Deals With The Devil: Our Purpose

Tragic Skater Boy

'Hope y'wake up soon, mister. My brother'll be 'ere soon an' 'e' don't like me messin' with 'is vic'ims.' I suddenly shot up, a loud beeping emanating from beside my head as my heart rate began to skyrocket. 'Shush! Shush, mister! Y'gonna wake up the nurses!' My eyes quickly bolted around the room, taking in the pale moonlight seeping in through the window and illuminating something strange. I was in a hospital room, a different one than where I passed out. The walls were a light grey and the floor was an ugly baby blue colour that didn't fit the room at all. Beside me was a heart monitor that had quietened down since I had properly observed my surroundings. I was sitting on a hospital bed, wearing my usual clothes. Besides the heart monitor was a young, strangely feminine man, about 20 with shaggy brown hair. His eyes looked frozen, as though he wasn't able to move them. There were heavy bags under his eyes which fit the thin veins that were blatantly visible under his skin.
'W-Where am I?' I gulped.
'Back home...you've been 'ere f'er a few days.' The person answered. 'M'name is Devin but y'better not mention me t'the next guy that comes to see yah. I just wan'ed to let you know that...' The boy trailed off, staring up at the ceiling for a second before smiling gently, 'She's in a better place...both your soul and hers...They're both together...I'm sorry you're stuck down here...'
'Y-You...h-how d-did you...' I tried to ask him how he knew that, but as the clouds passed over the moon, I realised what he was. His skin was transparent, almost like fog. His eyes weren't frozen, they were dead. His hair was shaggy due to its inability to be cared for. He was dead. '...you're a ghost?'
'It ain't important 'ight now.' Devin suddenly tensed, his eyes widening before he looked over at me. ''E's 'ere. I'ave to go. Bye.'
Suddenly, he vanished.
'He's just a pest, ignore him.' Another voice invaded my ears. I blinked and another man was sitting in the exact same spot the ghost once was. 'I brought him back to life so that he'd live in eternal pain but I didn't expect him to be such an eternal pain in my arse. He follows me everywhere.' The man sighed, crossing his arms over his chest before looking directly into my eyes, almost as though he was studying me. 'I apologise, I should introduce myself. My name is Chris, however, the souls living in the spiritual plain call me The Grim Reaper. Take your pick, my soulless boy.' He was a strange character; straight green hair that looked more like spider webs than anything else. His skin was like that of the undead, veins and bone pressing desperately out of his tattooed skin like they were trying to escape. His gaze pierced through me, making his expression seem like he was searching my insides for a sign of what was going on inside my mind. 'Seems you're not one for talking. I'll get right into it, then. I have been searching for people like you, people who have been robbed, defiled, murdered, tortured, things like that. Now, I didn't care so much for your soul, it was quite average. I could easily ignore everything your soul said. However, I became curious once your spirit stopped speaking. I could sense that you were still alive but your soul was silent. Seems you were scammed, my boy. Demon stole your soul and gave it to a dead girl. I can lend you a part of mine but only if you do something for me.' Chris leaned forward, resting his elbows against the side of my hospital bed and raising his gloved hand to push his hair behind his ear. 'I wish for your trust. I want you to serve me as a sort of partner. In return, as I said, I will keep you feeling somewhat whole like I am right now.'
'P-Pard-' Suddenly, I felt empty. My eyes widened as something began to consume my entire being, a feeling of absolute dread and yet nothing. When I looked down, nothing was touching me and yet I felt full of sickness. Whatever the feeling was, it was worse than death. It was like a migraine but I couldn't feel anything besides it. My heart monitor began to skyrocket, my body was paralysed, I was trying my absolute hardest to scream but nothing came out.
'Will you accept my deal?'
'A-A-A...' It was all I could manage until everything suddenly went back to normal, my heart rate slowing and my whole body slowly easing back into how it normally felt. I never felt so grateful for being alive.
'I don't mean to push you into a corner like this, however, it's what I have to do. It's either you help me or you live forever suffering.'
'F-Forever?' I stuttered.
'Yes. That demon was a trick demon, it imprinted your body with a curse that halts the ageing process. Quite a nasty spell, I must say.' He reached forward, running his gloved hand over my neck and causing me to shiver. '...it's a shame that thing had to taint such a beautiful body, too...' I blushed heavily before raising my knees to my chest and biting my lip out of habit.
'...you have nothing to lose, Rye.' Chris lightened his voice slightly, sounding exactly like El.
'...will I ever be able to see her again?' I asked.
'I'm afraid not...this sort of thing doesn't happen too often, but...I spoke to her. I asked her if she'd like to be resurrected but she said no...she said that she died exactly how she wanted to...in your arms.'
'...what about my family? My school?'
'You'll have to leave them...but I can assure you, a family is replaceable. Just wait until you meet the other freaks I've found...'
I had nothing to lose.
'...okay. I'll do it...'
'There is one more thing...'
'Of course, there is.' I sighed, lowering my knees and crossing my legs. 'What do I have to do? Sacrifice a baby or something?'
'Do I really come off like somebody that would make satanic deals like that?' Chris asked.
'Yeah, kind of.'
'Well, no, it's nothing like that...I just need to...' He trailed off, eyes wandering across my face and torso.
'...oh...'
'Trust me, if I could complete deals like this any other way, I could. You'd be surprised how many deals I've had to make that end up in my having sex with old people.' He showed a small, genuine smile as I let out a little giggle, comforted by the fact that he did have a sense of humour.
'...It's just that I've never...been with anybody in "that" way...' I admitted.
'You've been missing out. How about afterwards I will take you somewhere nice to calm your nerves. Wherever you want to go, I'll take you.' There was one thing that seemed speaking about now but it was weird for two people after sex. I loved going out to a small skatepark a few minutes away from my parents' mansion and I loved sneaking out with my skateboard. It was a weird kind of calm that skating there left me but it what I needed.
'Could we...no, that's stupid...' I signed, leaning back and planting my palm on my forehead.
'Skateboarding in the middle of the night? Really? I wouldn't take you as a skateboarding kind of person.' I gulped when he had read my mind. If it was anybody else, I'd be surprised but Chris was able to sneak into a hospital, appear out of nowhere, recall events that he physically wasn't there for and give me a part of his soul to keep out the horrid feeling of being completely empty, it wasn't too surprising that he could read minds.
'Yeah...I don't know, I like being out in the middle of the night and I love skateboards. I'm not too good but I'm still trying.' I admitted.
'I've never tried skateboarding before. Maybe you could teach me.'
'Y-Yeah, sure...but...f-first things first, right?'
'Yeah, first things first.'