"Your time has come, Mortimer! Give me that juicy soul!" The demon appears from thin air, as they have a tendency to do. I simply raise my eyebrow from behind the latest issue of _The Wicked Tales of Torment_ as I turn a page, not even bothering to look up.
"Oh? Is it that time already? I suppose I should call in Megan then." I press a button on my recliner and the ringing of a bell echoes down the hallway.
"You...why do you look like that? And how are you so calm?" The demon's guttural voice grates on my nerves, but I don't stop reading. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" I never thought something so inherently discomforting could carry such a whining tone, but it's been years since I was really surprised by anything.
"Patience dear Shaxzanforzsca. You've waited 30 years, what's a few more minutes." I smile at how smooth my voice is. Not even a flicker of frailty can be heard in it. "Let me finish this issue. Hell, maybe you could join me. Seems like the type of thing to be right up your alley. Or are you on some important kind of schedule?" I know he's not, but teasing him just feels like the right thing to do. It might be the nicest thing I do for him all day after all.
The hiss of discontent should rattle my bones, yet instead, I find myself chuckling as the demon settles onto the end of the hospital bed. "Already read that issue. Comes out a week early in hell. Please tell me why you're not pissing yourself in fear." My chuckle becomes a full-blown cackle at this. It quickly turns into a wracking cough though and I must stop reading.
As I empty a nearby glass of water down my parched throat, I take the moment to take in the appearance of my friendly neighborhood demon-man. His skin is still the same sickly green of an oozing mucus membrane that it was 20 years past. His horns are perhaps half a foot tall now, a far cry from the stubs he had when we first met. The last time I saw him, they were 3 inches straight up, but now they remind me more of a ram's horns, spiraling in on themselves. They've even got hints of a vine pattern twisting over them. Squinting a bit, I can see that they continue down onto his face and down his neck where they disappear under the folds of his immaculately pressed suit.
"You've changed, friend. Almost as much as me." My words come out deeper than I'd like and I grimace, internally cursing my coughing fit. "And if we're going to continue speaking, I'd much prefer you call me by the name Morticia instead of that out-of-date relic." I let myself smile as I see understanding dawn across his scarred face.
"Ah, I suppose the times being what they are, that can't be too surprising. Didn't take you for the type, but- Wait a damn minute!" Sputtering, he continues with rage reverberating through the air. "You're no friend of mine! You know nothing of me!" He catches himself as I smirk. "And demons don't have humans for friends anyway! You're just a long overdue meal! Finish your damn book mortal, and let me hurry this up!" He snarls the last and I can feel his claws extend into my leg.
The pain is mild with the drug cocktail I've been pumped full of, and I just smile at him, enjoying the rage playing over his face. "Oh of course Shaxxy! Right away!" One of the veins on his face bulges so thickly that I wonder if they might actually be vines after all, but I diligently follow his demands as a nurse finally comes in and saves me from a verbal reaction.
"I'll need to ask you to stand up sir. Ms. Chryses is still recovering from a serious illness." It takes me a moment to notice she’s not Megan as she shoos the demon off my bed as if he's a child. To be fair, she probably sees him as just another businessman, so it's not too odd a reaction. "What did you need Ma'am?" Right down to business. I take a moment to remember her name before replying.
"Thank you for coming so quickly Aurora, I was hoping you'd fetch me my bag from the other room. The gaudy one that has the big lock on it? It's got something my friend here would likely be very interested in." She skims the monitor displays to double-check that nothing else could be wrong but quickly moves to leave with a nod of acquiescence. "Oh and maybe a couple glasses of water too if it wouldn't be too much trouble?" I can feel a tickle at the back of my throat signaling another coughing fit. Given that she's such a sweetheart, I'm positive she won't mind the little bonus work, especially with how well she's getting paid.
Shax seems a bit confused at this turn of events, but he's already agreed to delay the inevitable and I can tell I've piqued his interest. "A locked bag, hm? What's so important that you bother with such trivialities? Are you not powerful enough to pay guards to carry such a thing? Or is this your last-ditch effort to remove me? I assure you, not only will it not work, but it will only make your suffering that much worse." The demon's vocal inflections, sickeningly twisted as they may be, confirm that he's hooked and I grin unabashedly. "Hey stop that! It's creepy."
"Creeped out by a mere _mortal_ Shaxxy? It's unbecoming. I'm nearly seven decades old and bedridden. I wouldn't attempt to put you out of your misery even if it would give me more time." He grinds his teeth so hard that my own bones ache in unwanted empathy. As he paces impatiently, my glee only grows internally. "And besides, I promise you it's worth it. I can guarantee that you've never seen such a device. It could give even you a shot at fame." I giggle at the joke he won't understand yet. "If it would make you feel more comfortable," I pull out my necklace from under the gown, "you can even be the one to open it."
He narrows his carmine eyes at me as he drags his corporeal form back over and snatches the pendant from around my neck, snapping the string easily with a twist. "Only because I want you to focus on finishing that stupid comic issue." He sneers and I struggle not to laugh at his performative annoyance. "Stupid last requests," he mutters as he starts to examine the intricate details of the key. Never met a demon who could pass up a good mystery. Must be something about the monotony of endless torment.
Speaking of, this last issue is quite fascinating. It's so lovely how much better most artists become in death. It makes sense of course, but that doesn't make it any less impressive when they get even better at portraying horror especially when the topic of this week's comic is beautifully macabre. Before I know it, Aurora has returned and I'm only a page away from finishing.
"Ah you sweet girl, thank you so much. Please hand my friend that bag." I take a deep drought from the bottle of water she brings before continuing, "Do you like horror and the macabre Aurora?" Her eyes keep dropping to the cover of my book and I can't help but smile at the woman's brightened eyes.
"Well yes, but-" I cut her off before she can finish the thought.
"Excellent! Then would you like to have your world turned upside down and see a truly monstrous thing? You've got to promise not to scream though." I feel a little bad being so vague, but it's not every day someone might get to learn that demons do actually exist. And there's nothing to do to prepare you for it properly. She's hesitating longer than I'd like and I shift my focus to my demonic compatriot as I wait.
He seems to have forgotten his surroundings as he shifts dials and presses various buttons in an attempt to find out why twisting the key wasn't enough to open the bag. Puzzles are truly the greatest invention as far as I am concerned and the fact that even beings with no Earthly lifespans can get so distracted by a novel one fills me with joy even now. I like to think that of all my deeds, creating this puzzle will be the thing that might get me remembered most. I sigh and turn back to Aurora to find her focus has been grabbed by the puzzle bag as well.
I prompt her softly by clearing my throat and tilting my head questioningly as she looks back at me. "I think yes?" Her answer is short and I can tell she's a bit nervous. She may not know everything about me, but most people can't say no to someone who has power, even when they know it might not be in their best interest. Human curiosity is entertaining like that. "I mean, yes." She repeats herself more emphatically. I'm not sure if it's for my sake or her own as she squares her shoulders.
"Well then, let's start with the unbelievable. This man here is actually a demon. He's come to claim my soul." She looks over at him warily and I can tell she must think I'm pulling her leg. "I know he probably doesn't look like much to you but he's wearing a sort of glamour and his name is actually Shaxzanforzsca." At the sound of his name, the demon jerks his head towards me disbelief heavy in his eyes.
Stepping towards me, he hisses "That is not your-"
"Oh hush you moron, you'll understand soon enough." I snatch the bag from his hand and deftly spin 3 rungs, pull a lever, and twist the key in the opposite direction. Through sheer luck or actual skill, he actually had gotten a decent portion of the puzzle solved. At least for these purposes. "This here is an ancient artifact that I dug out of the ground in my younger days." I pull out the device.
"A camera? That can't be too old though can it?" The nurse's curiosity bubbles out. "Aren't they only a couple hundred years old?" Oh. She's decently knowledgeable too. I'd love to ask her about her interest more but now's not the time.
"Not bad young lady, you're quite right normally. Most people think the camera was invented in the early 1800s and are mostly correct. This though," I lift the heavy rectangular object and pass it over to her, "is from the fifteenth century. Its existence was barely a rumor once and even then, I believe no more than twelve people have ever seen it." She cradles it gently and I'm glad to see someone has an eye for antiques. "Its purpose of course," I grin as I shift my gaze to Shax, "is to capture the true image of any being captured by it."
He glares at me and I can see his mind whirling with the implications. I bite my lip to suppress my mirth. There's something so satisfying about watching someone else go over the same pathways of thought that you have. I wish I could have taken the thing apart and mass-produced it to truly mess with his kind but alas, it was not meant to be. It's already a wonder that it survived this long and even I didn't want to risk breaking the thing before now. It took over a decade to even figure out how to get it to work, I can only imagine how long it would take to recreate it.
"Great, you can prove I'm a demon to some common mortal. Congrats!" Aurora flinches at the sudden vitriol in his voice. Is he letting her hear any of the otherworldly gratings and hisses or is she just not used to such rancid tones I wonder. "All you've done is doomed another soul to either die by my hand or to make a deal. What are you getting at _Morty?_"
The nickname, even getting used in such a derogatory tone pulls a guffaw out of me. "You really are warming up to me now! I'm so flatter-" Another coughing fit racks my body and Aurora's nursing instincts kick in as she almost drops the camera in an attempt to help me. I wave her away and drain the rest of my water bottle. "The _point_ dear friend," the sneer that floods his face fills me with more happiness than I've felt in years, " is that I get to see your reaction on camera."
He blinks several times before narrowing his eyes at me. "What are you talking about you old hag? My reaction to what?"
Waving away his question, I turn back to Aurora, who's looking a little pale now. "Please calm yourself, child. He won't hurt you as long as I'm here. They've got rules and regulations even worse than us if you'd believe it." I wink at her, attempting to reassure her.
"Please be a dear and sit down in the corner. You're shaking and I'd love to get that angle for this." I can tell she's having a lot more doubts about this entire interaction now, but isn't that what usually happens when you agree to have your world turned upside down? I'm glad that she's the one that's getting this though. She's one of the more stable nurses I've had in the past few weeks.
I wave invitingly towards the chair in question once more and she slowly complies this time. "Oh, and I've made it a lot simpler to use since I figured something like this would happen. All you'll need to do is press that big Golden button on top now!" It takes her a moment to find the newer additions I've made. My good cheer seems to be helping her calm down and she starts getting into position.
"My patience grows thin. Finish your damn book _now_ Morticia." As expected, the demon has to ruin everything. Rolling my eyes, I pick my comic back up. I can't say I'm too sad though. The last pages were truly delightful and I'm looking forward to the last. Well. Maybe delightful is not the right word for a page involving someone's body being torn asunder after their flesh has been flayed, but...well what can I say? I've got a messed up sense of beauty. Always have. Guess it's just an odd side effect of missing parts of yourself.
"Alright fine. I'm done. Get ready to be disappointed!" I can't help but throw in a final jab as my heart begins to pump faster, adrenaline rushing into my bloodstream despite my confidence in what the future holds. "Get ready Aurora, this is going to be really funny! Well I mean, maybe not at first, but-"
Without any more warning, Shaxzanforzsca the Undeterred Maker of Kings and Destroyer of Bloodlines thrusts his arm into my chest. I vaguely hear a gasp as I struggle just to retain consciousness. One second passes. I feel his hand move upwards, crushing bones while leaving them perfectly intact. Another second passes and his hand claws through a lung as he continues his search. Yet another second passes and the nausea I've been trying so hard to avoid these past few months comes back full force. He snarls in frustration and pulls his arm up to the collar of my robe. Pulling me up a little he shoves his other hand into my skull which... Eugh. Not something I recommend. My thoughts turn to jelly as he disrupts neurons and my brain tries desperately to make sense of the sensations that are still streaming in. I lose track of time as he rummages through me like a child looking for the last KitKat in their bag of Halloween candy.
"WHERE IS IT? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH YOUR SOUL?" The words come out disjointed, with spare sounds cracking through the seams of reality.
Well, that's mostly understandable. All things considered, I'd call that a win. My first thoughts maybe aren't what he wants but since I haven't remembered how to move my mouth yet, he can't hear them anyway. So he's not allowed to complain. I think. Well, I suppose perhaps he still does. He has gotten robbed of something promised after all.
Oh is that screaming in the background? "Aurora, please stop screaming," I croak. The sound cuts off as my command takes hold once more. "And how would I know?" I direct my answer at the demon who's so savagely ravaged my body. "You're the idiot who didn't check for it before we pacted. Best I can guess, I never had one." Looking up through bleary eyes, I can see the shock freeze his face. Literally. Maybe it's the fading consciousness, but I swear I see cracks spreading across it. And perfectly on time, bless her soul (assuming she didn't somehow suffer from my same fate), the flash of a camera followed by the infernal whirring of ancient parts of technology fills the room.
The last thing I remember before losing consciousness again is feeling myself cackling louder and more purely than I could remember in over six decades.