Jason found himself in an office. Given the size of the house that the red door was attached to Jason had assumed the inside would be a lot larger than it was. The single room was only a dozen feet wide and maybe twice as long. The floor was a short dark carpet that matched the walls. The black surroundings really caused the furniture in the room to stand out. A large desk sat near the back of the room and two large red leather chairs stood on either side of it. A single lamp stood on the right side of the desk and seemed to be the only source of light in the room. Jason couldn’t see any stairs or doors, apart from the one he just came through. The lack of windows made the room feel smaller than it actually was.

“Please. Take a seat.” The man gestured to the nearest chair as he sat in the other one behind the desk.

Jason never took his eyes off of the stranger as he sank down into the chair. The red leather was warm. Too warm. Jason’s body couldn’t appreciate how soft the seat really was due to the fact that it felt like the chair was a living creature giving off its own heat. The man’s eyes watched Jason with amusement as he squirmed in the leather chair.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to see you here, Jason Simmons.” The man leaned forward and clasped his hands together on top of the desk. “I think by now you’re well aware that I was the one to bless you with your… abilities.”

“Bless?” Jason scowled. “People are dead. Others have ruined their lives over me and you call this being blessed?”

The man’s smile didn’t falter.

“Of course.” The man leaned back in his chair. “You’ve experienced a feeling very few are able to in their entire existence. True and absolute devotion.”

“That’s not-”

“You let them carry their feelings into overzealousness.” The man cut off Jason’s retort. “While that may have been to your detriment, every single thought they had was about you.”

The sinister grin widened.

“Surely you must appreciate the unique privileges this blessing gives you?” The man’s eyes carried a heinous mirth.

“I want it gone.” Jason stated firmly. “All of it. Adaline killing her sister, Kirsten shooting Kylee, Kylee being investigated after neglecting her duties, the blood on Jessica’s hands, Courtney being driven to kidnap me, the reporters who died… My Aunt Shannon.”

Jason felt his voice catch in his throat as he said the latter.

The man threw his head back into the leather headrest on his chair and laughed.

“Will that be well done or medium rare?” He asked Jason.

Jason pulled back. “What do you mean?”

“Well if I’m going to be serving you the world I thought you’d like to dictate how it is cooked.” The man stopped laughing but his smile remained in place.

Jason felt his face redden. “I feel I’m owed-”

“Owed what exactly?” The man broke in. “You want most of your life rewritten? Do you have any idea what that kind of deal would cost you? You don’t have it in you.”

Jason clenched his fists. “I’m prepared to do whatever it takes.”

“Okay.” The man nodded. “How many innocent souls are you offering?”

Jason blinked. “I’m not… I mean, I’m offering my own.”

The man snapped his hand out to one side and an expensive looking red pen appeared in his hand. The table in front of him was likewise occupied by a large roll of paper that hadn’t been there a moment prior.

“And you felt that would be enough?” He shook his head. “That’s a bad deal for me Jason. For something of that scale I’d be looking for a hundred times your offer. At the very least.”

The pen spun in his hand before racing across the blank page. Jason noted the lettering was similar to a lot of writing he had seen in his father’s research. After a few seconds of silently scrawling demon writing the man glanced up from the page.

“So what will it be Jason?” He asked with a lifted eyebrow. “How many others are you willing to sacrifice to get a life you know nothing about back?”

“No!” Jason pounded the table angrily. “I’m not going to become a murderer. Why do I even have to pay some ridiculous price for something like this? I never asked for this curse! Just revert what my father did.”

The man was unmoved by Jason’s shouts.

“That’s the nature of these deals Jason.” The man tapped his pen against the page until a large blood-like pool began to form on one side of the paper. “People don’t come to me with purity in their hearts. Not even your father. Your father was a sad, sad man. Every woman he had ever been with betrayed him. He was a coward, Jason. A poor fool looking for relief in all of the wrong places. He couldn’t go through with killing himself so he instead made solace giving his life for a foolhardy cause. A pointless sacrifice to give you, his only child, a gift you never asked for.”

Jason’s eyes fell. He couldn’t look at the demon seated across from him directly. Jason wasn’t foolish enough not to recognize the truth in the man’s words against his father. Jason had never admitted it, but he had thought many similar things in the past.

“Here’s what I’m willing to concede to you, Jason.” The man made a few more notes on his paper before setting his pen aside. “I’m willing to revoke your gift moving forward. That’s the deal. Nothing changes in the past but the gift will no longer affect you in the future.”

Jason swallowed hard and risked a glance up at the man. The blood red eyes were dead serious.

“While that will be good.” Jason said slowly. “Is there any way I can offer myself to fix what’s already been done?”

“That eager to be free are you?” The man smirked.

Jason shook his head. “No. This is what’s best for everyone.”

The corners of the man’s lips turned down.

“You can lie to everyone around you Jason. You can even lie to yourself for all I care.” The man pointed a single finger at Jason. “But don’t you dare think you can lie to me. You don’t really care about anyone else. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself you do, but the reality is you’re just a scared kid who wants out by any means necessary. The thought of living with the consequences of what we agree here today scares you. You thought it would all take care of itself.”

Jason squirmed in his chair.

“Why does it matter to you?” Jason sidestepped the accusation. “Why aren’t you encouraging me to make a bad deal in your favor? Isn’t that what you do? Why have you been high roading me this whole time?”

His red eyes flared. 

“Numbers Jason. It always comes down to numbers. I stand to gain more with you leaving here with your soul intact than I do making some poorly thought out deal with a desperate child. Maybe the outcome would have been different had you arrived sooner.”

Jason didn’t understand the demon’s words. How would he earn more if Jason leaves here today? What would have been different if Jason had found this place sooner? There were too many questions.

“What about Remi?” Jason latched onto another line of hope. “I owe her my life. I want to get her back.”

“Ah yes, Azremir’s little escapade into the mortal world.” The man leaned back and chuckled. “When I heard that one of my employees had fallen in love with a mortal I was angry. When I found out who they were in love with, well I was just embarrassed. To think that such simple magic would have such a dramatic impact on one of my own.”

He shook his head. Jason pounced on the topic.

“She doesn’t deserve to be punished for my… for your mistake.” Jason corrected himself and decided to be more aggressive with this line. “I want her freed and given a chance to live in the mortal world.”

“Really now.” The man leaned forward and his eyes narrowed. “You want to take her away from her home? Place a being that was not meant to exist in the mortal realm right where they don’t belong? You think she’d be happy out there with you?”

Jason thought back to his memories with Remi.

“I said give her the chance.” Jason said firmly. “She’s free to choose, but I believe she would be happy.”

“Surely you haven’t forgotten how she saved you?” The man asked.

Jason frowned but nodded. How could he forget? Jason didn’t think he could ever forget.

“The price for your freedom, Jason, are my feelings for you…”

“She deserves the chance.” He said with absolute assurity. “Even if she doesn’t feel the same anymore.”

“Well this is all very touching.” The man rolled his eyes. “But as I said Jason, you hold no cards in this game and have no leverage to press me into such a deal. I’ll concede the fault of her falling for my magic as my own, so I will agree to waive her punishment. Nothing further.”

While a small portion of Jason was grateful he could do at least that much for the demon girl, the rest of his mind wasn’t the least bit satisfied. He felt all of the events over the past week boiling up inside. The fear and anger that he had long repressed from his childhood and from his experience in high school all burst forth at the same time.

“Let me help them!” Jason stood and shouted across the table. “This all happened because of me! Because of my father! I need to fix this! I promised people that I could bring things back to the way they were! To save people that were lost! You’re supposed to let me fix this!”

Jason felt his eyes sting as his emotions overcame his self control.

“So many people are dead or seriously hurt over me! Please.” Jason choked on the word and had to avert his gaze from the unmoving demon. “Please. This was supposed to fix everything.”

Jason knew he basically admitted what the demon had called him out for earlier. He was scared. Everyone he had relied on to be there for him was gone. Shannon, Hayden, even Jessica was…

Jason felt his veins freeze.

Jessica!

He’d been so caught up in failed negotiations that he had completely forgotten the girl who had helped get him here. She was in danger.

“Ah, we finally came full circle have we?” The man asked with a sinister glint in his eyes.

Jason wasn’t sure how, but he knew the man had guessed his exact thought process.

“It’s not too late you know.” The man gestured behind Jason to the red door. “She doesn’t have much time left but you can still go out there and try to help her.”

Jason’s fearful eyes glanced back at the door leading back outside. He wanted to help Jessica, but his legs suddenly felt too heavy to move. He licked his dry lips and returned his gaze back to the man.

“You said the curse would be lifted as soon as I leave?” Jason asked with a shaky voice. "That was the deal you offered me?"

The man nodded and remained silent.

Jason took a steadying breath. “What is the price for that arrangement?”

The man smirked. “You don’t believe I’m doing it out of the goodness in my heart?”

Jason narrowed his eyes and the man chuckled.

“The price isn’t yours to pay Jason.” The man stood from the table and made a show of dusting off his white jacket. “Perhaps one day you will be aware of what it was, but you could go the rest of your life without it affecting you in the slightest.”

The response didn’t give Jason a lot of confidence, but it didn’t seem like he was being given any other options.

“The curse being lifted, will the girls return to normal?” Jason wanted to be sure at least something would come from this deal.

“Normal?” The man turned his gaze back to Jason with an amused smile. “Your gift didn’t change people Jason. Those feelings people had around you were their own. I simply amplified them a little.”

Jason felt a chill run down his spine.

He’s lying. He has to be.

"But they won't be driven to kill each other over me? They can go back to their lives and I could have normal relationships again?" He clarified.

"Yes, though..." The man clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Well you’ll have to see for yourself. Some of those girls may return to ‘normal’, as you call it, but I think you’d be surprised at the darkness many of them carry in their hearts. Rest easy. The gift I so graciously blessed you with will be no more.”

Jason shifted nervously.

“So I just have to leave for the deal to take effect?” 

The man reached his hand out across the table with a smile. “It’s been a pleasure Jason.”

Jason took the demon's hand in his own and gave him one solid shake before darting towards the door.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m going to die. Funny, I always figured it would come when I was fighting someone, but not like this. Jessica’s thoughts were surprisingly calm despite the situation she found herself in.

Trying to outrun a car was a losing battle. Had Jessica been in any other part of the city she would have had a much easier time getting away. Out here she was dealing with large stone fences that were too hard to climb, fenced off driveways that offered no safety, and very few people she could call out to for help. The only reason she had lasted this long was due to Courtney’s erratic driving. The crazed daughter of a crime lord was all over the road. The camaro was already beaten to pieces, but Jessica knew Courtney wasn’t going to stop until either Jessica or the car was dead.

If Jessica’s only goal was survival she could have probably made it to a more favorable section of the city where she could have jumped over some back yard fences and lain low until Courtney gave up. The hard reality for Jessica was she was determined to stay close enough to Jason to make sure he remained safe. She wasn’t about to leave him on his own for too long. That driving purpose had caused her to make a large circle around this section of the city. She’d had a lot of close calls, but Jessica managed to make it back to the street the mysterious red door was on without being hit.

That said, Jessica was running on empty and from the sound of the approaching car, Courtney wasn’t far behind. Jessica had to force one foot in front of the other as she stumbled down the street towards the red door. She reached the first street lamp when the feeling hit her. It washed over her with enough power to throw her off balance. Jessica fell against the cold metal street lamp as she assessed what happened to her. Jessica felt… wrong. Like something dear to her had been drained from her body. She was dripping with sweat yet she felt colder than she had in her entire life.

What’s… What’s happening to me? Jessica looked at her trembling hands.

The red door swung open ahead of her and Jason stepped out. Jessica expected the same rush she was used to feeling all of these years when she saw his face, but it didn’t come. Her legs began to shake and she instinctively reached a hand out towards Jason. His eyes met hers and he gave her a small relieved smile. She tried to smile back but couldn’t force it onto her paralyzed face. Jason’s eyes drifted above her shoulders and Jessica watched the color drain from his face. That was when the sound of screeching metal tore through the haze and metal flew all around her.

JTNestman

This version is much closer to how I originally anticipated the encounter going. I hope it clarifies a lot of the concerns and criticisms that the previous version didn't take the time to address. I had approached the last version of chapter 36 with a, "I'm behind on my releases so I need to get this finished" attitude rather than a, "this is an extremely important chapter so I need to get it right" attitude. I apologize for that. As we close in on the final stretch of chapters I'm going to slow down my releases a bit. ("They were already slow!", yeah I feel you.) I want to spend enough time on each of them to make sure I don't rush through things that I need to take time to work out. Expect longer delays between chapters as we close in on the finale.

Thank you to everyone for reading.