Later that same day, the three boys gathered again, this time in the shade of a mango tree near the edge of town. They brought notebooks, snacks, and questions in their minds.
Jean-Daniel flipped open a notebook he borrowed from his stepdad's bookshelf. "So, I'm sure if this spirit made a pact with you, then it's gotta have a name, right?"
"I never got one, or maybe I don't remember if it had told me its name." Peterson said, frowning. "It just said, 'Call my name.' Like I was supposed to know, that's I remember I think"
Wilkens was already scribbling in a notebook, a pile of library books next to him. "That's typical spirit behavior, they're mysterious, and dramatic. But that means the name has power. If you say it, you probably open a gate to something."
Jean-Daniel leaned in. "A gate to what though? The loa world I think? Would've made a lot of sense."
"Or to the spirit itself," Peterson added.
They paused as a breeze rustled the leaves. It was the first moment of calmness all day, after all the troubles they've been through lately.
Wilkens broke it with a nervous laugh. "Look, I'm the one who reads manga and believes in anime logic, but even this feels too real. You're talking about being possessed once a week."
"I know," Peterson said, his voice steady. "But if this thing is in me, I need to know what it wants, and what it is."
Jean-Daniel nodded. "So we gotta learn everything we can about the Zobop, about veves, and any loa tied to the medallions."
Wilkens sighed. "Okay. But if this ends with one of us being dragged into another dimension, I'm blaming both of you, you got that?."
---
The Next Day
Peterson walked alone to the small voodoo temple on the far side of the city. It wasn't much, just a modest building with white walls and veve drawings in faded chalk across the front. (Author note: Trust me myself, back in my country I wouldn't walk in those things lol)
Inside, he met a young houngan named Mathieu.
"You've come seeking knowledge," Mathieu said, eyeing Peterson's medallion.
"I need to know what this medallion is.." Peterson replied. "And what it's turning me into."
Mathieu studied it, his face darkening. "This is old. Older than what's usually taught. It's not tied to the traditional loa, This… this is something broken, probably even Forbidden."
Peterson's stomach twisted. "So it's evil? With bad juju "
"Not evil, But dangerous, It belongs to something that was cast out—a spirit once part of the crossroads, now lost. If it made a pact with you, then it's trying to regain influence through you."
Peterson asked carefully, "Do you know its name?"
Mathieu paused, then retrieved a dusty scroll from a locked box.
"This is the closest I've found. It describes a spirit called The Midnight King, a splintered form of a tall demon, once guardian of passage, twisted into something else after the Veve rituals corrupted him."
The name echoed in Peterson's ears. He felt the medallion pulse.
"That's it," he whispered. "That's the name that I've heard that night."
---
That Evening
Back under the mango tree, Peterson told Jean-Daniel and Wilkens everything. They sat quietly, letting it sink in.
"So what now, what do we do?" Wilkens asked.
Peterson held the medallion up. "Now we find out how to use this without me losing myself. We train. We dig. We get stronger. Because if this thing is coming back through me… then others like the Galipot are only the beginning."
"He keep saying , We , like we have some kind of power aswel, but anyways , we'll find out soon or later "
Jean-Daniel thought
Then Jean-Daniel stood and offered his hand. "Then let's make it official. We're not just friends anymore—we're a team."
Wilkens groaned but stood too. "A team that's probably cursed, but… fine."
Peterson smiled and took their hands.
The pact was no longer just spiritual.
It was personal.
And the battle ahead would require more than just courage.
It would require unity.