After Midnight
Location: The Crossroads
Interacting With: Darren Andrews & Crossroads Demon
Glancing over to the two who had begun to search, Darren let out a heavy sigh as he made his way outside.
"I'll be right back." He assured them as he moved out. For all of the excitement that had gone on all day in Altsoba, it was an incredible contrast to the way the town looked now, it was dead quiet, the streets almost completely empty as the moon sat high in the sky. Darren figured most people in the town had chosen to shut themselves in that night, to be with their loved ones and try and enjoy some slight peace in the horror which had become their lives.
Making his way down to his car, Darren couldn't help but let his thoughts linger on the one person who he knew couldn't be inside with the people they loved, because of him. Jade's death had been his fault, she rushed in, over-confident, but she would have still been around if he hadn't made her replace her bullets. He hadn't anticipated fighting any people, and the look in her eyes moments before she died would haunt Darren for the rest of his life. Unless she didn't have to have died.
Opening the trunk of his car, he sighed as he set the small box inside along with a shovel, closing it as he moved around to the driver seat. Part of him couldn't quite believe what he was about to do, it went against everything he should have done as a hunter, but if the world really was coming to an end, if the Apocalypse was really happening, Darren wasn't sure if he could stop it, all he knew right then was that he could save at least one more life - even if it meant a deal with the devil. Starting to drive, Darren switched on the radio, letting the
music drown out his thoughts.
The crossroads weren't far, Darren had come there plenty of times as a kid to play with his school friends, but they were abandoned now, dead silent and empty apart from himself. Stopping the car, he climbed out and retrieved his items from the trunk. Moving to the middle of the crossroads, he began to dig, not a big hole, but one large enough as he set the box inside it carefully, covering it up as he stood up, letting out a sigh as he looked around, waiting...
And in the blink of an eye, Darren was no longer alone. A raven haired beauty, her skin as pale as ice, illuminated softly by the streetlights. Eyeing Darren, her lips curled into a frown, her fingers tensing like the claws of a cat, ready to strike. This demon, named Lilim, rolled her eyes at the hunter, glancing down at her feet.
"We don't make deals with you." The demon sniffed slightly, pacing back and forth. But of course, she had come for a reason. Orders from up high. Her mother, Lilith, would undoubtedly be furious if Lilim fled.
"Bettah make this quick, kay hot stuff?"Turning toward the sound of the voice, Darren narrowed his eyes, watching as her eyes flashed red.
"Well, if you don't make deals with me, I can just send you back to hell." He threatened, his eyes never leaving the woman as he stood there. It was rare, and he'd never even heard of a hunter making this kind of deal, but there was something about this time, about what had happened to Jade that meant he couldn't go on knowing there was anything he could've done, and didn't. He pushed down the good instinct he had, the drive to do what he knew was right and just walk away, to not make the deal, but he couldn't, there was something inside him that kept pushing him into this.
"There's a girl who died today, Jade Cornish... I want you to bring her back from the dead." He paused for a moment, sighing before he continued.
"Ten years, that's the deal, ten years and my soul's yours." Darren knew how these deals went, he'd talked people out of them in the past and done enough research to know what the usual deal was, he only hoped that this particular demon was keen on making the 'usual' deal for the rare exception of a hunter.
"And what makes you think you'll be aroun' in ten years, huh?" Lilim asked bluntly, beginning to move around freely. No Devil's Trap prevented her from doing so, and she couldn't help but laugh slightly at either the stupidity or overconfidence of the hunter. Her few brushes with hunters previously had given her reason to be wary. But this? This was child's play, a casual stroll through a mine field. Darren glared at the demon, but said nothing yet, almost as if he was waiting for something.
Lilim glanced at the fingernails of her latest meatsuit, smiling coyly at Darren.
"Jade, Jade, Jade...Ah yes! She's already been on the rack for twenty days, are you sure you want to be buying damaged goods, huh? What's the shelf life on those things?" Lilim snickered a bit, enjoying herself. With each passing moment, her irritation at dealing with a hunter was replaced with pure sadistic pleasure in it.
Darren watched the demon carefully and quietly, keeping quiet as he watched her wander about, not wishing to betray his intentions too early. However, he knew his plans were revealed the second he saw the demon rather suddenly stop.
"There we go, now we can chat a little more professionally, huh?" He smirked, letting himself enjoy his moment of triumph as he took a step or two closer, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Now, you're going to shut up, and we're just going to make a deal that's fair, or I can send you back down South."Darren's tone was clear and firm, his eyes never leaving Lilim's as he stood there. He hadn't wanted to play his hand right away, but he'd played it now, the demon had gotten a little overconfident herself it seemed, and not even considered that he might have hidden the devil's trap, which was far more clear now as he brushed away some of the dirt covering it. Hunters always came prepared.
Lilim huffed, her sour mood quickly returning. She didn't need to -- nor could she -- kick at the rest of the ground to disturb the Devil's Trap. As the name implied, she was his prisoner. Rolling her neck out a bit, Lilim looked him dead in the eye.
"But that won't change your fact that Jade is getting well acquainted with my dear friends ignis and cruciatus," the demon taunted. Her eyes flashed red, the trademark color of a crossroad's demon. Still, despite all of the baiting and seething remarks, Lilim stood there, waiting for Darren to sweeten the pot.
"You see, ten years for your soul, kiddo? No good. It's out. Boss' ordahs. Instead, we got somethin' else in mind, kay puddin'?""You gots to kill a reapah," Lilim explained.
"You've got twenty four hours. Boss' even decided to be kind--you get the girl as a bonus, but our hounds'll come for her if you fail. Kay bro?" Darren scoffed, having almost an amused look on his face as he watched the demon, shaking his head. Darren may not have known everything about the supernatural, but he figured he knew most of the things he needed to. And in his mind, if he could killed a reaper, he'd have heard of a way.
"You think i'm that dumb? There's no way I can kill a reaper, unless there's some mystery way you demons can you want to tell me about, otherwise..." Moving over to his car which wasn't far away, he reached into the trunk and pulled out his journal, approaching her and waving it slightly.
"I think you know what I can do with this." He explained as he watched her. Darren was convinced the demon was attempting to trick him, and he wasn't going to get dragged into a deal which in his mind was a trap more than anything.
"Wrong," Lilim answered plainly, eyeing the journal with apprehension.
"I guess there's somethin' you huntahs haven't learned yet, huh?""Even if there was a way, what, you're going to let me off - no soul-reaping in ten years? Scot free as long as I kill the reaper?" He questioned, he was still firm in his assumption that killing a Reaper was not possible, but whatever deal they made, he wanted to be certain there was nothing left unclear. He didn't want to have seen Jade brought back for thirty minutes before he was dragged down to Hell.
Lilim laughed, her eyes rolling in a perfect circle.
"'Course not, puddin'! When you die, you belong to us. We just don't see a point in the ten years sha-bang, since this world's only got about what, a week left?" She cackled slightly, before pulling a phone out of her pocket. Sleek and black, it didn't seem to be peculiar in any way.
"You know, Verizon's got awfully good reception in hell. Shall I call up the boss lady for yah? Or are you goin' to accept that all you needs to kill a reapah is an angel blade?"Sighing as he listened to her, he gave the woman a long look, thinking through the deal, he hadn't heard of an Angel blade, but he believed at the very least that it existed, Demons may have tried to trick people in deals, but she was insistent enough that he assumed it was real. He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get a better deal than that. And hey, if he managed to help stop the Apocalypse from happening, at the very least he wouldn't have hellhounds after him in ten years.
"Fine, we have a deal.""Puckah up, then," the demon taunted, laughing slightly.
"You'll find her at the morgue where you left her, kid." Lilim leaned forward, prepared to seal the deal in its customary manner. Most deals just required a kiss. However, on occasion, some would warrant something beyond a mere pressing of the lips. She smiled, and glanced down slightly at the Devil's Trap. As soon as he broke it, she'd be out of there.
She hated hunters.
Sighing once more, Darren let one last bit of regret well up inside him for the decision he was making as he took a step or two forward. A large part of him begged him to step away and just exorcise her rather than doing this, but the force inside him was far stronger. Getting closer to the demon, he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers to seal the deal, signing away his soul for another to live. All he'd need now was to get rid of the Reaper.
Pulling away, he sighed and kicked at the dirt to break the devil's trap, watching as she disappeared and moving to his car. He hated Demons. Climbing in, he forced himself not to think about what he'd done as he began to drive to the morgue, he had someone to pick up now, after all.
