May's anthology

Hellish Awakening-Word Chase contest

I can feel the sharp edge of the knife under my throat, and I am too afraid to even swallow for fear of being cut. Sleepy as I am, it's difficult to orient myself, to figure out to whom the knife belongs to, but that doesn't stop me from being terrified.

Who can blame me? Waking up from a horrible nightmare only to realize that there is a knife under your throat would terrify even the bravest of people.

After all, aren't we the most vulnerable in our sleep, when all our defenses are down, and we are tucked into our sheets, feeling safe and warm?

I wish evolution had left us with more defenses, that I wasn't so relaxed in my home, so vulnerable.

Now that I can see more clearly, a pair of red eyes watching me intently from the pitch darkness of the room make everything even spookier. It's as if the eyes are floating in nothingness, and if it weren't for the tangible sensation of the knife pressing on my skin, I would've thought there was nothing around me but emptiness and those bloodthirsty eyes.

Soon enough, my eyes adjust to the darkness, and what I see leaves me even more confused. Am I dreaming? Hallucinating?

"Mr. Mittens?" I ask as I look up into the eyes of my cat.

"Have you forgotten your obligation, you wretched human?" Mr. Mittens says as he moves the knife closer to my Adam's apple.

"Ob-obligation?" I mutter.

Genuine fear floods all my senses, and I am not sure what terrifies me more, the mere idea of my cat holding a knife to my throat and speaking to me, or the possibility that I've gone insane and that I am hallucinating all this.

Mr. Mittens lowers the knife, and with one swift motion, cuts off the button on my brand new pajamas. He does it with ease and agility that his paws shouldn't be able to provide him with.

"Do not play games with us, Marcus, or I'll cut off your nose the same way I cut that button. Never underestimate my vessel because I have powers beyond what your petty human brain can even begin to comprehend." Mr. Mittens says.

"I am...sorry. I honestly don't understand what you mean. Can you please explain?" I say.

It's ridiculous to apologize to a cat, but I think that a crazy cat with a knife is an exception, especially having in mind that I want to keep my nose intact.

"Once upon a time, you made a deal with me. You wanted to be famous. You wanted prestige and all that went with being a famous writer. The time has come for you to fulfill your obligation, to pay the price." Mr. Mittens says.

"You are the demon I made the deal with? I didn't recognize you, my apologies, dark one. Why the knife? You know that I stand by my word. When I signed the deal, I knew that the time would come when I would have to pay for all my dreams coming true." I say.

"I just felt like scaring the living daylights out of someone. It feeds me nicely." The demon laughs maniacally as the knife cuts into my skin just enough to draw blood.

"Yes, of course. I understand." I say although I don't understand the need for the theatrics at all.

I should have done more research before I signed the contract with my blood, but at the time, I could only think about being recognized, about people admiring my work. It didn't even occur to me to think about the price I would have to pay.

Now that the time has come, I can't help but hate my young self for being so selfish, for not thinking about the future. Because of his stupidity, I am in this ridiculous situation, being threatened by a cat controlled by a demon.

How could my life go so wrong when I used to have everything?

"What do you need me to do?" I ask the demon that was once my darling cat.

I wonder if Mr. Mittens is alive somewhere in there or if the monster has slaughtered the one innocent creature that I deeply care about. Still, I know that is not the question I can ask, not if I want to survive the night.

"You have sold your soul to me for such a trivial thing such as fame, and I am here to collect." He says.

"You want my soul?" I ask in shock.

"No, not all of it. I want a confirmation that your soul belongs to me. I want you to do something for me that will prove that your soul is and always will be mine." He says.

"What is that?" I ask.

I have a feeling that I already know the answer, but there is a shred of hope in me that he will ask for something else, something smaller. Perhaps something that I can do and still keep my soul untarnished, but deep down, I know better.

From the moment I signed the deal, this moment was inevitable. I am just deluding myself that this soul belongs to me. It belongs to him and I am about to do something vile to prove his ownership.

"You are going to butcher the person you care about the most in this whole world. You are going to cut them into small pieces and bathed in their blood." He says.

Horror lasts only a second before I feel myself going into a trance and taking the knife he offers to me. The moment I feel the weight of the knife in my hand, I slash at Mr. Mittens and cut him up to pieces before the demon has the chance to react in any way.

As I am bathing in the blood of my beloved cat, my houseplant comes alive turning into one of those carnivorous plants which I feed the cat on instinct. It's as if my body knows what it is supposed to do before my brain has the chance to catch up.

"Well done, my pet. I didn't expect that, but you have proven yourself to me." The plant says, with the demon's voice.

"Now, make the flag with my insignia and put it on your front lawn for everyone to know that you belong to me." He says.

That is when an image of a strange skull with two sets of horns, front bigger than back, and vampire's teeth flash in my mind. Two crossed scythes in the background complete the gruesome image, and I make the perfect flag.

I use my sheets to make it and position it in the most prominent place in the yard for everyone to know that my soul belongs to the demon. The demon whose name I don't know, but whose insignia I carry with pride.