deal | jjk

02

It's only been three days when you're once again sitting in your car with a specific destination in mind. You have the bag with the graveyard dirt, the box with your picture in it, and the bone from a black cat beside you in the passenger seat. The two latter ones you actually dug up after the demon left. You're not entirely sure how the lady at the creepy shop came over the bones, but you're not going to accidentally support the killing of black cats financially by purchasing more.

This time, you've also brought the shovel.

The massive garden tool divides the time it takes you to dig the hole into five. A couple scoops of dirt later, and you can bury the stuff like you did last time. Doing it during the day whit the sun still out is another huge help.

As soon as the items are no longer visible, you turn around, expecting the demon to appear at the same spot as last time. He doesn't.

"Can't stop thinking about that kiss?"

You twirl, coming face to face with the demon again. He's sporting that familiar smirk, and you wish you'd summoned him in the daylight the first time as well. He's still intimidating, but a little less so, and it's easier to admire him in the light. You won't tell him that, although you suppose he already knows, considering what you told him last time.

"I need to ask some questions."

Your statement makes him sigh. "You should've done that before. The contract is binding, none of us can break it."

"It's not regarding that. Well, I guess it is... but I just need to know if I should tell my siblings?"

"You're allowed to tell whoever you want, but people tend not to believe stuff like this," he shrugs.

You watch him casually lean on the hood of your blue car. He's wearing the same outfit as last time, black jeans and dress shirt tucked in, but in the light, it's much easier to see how his body is built. He's tall and lean, but his thighs seem to fight the fabric of the jeans. It's your favorite part of him, you think. Or maybe his thin waist, showed off by the belt and tucked-in shirt. Or his broad shoulders. It's hard to decide.

"I was mostly thinking if I should tell them that I'm going to die? Will it be easier for them to know or not?"

"You're kidding? That's why you summoned me? I'm a demon, not a psychologist," he scoffs, letting you know just how dumb you are.

"But can't you, like, see into the future and tell me?"

"Uh, no? I can't?"

You drop your shoulders and stare at the shovel that lays next to the now-covered hole. With a sigh, you bend down to pick it up and start the process of digging the things up again. Well, the box and the cat bone; the graveyard dirt would be challenging to get back. You have a metric kilogram of it in a bag at home anyway.

"You're not supposed to dig the things up, you know?" His voice sounds from behind as you're working, but you're too disappointed to reply. For the past three days, you've been struggling to figure out if you should tell your sibling or not. Prepare them or not. The demon was a shot in the dark, but getting shot down like that is disappointing, and you're still none the wiser.

"I guess I wouldn't tell them if I were you," he speaks. You stop digging and turn around, not expecting him to actually give you a straight answer. "Decreases the risk of them feeling like they could've prevented it. You'd feel guilty, too, right? If you were in their shoes?"

He's right.

"Yeah, but it's so hard keeping it to myself," you mumble, sticking the shovel into the ground and leaning your arms on the handle. An ant catches your attention, and you watch it climb a little mountain. "I'm going to die, and I don't have anyone to talk to about it."