8.

The sunlight completely disappeared from the room. The candles provided the only illumination. Asille’s ears perked up as she whispered, “She’s here.”

Admetus listened to the “shhhhthunmph…shhhhthunmph” sound being made outside the basement door. The noises seemed to last forever. “Shhhhthumph. Shhhhthumph.” Finally, the noise stopped as the door creaked open, a shadowy figure standing at the entrance. Asille raced across the room and up the stairs to assist the creature.

Five minutes seemed a lifetime as the two cats made their way to Admetus. “Admetus,” Asille purred, “I’d like you to meet my sister, Dersoun.”

Admetus stifled a gasp as the cat stepped into the light. Her coloring looked as if a child had been let loose to wreak havoc on his white kitty with his paints. The only thing constant about her colors was the brown around her white muzzle, the orange stripes across the middle of her face and the gray circles around her eyes. If Admetus looked closely, he could see, on her forehead, two diamond-like shapes composed of whisker dots and a gold stripe beneath them, descending toward her left eye. Her deep brown eyes peered from the folds of furred flesh that hung from her body. “Your… your sister?” Admetus stammered.

“Do you think my appearance to be too old for the younger sister of Asille?” Dersoun asked, her voice like sandpaper on granite. “This is the price of power!”

“Now that the sun has set and Dersoun has arrived, the ritual may begin,” Asille said. Admetus struggled fiercely against his bonds, yet they would not give.

Dersoun “shhhhthunmphed” her way over to Admetus. After checking him out, she turned back to Asille and gave her what appeared to be a pleased look. “Perfect,” she purred.

“W-what are you going to do?” Admetus asked as he tried to meld his body with the wall.

“I told you already,” Asille protested. “The spirit of Kyppomardis will return to the land of the living, and he’ll use your body to stick around, and it’ll be Armageddon!” She proceeded to dance merrily in place, which really reminded Admetus of a nipped Etcetera when Tugger was in the room.

“Now we perform the spell,” Dersoun said mystically. She walked over to the table and with a wave of her hand Asille glowed. Asille then traced an outline upon the table, and an ancient book appeared. The aged magician opened the book and chanted in her sandpaper voice.

“Ab initio, ab origine, ab ovo,

From here do we begin.

Vox et praeterea nihil.

My voice calls to you.

Per ardua ad astra.

I use the power you give me.

Ex animo, ex animo,

Return to us tonight.”

Asille’s glow faded to a dull light as she held her paws over the outline and murmured softly. A wind began to blow throughout the locked basement, and the shadows stirred like smoke. Dersoun continued with the spell:

“Coram nobis

Return to our Earth.

Accept this vessel.

In hoc signo vinces!”

The wind whistled loudly, causing the candles to flicker. Dersoun poured all of her energy into the spell, and Asille was putting in all she could, too. The shadows gathered together into a large mass, evil radiating from its existence. The sisters’ eyes widen with excitement and joy as Admetus’s widened with pure horror.

The shadows crept for the chained Jellicle and paused, as if looking him over. Finally, it gave what appeared to be a nod and engulfed Admetus amidst his terrified screams.