Passage Through Midnight Part 3

“I am sure you understand perfectly the conditions attached to this request.”
“Yes, I perfectly do.”
“And you do realize that after this contract, whatever happens can’t be undone.”
“Yes, yes I know that. Will you quit tutoring me like I’m a child?”
“Aah… but of course. You’re an adult and I must respect that. I just would hate to see you end up like the others who began to cry and beg for something that didn’t exist.”
“Of course. Sorry about that outburst. I understand your intentions. But you should know I wouldn’t have met you otherwise if I hadn’t weighed the consequences properly.”
“Yes, yes, that is true… Now that we have cleared the air on that one, explain what you are willing to reciprocate for our services.”
“I imagine you need souls…”
The first man showed the first sign of surprise the second had ever seen. But it was only brief, and what followed were a raised eyebrow and a grin.
“Go on… I’m listening.”
He told him the plan. A wider grin.
“…Of course, I’m going to need the power that you’re promising me.”
“Definitely, it is in the contract that I deal with my own end, and if I don’t do that… then your nice plan won’t come into effect now would it?”
“Excellent, so we have a deal?”
“Oh, we’ve had a deal right before we even started with the paperwork. All that is needed now is a signature from you.”
Both men looked at each other confidently, and as the second was about to sign it, he was stopped by the first.
“No no… You should know that you have to sign with your blood.”
“…oh…”
At that point a knife appeared on the table. With some level of unease, he took the knife and made a small cut on his index finger. Maybe this wasn’t that good an idea, then again it probably was the best idea he had had so far. Hesitantly signing the contract, he began moving away. To get the hell out of there was the only thing on his mind at the moment.
“And Stan, I do believe that you understand there’s a time limit, after which full payment has to be made.”
“B-but… what of the souls? That’s full payment!”
“Not exactly, see it as more of your fuel. You get souls to fuel your energy source. The full payment has to be something else… I’m feeling a bit generous today, so I choose to let you choose between your soul and that of someone else.”
“So what… I’ve become a sort of supplier for you??”
“Call it whatever you want. You picked the plan, it wasn’t me.”
Stan was completely confused. He couldn’t understand where this was going. No one had said anything to him about any full payment being made. His plan was meant to be foolproof.
“Oh come now, don’t tell me nobody told you about full payments Stan. Why do you think my clients end up having really vibrant lives?”
“But… but… but…”
“But –let me help you complete that line- nobody told you about it. Well, what can you do? I’ve given you the highest level of generosity I can muster.”
No… this was going too far. There was no way he was going to succumb to a mere demon. He had to do something. Leave it all and forget about everything… yes, that’s what he’ll do.
“Oh? That look Stan… are you thinking of bailing out? Remember we have your signature right here, and it’s more of a definition of who you are than just your writing.”
Damn… he knew something about that wasn’t right. Then again, he had felt uneasy at the time, and had foolishly signed nevertheless. But there had to be some other way.
“And by definition…” the demon continued, “I mean lineage definition. Though this is not really necessary seeing as we do know your lineage, I can use this as a sort of collateral to take someone else’s soul if, under any circumstances, you fail on your own end of the bargain.
“Anyone… right. Go ahead then. I’m already planning on giving souls, this is nothing to me.” Or was it? Stan couldn’t really understand why the demon would threaten with something so vain. Unless… there was something else that wasn’t being said.
Then Stan looked at what was at hand properly. He looked at the piece of papyrus lying on the table, looked at the inscriptions; the details, and then the blood… Blood. The blood… Definition of himself… then it clicked.
Wide eyed, Stan was ridden with horror… “Oh no…”
“Smart man. I see you’ve caught on nicely. So… you can do what you want to do, and give full payment; or don’t do what you want, and still give full payment; or do what you want and try and escape full payment. Whichever way it is, payment will be made.”
Crest fallen, Stan slowly nodded his head, turned to leave, looked back and the demon was gone. With nothing else to do, Stan walked away; thinking of what he had done.
‘Blood… blood and soul… Christ, if it’s not my soul, the blood’s proof he can take another. Blood relative… my son’

PTM

“So, we’ve ended up with the same conclusions from two different people.”
“Yeah… and that really scares me. I thought the chupacabras where just as a result of an unnatural balance that would eventually even itself out. But having it in the realm of the supernatural is just… creepy.”
“Tell me about it B… it was fun when they were harmless. Then again, we aren’t quite sure that this is more than natural, we should see if there are other such occurrences before we actually reach such a conclusion.”
“*sigh*… Well, you’re right about that. Speaking of which, why are you here in IB? Today of all days?”
“Well, believe it or not, I had already planned today to be the day I come over. I’d had my ticket and everything ready so it’s not like I could have decided against it later on.” Biola and Chika walked through a peaceful street, coming across a handful of people; some strolling, some calmly walking home.
It seemed just like any other peaceful day. Nice weather, moderate temperature… the sun shining bright but not scorching. It was even hard to believe that about an hour and a half ago 2 supposedly possessed chupacabras were killed in 2 different locations only minutes away from each other by these 2 people walking side-by-side. But it had happened. And they couldn’t comprehend why it did, if it held any purpose or if it was just a completely random occurrence.
“At least you’re here, and for that I’m glad.” Biola said with a soft smile.
“Yeah, me too. At least this is a sensible event compared to the chus.”
“That reminds me, did you call the others you said you’d call?”
“Nah… couldn’t find their numbers. I must have misplaced them somehow.”
They said no more about that, and kept walking; no destination in particular. After a few moments, Chika’s phone rang.
“Private number… wonder who. Hello?”
“Who is it?” He hushed her with a finger, listened intently, all the while having a stern look on his face.
“Wait where? What did you- little creatures? Hello?” Click
“Chika… I don’t like that look on your face. Where are we going to? Who called? What’s happening?”
“The look’s not good I know. We’re going to Molete. Dunno who it was, person probably said her name-”
“Her?”
“Yes… if I heard the voice right and; you know what, let’s hurry back to the car, I believe you have your stuff there? Good. As I was saying, the person said there’s panic as these little creatures suddenly appeared causing havoc.”
“Oh no… you don’t suppose they’re more chus do you?”
“Can’t say they are right now, but considering what we’ve tried to learn, it’s possible.”
They raced back to the car that was parked a few metres away from their location. Getting there, Chika flung the door open and started the car before he closed the door. As Biola closed the door, he sped off almost immediately. With his mind fully on the road, he swerved from side to side, dodging cars and bikes; trying to make it in time to understand what the fuss was about these ‘creatures’.
Biola’s mind was completely somewhere else. The day had started just right… until the first chupacabra. Then it wasn’t just a chupacabra, but one that died by disintegrating into green particles. Then it became 2 chupacabras with the same attributes. After… two different calls ended with conclusions linking the strange chupacabras to supernatural entities… and now this.
“So… What’s the plan?” Biola asked as Chika looked at her with a wide grin