Young Writers Society

"Great!" Harper tipped the bottle into her mouth and let the liquid flow down her throat, relishing the familiar burn. A sixth of the bottle later, she turned her attention back to her new friends. "So, what are you guilty of?" she asked in general.

Her own list of offenses was long, even when one didn't count what wasn't official. What did this demon - and it had to be a demon, this was too dramatic for their host to be anything else - know about them all? Some demons could get lots of information about people, depending on how they were created. How many souls were stitched into them and by which method, or what collection of sins manifested them. Abigor was a somewhat familiar name, perhaps it, or a similar name, had popped up in Harper's readings.

Noah sighed. He should have seen this coming, but he supposed it was already overdue. If he lost his new friends, so be it.

"I turned my ex boyfriend into a vampire," he pauses, taking a deeper breath. He can already feel the alcohol hitting his system. "He didn't want to be." He takes the bottle back from Harper and takes a long swig, needing to drown out the guilt already creeping up his legs, threatening to eat him whole if he doesn't keep it at bay.

Kayden winced at the admission. Or maybe it was the strange combination of orange juice and pepsi in her glass—that might not have been her best call.

"That's something to be guilty," Kayden agreed. She warily eyed her drink. After taking another tentative sip of it, she put the glass down on the drinks table and poured herself another drink that was just pepsi. "As for my crimes, I'm really not sure."

She took a swig of her pepsi. That was better.

"There's a lot of things it could be," she guessed. "A lot of things I don't know about, too. I try to be moral when I can, but sometimes my jobs don't go the way I want or expect them to."

"Your jobs?' Harper inquired.

She wracked her brain for jobs that could lead to one doing illegal things. Assassin, obviously, but it sounded more like she was some kind of private investigator or something. Some job that didn't usually coincide with crime.

Kayden grinned.

In normal circumstances, she might have been a little bit more vague. But considering that she was in a group with a vampire and had been brought here by some supernatural power, there really was no need to sugarcoat it.

"I make deals," she said, and her grin didn't look quite right then. It was still a genuine grin, but it didn't look quite normal—quite human. She couldn't ever do the full look, but she had always been able to do the smile when she wanted. "It's in my blood."

Harper perked up. "Are you a crossroads demon? Oh, I've always wanted to meet a crossroads demon!"

She could have summoned one any time, there was a perfectly good crossroad nearby her favorite barn, but to summon one was to make a deal, and that was a really bad idea.

While he received a mild acknowledgement of what he did being bad from the stranger, Harper didn't even seem to notice. She was much more intrigued by the potential of talking to a demon. A soft buzz in the back of his skull said the alcohol was working, and he leaned on the drinks table, watched the two talk.

"Would a demon consider their deals moral though?" He posed the question more to himself than anyone else, though he was curious of the answer.

"Crossroads demon?" Kayden repeated. "Isn't that a thing in Supernatural?"

She hadn't ever gotten all that far watching the show, but that was besides the point. She wasn't all that fond of a show that involved hunters chasing after demons.

She took a swig of her drink.

"I am a demon," she confirmed, wiping her mouth with her arm. "A quarter, technically, but I can still do the soul binding needed for deal making."

She looked over at the vampire. "It depends on the deal. If someone is making a deal to get some extra food on their plate or to get a job, I'd call that moral."

Harper's eyes went wide with excitement. A flood of questions bubbled up to the tip of her tongue, and just before they spilled, a voice boomed over the assembled crowd.

"Hello!" Harper's eyes found the source, a tall, handsome-for-a-fifty-year-old man standing on the stage where the dancers had been with salt and pepper hair and something...off, about him. His fingers were just a little too long and claw-like, his hair too stiff, like fur rather than hair, and other little things Harper was too far away to place. "I am your host, Lord Abigor of Sector Eight. I have gathered you all today to receive a thrilling proposition-" Harper snickered, "-and, of course, to enjoy the festivities."

He paced to the side, eyes scanning the crowd. "I am here to offer you all employment. I have positions open, saving you from damnation, and you get to keep your soul!"

Harper felt like she was at an MLM meeting.

Kayden raised an eyebrow and snorted into her drink.

Well, that was rich. She had come here because she was a little bit bored and genuinely curious about what the letter was implying, but this was the last thing she had expected. Abigor didn't seem human. Kadyen could tell that much. But every demon—even quarter ones like her—knew that demons didn't actually control who got damned and who didn't. That wasn't even the reapers. The ones actually responsible were gods she had never seen before and probably never would. The worst that a demon could do make you do something stupid if you didn't read the fine print of the deal.

Abigor went on with his pitch, "The policing of the dimensions by the guilty therein is an invaluable resource for any demon lord, and I would be humbled if any of you would accept my offer. You will work with me as your boss in a team, or series of teams, to do my bidding on earth as only those who can walk among mortals unsummoned can."

He paced as he talked, and it was making Harper dizzy. Or maybe that was the wine she was sipping on.

"Benefits are negotiable," he went on, "but the package I'm offering includes full health coverage from my demonic medical team, a salary that will put you squarely in the middle class of whatever dimension and country you originate from, and full travel coverage, along with a personalized benefit which I will negotiate with you each individually. Do i have any questions from the crowd?" He looked around as though searching for raised hands.

This Abigor fellow seemed interesting and Noah couldn't detect any dishonesty, though trusting a demon sounded like a bad idea, and he was tipsy. However, being saved from eternal torture was worth quite a bit alone, plus the money and health care. He'd been hopping odd jobs for a while, and something stable seemed interesting enough. Though the job he'd potentially have to do for these kinds of benefits concerned him, especially with a demon lord pulling the strings. He still decided against raising his hand for a question, wishing to see how things would play out instead.

The bit about multiple dimensions explained some of the differences between Abigor's kind of demon and Kayden's, but Kayden was still iffy about the whole thing. She already had a demonic job, thank you very much. But while she did value her independence and her ability to pick and choose what deals to make, having health benefits did sound nice. Some extra money did, too.

She raised her hand, but spoke before Abigor could actually call on said hand.

"Do we get a trial run?" she loudly asked. "Or are we stuck working for you the moment we say yes?"

"The ability to resign, and eventually to retire, is a right you are entitled to use," Abigor answered.

Retirement. Harper raised her eyebrows at that. That was a long way away.

Kayden thought over the words to make sure she wasn't missing some kind of loophole, but nothing immediately jumped out at her.

"Second question," she said, hand still raised, "what kind of demonic bidding are we talking about?"