Demon Pact

Demon's Pact Contest Entry 2019

"Blair, are you sure you can handle this one by yourself?" My partner's scruffy voice came in a whisper at my side. I kept my eyes on the target though, the young looking man tied to a chair in the center of the chalk drawn demon's trap. He sat patiently, his glossed over, black eyes glued to us as we were talking.

I rolled my eyes a little bit, "The demon's trap can hold him, it'll be an easy job. Honestly, I expected this to be more difficult with his history. I'll be fine, besides, I want to get this done with as quick as possible so that I can go home and stop taking these jobs for good."

"If you say so...just promise that you'll be careful?" He asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. It was hard to not shrug him off the instant we made contact.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Dane. Now, go home and let me get back to my job." I pulled myself away from the doorframe and Dane, waving him off as I walked towards the demon.

The corner of the demon's mouth turned up in a smirk, he was looking past me. "It was nice meeting you, I do hope we never meet again." He said to Dane with a nod of his chin. I heard Dane scoff before he turned away.

I waited in front of the demon with my arms crossed across my chest, listening to the receding footsteps and an engine start up before it too, faded away. During this, I took the chance to examine the demon's host. He seemed to be a little younger than me, probably in his mid teenage years, barely able to grow facial hair. His blonde hair was flaked with dust and dirt from our earlier chase, his cheek had a scrape mark too, the blood smeared across his face.

"What, admiring the view?" He asked, slouching in the chair a little bit.

"I'm curious." I murmured, cocking my head to the side and chewing lightly on my lower lip.

"About?"

"Our best hunters have complained about you. They say that you escape all the time before they can trap you. I'm a decent hunter, at best, yet here we are." I explained and took a few steps closer to him, circling around the chair and double checking that his bindings were still in place.

"What can I say, they all suck at their jobs." He countered and turned his head to follow my movements.

I shook my head, "No, it doesn't make sense. I don't think you understand what I mean when I say they are the 'best'. They've caught and exorcised the worst of the poltergeists, which you are nowhere as strong as, but they couldn't catch you."

"You know, you're better than you give yourself credit for. You probably could've caught me without the other one's help." He chuckled a bit. "If anything, I should be asking how you managed to catch me."

I shrugged a little bit, "You were predictable. That's what I don't get." I tapped my fingertips against my forearm. "Unless...you wanted to be caught." He continued to stare at me with his little smirk, not offering any sort of verbal answer, which only confirmed my suspicions. "But why?"

As the words left my mouth, a howl split through the air from outside. Another one, a bit further away echoed it and was followed by a loud stomping sound.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Hellhounds?" I ran to the iron door and pushed it shut, twisting the lock on the handle and sliding the other one into place. "Did you call them?" I asked, turning to glare at him only to see that the smirk had been replaced with pure fear.

He quickly shook his head, starting to try to twist his way out of the restraints. "N-no way! Please, you have to let me go. If they get to me, they'll rip me to shreds! How were you not watching to see if you were being followed when you came here?"

I stomped over to him, shaking my head. "I was, there was no way I was being followed." I shoved my hands into his pockets, searching all of them. In the inner pocket of his jacket, I found a piece of cloth with a symbol stitched into it.

"What is that?" He asked, turning his head to try to get a better look at it. I chucked it onto his lap, stepping away from him.

"A tracker." I snarled. Again he started shaking his head.

"I didn't know that was there. Please, you have to believe me. Untie me and I'll get us out of here."

"I was assigned to exorcise you, I can't just let you go! I'm trying to retire early and this is the only offer I have gotten."

BANG!

Something slammed into the door, making it rattle. I glanced over to see a dent coming inwards, definitely a hellhound.

                                                       BANG!

                                  BANG!

          BANG!

"Okay, what about this? I make a deal with you, a bound deal so that you know I won't break it." The demon begged, the banging had temporarily stopped and been replaced by growling. I sighed and gestured for him to continue, quickly.

"Share hosts. Let me co-host you-"

"No." I said sharply.

"Hear me out. I can phase us out of here, safely. I just have to take control momentarily." He explained. The growling stopped and it was silent, the worst of it would soon follow.

"Cost. What's the cost?" I demand.

"A piece of your soul, I'll give it back. I swear."

"Fine, do it. Quick!"

"It'll be most painless if you are accepting and willing to cooperate. I need you to untie me." He pleaded, staring up at me and glancing at the door. I sighed and pulled out my knife, sawing away at his bindings.

BANG!

The door screeched and bent inwards from the center, the side of the door pulling away from the frame. I sawed at the bindings until they fell away and pocketed my knife. The demon stood up and grabbed me by the face, pressing his lips firmly against mine.

I tried to jerk away, only to be met with a pain in my chest. So this was how he was transferring himself to me to co-host. I let him open my mouth and instantly felt a sort of froth or foam go down my throat. The demon's previous host's body started to go limp and I reached forward to keep him from falling.

'Thank you, I promise you won't regret this.' I heard a male voice in my head, much more mature sounding than the one that I had been hearing prior. Then, everything went black.

- - - - -

'Hey, wake up. We're safe now.' The demon's voice slowly faded in, bringing me back to consciousness. Everything came into focus and I noticed that I was no longer in the steel room from before. I was now on the side of the road, across the street from a gas station.

'Denver, Colorado. It should take weeks for the hellhounds to track us down, if they decide to pursue us. Besides, while sharing a host my scent is weakened. As long as we're together it should be almost impossible for them to find us.' He continued.

"Well...I still kind of need to exorcise you." I said, chewing on my lower lip a little in anticipation for his response. "I would  like to retire."

'Or...you could not, but say you do. It's been a long time since I've been able to roam free up here.'

"What? No way, that wasn't part of the deal!"

'The deal that I hold the contract to.'

Silence fell between us with my lack of a response. What was I supposed to say to that?

'Come on! It'll be fun! I promise I'll keep you safe.' He pleaded, almost sounding like a child. I let out a sigh.

"You know what? Why not?"