A Change of Players
You find them at the fair.
You don’t actually see them face to face, you’re simply walking past the fair’s photo booth when you spot the photo on the screen. There they were. Taller and changed but alive. Your baby brother and his friends alive.
You want to see them but you don’t want to risk it now that your goal is suddenly achievable. So instead you take the photo strip and you leave. You don’t even bother going back to the booth you were helping out at, you simply leave.
You don’t remember the bus trip home, or unlocking the door. You do remembering screaming your best friends and housemates names the second you enter the door though.
“Janey?” A yawning Roxy asks as she walks into the entrance room from the lounge room. You vaguely remember her sleeping on the couch when you’d left.
“Where is Jake? And Dirk?” You ask, talking too fast and loud.
“Huh? Dirky’s at some robotic thing and I don’t know where Jakey is.” She yawns. “I thought you were at the festival.”
“I was. I was, but guess who else was there? Roxy they’re okay, they’re alive.” You smile widely, suddenly realizing what you were saying. Your brother is alive. Your brother is alive. Roxy stares at you for a moment before her face breaks into a grin.
“You saw Rose?” She asks and you nod, you pass her the photo strip and she races Rose’s face, smiling a little more.
“Where’s Jake?” You ask, starting to look around the house.
“I really don’t know.” Roxy calls back. “Did you talk to her?”
“No, I didn’t want to risk it. They ran away because of this, if they found out what we’re doing they’d probably stop us.” You say.
“Right, Dirky said that at one point.” Roxy said.
“Yeah.” You nod. You can’t find Jake. You finally think to call him shortly after.
“Jane?” Jake eventually answers. He sounds like he’s in a bar again.
“Jake, where are you?” You frown.
“Nowhere.” He hics. You sigh.
“Well can you please come home?” You ask.
“Can I not?” Jake asks.
“Jake, it’s important, please come home.” You mumble. He doesn’t reply for a moment. “Please Jake.”
“Okay.” He eventually says and you hang up.
“Well that killed the mood.” You sigh.
“Guess the fight was bad.” Roxy mumbles.
“Yeah… he’s drinking almost as much as you used to lately.” You run a hand through your hair.
“Let’s think of something else, okay?” Roxy forces a smile. “I’ll give Dirk a call, you set up a movie.” You smile back.
“Sounds like a plan.”
--
Jake comes home a few hours later, and you think you see him smile for the first time when he sees the photo.
“Jade’s alive. She looks happy even. Jade’s alive.” He grins.
Dirk makes it home the first second he can, though it’s still not until around midnight that he gets in. “Jane, tell me it’s true.” He says when you open the door for him.
“It is.” You smile and show him the picture. He stares at it a minute before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a tight hug. You’re surprised for a moment, not used to Dirk doing this sort of thing.
“Thank you.” He mumbles into your ear and you smile, hugging him back. When you break apart you both head to the lounge room to meet with Roxy and Jake, the former of whom is helping the latter with his hang over.
“We ready to do this?” Dirk asks and the two look over, Jake quickly looks down before he meets Dirk’s eyes.
“I already did all the artwork and the candles are set up. We just need the doll and we can start.” Roxy says. Dirk takes a deep breath, pulling the doll from his bag.
“The protections up?” He asks.
“Yes, Jake did them.” You answer. He doesn’t respond and Jake doesn’t say anything as the four of you make your way to a mostly empty room. In the centre, drawn in white chalk, is a circle in a larger circle. The inner circle has a symbol for the demon in it while the out circle is divided into 4, with each section has a different symbol, replicated from the video footage that Bro took of your siblings doing this.
Dirk drops the doll onto its spot on the symbol in the middle and you all take your spots before the symbol for your siblings. You all lit a match in synch and light the candles. You don’t need to do it in synch, in fact you don’t even need to watch the candles now but you do.
“Are we sure this is going to work?” Jake speaks up after a while.
“Of course it’ll work.” Dirk says.
“According to him it will. We can’t trust him.” Jake huffs, finally making eye contact with the blond, shotting him a glare.
“Calliope verified it.” Roxy buts in. “And I trust her. Besides, what do we have to lose?”
“Our lives.” Jake mumbles.
“Well, that’s what they have on the line too.” You mumble and everyone goes quiet.
“They’ll be fine.” Dirk eventually says. “Once we do this they’ll be fine and safe.” You sit down on the ground and stare as the blue candle burns.
You’d all agreed the second you saw the tape where they summoned the demon after Bro had died that you needed to find a way to save them. When you’d met Caliborn and Calliope and they’d given you this option, to take the game from your siblings, you’d all been ready to do it then and there. If it hadn’t been for the warning that some of them might already be dead you would have done it. But you didn’t know if they were alive, or if you were just dooming yourself for no reason.
Now you know that they’re all alive though and so now you need to do this.
You wake up when Dirk shakes you. You don’t remember falling asleep. The candles have all melted and cover the symbols previously written.
“Time to write ours.” Dirk says, taking a deep breath. You nod, yawning. Roxy’s walking up Jake. Once you’re all awake you write your symbols on top of the melted wax. You pick up the candle you’d left next to you, a little blue then your brothers. You stand up and wait for the others to catch up to where you are before you all light the candles. Dirk grabs the needle first and you all copying him, holding it in your spare had. Dirk mouths ‘one, two, three’ and you start to chant.
“Leave them, leave them, we are here,
To run and hide in our fear,
For no longer them but we you’ll chase.
Catch us, catch us, if you can,
We’ll take their prize from you now,
But with their prize we take their risk.
Our souls will take their place.”
You prick your finger, with some skill, and let the blood drop into the flame and then you drop the candle, at the same time as everyone else does.
The flames go out before the candles reach the floor.