Painkiller

“You’re aware that I’m a demon, yes?” he asked, his sultry smooth voice holding an edge of confusion along with his earlier intrigue. He clasped his hands on the bar top, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me, his eyes drifting up and down as if he was scanning me. The crowd behind us cheered with the ringing New Year, but neither of us cared about that. This was a very important moment for me. 

“Yes,” I nodded, keeping my answers short, sweet, and to the point. I knew exactly what I was doing, and that included the fact that giving a demon too much information was never a good thing. 

“And you are aware that this is a contract we are discussing, that will ultimately end by condemning your soul to hell?” Another befuddled question. 

“Yes.” Another simple answer. 

“And all you want, in exchange for your soul, is...” his voice trailed off as he looked at me expectantly, likely hoping for a more convenient answer. 

I was never one for being convenient. 

“I want to get to live a few years—nothing too crazy, I know how these deals work—but I want to live for that time without any pain. No knee pain, back pain, tooth pain. Nothing. I just want to get to live a normal life.” 

He stared at me for a few moments, looking pensive and contemplative, before nodding and snapping his fingers. A rolled up scrolled appeared in his hands. A contract. 

“I can’t just make you feel no pain. That’s not exactly a common request around here,” he said, opening up the contract and occasionally jotting down something between the margins, “but, if you sign this contract, it will allow a demon to enter your mind and share your body with you. He’s one of my best, you don’t have to worry about any corruption or tricks. He’ll feel all of your pain for you. Now, mind you, you’ll still know that the pain is there, and you’ll be able to understand it. You just won’t be able to feel it.” 

He slid the scroll over to me, along with a feathered quill, and I signed it without even a moment of hesitation. 

“Pleasure doing business with you... I hope this works out the way you were hoping for,” he spoke. Before I could even blink, he had disappeared, and I had signed a deal with the devil. 

I woke up, hearing a voice in the back of my mind, “You humans are all so weak. You’ve got no idea what true pain is. You were willing to make a demon deal because you feel a little bit of discomfort sometimes. I can’t believe I’ll be spending the next ten years stuck with you.”  

A soft chuckle fell from my lips before I could stop it, “Alright, alright. Easy tiger. We haven’t even gotten up yet. Mornings are always the easiest.” It was true. I’ve always loved the moments when I first woke up. Just getting to lay in bed before the pain set in... my few moments of bliss every morning. 

Those moments could only last so long, though. Just the few words spoken out loud was enough to kick start the ache spreading through my jaw. Knowing that the pain was there while not feeling any of it was an odd experience, to say the least. The relief I felt through my whole being was insurmountable.  

The demon, on the other hand, didn’t get any of the relief. “What the hell is that? Why does your mouth hurt!?”  

“That’s actually a new one,” I explained, talking slowly and quietly to ease the pain. I didn’t need to torture him right off the bat, “Some nice cross between sensitivity between a botched dentist job and an impacted wisdom tooth. We have an appointment in... two weeks exactly.” 

I heard a soft groan from him before I could feel him nodding, “Alright. Okay. You can get up now. This is nothing. I’ve got this.” 

I couldn’t help my slight amused scoff which caused him to groan again, and I nodded, “Alright, buddy. Let’s see about that.” 

Pulling myself out of bed was easier than ever before. I remained aware of the pain shooting through my legs with every bend of my knees, the soreness that spread through both feet, and the way it felt like my back would break if I moved just a centimeter more. I also remained aware of the colorful curses coming from the demon. 

“-and the bones in your feet are going to rip straight through your heels! This can’t be right! We need to get medical assistance immediately!” 

The laugh I let out was a surprise to the two of us, shocking me with my own amusement and hitting the demon with another flash of pain through my jaw. “Right,” I said, heading towards my dresser to find some clothes to change into, “Well, we have a whole day ahead of us... the best I can do is take some painkillers.” 

I could feel the demon nodding enthusiastically, “Yes! Painkillers. Kill the pain. Now.” 

He found out the hard way that painkillers don’t always work. Not for everything. 

I sat down at a local café with a nice, warm peppermint mocha. A quick press of a button on my Bluetooth ensured that no one would question why I was essentially talking to myself. “I haven’t been able to drink one of these in a while. It’s been too long,” I murmured as I took a sip of my favorite drink. 

“Well, you still can’t drink them. I’m forbidding it,” he grumbled in response. 

I scoffed a little through another sip, “Yeah... anyway... do you have any favorite drinks or foods? Can you taste what I taste? I still don’t quite understand how all of this works.” 

“Whiskey. It’ll ease the pain,” he said. He was quiet for a moment, and I could tell that he had something he wanted to say, so I just sat there and enjoyed my drink as he considered his words. “I’m Finnigan, by the way. You can call me Finn.” 

“Finn? I like that. It’s nice to formerly meet you,” I said with a soft smile, “When we’re home for the night, we can have some whiskey. I’ll even let you pick it out at the liquor store on the way home.” 

That seemed to appease him, and he went quiet as I finished my drink. 

“Well... this is it,” I said, taking another sip of my whiskey, “How have these past ten years been for you?” 

Finn hummed quietly before speaking his reply, “This was my first time guiding a soul. I didn’t know what to expect walking into it... but I had a really enjoyable time with you. I hope that the beyond is easy on you.”  

I shrugged the sentiment off, “It’ll be hell, literally, but it’s worth it. I’ve gotten to live more in these past ten years with you than I would have in a full life without you.” 

“Careful. You’re sounding like you actually care about me,” he scoffed. 

I didn’t have to answer that. We both knew what it would be anyway. We had really bonded over the past ten years. With his help, I had been able to find a job and dig myself out of the debt-filled hole I had started in. We had also gotten to reach out and search for solutions to chronic pain. Daily yoga, weekly spa treatments, and various other therapies didn’t cure the issues, but it helped enough. Finn was strong. Much stronger than he had initially seemed. We were strong together. 

With my job and the treatments, we had then begun to travel the world together. Taking ten years to spend every last dollar I made, because we knew there was no use saving it. We knew what sat at the end of the decade—what I had to look forward to.  

More than anything, my favorite part of the decade had been simply finding a friend in Finn. Finding someone who could understand exactly what I was going through, because he had been going through it for me. We had bonded more than I ever had with a living human before, and I wasn’t quite ready to get rid of that cynical voice in the back of my mind. 

The cheers started with the countdown to the new year, but neither of us cared about that. This was a very important moment for us. 

We didn’t speak as everyone around us counted down to midnight. 

We didn’t have to. 

We both felt the goodbye hug as he slowly faded away. 

“Happy New Year...” my mind was so empty that my own voice sounded like a shout.