A Demon's Bargain

I stand at the base of a stone plate resembling two intersecting stars. At the diffraction point of one of the stars stands my agent, otherwise my assistant—I don’t like people thinking I need help with my choices—Sir Blakely Barner. I call him Blakely. I would be fine on my own, but my lawyer insisted I find someone to help. I don’t need assistance in court, either. No one understands that a man like me is capable enough. 

I am about to make a decision that may affect my life. Bargaining with untamed spirits should be illegal, Blakely says, for it could completely crumble your healthy existence into a deep, black abyss. I’m not sure what he means, yet here I am. Like I said—I would be better by myself. A word of persuasion was carried across town advertising this forsaken place. I whisper the calling of Satan and a beam of silver-white light dances on a stone that had moments ago shot out of the ground itself.

I reach out to touch it.  I should touch it, right? Why am I questioning myself while fiddling with the dusty sheet of paper that is supposed to tell me exactly what to do? The light reflects in my watering eyes and back on itself, mirroring it brighter and shinier.

“Don’t touch it!” shouts Blakely, running towards me in the center. “Do you not understand? You’re better than this, Carter! You’re better than this!”

I am about to touch it. All my wishes are going to come true. I will pass the test and become the most powerful leader known to man.

AN HOUR EARLIER

“Shut up, Carter!” demands my sister, Novia, who’s only twenty. “You’ve been going on about your discovery for nearly a month now!” 

“When are you going to finally impress us?” hoots Father, who begins encouraging everyone else to laugh. It is a Thanksgiving evening with not a cloud in the sky and not a sorrowful memory for any other family on the block. It is only I who has a worry and a fright on an evening such as this.

“Soon I will, and you’ll see,” I swear. “Why not take a risk for everything your heart desires?”

“Because it’s called temptation, Carter,” says Novia. “You really think you’re going somewhere?”

“And if I do?” Novia’s boyfriend’s brothers, Mark and Benny, gasp. They always like listening to an argument, though they don’t make it obvious they’re paying attention.

“Then you’re more self-centered than any of us. And that makes me happy I’m leaving,” Novia announces, raising her eyebrows. Beside her, her boyfriend, Keith, smirks.

“You’re leaving?” spits Father, his amused expression gone. I don’t stay to hear the answers. I don’t want to excuse myself, either, I just get up and exit. We met where Novia and Keith live for Thanksgiving dinner, so I have to walk past a row and a half of cars to be able to drive home. As I am backing up from their small street and into the main highway, there is rustling in the bushes.

I roll down my window. “Anybody there?” With the vision I have—which is not much—I can’t make out a person in the brush along the edge of the road. There is a dirty, white van behind me; it looks like Keith’s. They must think I’m insane to be following me.

Sighing, I keep driving as if I don’t notice them. Hopefully they’ll go back to their turkey and cranberry jam soon. My heart beats hard when I feel the gravel under my tires and the whole car seems to jolt one way or the other. The headlights are still somewhat visible in the fog. What the heck.

“Blakely, hurry, we have a business meeting,” I whisper harshly. I can see Blakely’s eyes gleaming from the reflection in the headlights attached to Novia and her stupid boyfriend’s old car.

“You’re still going on about that?” sputters Blakely. “Really?”

“Why is everyone implementing that on me?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “Where is dedication these days? Yes, I am! Now hurry up, we’ve got someone trying to steal our values.” I aim my head towards the van and widen my eyes. He nods and climbs into the passenger seat.

“I can’t believe you,” he sighs, pursing his lips.

“Well, sometimes I don’t, either,” I crease, rolling my eyes. This is everyone’s view when they look at me. As if I’m some sort of mad scientist chasing the devil.

My chest screams as we pull over on the curb beside the Science Center. Blakely’s forehead creases. Turning the headlights off would’ve been a wonderful idea, because I can see Novia’s sly face through the windshield.

Sliding the keycard through the door was much harder than it should have been. When I hand the card back to Blakely, it is coated with sweat. I enter, making sure my “agent” is still behind me,  and step onto the circular plate in the corner of the “EMPLOYEES ONLY” room. Blakely gets on, too, and a barrier—quite like a forcefield—forms around us.

“I wonder if this could burn your hand off,” banters Blakely. I take it honestly, and gulp.

The plate lowers us underground and into a dark, worn-out lab. It opens up into a hallway. My teeth chatter as I watch the corridor open its jaws into a big room that hasn’t had any occupants since at least five years ago. Walking into it, we step on a large sign barely resembling the words: “Caution! Do not enter without a professional control manager.” The ink is so worn out I assume many people have walked on it without a second thought. How many people have died attempting this?

Sufficing living people is a difficult task, it seems.

“Are you still going to do it?” asks Blakely, as if he thinks he will be able to change my mind with a sentence.

“Of course,” I reply flatly. “Why not?” Why not, but also why?

I stand in the center of the colliding stars. Blakely stands, cross-armed, at the edge of one of them. I know him well enough to understand he wants to observe but can’t find it in him to come any closer. He knows me, too, to understand one simple thing that could affect one’s view of someone else: I am too tempted into this situation. Tempted is a small word with a big meaning. To live this way, one has to be aware of that.

I whisper the words of reincarnation to bring back Maia. They don’t work. As I’m fiddling for the page, tears fall from my eyes. She will come … she will come … she will come … she has to come. Maia was my lover, and it’s the reason I can’t look at Novia and Keith the same way as when I had her. If she came back it would sew the broken seams in my life.

Frantically searching the page for the spell, I hear Blakely’s screams: “Don’t do it! You’re better than this!” Too late. I touch the silvery light and shout the words between gritted teeth. “One touch. Nothing much. Say the words, all is true. It’s not hard to see what temptation can do to you.”

A blur appears in my vision. I suspect it is tears, but I cannot cry in this situation. But what if Novia was right … if Blakely was right … if my thoughts were right … No, I’ve made it this far.

A smaller ball of light—this time red—comes out of the white one. It forms into a human…ish creature. It carries nothing but a bag of sinful mishap.

“Heard you’re here for a loved one,” he laughs. “One they call Maia. May I ask, how did you let her die?”

“You may not ask,” I snap, staring him in the eyes. He is good at what he does; I can’t lock my eyes on him for more than sixty seconds. Even that must be a record. “Now give me what I came for.”

“Now, now,” he coaxes. “Let me implant the rules on your heavy shoulders. First of all, you can’t quit halfway through. If you do—I will have to execute you.”

“Does she still return?” I ask. He doesn’t respond. Of course he doesn’t.

“Secondly, if you fail my test, you and a close friend will die.” Blakely, who is behind me, looks as if he will explode. I know what he is thinking, but I don’t feel like turning around and telling him what I want to say. Don’t worry, Blakely, you’re not a close friend.

I whisper his words under my breath. “You’re better than this, Carter.” I’m not.

“Good luck, Carter. May the best of reincarnation be in your blood,” the demon snickers. The way he says it sends shivers down my spine.

A sheet of crinkled paper appears in my hands as he disappears. But I’m not done with him. It asks for my signature, above it displaying regulations and death warnings. Now, looking at the things it is expecting me to do, I understand that some died here.

I whisper Blakely’s yells under my breath again. “You’re better than this, Carter.” Maybe I am.

“Come back!” I demand. “I refuse!” The red light appears dramatically and the demon laughs hysterically. The noise pierces my ears.

“Didn’t you hear …” he says, his voice trailing off. “You’re going to die …” He looks impressed at my decision, as if he expected more from me. I truly am a greedy man.

“I know,” I say, my voice shaking.

“Very well then.” I don’t know what happens next, I don’t remember. All I know is that before it happens, I imagine Maia’s warm eyes. I imagine how calming it would be to join her. To escape the cruel world. I learned many things from the experiences I had, but one thing stands out, and it’s this:

 Tempted is a small word with a big meaning. To live the way I did, one has to be aware of that.