Admittedly, playing with something like a ouija board or summoning rituals probably wasn't the smartest decision you or your two friends could've made, but when they came over to your home one summer night with a ritual to summon something, candles, and chalk, paint, and markers offered out to you, curiosity got the best of you.
"On one condition." You spoke, putting a hand up to halt your friends before they entered, "I'm going to be the one to do this ritual. You two will stand in a circle of salt to ensure no demonic attachments." The duo tried to argue, but you staunchly refused to budge on the arrangement. You weren't going to risk your friends' souls on a whim, so they didn't get access to the home you lived in until they agreed.
With that settled, you got them situated in a ring of salt and began following the ritual, which the other friend handily had saved to their phone off of google. According to the rites, it was something like one of those ghost games where you summon a creature and bargain for a challenge. First, you drew a pair of symbols on your kitchen or living room floor. Next, you lit a circle of candles around each symbol, 'leaving room for someone to stand' according to the post. Finally, you turned off all of the lights in your home so that the only real source of light were the candles you stood before and said the final line,
"I'm looking for someone to play a game with, is there anyone willing to join?"
One by one, the moments passed without any reply or notable changes being spotted by any of you. However, you still waited a lengthy stretch of time before you collectively sighed and dubbed the ritual a dud.
After that, you swept up the salt from around your friends and the three of you just went about vibing and relaxing for the remainder of the night. None of you disturbed the candles and symbols.
In the end, your friends settled down to stay the night, and you, reluctantly, extinguished the candles so that your home did not catch fire when you went to bed.
When the next morning came, your friends left fairly early, as they had work. You, however, didn't have work that day, so you simply decided to sit in your living room to watch television and enjoy the AC. After an hour or two though, you found yourself shivering. Damn, guess the temperature's not that high today, you mused, turning your AC unit up so that it didn't come on quite as much. Though, while you were up, you spotted the symbols you had made last night still on your floor, so you decided to clean that up before sitting back down.
Once that was done, you returned to watching your show and spending the day just vegging out on your couch. And for a while, it was relaxing and peaceful. However, your living room's temperature didn't increase too much through the day, which you began to notice when noon hit and the rest of your home neared sweltering in almost every room outside of the living room. Could it- you swiftly cut that thought off and shook your head, no, the sunlight probably just isn't that direct here. You told yourself, not quite to disspell thoughts of ghosts, but more to not feed any anxiety while you were home alone. As if to challenge that reassurance though, you would sometimes hear what sounded like...whispers. Nothing you could make out, even with your shows paused, but at least twice you could've sworn that two men were muttering or whispering just in the other room.
That, of course, set you on edge like no other, but whenever you went to investigate those noises, they went silent. After the third time, you checked your phone, but neither of your friends would be out of work to maybe keep you company or at least chat for a bit to ease those nerves.
When evening came though, you didn't need to call your friends, as one of them called you,
"Heyo, I'm just wanting to check and see if you're possessed," They hummed, making you roll your eyes,
"No, I'm not possessed. The only thing that's even off is my living room is colder than the rest of the house." You decided not to mention the whispers or whatever you'd been hearing, though while talking and stirring that night's dinner, you went back to your living room to stick your hand into the chilled room to ensure it hadn't changed,
"Really? Is it...just cold, or is it cold from, like, your AC?" Your friend asked just as a cold gust engulfed and settled onto your hand, making you check to see the unit you had in there was off still.
"I mean, I've had my air conditioning basically off for most of the day and the living room still stays comparatively chilly." You explained, making them hum.
Your friend took a moment to talk again, not speaking again until you were back at the stove,
"Is it cold in patches? Or all over?" was the next question, causing you to shrug despite them being unable to see you.
"Eh, seems to be pretty much all the way through," you confirmed nonchalantly, though the anxiety in your buddies voice caught you a bit off guard,
"We're coming over. We're gonna sage the ever-loving shit out of your house tonight."
"Why? Because my living room doesn't get direct sunlight and is cooler?" You asked, a bit huffy at the almost-demand,
"Homie. Temperatures dropping is a sign of supernatural forces. And you just summoned something there last night. We're coming over. Fuck it, we're staying the night again."
At that point, any argument you offered was rebutted, so, with a huff, you decided to make some extra food to feed your friends. You didn't want to starve them if they did stay another night.
Once they arrived, your friends at least had the decency to eat some food before investigating the living room. Though, when they got in there it was warmer than it had been all day. Regardless of that fact, they went through with spreading sage all through out your home to shoo the spirits or demonic forces you might've actually called back out into the evening. Once that was done, they let out a mutual sigh,
"Hopefully that scares off whatever was here," One of your friends said with a confident smile before carrying on like their plans to stay were nothing beyond a fun whim.
"Has anything else odd happened today?" The first friend asked, plopping onto your couch as they spoke, making you debate whether or not to tell them about the voices, would they think I'm nuts? What if I'm losing my mind? You asked yourself, covering up your debating by acting like you were recalling anything,
"Uh, not anything that I would really say is ghostly?" You shrugged it off. Thankfully, after that the subject changed and you were able to at least briefly forget the tension you had been plagued with all day.
Nonetheless, that nervous feeling didn't fade through out the remainder of the night.
