A long black satin ceremonial robe covered her naked body as Clarissa carefully painted, in blood, the seal of Solomon on the hardwood floor. The grimoire was very specific that everything was to be done as instructed for the invocation to be successful. If done incorrectly it could 'at best' not work. But, at worst... Clarissa wasn't about to consider the 'at worst' scenario. It was going to work. It had to.

Clarissa had followed the directions right down to the most miniscule of details. She had not lain with a man since the previous full moon. That part had been very easy since she hadn't lain with a man in over two years, not since her husband's untimely death. She had just gotten out of a bath sprinkled with a dozen distinct herbs and oils, having waited four months to perform the ritual on the third full moon of the new year.

The seal consisted of two interlocked triangles, one upright and one inverted. Inside the triangles were a number of symbols, Arabic words, and names, all used by King Solomon himself, centuries ago whenever he required the assistance of the Djinn.

Once she completed painting the final of the markings she took a step back to inspect her work. Consulting her grimoire she verified that she had indeed made it as perfect as it could possibly be, considering it was human blood, not paint, that she was working with.

Human blood, thick and tacky, proved to be a challenging medium to paint with. In order to obtain the blood she'd had to pay someone a thousand dollars to 'retrieve' two blood bags from the local hospital. Buying stolen blood wasn't the proudest moment in her life, but she was forced to take drastic measures. Most people never contemplate the lengths to which they'd go if they were out of options and out of time.

Clarissa was out of options, and seriously low on time.

Once satisfied with the seal, she began to inspect it, ensuring that the circle was completely intact. Any break in the circle could allow for a number of undesired things to happen; including possession or simply death to the summoner if the particular Djinn or, the Gods forbid, a demon were to be invoked if an error was made during the ritual.

A ring of salt also outlined the circle. Salt also helped protect entities from entering a circle. It was better to be safe than sorry. As the old saying went: an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. The circle itself was exactly six feet in diameter, so there was plenty of room inside for herself, her grimoire and writing materials, in the event that she might need them.

All the lights were out in the small house she owned in a quiet little residential area of Boston, Mass. She ensured that anything electrical was unplugged as it could interfere with the mystical energy she was about to give off, by opening the portal between this world and the world of the Djinn.

Finally satisfied all was in order, Clarissa loaded her arms with all she would need inside the circle, took a deep breath and entered. Six black candles were placed, one at each of the six points of the seal. Taking a match she quickly lit all six of the candles. When finished with the candle lighting she seated herself exactly in the middle of the two intersecting stars.