Summoned

James found the book in his father's desk. It was an old leather-bound journal with strange glyphs on the cover. He knew his languages, but he had never seen these before.

He wasn’t a quick study of languages --- he was only passing French. Yet, he knew what the words in this book meant as if he were fluent in this language his whole life. The peculiar symbols read “Address Book”. Inside the book there were paragraphs of text written with the same glyphs. James devoured the contents.

Toby, Daniel and Caleb watched James inscribe the first marking he found in the book on the basement floor. He used a piece of chalk included with the book. James drew a perfect circle using a string as the radius. Next he transcribed the glyphs using the stroke order for each one.

“Hear me, ye ancient ones and present thyself,” Toby read off the circle on the floor.

“You can read that too?” James asked as he finished the pentagram connected to the perimeter of the circle.

“Is this really necessary?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah it is doofus!” Toby said. “Look it's James's turn to DM and when his campaign is over you can have the next one but until then we play by his rules. If he wants to draw a big circle on the ground and inscribe a pentagram to raise a demon, then that's what we're going to do.”

“Seriously though Jim, where the hell did your dad get that book?” Daniel asked.

“He's an archeology professor. He has access to all kinds of cool stuff like this,” James said. “There, done.”

The four boys stared at the circle inscribed on the basement floor.

“It is odd we can read that even though it's just all weird squiggles,” Daniel said.

“All right,” James said turning his back to the symbol. “Let’s continue. The mage inscribes the circle on the ground and it begins to glow...”

“You mean like that?” Toby asked pointing at the circle.

“Toby, pay attention! The circle lights aflame! A tower of solid white light erupts upwards---” James stopped speaking as he felt heat touch his back. A blinding white light washed out the faces of his friends. He turned around slow and steady.

The four boys shuffle their feet backwards and gawked at the light. They turned away and held their hands up to shade their eyes.

As the light’s intensity faded, James noticed a woman with a black bell-shape dress and matching heels standing in the circle. Layered over the dress was a diaphanous black peignoir with an embroidered pattern of bats. Her hair cut and teased into a bob. A pair of bony horns grew out of her head --- no, they were attached to a hairband.

She leaned against a scythe. The weapon gave him pause. He saw the human skull first. Its jaw unhinged and opened wide. From its mouth a tongue slurped out in the form of the scythe blade. The spine extended down to the floor ending at the tail bone.

“Shit,” Toby said.

“James what did you do?” Daniel asked.

“The book said the circle would summon the Ferrywoman,” James said. “And since the campaign ends by summoning and fighting Death...”

Toby jabbed James in the shoulder with his fist. “Like Charon? The Ferryman from the Greek myth? You thought this was a good idea?”

“Well, I thought it would set the mood! We’re fighting Death!”

“Yeah for the campaign!” Toby exclaimed. “Not like... for real in your basement!”

“Do we roll for initiative?” Caleb asked after an awkward pause.

The woman stepped outside the circle and the drawing on the basement floor caught fire and burned away leaving an acrid smell in the air.

She approached the boys. Each click-clack of her shoes against the floor made them scuffle backwards, away from her. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

“All right, I’m here. So which one of you is dying?” Her question was met with silence. “You chumps better have a good reason for calling me.”

The boys crisscrossed their gazes at one another trying to figure out what to say in response. Caleb stood next to the poker table they used for playing D&D. He plucked a d20 and rolled it.

“Shit,” James mumbled watching the d20 roll.

“Critical fail,” Caleb said examining the ‘1’ face-up on the die.

James turned to the woman. He took a deep breath. “My name’s James,” he said after a moment of silence. He stepped in front of his three friends. “I summoned you into our, uh, D&D campaign.”

He gulped and waited for a response.

“See,” he continued. “We’re supposed to fight Death to gain access to the underworld, and I thought it would be cool if we pretended to have a summon circle. Uh, I found these cool looking drawings in my dad’s book. I didn’t think it would do anything.”

She adjusted the weight on her feet and eyed him.

James turned to the other boys. “And, these are my friends.” They all shook their head, but James ignored them. “This is Toby, he’s in my homeroom.”

“Dude, don’t tell her my name!” Toby said.

James ignored him not knowing what else to do. “This is Caleb and Dan.” Each of them gasped. “We all go to the same school together. We, we have for a long time. And I hope for a long time... after.” James swallowed. “Like till the end of our lives, which I hope isn’t now.” He chuckled.

The woman narrowed her eyes and examined each of them.

She snorted and laughed. “Nerds.” She looked down at the poker table and examined the open D&D books. “Call me Kamiko. I’m a god.”

“Of Death?” Toby asked.

“For the moment, yeah.”

“You’re a Shinigami,” Caleb said.

Kamiko turned to Caleb and loomed over him. She planted the spinal cord scythe in front of him.

“Be, because you’re Japanese. K, Kamiko is a Japanese name. Right? Y, you’re the Japanese god of Death,” Caleb continued. He rolled an emerald green d20 die in his hands. “I, I learned that from a manga. And, and we’re studying Japan in World Cultures. I want to visit there someday. Um... I’m a big fan of Sailor Moon.” He added in a whisper: “Even if it’s for girls.”

Toby snorted. “DBZ is way superior.”

Caleb lowered his gaze. Kamiko leaned toward him. “I used to watch Sailor Moon with my kid sister,” she said. He brightened up and cracked a small smile.

“But you’re not a death god?” Daniel asked. “What kind of god are you?”

Kamiko turned towards him. “Oh, I bless mobile phones, keep yokai in check, and make sure nobody wanders into Yomi.”

“The underworld?” Caleb said. “Just like in our game, but it’s real?”

Kamiko smirked at him.

“So,” Toby began. “Where’s Death?”

“She’s... busy. Doing a thing,” Kamiko retorted.

“You don’t know?” Toby asked. “How can you not know? Death’s an important god, right?”

“Kid, you’re getting on my nerves.” She kicked her leg back and scratched her heel against the concrete floor as she pivoted to him. She swiveled the blade tip towards him and strutted in his direction.

“I’m sorry!” Toby exclaimed throwing up his hands. “I’ll shut up now. My teachers say I talk too much, but I’ll shut up. Forever. Don’t kill me,” he pleaded.

Kamiko stood before him and examined his praying hands. She sandwiched his hands between her own. He gasped and shuttered.

She laughed and clapped her hands. “All right, dorks! You called me to play your game and none of you are dying... yet.”

“Our party’s gonna die cause James sucks at balancing a fight,” Toby said. Kamiko and James glared in his direction. “Dude, more monsters doesn’t mean more fun. It’s just more fun for you.” He glanced at Kamiko. “Don’t kill me,” he whispered.

“Nobody cares about your dumb game,” Kamiko said. “I’m asking the questions, since you summoned me.”

“Are you gonna steal our souls?” Daniel asked.

“What’d I say --- Nah, I offer a contract for that. First thing’s first, how'd you summon me?”

“With this,” James said holding out the book.

Kamiko snatched it from him. She flipped through the book and studied the drawings.

James smiled back but under Kamiko’s critical eye he wilted. He shuffled his feet and fidgeted his hands. “S, sorry. I didn’t mean too.”

A voice from above called down into the basement. “James! What's burning down here? What are you boys doing?”

“Oh shit!” James exclaimed. “That's my mom. Uh, hide!” The stairs to the basement creaked as his mother ambled down the steps.

Kamiko glanced up at him giving him a “for real?” stare down.

“You can hide in my dad’s office!” James said pointing to the small room on the other side of the basement. “My mom... Er, You’re a girl! You can’t be here!”

Kamiko raised an eyebrow and gave him a crooked smile.

James wilted further.

She stood her ground and perused the book studying the diagrams. She found the summoning circle that James had mentioned and read through the description.

“Boys! I asked --- Oh, you have a girl over. James you never told---” His mother stopped and examined Kamiko up and down.

James and the other boys turned towards his mother. They gave nervous conferring glances to one another. Who should speak first? What should they say? What kind of lie would James’ mother believe?

“She goes to our school!” Toby said at last. “She's Kamiko-chan! She's an exchange student from Japan.”

“Totally not a demon we summoned from the underworld,” Caleb added.

Toby elbowed him in the guts and hushed him.

James’ mother looked at the boys and then Kamiko. “Uh huh. She’s a little old for middle school, no offense, Miss.”

“None taken,” Kamiko said without looking up.

“It's cosplay,” Toby said. “She's into anime. Uh, the right make-up and clothes make you look older.” Toby laughed and glances between his friends and the two women. “I mean more mature, R, right?”

“I'm more willing to believe Caleb,” James mother said. She extended her hand. “My name's Elizabeth, Miss?”

“Kamiko. Just Kamiko.” She tucked the book under her billowing sleeve and took Elizabeth’s hand and gave her a hardy shake.

Elizabeth eyed the book. “Oh that belongs to James’ father, and...” she turned towards her son. “James shouldn’t have that because he shouldn’t be rooting around his father’s office.” She leaned towards her son.

James wilted further.

“I was going to put it back,” James said.

Elizabeth turned towards Kamiko. “May I have that back?”

“I’m gonna keep it. Where’d your husband get it from?” Kamiko asked. She twirled the scythe like a baton using her free hand.

“I'm not sure.” Elizabeth and the boys backed away. The scythe blade flashed as it caught the fluorescent ceiling lights each time it spun around. “He’s had it for a while. It’s important to him. If you stayed and met him, you’d understand.”

“You want her to stay?” Toby asked.

“She’s a shinigami!” Caleb added.

“Death god,” Daniel translated.

“These dorks summoned me here to play dragons and dungeons with this book,” Kamiko said.

“Dungeons and Dragons,” Toby interjected. “Sorry, I’ll shut up for real now.”

“Please,” Elizabeth said. “It’s my husband’s life work.”

Kamiko sighed. “I got a lot of time, I suppose. It’s not like the dead are going anywhere.” She let the scythe’s handle roll over her hand and she caught it. “So, where am I?”

Kamiko tossed the spinal scythe to Daniel. He cried out in shock and hugged the blade’s handle to his body. His wide eyes focused on the skull regurgitating the crescent blade.

Kamiko studied the room. “Definitely America.”

She stopped in front of an old Sony television and tapped the Nintendo Entertainment System sitting on the floor with the toe of her shoe. “Nineteen Eighties. Oh, what’s this?”

She pulled a folded gray mat out from behind the TV stand. There were two columns of blue and red circles on the front of the pad. “Nintendo Power Pad. So, nineties.”

She glanced inside the TV stand and saw a Super Nintendo.

“Ninety-five,” Elizabeth said. “You don't know what year it is?”

“You play Nintendo too?” Caleb asked.

“Duh,” Toby responded. “She's Japanese. So, what’s your favorite game?”

“Yeah I played,” Kamiko said. “A bit before school with my kid sister.”

She returned to the poker table and nudged a green Jansport backpack on the ground. The flap opened revealing the contents inside.

“Trapper Keepers, brown paper bags covering text books,” Kamiko continued. “School’s in. Must be late afternoon cause you're not doing homework. It’s the best time to be summoning demons. Perfect American suburban pastime for a bunch of God-fearing people.”

She stood on her tip-toes and peered out the small rectangular basement window. “Autumn. That's good weather for Lolita.”

“Lolita?” asked Liz.

Kamiko gestured to herself and fluffed her dress. “So James, when's your dad get home?” Kamiko asked. “It's Norman Rockwell around here. So I would guess...” she snapped her finger, and the doorbell rang. “Just in time for dinner! Liz, what is it tonight? Meatloaf? Mashed potatoes? Smells good!”

“My mother’s recipe! She’s friendly for a death god.” Liz turned to her son and his friends for a reaction, but they only offered her blank expressions in return.

Kamiko climbed the steps out of the basement and headed to the front door. She wanted to meet the man who found the book. A powerful book from her initial look through it. How would a mere mortal get his hands on something so ancient and extraordinary?

---

Author Notes

Hi! The Shinigami was an experimental story I wrote and published via Kindle Direct Publishing.

As per Amazon's rules, only 10% of the book can be published off their platform, BUT if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read the rest of the story via your Kindle, OR if you'd like to support me, you can purchase the eBook off of Amazon.

To be clear, this story is set in a different era of Kamiko's life that hasn't been touched upon in Magical Girl Kamiko, The Rabbit and the Moon, and other stories on this site. I'll leave it to you to conjure up where it is in her timeline.