The Demon's Contract

The soul

"Come here," Xantier commanded.

Michael glided forward and raised a hand. Like I promised, my soul is yours he said as he put his hand on Xantier's chest.

It surprised Benjamin he could hear Michael's words echo through the air. Normally he couldn't hear the words ghosts tried to speak to him. The only ghost he had ever been able to understand was his grandfather when he came by to say his goodbye's after he died. It was strangely reassuring to know he had grown close enough to Michael to be able to hear him.

The eyes of Xantier widened when Michael's soul entered his body. His hands tried to grab him to pull him back, but he was unable to touch the soul. He stumbled back as he clawed at his chest and fell on the ground.

"Michael just entered his body..." Benjamin muttered. Was this what Michael planned to do all along? He hadn't even known such a thing was possible. At the same time he recalled how people could be possessed by spirits, they had read about it, they had even witnessed it. He came to the conclusion Michael had deducted it was possible to possess a demon too, especially since a demon had no soul of their own. He wasn't sure how Michael had done it, but he was in there and Xantier knew it.

"Intriguing," Borastius said. "Xantier, you have a soul now. A demon with a soul." He smirked as he stepped closer. "You can feel regret now, remorse, guilt. How many people did you kill and slaughter? How many did you torture and abuse for your own pleasure? How many screams filled these castle walls?"

Xantier grabbed his head with both hands and looked at the ground with big eyes. "I... I can't...Their voices haunt me. Their screams of agony and pain. The faces of those I killed. Make it stop, Borastius!"

"That is beyond my ability," Borastius stated. "You wanted his soul, you have it now. And everything that comes with it."

"He had to join the others! I didn't want this!"

"You did not specify that."

"I should..."

"Kill his family?"

"My family? I mean his family. I can't. I couldn't. I need to get rid of this soul!"

Borastius leaned forward. "The only way a soul can leave a body is when the body dies. Do not forget the body is a simple vessel where the soul binds itself to. Get rid of the vessel and you will lose the soul that gives you all this trouble." He saw how Xantier looked at him, the delightful mixture of fear and grief and guilt. "Can you live with this, Xantier? Can you live with what you did now you have a soul? There is a way to penance for all the lives you destroyed, you know. Give your own in exchange, you will find peace again."

"I don't know..."

"Do you deserve to live after all you did?"

"No!" Xantier exclaimed as he burried his face behind his hands and started sobbing, "I don't deserve to live! I can't live with what I did! I need to end this!"

"Then end this, rip your heart out. The heart is the place of emotion after all. Get rid of it."

Without a second thought Xantier trust his hand in his chest, his fingers curled around his beating heart and he ripped it out. "Well...played...Michael," he muttered as he fell back, his purple blood spreading over the floor as it flowed out of the hole in his chest.

Benjamin stared at the dying demon and then he looked at Borastius. "Why did you want to let him kill himself so desperately?"

Borastius looked at Benjamin from over his glasses, before he looked back at the bodies on the ground. "You expressed your desire to free the spirits he had collected. In order to save Michael from living eternally in a demon and to set them free, Xantier had to have a desire to die. Neither you nor me could have killed him, the bound spirits would keep their master alive, but as he desired to die, his collected souls allowed him. It was his wish after all." Borastius looked at Benjamin again. "Start your guiding ritual, they are lost without Xantier and do not know where to go or what to do."

Benjamin nodded, but he didn't look at him. He watched how Michael emerged from Xantiers body. "Michael," he sighed in relief.

Michael looked at him with horror in his eyes. I saw what he did... it was awful, all those people...

"You don't have to let that burden your soul, you are free to move on now. Take the wandering spirits with you, they lost what bound them here and are confused." He looked around. "They're in this room, all drifting in every direction."

Michael looked around as well. I see them. And I see the light where we have to go. He smiled at Benjamin. Tell my family I love them. And thank you, for everything.

"Take care, my friend. You are a hero and I will miss you. Putting ghosts to rest won't be the same without you."

Please continue helping them, I don't know anyone more suited than you. He rose his hand in a greeting, a gesture Benjamin returned, and he floated upwards. He touched all the spirits in the room and when he rose through the ceiling they followed him. Benjamin watched them go with a smile.

"Are they gone?" Borastius asked.

"They are," Benjamin said as he looked at the demon. "Couldn't you see them leave?"

"I do not possess the ability to see the invisible, unlike you or Xantier. I would appreciate you fill me in."

"I will," Benjamin said as he smiled. "If you wouldn't mind to help me find the hellhounds I was with when I was here the first time. I would like to say hi to them before going back to my realm."

The demon agreed to that with a simple nod of his head. Together they left the castle as Benjamin explained what had taken place inside and Borastius took him to the place where he knew the pack stayed. They remembered him from before and greeted him as if only days had passed instead of years. After spending a little time with them, Benjamin and Borastius returned to the castle so Benjamin could take Michael's body with him. He wanted his friend to have a decent funeral. It was awful to see a friend die, but to see him move on to a better place, that gave peace of heart.