Blue Sedan

Cain and Church stood outside in the cold. 

Church was glued to his phone. He had ordered a car to pick them up, but the snow seems to have barred the roads. As a result, they've been standing outside in the cold for over ten minutes already! 

Church was shivering. 

"I'm not gonna tip them!" He threatened. 

"You can't blame them for the snow." Cain said. 

"Shut up!" Church pointed his finger at Cain, "I don't want to hear from you!" 

Church looked back at his phone. 

"Tsk!" 

He looked back at Cain.  

"Why would you accept a deal for something WE CAN'T even do!" 

Cain ignored Church's burning gaze. 

"We don't know that yet." Cain said. "All we need to do is get Olive to summon me and then I can clear the Gate." 

"Oh yeah?" Church said. "That's all? What are you gonna do? CALL HER??!" 

Church looked down at his phone. 

"TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES?!!!" He shouted in exasperation. 

"Well, if we have that much time I might as well go ask now." Cain said. 

Church ignored him. He was too busy furiously typing a review for their driver on his phone. 

Then, a black hole appeared in Cain's chest. 

In just a second, his body disappeared into the hole, sucked down like an abyssal drain. 

Only his head remained. 

"Don't go without me." Cain said before disappearing completely. 

Church looked up to respond. 

"Don't go wh-" Church looked down the sidewalk. 

He paused, then turned around and looked the other way. 

Church spun around. 

"What the f-" 

***

Cain appeared in a rundown cabin. The wood was dark and the atmosphere was dreary. 

He sat in a rocking chair situated beside a grandiose window. 

He appeared looking out of the window. 

"Still orange…" He muttered to himself. 

"Baku!" Cain spun around. 

He looked at his bed but…. 

"My bed?" Cain said. 

It was gone. 

Not just the mattress and the comforter, the entire bed frame, *poof*. 

Gone. 

But then Cain heard something in the distance. A hum that's growing firmer. 

"Loooorrrrd!" A faint murmur echoed. 

The next moment, Baku came flying through the cabin's door. He crashed into the kitchen. 

*boom* 

A vibration shook the cabin. 

It rocked Cain's rocking chair. 

"My Lord." Baku appeared through a crack in space just before Cain. He kneeled on the floor and raised his head. 

"I see you've returned." 

"Where is my bed?" Cain asked. 

"But of course –" Baku lowered his head, "you see my Lord, Baku grew bored bound within such tightly compact space. He had mastered the mattress long ago and his skills with cards advanced to a Grand Masters level, however –" Baku paused. 

"Baku realized he had been neglecting his physical form! For that very reason, I moved the bed to the edge of my Lord's domain! I put it right between the border and that was where I sat! In the line between east and west! Split in two! Baku sat with composure! Then, I threw cards!" Baku's eyes glistened. 

"You threw cards?" Cain repeated. 

"Yes, my Lord! From east to west! West to east! This one has conquered this space!" Baku triumphed. 

"What?" 

"Observe, my Lord!" 

A playing card appeared in Baku's hand. He held it between two fingers, then looked at the cabin's window. 

He threw the card. 

*Ksssshhk* 

The window shattered. 

The playing card exploded out of the window and soared into the sky. 

Meanwhile, Cain stared at the window. Stunned. 

Then. 

*thud* 

Something slammed into the cabin behind him. 

"See, my Lord?" Baku said. "That was east to west!" 

…

***

In Nuuk, Greenland. 

Church stood alone outside in the cold. 

Some snow had piled upon his head. 

His face was beet red and he couldn't stop himself from shivering. 

Although his body was breaking down, his gaze was resolute. 

His eyes moved in perfect sync with the digital sedan displayed on his phone. 

The digital sedan turned a corner. 

Church's eyes rocketed down the end of the street. 

There! 

A dark blue sedan suddenly turned onto Church's street! It was the same color as the one displayed on his phone! 

Church's heart beat faster. He longingly looked at the sedan as it approached. 

Then, as if an echo of the past, a familiar voice replayed in his head. 

'Don't go without me.' It said. 

Church looked over his shoulder. He was still alone. 

'That son of a –' 

***

"My Lord wants to know if he can reverse summon himself?" Baku asked. 

"That's correct." 

"Hmm." Baku pondered. "Technically, no… but." 

"But?" Cain said. 

"It is possible for my Lord to perceive any of his Soul Circle's and remotely provide it's activation energy cost, but my Lord's Circle would need to be drawn beforehand and in this scenario –" 

"I have to wait until Olive draws it herself." Cain interrupted. 

"Precisely, my Lord." Baku nodded his round head. 

"In which case, she'd likely be summoning me anyway." Cain sighed. 

"Great." He said. 

Cain slumped on his bed. 

The two had moved to the edge of his Domain so that Cain could move his bed back. 

For a moment, Cain thought about what to do. 

"What if I just have Olive always carry around a scroll of my Circle?" Cain asked. 

Baku shook his head. "Summoning Circles are exhaustive, my Lord. There only exist a handful of materials in the vast expanse that can withstand multiple summonings." 

"I can still just have her carry one, right?" Cain proposed. 

Baku shook his head. "My Lord's Summoning Circle requires it be drawn in blood. It is from that blood that part of the connection is complete. If the blood worsens as such with time – the connection will fail." 

Cain rubbed his temples. 

"Okay." He said. "You said it was possible though, right? What sort of materials are needed?" 

"Although undoubtedly rare, the requirements are surprisingly simple, my Lord. It must be something that can, one, preserve lifeforce for x amount of time and, two, be able to simultaneously conduct energy in the form of mana or spirit, thus activating the Circle whilst sacrificing the lifeforce. If these two requirements can be met, my Lord, then surely reverse summoning is nearly within our grasp!" 

After Cain heard the two requirements, he blocked out the rest of Baku's spiel. 

Then, Cain remembered Church stranded on the snowy street. 

"Baku!" He shouted. "How long have I been here?" 

Baku's eyebrow rose. He scratched the side of his horn. 

"About thirty-two minutes?" Baku said. 

"Send me back!" Cain said. 

***

"I told you! My friend is coming, he'll be here any minute now!!" Church's voice was beginning to rise. 

"You done said that ten mothafuckin' minutes ago! I ain't waitin' any more for this mothafuckin' ghost! Alright?!! So either get your cold mothafuckin' ass in this mothafuckin' car or I'm 'bout to leave you." The woman in the blue sedan looked up and down Church's figure. 

"And you gon' mothafuckin' die out here! Yo' ass freezing tonight! Mhmm!!" She added. 

Church stood behind her, one foot in the car one foot in the street. 

At first, he sat in the warm car with the woman. 

They talked for a little bit. Church mentioned his friend was running late. 

"He's just tying his shoes." Church said. 

Then, the polite small-talk between strangers ended. Time further passed. 

Tension tightened around Church's throat. He felt it in the air, in the backseat of the sedan. 

He was suddenly so hot that he was beginning to sweat! He wiped the sweat off his forehead and recoiled at the wetness. 

He was just freezing to death! 

"Your little friend got till the end of this song, then I'm drivin'." The woman in the driver's seat said out of nowhere. 

Suddenly, Church felt even hotter. 

Sweat dripped down his head. 

He listened to the sedan's stereo in utter horror. 

Church was familiar with this song. Of course he was! 

And the end was near. He knew it! 

It got hotter!! 

He stared out of the car's window, at the footprints in the snow that once belonged to Cain. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Church saw the woman look back at him in the rearview mirror. 

The song was ending! The final note played! 

The woman rolled her eyes. 

"Hmph!" She spewed. 

She moved her wrist over the gear shifter, but before she could touch it, one of her doors sprung open. 

Church stepped outside! One foot in the vehicle, one foot out. 

"I told you! My friend is coming, he'll be here any minute now!!" Church's voice was beginning to rise. 

Panic was setting in. This was a situation Church had never encountered before. What was he supposed to tell this woman? 

'Oh hi! My names Church and my buddy dissa-fuckin-peared into thin air! OH! But don't worry! He'll be back in a second!!' Church grinded his teeth as he mocked himself. 

The woman turned back to look at Church. She started waving her finger back-and-forth whilst she delivered a long-winded and explicit speech unto Church's ears. 

Meanwhile, in the snow, Cain appeared from a momentary crack in space, minute enough to be invisible to the unlooking eye. 

Cain watched the woman berate Church. In fact, whilst eavesdropping, Cain even smiled. 

///LostNoteFound///

Thank you as always moofin and DevilGod_of_Chaos! May us stoners persevere.