How To Date A Demon

a red mistake with horns and a tail

“This better work.” I huff, almost tripping on the candles as I sketch the pentagram with white chalk on my room's stone floor. Alexander Everorest had enough, Kaitlyn freaking Johnson has humiliated me in front of the entire school. She pulled my PRIVATE DIARY and read in front of EVERYONE in the school cafeteria! So I have a plan. I am going to take revenge. 

I am going to summon a demon.

Crazy I know, but don't worry, I have a plan! According to the book I found in the library demons have magic, surely one of them can help me. I just need to figure out how.
But that's a problem for future me, now I need to focus on the subject at hand. 

I sprinkle a large circle of salt on the ground, sitting just above the pentagram's lines, and on each corner I lit up the lavender scented candle. And for my offering I put chicken nuggets from McDonald's in the middle. The only light in my room right is the slight glow of the candles' flames. I pull the dirty book I found in the old library closer to my eyes as I scan the book for further instructions. Google Translate mostly guided me for this as I did not speak a word of Greek, there were still a few parts I couldn't translate but for most of them I could figure it out.

 “Daímones tis nýchtas,” I whisper out. “se kaló!” My voice was getting louder with each word. “esý pou zeiss sti Chóra ton Nekrón'' I beam, “diatázo tin áfixí sou, prínkipa tou skótous!” I yell out as the small flames of the candles grow, turning from small blazes to full fires. The pentagram glows red and I watch as lightning and thunder booms outside my window as if the sky themselves are upset. I hold my breath. Gripping the book tightly as wind blows all around my room, flying objects off their shelves. I shield my eyes with my arm and pray that I didn't just make a huge mistake.

“Hello, Mortal.” a deep, seductive voice says, spitting out the word ‘mortal’ as if it is a horrendous disease. I slowly lower my arm off my face, scared of what I may see. My first thought as I look at this creature of darkness, a child of the devil, this being from a world that isnt my own is ‘oh no, he's hot.”

His skin is dark red, like dried blood stain and so is where the  whites of his eyes are supposed to be, his eyes are yellow with a thin line in them like a cat's, he has long black dreadlocks, dark as the night sky, a tail is curled against his leg, like a snake begging for attention. Two large rem horns extend from his forehead and up, And worse of all, he only has a towel around his waist. “You're…taller than I expected.” I choke out. Much taller, he's towering over me, his head almost hitting the roof of my room. He raises a single eyebrow at me before starting to chuckle softly, “say what you want about Mortals but at least we can agree that they're surprising.” he laughs before sitting down. I clear my throat, “demon.” I say, trying to sound as confident as I can. By judging its expression I can see I failed miserably, “Human.” He replies, looking at me up and down, “care to share why you summon me in the middle of my shower?” He asks.

 I gulped, scared out of my mind but not allowing myself to show it, “I summon you searching for help.” I explain, “such as…?” He prompts, I bit my lip, crap, what now? He stares at me before snoring, “holy grandfather, did you not have a plan before summing me?” He cries in laughter, “how can you summon a demon prince without a plan?!” he mocks, I stop before responding, “a…prince?” I question, “oh stars, you really didn't do your homework.” He smirks, “I am the 5th line to the throne of hell. Right under my sisters.” I can feel the shock on my face, not that I need to, his smile says it all. I am so not prepared for this.

“Prince or not,” I start, my voice a bit shaking, “you are bound to this summoning circle.” He rolls his yellow cat eyes, “for now…” he whispers and I shutter, he chuckles again, “okay human, humor me.” He says, “what exactly are you planning?” What am I planning? I just summoned an actual demon prince! To be honest I didn't even expect anything to happen! Stupid stupid stupid! UGHHHH okay, okay, focus! I need to use this to my advantage… I think. What would Kaitlyn do? She would… well she'll be too glad there's a semi naked hot guy in her room to think, she'll probably hit on him too. That girl is a walking stereotype. I mentally hit my head, FOCUS. After she would hit on him she'll probably take him on a date, why wouldn't she? Dating hot guys in high school will boost your reputation.

…

This is a bad idea.

“I want you to date me.” 

For a long moment the only sound was the soft chuckling of the flames as his eyes looked what felt like the depths of my soul. 

He laughs, a cold hollow sound, not like the small chuckles from before, a chill goes down my spine.“Oh mortals…such odd, idiotic, creatures…” he mutters. “Listen to me, Beast.” I spit out, “when I say ‘date' I don't mean what you think I do.” I defend, “it's only for business.” He raises an eyebrow, “I need to get popular in school and I know you have a human form, and by having an attractive boyfriend-” he smiles at the word ‘attractive’, “I…I can climb up the social ladder and then you can leave.” I say, he licks his lips, I notice that his tongue is not only black but is also forked like a snake's. “It's not like I can do something now can I?” He says, his eyes on the floor. “Okay then, I'll play your silly little game, and when you'll get your popularity and will let me go.” He looks up at me, “deal?” he asks, reaching out this hand beyond the summoning circle.

I hesitate, of course I do. It's a demon from Hell For Heaven's Sake! Literally! Am I really that desperate for popularity that I'll make a deal with the devil? I am that sick of the bullying that I'm willing to do something this stupid? This crazy? I think about the belittlement Kaitlyn and her friends give me everyday, the bruises I get from some jerks that want target practice. I think about how the teachers who told me that there's nothing they can do as I came to them crying, I think about my father, how he never even asked what happened when I came home with a broken arm. I look at the demon again, he smirks, “What? Want to know more about me before we date? Wasn't that your idea?” He teases, I stay silent, only nodding in response. “Well, what do you want to know?” He asks, “when you said you're in line to the throne, that means your parents are royalty…” he snorts, “Good job Sherlock, you solved the mystery!”. I roll my eyes, “if your parents are royalty, who are they? Who is royalty in hell?” I ask. He seems taken aback from my question before smiling, “think about it,” he says, “who in your silly little stories would control what you call ‘hell's?” I tilt my head, thinking.

What do I call ‘hell’? Do demons not call hell, well, hell? I frown, who would control hell? Well in the story Lucifer fell from grace when challenged God, so he went and tried to make his own heaven alongside Lilith, so he made hell, by that logic the ruler of hell would be-

Oh.

I look back at the demon prince in front of me with wild eyes, he snorts again and I try to not hit myself with frustration

“Solved it again! Incredible job, human!” He says, amused. “Any other questions?” He tempts, “your name,” I say, “what's your name?” He looks at me oddly before shaking his head, “you REALLY don't do your homework, do you?” he says, looking into my eyes before saying, “Xander, Xander morningstar.” I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that. “Y…you can call me Alex.” I responded, “yeah sorry Mortal, not calling you that.” I roll my eyes, everything about this guy is nothing like I expected. 

“So,” he starts, “have you learned enough?” I want to say no but something in the tone if his voice tells me that I won't be getting any more answers so I nod. “Now, do we have a deal?” He asks again. Once again, I hesitate, the little I learned did not help me in making my choice. A voice in the back of my mind screaming at me because I pull out my arm for him to shake.

“Deal.”