"You've a new assignment." Observed a lesser demon by his side, peering at the glowing marks on his skin. They sat in the royal chambers of their master- off in the Palace of Glass. They were surrounded by their other companions, other demons of possession that worked for their master, who all sat at their designated places about the room. For a room belonging to the palace of glass this one seemed out of place: drapery covered the walls and slid off the ceiling in a tent-like fashion. Throw pillows acted as seats and the majority of the floor seemed cushioned. The room resembled more of a Worldly arabian bazar tent. The demon that had spoken first was the closest and therefore the first to see his marks glow- a sign that a human wished to sell their soul and a contract had to be formed. Xezerom stood out of excitement and he peered down at his marks, just as the others noticed them too. "Finally!" he exclaimed, all five of his eyes opening wide for a moment, before the usual three shut again, "I've yet to see earth after the last war." He noted to no one in particular. The others, his siblings for all demons of the same class were usually related, glared up at him. Souls were sold to hell every day and in a steady amount- but rarely was the task ever given to a newly appointed demon. At the center of the room their master sat and was the last to look upon his demon. He looked amused that one of his youngest was chosen and so soon, but with a wave of his hand he raised the portal nonetheless. "Report in as soon as the contract is made." Was his only command and Xezerom descended into the portal of light.

It was crazy, insane really. It wouldn't work in a million years. However, curiosity had overcome Aspen Bell. The young art student had always been a little bit crazy. Messing around in her youth with drugs, and men, and women. In those years she had always been fascinated with the dark arts. She had been the one to light candles, chant in strange languages and call upon spirits making her friends giggle and ask her to "stop being so freaky". She probably should have taken their advice. However she wasn't doing as well as she had hoped in life. She was being refused job after job, despite the fact that her art was absolutely stunning, some of the best work this city had to offer. She knew she deserved more, and the latest lesson in her Mythology class had given her the craziest, most unbelievable idea. Her hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail, pieces fell into her face as she read the latin words by the light of the candles she had set around herself. She in no way believed that she would actually conjure any kind of wish fulfilling creature like the book described, however she was bored and a little more then desperate. The words came harsh and grating at first from her unpracticed lips, the darkened room around her seemed to grow more dark and more expanse as she chanted. The language became more fluent on her tongue, her voice changed, not that she noticed. Aspen was lost in the words as the room became a black void of nothingness. Her circle of dim candles was the only light in a dead world, a beacon that summoned to it all types of crawling creatures that withered inside the darkness, snickering and mocking her. However she was so engrossed in the chant coming from her lips that she took no notice to the little whispers and warnings about her. She was unaware of anything at all. That is until a gust of ominous air extinguished the candles and she started to fall into the unholy darkness.

It was like being born again, in a sense. The constant background noise of the screaming, suffering souls died away completely and the smell of sulfur was soon to follow. Instead this new world smelled like (idek what candle Aspen likes, so I'm going to say lavender?) flowers. The heat of hells embers gave way to what he could only describe as frigid cold- which of course was only room temperature for earth. All these new things assaulted his senses- he was grateful for the darkness. As he materialized from the shadows he stood at the center of her extinguished summoning circle. With all five eyes he took in her room- although he did not understand what it was at first- and then gazed down on her. Xezerom tilted his head and crouched before her to get at an eye level. He flared his nostrils as he sensed her heart rate, which was was rapid and unsteady. A forked tail swished behind him. Demons knew very little about humans. They were seen as toys for entertainment for most or tools to be used to carry out Satan's Task. From his basic knowledge he understood that humans loved to sin- or, at least, were stupid enough to unknowingly fall in to sin. He was also aware that, like demons, they had genders. Although he was unsure exactly if this creature before him was female or male- or perhaps both genders, like some demons back home. The room was horrifyingly quiet. He noticed that he was breathing heavily. The demon closed his other eyes and slit the remaining two at the girl, "I've come to retrieve the offered soul." A voice like knives cut the air between them. His tail swished again, scattering the candles near it. A puff of smoke burst next to him and a parchment floated there. He held up a clawed hand to her, offering to take her hand, "I must sign with your blood." The satisfaction that came from hearing his own voice slither about this quiet room tickled him. By now the shadows that had transported him to this plane were receding, thanks to his having broken the circle, and now his body was solidifying. He towered over her- a giant of about six almost seven feet, with dark red skin and black hands and feet. The ink of his eyes reflected her face in them and were unnervingly invasive. He had some loose pants on but otherwise he was naked. The markings about his shoulders (which i forgot to draw whoops) were only now dimming, for he had successfully reached the target. Horns sat atop his head and jutted out from his forehead, newly sharpened and polished. As far as demons come he was pretty plain looking. When he spoke his curved teeth, sharpened and engraved with designs, could be seen fencing a forked purple tongue.

Horror filled the young woman as a shape materialized in the darkness. It wasn't a man, or it wasn't like any man Aspen had ever seen before. Whatever it was towered above her, looming and ominous with a body so massive that it took up most of the space around them. It's face was a disgusting, unnatural mask. Five eyes blinked open to look at her, horns jutted out from it's head. A sense of unease in the pit of her stomach turned into outright fear, she tried to step back but found herself rooted in place, the smell of lavender wafting around her. The being crouched down, three of it's five eyes shut and if she hadn't of already seen them open she wouldn't have even noticed they were there. She tried to open her mouth, to speak, to do anything but stand there like an idiot in fear. "I've come to collect the offered soul." It had a booming voice that filled the silence like acid. She flinched away from it confusion swimming in her blue eyes, finally managing a small squeak. "S-soul?" Her voice was barely audible in the deathly silence. "I don't know what you-" And in that moment Aspen's stomach dropped. This couldn't be real, that book, those words... they couldn't have actually worked. She shuddered a bit and looked up at the hellish creature. "I-I'm dreaming she murmured. However his booming voice which cut through the air once again convinced her otherwise. He had held out his hand, which in her delirium she hadn't noticed until then, and as if by some kind of unknown will she reached up to take it. His fingers were odd, the texture of his hands different, almost scaly but not quite. Her body noticed all these things as her senses heightened in fear. "I must sign with your blood." Aspen wasn't sure what to do. The rational part of her was convinced she was dreaming, or perhaps tripping, but never in her life had she dreamt a dream or had a hallucination quite so real. Maybe she was dead. "You have to sign with my blood?" And with those words from her full, rouge lips something clicked for her. If she had really conjured this creature, then what the rest of this book had said must be right. This creature would "grant her her hearts desire, for a small price". And whatever that small price was, it would most definitely be worth getting noticed. She had lived too hard a life for her talent to go unappreciated. "I-if I sign this... I will get my one true desire?" It sounded stupid, yet oh so enticing. Like the forbidden fruit in the story of Adam and Eve. "You can do that for me?"

The creatures voice was small and carried a clear tone of distress. Fear wafted off of her and danced about before his nose. Her next questions affirmed his idea that humans were in fact stupid. Did they not take the incantations seriously? Perhaps they wished to play with demons like how demons played with them... Although, of course, that was only impossible and annoying. He knew of a few stories concerning summons- humans often sought power or some other worldly desire. But there had been cases where humans wanted only the demon- as some slave or whatever- which was a laughable idea. Middle men like himself were very much limited in their abilities for that reason- so that if the human were to find a way to keep the demon trapped {because it has happened before} then they would not be much of a worry for the underworld. Wishes was such a strange term for this transaction. He saw the trade for soul and desire as something far from fairytale. Xezerom looked down at her hand, it was so small in his, and he was suddenly struck with the naiveté of this human. Such a child, he thought bitterly, mind filled with nothing but dreams. He was curious as to what exactly this delusioned (not even a word omg) and ill-informed creation "wished" for. Dark lips curled back over his chain-saw teeth, a cordial smile spread across his ugly face, "Yes- wishes are my business. I grant them. They come true." He informed, haltingly. He extended a claw over her wrist, it glinted despite the darkness. By drawing the blood from her vein into his claw then he could sign the contract for her- which would grant her wish and take her soul either now or once the desire was quenched. His movements were measured and formal- for this was his first ever transaction- and he was sure that his master was somehow watching. One slip up would drag him back in to hell and demote him to some slave status. Avoiding such a fate was his major priority. So he paced and measured himself against what he truly wished to say and do. Relying now on his studies. (Imagine... A school for demons. Idk xD Like Demons reading out of a textbook how to possess humans and make contracts with them idk i'm making it canon)

Aspen's curious eyes burned up at him. She was frightened, terribly frighten to the pits of her stomach and further. Her mind tried to rationalize what was happening, however she couldn't come up with any kind of normal, safe explanation. Instead, she stood quaking as the creature studied her petite hands. Her feet were still rooted to the ground, she wasn't sure if it was just her own paralyzing fear or if it was some other kind of force that kept her so still and so silent. All she wanted to do was scream for help, hoping that her neighbour was home, or some passerby on the streets would hear and worry, however her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. She was limited to standing there, completely engrossed in the horrific being in front of her. His words came out halted and unamused as a single, sharp claw brushed over the thin skin of her wrist. The glinting nail was so sharp she didn't feel it pierce her skin for a few seconds, however then a shooting pain through her arm caused her to hiss and attempt to draw back. His steel grip kept her in place. Aspen wanted nothing more in that moment then to run away, as far and as fast as her agile legs could take her. She watched the monster's face, for she had now decided that this was indeed real and what she was dealing with was indeed a monster of some sorts, calculated what she thought would happen next. "Why did you do that?" Her voice was quiet, she had barely realized that she'd been speaking until the sound echoed through the silent space. "I don't understand... I-I'm scared." She sounded pathetic, it made her wince and scowl and mentally chide herself for being timid and nervous, just like she always was. She hands were shaking, and if it hadn't of been for whatever was keeping her in place she was sure her legs would have been too. "I just want to know what is going on, please tell me." She waited patiently, quietly, her wrist throbbing. She could feel the pulse thudding there, her heart race was fast. Like a war drum, beating faster and faster, louder and louder. "Please."

A sharp snort burst from his nostrils, out of annoyance by her ignorance. Had this creature recited ancient mantra blindly? He was sure now that it had done so for the sake of mocking him. It began to beg and he bore his teeth to her, sheathing his claw as he informed, "You've made an offer to the devil himself... Your greatest desire for your soul. I've come to solidify this contract and collect." A gesture with his free hand to the floating parchment brought it between them. Beside the welling blood that poured from her wrist it floated. Some archaic language stated the stipulations, terms and such in black lettering. With the bloodied claw he hovered over the signature line, "State your desire and I'll sign for you. Blood seals the deal." He really hoped that this human had no further questions- to him this whole process of explaining was much too tedious and, honestly, boring. He wanted to get to the exciting part of it- physically tearing a soul from a living thing.

Aspen's eyes widened, her lips quivered and she fought the words that she some desperate, harmful part of herself desired so much to say. Her entire body was shaking, or else that's how she felt. The world was on an axil, spinning dangerously around her as she tried to process what was going on. Despite this, her voice came out stronger then before. The words shocked her, but for some reason she couldn't stop the words from pouring out. She had nothing to lose anyways, only her art and her talent. And then when her time was up... well everyone died. "I desire to be acclaimed. I want people to know me, to know my art. Can you do that?" Even after she was finished, in the lingering, buzzing silence that followed, she didn't know why she had said it. "But first... I want time. You must at least give me a few years. Let me relish in my glory." What had come over her? Mentally she was screaming, however her exterior seemed so calm and collected. She was like the ultimate oxymoron. Berserkly calm. Her eyes glistened and the room seemed to dim a shade darker. She stood, patiently, meeting eyes with the beast.

"How amusing- a few years is time enough?" He wondered why exactly that was such a concern to her, "Well- It isn't my place to grant any stable amount of time for you. See, how this works," and he sat down before her, getting comfortable for the following explanation, "Contracts are sent down to Hell for His Putridness to personally approve of. He usually sets an estimated time to how long he'll allow the contract to last- but he has full power over making any changes. Demons, like myself, are sent as middlemen- see my job is to make sure everything goes along smoothly on this plane and report regularly down to hell." He peered down at her with his black eyes, seemingly more invasive than ever. "If you understand this then sign now. And your wish will take affect in mere hours- perhaps even less." He flexed his fingers quickly and the parchment fluttered before her, as if to call her attention. His claw was still wet with her blood- all he needed now was her permission.

Aspen laughed, the sound wasn't a real laugh. It was breathy and quite and more of a sigh then a laugh. It felt more absurd then ever. But still something inside her was compelled to nod gently. Her hair, of which pieces had fallen out of the elastic that she had used to carelessly pull it back, brushed softly against her face. The feeling reminded her of being drunk, aware but somehow altered. Things that her conscious mind would have deemed immoral seemed like a good idea, perhaps even a great one. So, Aspen nodded. She understood what he was saying, or at least she thought she did. "Yes, I will sign." Her voice was somehow clear and vibrant. She watched with bemusedly as he trailed his bloody claws across the ancient paper. He moved so delicately for such a beast. He was precise with his work, scrawling her name, letting the bloody ink soak into the sheet, forever imprinting itself inside it. There was something so solidifying, so terrifying and Aspen was both scared and excited. Her entire body shook unnoticeable as her eyes watched intently the work being done before her. Without much of a thought she looked up at it's eery, ominous eyes. Her stomach clenched, fear returning to make her eyes bulge and her skin pale. She could feel whatever it was, be it her own stubborn selfishness or something more, slowly drain away from her body until she was left with only antagonizing fear. However, it wasn't so much that she couldn't speak. She opened her mouth, lips quivering and hands shaking. "W-what happens now?"

Her fear was mouthwatering. He averted his eyes when she asked for some guidance as to what happened next. The contract disappeared in a puff of green smoke as he searched the darkness of the room for an answer. This was his first assignment- he'd received little guidance as to what happened after the signing. Xezerom had heard somewhere that skilled demons took the clients soul from them right after the signing- reaching into the body and snatching the little glowing locket. But, to be honest, he was unaware of his ability to do so. In his case, he assumed, that he would just have to wait for when he could contact his boss and pose the question. The humans quaking and ragged breathing drew him out of his thoughts. He shamelessly gave her a once over, "Well. For starters I need a body of my own." He stepped past her- the lights close to him in proximity flickered weakly as he passed them. The window caught his attention here and the lights of the town outside. In one languid stride he was at it and he pressed his face to the cold glass. The glass fogged up quickly as he placed a hand on it, "And then I need to contact my boss- hey" and he pointed outside as he turned back to her, "You don't, perchance, have a glass of reflection- do you?" He meant a mirror but of course he had no idea that they were called as such on the surface. He quickly waved his hand, "No no- I'm getting much too ahead of myself. A body- the-" and he seemed to struggle over the next words, he flicked his tongue several times as if they left a bad taste in his mouth, "angels- they'll find me and most likely eat me or something." He glanced up at her, as if to say 'it's true they would' even though he'd just said a blatant lie. Angels never ate demons- their skin was much too thick and their meat too stringy. Xezerom would have explained in detail what sort of body would be best for him- but just then a knock came at the front door. His black eyes flicked to her bedroom door and he tensed, his nostrils flared, "Another human is out there." He narrowed his eyes, "it smells nervous and eager.. Don't invite it in." ---- He leaned against the door frame outside of her apartment, one leg crossed behind the other and his free hand on his hip. With the other he knocked once more, the beads on the woven bracelets on this arm clacking to the beat. His shoulders were speckled with snow, as was the top of his head- telltale signs that storm outside had not ceased since that morning. The hair rimming his beanie were wet with condensation that occasionally speckled his face. Just coming from outside his nose and lips and even his exposed earlobes were red, stinging now in the heat of the hallway. In contrast his cheeks were pale as all hell. Ty Dang had just gotten off work and, instead of heading straight to his apartment next door, he had made his way to Aspens apartment. He was aware of the hour and felt silly for just randomly stopping by- but something had drawn him here. It was as if something had told him while he was getting off work that she needed him. Oh geez not in that way- but just to be there for her. He didn't understand this feeling either. In fact he had no excuse and was desperately trying to come up with one. The boy puffed out his cheeks as he pushed away from the door and fidgeted with his jacket, he looked down at his combat boots, covered in snow that was now melting on the doormat below his feet. Christ, what would he say?

Angels? Boss? Glass of Reflection? He spoke and Aspen back away. She didn't understand what was going on anymore, it was like she was on some kind of horrible trip. She even believed that any moment the floor would turn into molten lava and she would be swallowed whole by it. Slowly she continued to back away, until her calves hit against the old, worn couch on the other side of the room and she tumbled onto it, a small “ouf” escaping her parted lips. She couldn't find the energy to stand back up and instead sat there with a nervous look on her dainty face. "I-I don't understand... you need a body?" She wanted this to all end, she had made a terrible mistake. "But you already have one." It was stupid, she realized, however she couldn't quite wrap her head around what was happening. She didn't want to be there anymore, on that couch sitting with a vision that was blurry with tears and hands that shook uncontrollably. Then he brought up angels and for some reason she laughed allowed. It wasn't an amused laugh, it was a sarcastic laugh of disbelief. Border line hysterical. "Angels? You've got to be kidding me right? This can't be real? Am I dreaming? Tripping?" The fear in her voice rose and she gripped the edges of her couch in tight fists that turned her knuckles a stark white. "What the fuck did I take?" Aspen wracked her memory, trying to piece together the events. Maybe she could find some kind of snippet of real life that would explain all of this insanity around her. "You can't be real." She looked up when he glanced over at her. His eyes were dark, empty pits. His entire body seemed to waver, however it was only her own blurry vision that caused him to do so. He was asking for a mirror, talking about angels and that mysterious boss of his. She didn't know what to say, how to respond. The two were plunged into a heavy silence that was disrupted by the loud, earthshaking sound of someone knocking on her door. She was able to coherently think 'I wasn't expecting guests' before this thing, this monster in front of her told her gruffly to not let whoever it was in. It was then that she burst into tears, her entire body shook and she couldn't speak to say that she had to, or else whoever it was would worry. She could only form one, almost inaudible sentence. "What have I done?"

He watched as she fell in to hysterics and began to cry. Xezerom was familiar with distress and fear in humans- he was so detached from them that it never bothered him in the past- because he could simply send them off to their torment and have them out of sight. But this human- this one he had to deal with one on one. The demon instinctively acted with aggression- he became angry at her weakness. Impatiently he hissed at her, "A body as in a human body-" but he stopped himself, knowing that explanations were useless. He sensed that she was in a state of delirium and, therefore, would be of no use to him at this point. With a flick he opened the window and slunk out without looking back. He dropped to the ground below- a gravel covered place amongst some bushes. ______ The snow was gross. It clung to him desperately as he sat amongst the bushes. He scanned the streets- currently empty no doubt thanks to this... pure, cold substance. As it touched his skin, however, it hissed and steamed back off of him. "Now where can I find a body..." He wondered aloud. With care he slunk out from behind the shrubbery and, mindful to keep to the shadows, began to make his way toward the town. The lights and warmth of the houses he passed were an abhorrence to him. He noted that these homes were filled with other humans- although none of them appealed to him- nor did they seem to fill the requirements he was looking for. "This could take ages." But no sooner had he said this, as he scaled the side of one of the houses he was trying to get around, did he hear a growl. The demons eyes flicked down to another smaller house in the backyard of this one. From the darkness of this wooden house emerged a hound. It snarled at him and the demon simply grinned. He dropped down to the snowy ground and stood his ground for a second. The dog, a doberman, growled a warning. "Pup. Seems like luck is on my side." Although he would have preferred a human body- animals were much easier to possess and, no doubt, made it easier to move about undetected. Plus, he was desperate, he had been wondering much too long out in the open. At once he was up in the dogs face- it whined out of surprise due to the demons speed and, no doubt, disgusting appearance. Xezerom gripped the dogs throat to stop its crying- which achieved nothing but the dobermans thrashing. It was making too much noise and the demon, out of desperation, turned into smoke. The purple mist wafted about the dogs legs- it blinked, confused, and snuffled about for the demon. In its search some of the smoke shot up his nose. The dog started in alarm, snorting, trying to get the horrid smell out of his nose- but before long the rest of the smoke, upon its own accord, shot up into the dogs eyes, mouth and nose. It screeched once before its eyes rolled to the back of its head- now replaced by black ones. Xezerom licked his snout as he trotted out on to the snow, looking about the yard for a moment to regain his bearings. This new perspective would take a few moments to get used to- he rarely ever possessed dogs. He blinked and the dogs brown eyes returned, now only slightly darker but other than that unnoticeable. There was a door by the yard and no other exits. He skirted over toward this door and snuffled at it- pushed on it- and found that it was locked. An annoyed huff escaped his snout as he sat and stared at the door for a moment. He had no powers of telekinesis so he'd have to physically unlock it. The dog glanced about for a moment before pressing its nose to the door. A thin trickle of smoke escaped its nose and shot through the lock- solidifying into a red finger for a moment. The door creaked open and the finger evaporated into smoke again before returning to the dog. Xezerom's tail wagged, impressed with himself. Minutes later he was running down the street toward the darker part of town. He needed to find a dark place filled with as much sin as possible- the ideal body would be found there. ____ Ty was nervous- who takes that long to open a door? Was he right in thinking that something horrible had happened to her? He knocked on her door once more, this time he called out to her, "A-Aspen? Hey uh- its me. Ty. Sorry if this is kinda late but uh- could you open up?" Quickly he took his phone out of his hoodie pocket- he'd call her. Maybe she was sleeping. He quickly dialed her number and leaned against the way across the hall, staring at her door as he listened to the dial tone.

Aspen woke up to the sound of some stupid, generic ringtone filling her small apartment. She slowly pulled herself upwards, her head felt heavy and her cheeks were sticky with tears. Vaguely she remembered having some kind of nightmare about Angels, Demons and Mirrors. Taking a slow, calming breathe she tried to shake away the unpleasant dream an reached towards her phone that had been placed on the coffee table and continued to buzz incessantly. "Hello?" Her voice was groggy, and she hadn't even bothered to look at who was calling her. "As! Shit I've been knocking on your door or ten minutes, where are you?" She immediately recognized the voice of Ty Dang. Her neighbor who she had become fast friends with in the past couple of years. "Shit, sorry Ty. Just a sec." She hung up the phone and stood up from the couch. Her body felt stiff and tired, she could vaguely remember coming home and falling asleep. It was weird, like she was missing something but when she thought too hard about it her head ached. She chalked it up to just a bad dream and with a shrug rushed to open the door for Ty. "I'm sorry, I was sleeping. Did we have plans?" She watched him slowly shake his head no. "I just thought I'd drop by." He seemed distant, kinda shaken. But that wasn't too weird for Ty. He always seemed a little shy, but he was nice. "Well hey come in," she opened the door to give him room to enter the house. It was dim inside, and she must have accidentally left the window open because it was freezing. She hurried to close it, inviting him farther inside. "Hey, do you wanna go out tonight? I mean it's eleven on a Friday night. We could go get a few drinks." She really didn't want to stay in this apartment. It felt weird and cold, and something about it felt unsafe. "Yeah, I suppose. B-but you're okay right?" Aspen nodded and hurried to her room. "I'm all good." She raised her voice as she hurriedly threw on some new clothes. A skirt and shirt that weren't fancy but also weren't as casual as her jeans and sweater has been. "Just don't want to be cooped up." It wasn't exactly a lie. "C'mon lets go." Quickly enough the two were in Ty's car and then inside the hot, sweaty bar and sipping on drinks.

Quinn sucked down on his cigarette sharply as he stepped out into the snow. The bar was much too loud for the call he had to make. As he rounded the corner into the alley he thought of the smoke burning the roof of his mouth. It was a stinging sensation that he loved- because it felt like he could breathe flames at will. Of course this was only the sensation of the tar boring holes in to his skin, signs of a decaying mouth that heavily abused cigarettes dozens of times a day. In his free hand he quickly dialed his bosses number, unsure of what he would have to say to him, since he'd received a text only moments ago. He worked for a magazine and was under commission of one of its local branches. Although he was not one of its main photographers he was still expected to do his small part- provide photos of some up and coming artists. As he leaned against the dry brick wall of the bar in the alley he pressed his phone to his ear, waiting for his boss to pick up. His dark eyes hastily looked for something to divert his attention. At once they locked on to the trail of smoke clawing its way up in to the sky. He followed it up to the stars. "Gervase. This couldn't wait until tomorrow-" came the gruff voice of his boss. The photographer drew his smoke away from his lips to speak, as he did so he could hear the rustle of bedsheets on the other end. His boss was the type to wake up in the middle of the night and just call his agents. "I can see that- something wrong with Phil? Does he need a replacement?" Phil was his colleague and the top photographer on the team, he was covering some celebrity that had recently moved to the city. Quinn hated the guy- not because he was loved by everyone and was vehemently successful, but because he was just so goddamn full of himself. "Its always the same with you, kid. Let go of the Phil thing- Be glad that I accepted you on the team in the first place. You know he's more qualified for the job-" "Alright alright. Why the call?" He spat, hastily trying to change the topic. He dropped the cigarette in the snow. "Theres this new artist- a real big shot. Social media loves her. Have you ever heard of Aspen Bell?" He was confused. He was sure he had never heard if the name (because I assume he didn't care for names when they had their fling) but something at the back of his mind assured him that he had. "Uhh yeah of course- you want me to cover her story instead?" "Exactly. I'll send you a text on what she looks like and you can start- shes local and quite the craze. You should feel honored I'm giving you this break, kid." Croaked the boss before hanging up. Quinn rubbed a temple, puzzled as to why his head hurt so much earlier. He almost never had headaches but he was sure they didn't feel like that. He stood from the wall and was just about to turn away from the alley and head inside, but then he saw something. Next to the dumpster stood at about his hip level two eyes, glittering thanks to the streetlights behind him. He could make out the outline of what looked like a crouched person. Thoroughly freaked out he jumped back, "What the fuck?" He breathed, the air from his lungs curling before him. The word 'homeless' popped up in his mind as he squinted at the thing and he was sure that he was looking at a hobo now. Angry with himself for looking like such a pussy he bore his teeth in a frown, "Christ I thought you were something else." The glittering eyes stepped out from the shadow of the dumpster and revealed the face of a doberman. The photographer was relieved even further and even stopped frowning. He wasn't exactly a people person but he loved dogs. He squatted down and was just about to reach for his camera when the dog spoke. "And what if I am... Something else." Quinn stared at the dog, dumbfounded. He kept on staring even as the dogs eyes rolled to the back of his head and blood poured out of its mouth, pooling about his feet. Someone must have slipped something in his drink, was his initial thought. The blood began to move and solidify, it began to shape itself into something. He stood and scrambled in the snow to run, but he faceplanted. The wind was knocked from his lungs and before he could regain his composure an immense weight settled in on his back. He was pressed against the compact snow and ice, it burned against his exposed skin. Another burning sensation bore through his jacket and into his back- he could feel the leather and smell it melting. Quinn struggled to scream but he could barely breathe. His mind was flooded with alarms and his vision was beginning to blur around the edges. He was sure he would die- confused and alone in an alley on a snowy night. "Enough with your struggling." Grumbled whatever it was that was on his back. It grabbed him by the hair and drew his face back. Quinn looked into the gnarled and ugly face of his attacker. At first he thought it was someone who wore a really convincing mask. But, as it spoke next, he saw that the mouth moved in a way that a mask never could. "Let's make a bargain." ---- Minutes later Xezerom strode in to the bar in his new body. This environment would be the best place to get a feel for the controls. Like most demons back home he enjoyed watching humans in their natural environments, from the looking glasses in hell. He recalled that most humans in places like these would approach desks that held bottles of intoxicant, exchange currency, and then consume for hours on end. It seemed incredibly pointless. Incredibly enjoyable. Xezerom shouldered past some people at the bar and slammed some cash that he found in his pocket down on the counter. The bartender raised an eyebrow at him, "Quinn, you should really take it easy man." He said as he poured him some clear liquid and slid it over to him. So that's this humans name, thought the demon as he sipped his drink. The alcohol stung his lips. He looked down at his glass, "Mmm." (Sorry this was so unnecessarily long)