’ve lost your confidence, mingi would be the first person to compliment you. and that was all it took for you to truly appreciate yourself.

“w-what? no! you look amazing, you always do.” mingi pointed out how your nail polish matches your hair clips and you felt at ease, your body loses its stiffness and you softly smile at his compliment.

mingi on the other hand, felt like he was always overdressing. maybe choose something a little more simple? tone down with the colours? those types of thoughts kept mingi from truly playing around with his wardrobe. he admitted, he was insecure. that all changed when he started to hang out with you. your confidence brushing on him made him careless about what others might think of him. he started layering jewellery and wearing that flashy jacket because he can. you had noticed your little influence on him and you loved that for him.

“you don’t look too bad yourself.” you helped mingi break from his shell and gain confidence, mingi made you feel comfortable in your own skin.

the bell chimed at your entrance. your eyes light up at the environment. the welcome scent of coffee wafts through the air and the soft melody playing in the background automatically brings joy to your face. you’ve never been to a cat cafe before, seeing this amount of cute cats casually walking around has added ten years to your life. mingi and you settled to a small table by the window with a few cats already sitting there on the shelf. the sun shined through the glass, warming up the seat and table. while you busy yourself with your new furry buddy, mingi left to order a few drinks and dessert for the both of you.

as he waited in line, he thought about how lucky he was to even be here with you right now.

“so…” mingi takes a break from drawing figures on his sketchbook and meets your face. you hummed and pulled your laptop screen lower so you can see his face. the two of you were studying together in the library, helping each other in various topics covered in today’s lessons. mingi was always grateful that your schedules line up with his. meaning all of his breaks, he can spend time with you since you were off as well. and since you were both fashion majors, it only made sense if you both helped each other out.

“i have a friend, he works at this cat cafe and i was wondering…” pause. his eyes lowered at his hands fidgeting with his pen. “if you wanted to go with me tomorrow?” he continued but couldn’t help to lower his voice almost to a whisper as he shyly asked you out. he knew how much you loved cats and thought it was a perfect idea to take you to visit the cafe one day.

your face immediately lights up at the idea of a cat cafe. “mingi are you serious? i would love to!” you send him a big toothy grin as you were so excited to be able to go with him. “it’s a date then!”

mingi swore his heart stopped beating and his nose forgot how to breathe for a second at your words.

“you’re deep in love aren’t you prince charming?” his friend from behind the counter teased. san grinned at mingi while typing in his order into the machine. it seem like wooyoung had already told san about mingi’s little secret.

he rolled his eyes, as if he doesn’t get ridiculed enough from wooyoung and yeosang in class already. “and what about it?” mingi scoffs, pulling out a couple bills and handed them to san. 

luckily for him, you weren’t around to hear it. although parts of him wished you could hear what just san said because he doesn't know how long he can control his feelings anymore. but mingi wanted his confession to be a bit more romantic rather than his friend blurting it out, so he kept quiet and waited. you were currently occupied with your phone, filling up your photo gallery with pictures of them while waiting for mingi to order.

“it means you should probably do something about it.” san winked, handing mingi his receipt before heading back to prepare his drinks. mingi knew exactly what he meant about that. he knew exactly what he should do about these uncontrollable feelings. but he just couldn’t find the courage to do it anytime soon.

he sighed and glanced towards the table where you sat. he was really glad he brought up the idea of bringing you here because mingi realized how endearing your love for cats was. even from afar, the way you gently pet the cat by the window makes his heart melt. no complaints from him though. if they can make you smile non-stop, then that’s all it matters.

“order up for lover boy.” san announced playfully, snapping mingi out of his thoughts of you and bringing him back from reality. mingi rolled his eyes and blatantly ignored his friend’s word, taking the tray of food in his hand. hearing san giggle from behind him only made him more annoyed but he quickly calmed down at the sight of you playing with a cat’s paw.

“hey. i got your favourites.” he placed the tray in the middle. you thanked him as you took a bite into your strawberry shortcake and a sip from the iced americano. you felt butterflies in your stomach, you couldn’t help but to feel this way towards mingi because he never fails to remember all the little things you’ve told him.

the two of you enjoyed your drinks and desserts and talked about anything that came to your mind. mingi was an easy person to talk to. no matter what you talked about or how long you would ramble on a topic, he was listening to every single word that came out of your mouth. sometimes you would carry the whole conversation and he didn’t mind. and neither did you because something about not worrying or stressing over if you were being boring or annoying was what made you love talking to mingi. your voice was like music to him, he could listen to it all day long. he propped his chin on his hand as you continued to talk.

you jump up slightly at the furry feeling the side of your leg. you melt at the sight of a persian cat making figure eights around your legs. another kitten nearby was on its back, all sprawled out. you both were in awe at the sight of all these cute cats around the place. while you fixed your gaze on the cats, mingi had his eyes focused on you the entire time.

step four: confession

everything was going fine. until it wasn’t.

self-doubts and anxiety starts creeping in and you feel weak. you were unsure, because nothing good has ever lasted this long. you had no idea this would happen when approached mingi. but after that day, you found yourself looking forward to talking with him more. and over time, of course, you fell for him. who wouldn’t?

it felt odd. suspicious. everything was going so smoothly with you and mingi. he makes you feel excited to wake up every day and spend your breaks with him. he makes classes and college a little more bearable. you love the way he unconsciously caress your hand under the table like it’s a habit. you love the little things he does for you like sharing earbuds while waiting for your bus. mingi was an angel towards you.

it was too good to be true.

you were hidden underneath your blanket in a fetal position, curled up with your knee to your chest as you quietly sobbed in your room. you felt terrible. how you’ve been avoiding mingi recently ever since this unsettling feeling started to creep in. you tried to bury your whimpers and sniffs as you heard your door creak open and felt the bed dip.

“hey.” no response. he couldn’t see your face. the only thing he could hear was the shaky breath that you tried so hard to hide from underneath the covers. he could tell you’ve been crying for the past hour or even days considering your current state.

“leave me alone,” you snapped at him. mingi pursed his lips at your jarring words, deciding to push it away because he knew you didn’t mean any harm.

he’s noticed, he always does. today is sunday, he hasn't seen or heard from you ever since friday afternoon. even so, you disappeared right after classes ended and he couldn’t get a hold of you. you weren’t at the bus stop as you normally would, it had mingi worried to death. he started to think about his past actions or words to see if any of that had made you upset, but none came to his mind. opting to just stay by your side for now.

“i haven’t seen you in so long, is everything okay?” he asked but got no response. the lump in your throat prevents you from telling the truth, so you kept quiet. you could only shake your head from underneath the covers.

“i’m here for you, i don’t want you to go through this alone.” mingi took a deep breath. he didn’t like seeing you like this. he settled on the bed right next to your figure, you flinched at his touch when he patted your shoulders gently. he didn’t say a word, he allowed you to continue crying, letting out any pain that has been trapped in there. 

and with that, you slowly pulled the covers down. revealing your glossy eyes and puffy lips from the endless hours of crying in your room.

mingi quickly took you into his embrace because he just couldn’t stand the sight of you crying. he’s been dying to hold you. he tells you that everything is okay to be okay and that it’s okay to cry. maybe silence was the best medicine for now, but he felt the urge to tell you that things were going to be okay. he lets you cry in his arms, allowing you to break down as he rubs your back. you buried your face into the warmth of his chest as he held the back of your head and rubbed your back. soft whispers from mingi calmed you down, you focused your mind on his smooth voice to escape the unsettling thoughts that welcomed itself into you.

you pushed yourself off him and took a shaky deep breath, it sounds like you were going to break and tears would storm down your cheeks again but you quickly collected yourself.

“i’m sorry.” you whispered, wiping your face with the back of your hand. you didn’t know what to do now. tell him? or make up an excuse on why you’ve been down lately? tell him that you were afraid that he would leave you? or push off the topic and hope that he’ll buy it?

you played with your hands as you sat there helpless in front of him, until mingi’s voice broke your racing thoughts. “it’s okay. take your time.” he took both your hands in his, caressing your hand with his thumb gently, like he always does. holding them like you were going to disappear any moment now, leaving him alone.

a comfortable silence falls between you and mingi as you both sit on your bed holding each other's hands. until you blurted out the words you’ve been holding back, words you’ve been thinking over and over.

“i love you.”

mingi froze at your sudden confession. releasing his grip on your hands and his eyes widened. he felt like his heart was about to explode. the fluttering in his stomach, feeling hesitant of what to say back because he was definitely not expecting this so suddenly. 

“i…” he began, unsure of how to properly explain the complexity of his feelings, “i love you too, ever since i laid my eyes on you.” chuckling at himself at how cheesy he sounded. unashamed of how stupidity in love he sounds right now, because letting you know how important you are to him was his goal.

giggling at how adorable he looks when he proposed his feelings, loving how he can make you smile despite you being a mess just a couple of minutes ago. loving how being here with you, makes you forget all about those negative thoughts. you took his hands into yours once again. a wave of relief washes you over because now. you didn’t have to worry about anything anymore, not when he’s by your side.

“it’s just…” you drop your head down at his hands as you play with his fingers, “nothing this good as happened to me and i just…” you trail off, feeling the tears in the corner of your eyes coming back. just afraid of you leaving me, was what you wanted to say but couldn’t. mingi notices and instantly intertwines his hands with yours.

“hey, it’s okay. i’m going anywhere, okay?” he reassures you, like he was reading your thoughts. lifting up his hand intertwined with yours to your eye level as his little proof. his action didn’t fail to make you smile.

“thank you, mingi. for being with me.”

“like i said, i’m always here for you. now c’mere.” opening his arms wide with a huge grin plastered on his face as an invitation for you to melt in his arm. you hurled in his arms.. finding solace in the crook of his neck, feeling his warmth and taking in his scent. 

the room was filled with little sniffles from you, sounding like a toddler who’s favourite toy went missing. “sorry for getting my snot on your shirt.” you shyly chuckled for ruining the slightly romantic atmosphere.

“it’s okay, only because i love you.” if hugs healed, mingi would hold you forever.

step five: being a couple

“close your eyes for me?”

“don’t tell me what to do.”

“you—” mingi sighed. “just do it, please.”

“okay, only because you said the magic word.” you quipped with a smirk.

mingi scoffed. when you shut your eyes, he leads you in front of the mirror. he pulled out the handmade necklace he’s been working on the past couple of days. his hands, unlike the rest of his body, were cold. he carefully brushed your hair out of the way then carefully clipped the two ends of the necklace together. turning them to the front and letting them sit on your collarbones.

it was a simple gold chain with a charm, representing you. he was aiming for a piece you would be able to wear casually, fitting with everyday outfits as well as complementing your other jewelry pieces since he knew you liked to layer them.

with anticipation, you asked if you can open your eyes, mingi hum a tune in response. “i got you a little something, i hope you like it.” slowly opening your eyes to reveal mingi’s gift. heat crawling up your face when your eyes laid on the beautiful piece of gold jewelry resting around your neck. there laid a charm, a key.

“baby…” you gazed at your new favourite jewellery while trying to hold back tears. getting on your tippy-toes, reaching for his cheeks to give him a quick “thank you” kiss.

mingi flashed you a huge satisfied grin, “ta-da! we’re matching!” he pulled his own necklace that was hidden under his shirt with the brightest smile on his face, the type of smile that turned his eyes into crescents. instead of a key, his was a lock. you were in awe at the connection and how thoughtful it was.

“thank you mingi, i love it so much.” you wasted no time wrapping your arms around his neck and a quick peck on his cheeks that made his heart burst into a million pieces.

in a short amount of time, you two managed to brighten each other’s day effortlessly. mingi has never been so wrong about his little crush on you lasting three days. even though it was silly, he thanked himself every day for choosing to wear that shirt. who knew something he put so little thought into could turn to be the best thing that’s happened to him? he was so proud to be in love with such an incredible person. a love he would cherish for life.

“thank you for loving me.”

-

happy birthday to the best boy, song mingi <3

[papasquatte]

Urbex Summoning

“Guys, I can’t tell you how bad of an idea this is.” the whine in my voice was evident, even to me. But I couldn’t help it considering what they intended to do. I passed the bag of equipment to Susan and climbed through the window, determined nonetheless to see this debacle thought to the end. Tony played his flashlight over the graffiti scared walls of our surroundings and spared me a withering glare. 

“ For the last time, shut the fuck up dude.” 

“Look, even if you don’t believe in the supernatural there could still be druggies or scrappers in here.” Susan handed me the bag back with slightly more force than was necessary, momentarily driving the breath from what I would call my lungs. As I staggered back I was unceremoniously shoved forward by Dan as he came through the broken window. He was carrying our sound equipment and was probably the most burdened of all of us and in no mood to dodge around people. 

“There’s four of us” he pointed out as he pulled his bag through.” Any drugie or scrapper’s probably not going to come here in more than one’s or two’s. Worse they’ll do will try and scare us off.” He glanced around the room and frowned. “That might be for the best, or we’ll have to stage something to make it more interesting.” 

Ryan stuck his head back into the room. “I’d prefer not to have to. Hallway’s clear this way of crap and the floor's still sound.” 

“Well spirits aren’t always accommodating when it comes to filming.” Dan walked over and stuck his head out to look the other direction. "We could split off into teams tonight.”

Susan crossed her arms and glanced at me. “Doug’s got a point. I’d rather stick together.”

Dan waived dismissively back at her. “ It’ll be fine.”

Thwarted in my attempt to logic us back out the window I cut to the heart of what was actually getting my hackles up. “It’s not just druggies man. You’re messing with things you don’t understand.”

Susan punched me in the arm. “What’s this ‘you’ stuff? Why the hell did you even come if you’re not going to participate?”

It was a good question, and one I did not want answered truthfully if I could help it. Instead I hefted the camera bag and muttered, “ you’ll need a cameraman.” 

She took the bag from me and unzipped it. “Any of us could

have been the cameraman. But fine, if you want to then here’s the rig. Get it set up and for the love of all that is holy, stop bitching. I had to hear this for two hours on the car ride here, and I swear if you open your mouth to whine one more time I’ll shove that GoPro so far down your throat you’ll have to drop your pants to record anything.” 

    I busied myself getting the GoPro into the steadicam rig while everyone else was issued mics by Dan and got themselves set up. 

    “Alright lads and ladies, here’s tonight’s agenda.” Tony clapped his hands together in an unnecessarily business like fashion, “We’ll be doing the introduction here.” He waived vaguely around the room. We’d picked a first floor window that had been broken for years as our entrance. It was screened from the outside by a hedge and led into a fairly unobstructed patient room. It was clear we’d not been the only ones to favor this entrance as the graffiti lay thick and graphic on the walls. “Then we’ll break off into two teams and shoot some investigation work for about forty five minutes.”

    Dan put up his hand. “ I thought we were doing voice over.”

    “We can decide that for sure later. But I’d like us to have an in person introduction ready in case we go that route.”

    “It’s easier than driving back two hours to shoot it later.” Susan put in.

    Tony nodded, “the voice over is mostly for the B roll stuff anyway. Maybe narrate some of the history of the place over less than interesting footage.” He played with his clip on mic, adjusting it in some tiny way that was more nerves than necessary. “ Anyway, I see us doing about forty five minutes of investigation shoots in teams of two. EVP work, that sort of thing. That should put us at about 11:30. That gives us about ten minutes to head down to the morgue in the basement and be set up by midnight.”

    My gut twisted into knots.

    “Can’t we just do a seance or a Ouiji board session? Why does it have to be demon summoning?” The words were no sooner out of my mouth than I knew I’d lost this argument. It was one we’d have several times while on the way over here and I’d lost every one of those too.

    “Because everyone does seances or plays with that damn spirit board.” Tony snapped. “ If we want anyone to watch our videos we need to up the ante.”

“Must we up it that high?”

Susan put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s just pretend man, none of this is real.”

I bit back my first response. These idiots were about to die over a Youtube video and here they were telling me to calm down. 

“Hey,” Tony smacked me on the chest, as if that would improve my mood. “ film me doing the intro already.” 

“Hey, why do you get to do the intro?” Dan crossed his arms and postered in what he clearly thought was a ‘badass’ pose.

“Oh for fucks sake,” Susan muttered by my arm, “here we go again.”

“What?” Tony faked a nonchalant attitude. “I didn’t know you wanted to do the intro. Why don’t you do the voice over stuff later?”

“Oh and let you edit it with your own audio?”

I shifted position and recentered the camera on both of them. “Guys, why don’t you just do the intro together?” I may not have been able to get them to give up this fool’s errand, but I could at least keep them from fighting, again. Plus their gormless expressions as they realized they’d not rehearsed the intro in tandum gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Tony glanced between themselves. “Wait, who’ll say what?”

Susan for her part, could think on her feet. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a steadying breath. “Dan, you do the intro, Tony you come in for the history and then I’ll step in for the ritual.”

    Tony had enough sense to defer to her. I centered Dan in the shot and counted him in.

    “Hey guys,” he threw a causal and not to code salute at the viewers, “it’s us, the Bootectives, and we’re here at the Pendleton Mission Hospital with another great video for you.” I could just catch Tony putting his face in his hands off camera. If Dan noticed, he was at least professional enough to ignore it this time. “Pendleton Hospital is about twenty five miles north of its namesake city. This whole area is saturated in psychic energy and we’re here to investigate it.”

    Susan signaled Tony as I paned over to him. “In its heyday Pendleton Mission was a tuberculosis hospital so,” he hefted one of our dust masks, “we brought ourselves some protection. Even if there’s no latent TB bugs, Pendleton Mission has been abandoned for the last thirty years, so black mold is a real possibility and we want to be safe.” I caught Susans eye and she got herself into position, sliding in next to Dan off camera. “And guys, we’ve got a real treat for this investigation.” He did unnecessary finger guns to point me towards Susan. I caught the tale end of Susan’s glare in the video, which, I felt the viewers would appreciate. 

        She hefted a book that made my insides turn to water. "We’re going to try and summon a demon.”

    The book itself wasn’t the problem. It was a rather unassuming brown cloth book printed probably in the late eighties. It wasn’t bound in human skin like some of the more ostentatious occult books I could name. Nor was it written in virgin blood. Which, lets face it, clots far too quickly for that sort of macabre gesture. No, it was typed with sensible margins, copy edited, and published by absolute frothing madmen. 

 Not cultists mind you. No, you could alway rely on cultists to get something wrong. The worst they could usually accomplish was to summon some Carrion-class table shaker and strand the poor thing here. But this book. This had been written by sensible men, in sensible shoes, who didn’t actually believe in any of the stuff they were writing about. It wasn’t real. So what did it matter to them if they wrote down and published the exact steps for summoning a Slaughter-class demon. And wouldn’t you know it? My group of would-be ghost enthusiasts just happened to find it in the dirt smelling, used book shop down the street. I could have slapped the authors. 

 Susan went on, oblivious to me mentally running in circles, waving my arms and screaming.I thumbed the record button again to end the clip and nodded at Tony. Thinking about the book again was giving me a headache.  

“Alright,” Tony clapped twice as if the act alone would turn off the recording I’d already stopped. “Check your mic’s and lets get exploring.”

“Be careful out there guys.” I couldn’t help myself, I’m a worrier at heart and I did like these idiots. “ Try and stay within line of sight of your buddy at all times. We don’t know who else is here or how stable the building is the further in we go. I don’t want to see anyone showing up on the evening news.”

The others rolled their eyes and gave the same badgered “ok’s” my mother henning always got at this point. Thankfully no one argued with me. I guess since I wasn’t actively trying to end the investigation, they couldn’t fault my better judgement.  We paired off and moved out. 

By mutual consent and habit Tony and Dan paired off while I joined Susan and headed out. Dan and Tony both held a flame for Susan so I tended to be her exploration buddy so she didn’t  have to put up with their antics. It was an arrangement I was quite happy with to be fair. 

I held no particular interest in her, not that she wasn’t nice, she was just overly young for me. I simply preferred her cool headed skepticism. She always tried to find the rationale behind an event, looking for the logic in the situation. This was in stark contrast to the boys who’d feed off each other's paranoia and jumped at every shadow. Better for the audience, but more frustrating for me who was just there to enjoy the scenery. 

As we headed out Susan turned to me. “ Do you want to film or be in the shot?”

“Film,” I thumbed the record button again, “it’ll be easier to keep the ghosts out of the shot then.”

She laughed and I smiled like I was joking. “Right.” Susan started off down the hall. “We’ll shoot some B roll stuff for them to narrate over, and then I’ll jump at a few shadows and say I’m walking through cold spots or something. By then we can head off and meet them for the ritual and be out of here in time to do a sunrise shot.”

“Oh Gods, don’t remind me about the ritual.”

Susan glared back over her shoulder at me but softened, my face must have been paler than I thought for her to notice in the wane light of our flashlights. “Come on dude, it’s not real. We’ll be fine.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because,” She shrugged, “we’d have gotten evidence of it by now.” We continued down the corridor as we talked, passing decrepit room after decrepit room. I panned the camera into each to give the futur viewer a look at the horrible conditions of the place. It was about what you’d expect from an abandoned building left to the elements. The floor was covered in a mix of waterlogged carpet and ceiling fragments. The corridor and rooms choked with the detritus of years, either left to rot or thrown here by later generations. Graffiti "artists” had redecorated the walls in the sort of school yard vulgarity that was somehow universal in these places. Nothing the viewer hadn't seen in hundreds of other Urbex videos online, but I panned around none the less.

There was a lot of decay to take in, but the panning actions I was doing were for another reason. It was the perfect cover for my erratic movements as I stepped around the Blind Spirits and other spiritual flotsam. They were too weak to affect the material world. They were even too weak for the electronics of our equipment to pick up, being mostly echos and psychic imprints. They were however, unpleasant to step through if you were sensitive to the paranormal. Like stepping on an melting ice cube in a sock, they didn’t hurt but left an unpleasant lingering feeling.  Susan barged right through them, apparently numb to the spiritual realm. Personally I think she’s a younger soul, probably hasn’t gone around the bend too many times and been steeped in the supernatural. Old souls tended to resonate more. 

“What?” I raised her an eyebrow. “You mean dick heads like us? Or ‘real’ paranormal investigators?” A shadowy hand reached out of a crumbling doorway towards her. I angled the camera so it stayed out of shot and glared at it until it went somewhere else. 

“Anybody.” She waived her hand about, going right through an orb. I shrugged. In the end, I’ve always thought it was better that people didn’t know what to expect.

“If it was easy, would it be fun?”

    She snorted and shined her flashlight into another room. I almost recorded it, but caught myself just in time. There was a shadowy figure in a nurses outfit in the corner. Her eyes appeared to have been hollowed out and the look on her face told me she was reliving some terrible thing she’d probably done to someone. I turned and let her get on with it. “All I’m saying is that it’s better not to poke things we don’t understand.”

    Susan turned back to look at me. “Fine, would it make you feel better if I messed up the ritual?”

    “Really?” I must admit the prospect cheered me greatly.

    “Yeah,” Susan stopped and turned to look at me. “It’s not like it’ll make a big difference. I’ll smudge something or other.”

    “I’d like that a lot actually.”

    “Fine then, let’s go fake some ghost shit.”

    We spent the next forty five minutes doing just that. To be honest, I missed it more than I’d like to admit. In our early days the gang just went to “creepy” places, few of them ever really haunted. I’d rig up some  wires and mechanisms to make chairs rattle and items fly off shelves. While the others jumped and pointed. I’d been damn good at it too. But then our channel had blown up and the guys kept pushing us into deeper and darker places where some real serious shit had taken place. The culmination of all this was their insistence on this damnable ritual.

I’d missed just going through abandoned places and enjoying the scenery. There was something about urban decay that cheered me up. Maybe it was just that, after everything that had been done to this planet, it was nice to see nature gently taking something back. Eventually it would reclaim it totally, and the psychic energy could dissipate. 

We wound our way around to the basement slowly. Not really talking too much, just enjoying the stillness. We eventually ended up in the basement, and Tony's ritual site.The boys had beaten us there and started setting up. It was depressingly gothic. All it needed was a ram’s skull to complete the image of satanic barbarism. Susan picked up one of the jet black candles.

“Really?”

“Hey, Hey, Hey,” Tony scuttled over from where he’d been drawing glyphis, in red chalk no less. He snatched the candle from Susan and crouched to put it back. “I had those precisely placed.” He repositioned the candle along some invisible mark only he could seem to see. 

Despite Susan’s assurance, apprehension twisted my gut again. I’d have preferred it if we didn’t complete this farce at all if I was honest. Something of my mood must have shown in my face because Tony looked up at me.

“If you touch something I’ll break your hand, just go in the corner and film us.”

I nodded silently. All I was pray to whatever Gods were listening that what Susan planned on doing wouldn’t summon something equally likely to get them killed. I really should have known better, nothing in the ethereal helps without a price, and many of the Gods have a disgusting sense of humor. However, at that moment I was unaware of what that night would cost me and simply stood by to let them get on with it. 

It wasn’t until they started chanting that I felt something was wrong. It was when they were casting the words of binding, to be precise, when the circle flared into life. It pulsed with a malevolent red energy that overwhelmed our flashlights and threw disturbing shadows against the wall. 

“Cool!” Tony seemed overjoyed. I could have killed him, if I could move. The other two looked more than a little startled that anything had happened at all. I abandoned the camera and tried to move from my spot against the wall, but my feet were cemented in place with a force I could not break. From my vantage point I tried to read the glyphs that had been chalked out in the circle. It wasn’t long before I saw what had happened.

It had been Susan after all. They say if you give a monkey a typewriter and enough time it will eventually produce Hamlet. That sort of one in a million luck had apparently just happened. Susan had been as good as her word and messed with one of the glyphs. However, the particular glyph she had chosen to deface was a very delicate one. 

The light from the circle snapped from bright red to a sullen garnet. Shafts of sparkling light lanced up from the now open portal like demonic sparklers. I felt the pit of my stomach drop out as the three of them scrambled for cover.

The rune Susan had chosen to play with had ment “strongest”. It was, in-fact, the rune that had scared me the most. But with one extra stroke in exactly the wrong place Susan had completely changed it. Instead of “strongest” it now stood for “closest”. 

The world dropped away as if I’d fallen through a trapdoor, closely followed by the feeling of being slammed against a wall. This wall, was the inside of the circle. I had just enough time to look up at my friends pale faces before the next bit of unpleasantness started. The sparking bars of light began to bend inward. Where they touched me, illusion was stripped away and my true self was forced into the material plane.

This was unpleasant for all present. Besides feeling like my skin had been ripped off like an all-over bandaid, even the prettiest of celestial beings was never meant to be seen by man. Let’s just say there’s a reason the standard angelic greeting is ‘Be Not Afraid’. Infernal on  the other hand, we took it to another level. Lovecraft didn't capture half the unpleasantness with his fiction.

I could see their minds begin to crack as I unfurled and roiled outwards, slamming into the psychic bars of my prison. I attempted to use my ‘hands�� to cover the more unpleasant bits of my anatomy and tried to ‘turn’ away as much as I could. It wasn’t much, but it helped enough. 

“What the FUCK happened?” of course Susan was the first to recover. Maybe she wasn’t as young a soul as I’d thought. 

“Uh,” I rumbled in my manifold voices. “Look, I said I couldn’t tell you how bad of an idea this was.”