The Demon's Contract

In the Demons Realm

The realm of the demons was dark and hot. Black clouds filled the sky almost all the time. Every once in a while a gap in the cloud revealed a large, red sun. Red lightning lit up the clouds and the land below every couple of seconds. A dry wind blew over the rocky ground and pits filled with boiling tar or molten rock filled the landscape. The trees that remained were all dead. Either they were scorched and brought down to a black trunk, clawing with it's root in the rocky surface, or they had completely dried out and had a pale colour, as if they were turned to stone.

The higher demons, like Xantier, lived in castles. Some of those were built on high mountain tops, others in one of the dead forests. Lower demons either stayed in the open or lived in one of the many caves. Xantier's castle was located in a valley between two mountain tops. The six small towers of the castle were build in a circle around the large main tower and every tower had a pointy roof. The walls had a dirty, dark-grey colour and aside from the gothic-themed arches they were unadorned. The large double doors seemed old but sturdy and they were big enough to let a giant into the castle. Even though they looked to be quite heavy, the demon opened them effortlessly and Michael stared into the castle.

"Come on," Xantier said as he gave an impatient push in his back. Michael stumbled forward and stepped inside. The doors closed behind him with a loud bang and Michael wished they hadn't. It sounded like there was no way back, that his stay here was definitive. "This way," the demon said curtly as he passed Michael and went towards the door on the other end. Their footstep echoed through the empty hallway as Michael followed Xantier. The grey stone walls looked like they hadn't been cleaned in ages.

The black door at the other side gave entrance to a circular room. In the middle was a winding stair-case leading into the main tower above them. Six straight stair-cases lead to a door which would give access to the six smaller towers. Two black statues stood between each of the six stairs, they were crafted in the image of demons, all higher demons as far as Michael recognized them.

"Onyx," Xantier said as he saw Michael look at the statues. "They are made from onyx." With a wide gesture of his arms he brought attention to the entire room. "This is the central hall. From here you can go to all the towers. I will show you the six towers first. After that we will go into the main tower and I will show you were you'll sleep."

Michael nodded, even though his approval would change nothing about the fact they were going to look at the towers. He wasn't quite prepared for what he saw in those towers. The first tower had piles of gold and silver coins and items in it. He had no idea the demon was this wealthy, nor that earthly goods like this attracted him. The room in the second tower had piles of precious stones, each gem carefully sorted in their own pile. The third room had pig-like demons chained to the wall, Michael knew these were classed as lesser demons. When he asked why he kept those, Xantier explained they were for experiments and that he cared as little about these low demons as he cared about humans. Not one bit. The fourth room made Michael's stomach turn, shelves filled the room and each shelf was filled with dried organs, shrunken heads and jars filled with organs and foetuses of both humans and lesser demons. The fluid seemed to keep them in perfect shape. The fifth room housed horribly deformed creatures to which Xantier explained they were failed experiments, but he hadn't gotten rid of them yet as they still could serve their purpose. As the rooms had gradually worsened, Michael wasn't too sure he wanted to see what was kept in the sixth tower, but not going with the demon wasn't an option. The sixth room housed five humans without any clothes on. They stared ahead and walked around aimlessly.

"These are five somewhat successful reanimations of dead corpses," Xantier explained. "At first I just disposed of the body or cut it up for parts when I claimed a soul. After a while I thought it would be nice to bring their bodies back to life and see if I could make those obey my wishes. The first attempts failed, but I was rather successful with these." He looked at the walking corpses with a thoughtful expression on his face, while Michael stared horrified at them. "I hope to perfect the reanimation spell soon," he said as he turned to his new pet. "When you're dead and I have taken your soul, I will use your body too. Maybe I will be successful this time." Michael couldn't do anything but stare at the humans walking there, was that his fate? It seemed to get worse the longer he was with the demon. First he had signed the contract that would allow Xantier to take his eternal soul, then he learned he would have to serve him first and now he would be turned into this after his death?

Xantier took Michael with him again and brought him back to the central hall, before ascending the spiral stairs to the main tower. Halfway up the stairs was a door and Xantier stopped here. He informed Michael that the floor above this one was his private floor where he did his spells and rituals, nothing the boy needed to see. The demon opened the door and Michael stared at the room as they stepped through it. Unlike the rest of the castle, this room was beautiful. In the middle was an ornate king-size four-poster bed made from the dark wengé wood. The bright red silk sheets and pillows were in high contrast with the black wood, but it seemed to work for the demon. The white walls were decorated with golden patterns reaching all the way up to the dome-shaped ceiling. There was another door on the opposite side of the room, but Michael's attention was caught by a set of chains hanging on one wall with a simple white mattress on the ground under them.

"That is where you will sleep," Xantier told him.

"Like a dog," Michael added bitterly.

"If you want you can sleep with the Dorcons in the third room," the demon suggested and he watched Michael quickly shake his head, his eyes showing the fear he had for the creatures. "No? Then how about with your future friends in the sixth room?" he continued, to which Michael shook his head again, but with a sad look in his eyes this time. Xantier walked up to him and wrapped his slender fingers around his chin. "Don't worry, you don't always have to sleep on the mattress. Every once in a while I'll let you sleep in my bed," he brought his lips closer to Michael's ear, "but I don't think you'll enjoy that very much."

Michael swallowed heavily and stepped back from the demon. "T-the mattress is fine," he muttered.

Without any comment, Xavier pushed Michael further towards the other door. He opened it for him and let him have a look around. He smirked when he noticed how Michael's face turned pale and his eyes filled with fear when he looked inside. In the room were several devices Michael recognized from books about the medieval time period. Torture devices.

"That is one thing I like about you humans," Xantier said as he walked into the room. With a hand he stroke over the sturdy oak of the rack. "You were quite creative with some of the devices you made to inflict pain on other humans. I quite like these designs from medieval Europe, I've used them quite a bit." He turned to Michael and showed a smile that sent a shiver through his spine. "We will spend some time here together, just you and me." The demon walked back to Michael and grabbed his chin so he was forced to look at him. "You will scream and you will cry and I will enjoy every moment we spend here," he promised.

"Whatever you'll do to me," Michael whispered. "I will not cry."

"I will break you," Xantier hissed. "You will beg for me to end your life and take your soul."

On the first day Xantier already proved how sadistic he could be. The following days weren't any better for Michael. The demon enjoyed inflicting pain on his subjects, use them for his own pleasure and he loved the sound of their screams. Torturing his human pets was a hobby and Michael was no exception. More often than not his screams echoed on the walls of the castle.

Sometimes, when Xantier was bored inside his castle, he took Michael out for a walk through the lands and shared some knowledge about the other inhabitants. The walks, even if educational, were agonizing. Even if the demon wasn't inflicting pain, there were always bruises or wounds that had yet to heal and ached when he moved. During the walks Michael saw many of the creatures of the demonic realm. There were many demons he already knew from books or from hunting them, both higher and lower, but occasionally he came across one he didn't know yet. He also saw big dog-like creatures which were called hellhounds. They were feasting on the corpse of a lower demon and Xantier warned him to stay away from those dangerous creatures. While all the higher demons who lived in the realm knew each other, most of them were not on friendly terms with the others. One of the higher demons Xantier did get along with had planted a garden, as he called it himself. He had put stakes in the ground and the impaled bodies of lesser demons and humans adorned his front yard. Michael refused to look at it, but that one glance had already made his stomach turn.

Days turned into weeks, but Michael soon lost track of time in the strange realm filled with horror and pain. More often then not he thought back to the party, that last moment when he had seen his relatives. He often wondered if he could have done it differently, but every time he concluded he couldn't have done it any other way. Giving in to the demand of Xantier and sign that contract, even if it had lead to this, was still better than to be responsible for the death of his entire family. There was no way he could live with that. They were safe, at least they were safe.