Heart of Stone

~chapter 3~

As I begin crying uncontrollably into my hands, I  feel the demon's curious eyes burn against my skin. It's annoying.

"Well?! What do you want now? To take me to hell? Just do it. I don't deserve anything else." I say defeatedly.

"As much as I'd love to keep watching the comical show you've put on for me, I'm afraid that I should probably get to why I'm here," he says as he reaches both his hands into his pockets. Normally, I would brace myself for whatever he was about to pull out, but I genuinely could not care any less at this point. Both my life and my afterlife are meaningless.

After frisking around his pockets for a few seconds, he pulls both his hands out and opens them for me to see. In his right hand is a white pill, and in his left - a black one.

"I've come to give you a choice. In my right hand is the pill of Slass. If you take it, you'll be given a second chance." he says.

"A second chance at what?" I say, rubbing the tear stains from my cheeks.

"What else? Saving you from depression," he says nonchalantly. I almost burst out laughing from the stupidity.

"Are you thick or something? No one can cure depression. It sticks with you. No matter what." He's just like all the others. They'll tell you to 'think positive'. 'Drink water'. 'Make smarter choices'. But it's never that simple. If it were, then it wouldn't happen to anyone.

"Ah but that's where you're wrong, sweetheart. With enough time, anyone can learn to tackle their issues head--"

"Well, I don't have that kinda time. You don't know what it was like. Waking up every morning only to have the same barbaric thoughts and memories that were haunting you yesterday." I say wistfully.

"Um. Presumptuous. In any case, you won't necessarily be sent back to when you died. You'd be sent back to the day you became depressed. Right before.....your little incident. You'll have 24 hours to stop the event." he says. 

"What happens if I fail?" I question. The second I ask, he gives a sinister smile that sends a chilling ghost up my spine.

"If you fail, you'll come back here. And I'll drag you down to hell with me," he says eagerly. I can feel my skin go chalky and my stomach begins to churn. Is it worth it? My life was already hellish anyway. But could it ever amount to the real thing? What if I succeed and then manage to get depressed again somewhere down the line? What am I even sacrificing if I don't take this pill?

My visual expression must've exposed my confusion, because the demon continues his explanation, but speaks significantly slower.

"Now, on my left hand is the pill of Falls. This pill will send you to your original destination - heaven. In order to speak with you, I had to pull you out of your journey, you see."

That's when it all hit me. I feel my face burn with vengeful aggravation upon my realization.

"You stopped me from going to heaven because you hoped you could bring me down to hell with you, didn't you?" I assert. His expression remains indifferent, as if I wasn't the first human to have figured him out.

"Yes. I did. But that doesn't erase the fact that this is an excellent opportunity for both of us. You win - you get to live happily without heartache. I win - I get another human for my torture chamber. Seems like a fair deal to me."

This kid was insane. Beyond insane. He was bloodthirsty.

But he was right. This is the best shot I've got to being rid of this all. If I can go back to the first day of school - where it all happened - I can save myself from this torment.

I looked up from his hand and into his pitch-black eyes. I saw nothing but endless darkness, insanity, and a small shimmer of contempt.

I slowly pick up the black pill from his right hand. I don't want to give myself any time to think about what I'm doing. In a flash, I down the pill and immediately feel delirious. As my vision becomes blurry and I lose all sensation in my skin, I hear the demon whisper a brief message to me before I fall asleep.

"I'll sharpen my guillotine before our next meeting."