Blink
Blink- A Story by Elkayen
You ever had that feeling that life isn't what it seems? Like there's something else going on that you don't know anything about? Yeah, I get that a lot. More now than before.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. My name's Hal. It's short for Halberd. My parents were big medieval history buffs, lucky me. I'm currently a junior at university, and life's been pretty much okay. Note the pretty much; it'll come back later.
I'm studying computer science to work in video games. It's my dream job, making the games others will play.
Anyway, you probably wouldn't be reading this if this was a blog about my day-to-day life (because it's boring, really). No, you'd be reading this if there was something interesting happening. And there is, but we're not there yet, so stick with it.
Let's see: I've got one brother; he's three years older than me and already out in the world. I've got a few close friends, and several not-as-close, but for the most part, it's just me. I'm antisocial, really. It comes from intelligence; long story short, I can't stand stupidity. No offense to anybody, really. Sorry if I've made you sad.
I'm also a furry. Not a real one, no, not by a long shot, but I am a furry fan. It pains me, really. I've got the problem of an overactive imagination, and my dull surroundings do nothing to help that. Basically, my mind wanders easily.
Other than that, I like video games, books, and biking. As you can see, dull life. Whoopee.
But like I said, this wouldn't be worth reading if there was nothing interesting. And there is. But ha ha, I'm not going to tell you! You'll just have to suffer! Ha!
...I'm sorry, I get like that sometimes. But seriously, the story's much more interesting if I keep you hanging like this. So bear with me.
Anyway, before we continue, I must get a disclaimer out of the way. If you're disturbed by any of the following:
Dismemberment, extreme violence, blood and gore, demonic possessions, murder, homicide, death, destruction, or other forms of evil,
you may wish to skip this story. Or you might want to read. Because now I've got you hooked...
The day started like any other. I woke up, got dressed, and headed out to class. I had on a black T-shirt and slightly baggy jeans. It fit with my slacker credo. I swung by the union to grab a bite to eat, then headed to my first class. History, ugh. I could sit there for five minutes and fall asleep.
Nevertheless, I wove my way to the history department, swung into the class, and slouched in the back. It was close enough so I could hear, but far enough away so I could do anything else I wanted to. I nestled in and brought up my e-mail. As everyone else filed in, the teacher started to lecture. I started to check the day's news when it happened.
I blinked. It was an involuntary action, but this one was important. When my eyes opened a millisecond later, I almost screamed.
First off, I wasn't in the lecture hall anymore. I was in some warehouse-type building. An old crane swung slowly overhead. I needed a better light; the dim orange glow from the safety lights wasn't enough to see anything. Nevermind the fact that I wasn't even supposed to be here; I should be in class!
I fumbled along the wall for a light switch when I found a heavy industry switch. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I pulled it up.
Words can't describe all the emotions I felt when I hit the lights on, but I'll try my hardest. What I saw shocked me senseless. My entire body almost went into convulsions as I stood there, mouth agape. My heart skipped a couple beats, and I sank against the wall.
Before me was a horrifying scene. The bodies of a dozen people hung on the machinery, the walls, and the ceiling. One was hanging limply in the crane's jaws; another had been cut up, the pieces strewn over a nearby conveyor. The blood had fallen down the walls, pooling on the floor. As I looked closer, I saw that the blood had been used as paint, and Satanic symbols had been painted everywhere. Summoning circles, the sign of the devil, goats' heads, and Latin scripts that I couldn't read, but I knew were evil.
Stunned, I walked over to one of the bodies on the wall. I had no idea who the poor soul was, but I knew I had seen him around town once. Might he have run the gas station? Was it the grocery store? No idea. At least I knew I wasn't far from home.
What had happened? What kind of cult would do this? As I turned to face the man again, he jerked his head towards me.
"You..." was all he said.
The action scared me so much I threw up my arm and closed my eye to protect myself. I heard a piercing roar as my vision grew hazy. The air felt different, and I found myself back in the lecture hall, one arm raised over my head.
"Yes, Hal? You have a question?" the teacher asked.
"Huh? No, no, I'm fine," I replied. Kinda.
I wondered what the weird vision meant. Had my imagination gotten the best of me? I put the thought out of my mind as I headed back to my dorm. As I headed in, my friend David caught up to me.
"Hey! Crazy stuff in history, huh?" he called out.
"What? What about?" I inquired. To be honest, I hadn't paid much attention.
"About those Satanists? Weird; I had no idea that those kind of people still existed!"
I was going to reply that it wasn't that much of a shock, because Satanism is still prevalent, but the mention of the cult took me aback. The vision popped back into my head.
"Hey, you okay?" David asked.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," I lied. "I've gotta go get ready for tonight, okay?"
"Sure, I'll meet you out front around seven!" he called back.
We were planning on heading to the latest action film that was opening tonight. I didn't know if I was up to it, but I switched into a new T-shirt and waited out front.
The movie was okay; not the best I've ever seen, but still pretty cool. This is an aside, because I want to explain how the movie went, in case you're curious.
Nothing like the vision happened for several weeks, and I dismissed it as a freak occurrence, a product of my active imagination. However, I wasn't to be so lucky.
About a month and a half later, I was in my programming class working on our latest assignment (a probability calculator). Then I blinked, and everything went hazy.
When it cleared again, I found myself in my house. I gasped because I knew that this was another vision, something bad was going to happen, and this time it'd be more personal. Nothing good could come of this. I walked into the kitchen, but nobody was in there. Nobody was upstairs either. Weird, usually my mom was home, and my dad should be at this time of night. That left the basement.
I cringed as I opened the door and started down the stairs. Dread mounted in my heart; I heard a weird sound coming from the room downstairs. As I stopped at the end and turned the corner, I gasped for air.
There was my mom, all right, and my dad was there too. They were hanging from the wall, bleeding out their mouths. Well, they weren't exactly bleeding, because they were dead, but blood had come out there before. I looked down a little bit. Their stomachs had been ripped open by...something. It didn't look like a knife cut; a bit too jagged. Their intestines were hanging loosely out, and I didn't want to look anymore.
As I turned away, something caught my eye. It was a flicker of movement from down on the floor. A rat? No, too long. A snake? No, it had fur. I moved towards it slowly, my pulse pounding. I looked closer; it was a lion's tail! Could a lion have gotten down here? Wait, where did a lion come from? The nearest zoo was miles away! I turned the corner and gagged a scream down.
It wasn't a lion, not exactly. It was what I had always hoped I'd see: a real anthro lion was lying there. It had to stand about eight feet tall, and its muscles were the largest I'd ever seen, larger than any human's. It was wearing loose black pants but no shirt. Its fur was a golden tan, and its mane was a deep brown, almost black.
It seemed to have drawn a pattern on the ground in what was probably my parents' blood. I looked closely; it was another symbol, but this wasn't a satanic symbol at all. No, this was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I sat on a nearby chair as I pondered the massive beast.
Was this the same creature that had killed those dozen before? Was it something different? Why was I acting so logically? A normal person would've screamed and run, but I was still here. Why? I should kill the thing; it killed my family! What could've created this? What was that symbol? I couldn't stop; I was totally confused.
I knelt down near it, and examined the symbol again. A memory clicked in my mind:
Running along the sand...beautiful ocean...drawing a picture for Mommy...a pretty circle...now some triangles...add a square, that's cool...now another circle...it's a ring!
Of course! I had drawn that picture many years ago in the sand. But only Mom had seen that, and it must've washed away soon after; the tide was rolling in, after all.
That must mean...NO! No, that can't be! That's not me, that's somebody who happened upon the symbol, it can't be me! I wouldn't kill my own family, and I sure wouldn't convert to Satanism! Moreover, I don't know how I would go about rewriting my own DNA; science isn't that good! This can't be...I'm not a killer...I'm not...
I cried out in anguish. The sound woke the great beast lying there. I pushed backwards, trying to back away. The lion shook its mane and noticed me. It didn't look evil at all, more...lost. That was a good word for it. Its eyes pleaded with me; "don't leave," it seemed to say.
It slowly got up. My estimation was mostly correct; it stood about eight and a half feet tall. It padded softly around the corner and turned back. It wanted me to come. Not knowing anything else to do, I followed it down the hall. It turned into the last room; it used to be a storage room, now it's empty. I followed the lion in. On the wall was painted a simple picture; the paint was red, and I knew it to be blood.
The picture showed a person. The lion pointed to it, then to me. So that's me, I guessed. The picture continued with another person with horns out his head. "The devil?" I asked. The lion nodded, then pointed further. It showed me shaking hands with the devil, and a contract. I guessed what the contract meant.
"I agreed to sell my soul, and he turned me into you." The lion nodded again. I looked under it; the lion had painted the word "inevitable" below it. "So that's going to happen?" A nod. The picture continued. It showed me, but with a mane and cat ears, killing my parents, then my brother and my friends, then people in my college town, then taking over the world. Scary.
"Are you always like that?" I asked my lion-self. He shook his head no, then pointed to another picture. I was a human during the day, but turned into my anthro-lion form at night. Clichéd, sure, but whatever.
"Why can't you talk?" I queried. The lion pointed behind me, and I read, "This is a vision. I am appealing to you. Save me and yourself. Find a loophole. Get me out of this."
"But it's inevitable!" I exclaimed. Another sentence: "Yes, this part is. I will eventually be permanently anthro, and that is also inevitable. But the deaths could be reversed if you can save your soul. If you can fix this, you can save yourself, and me by proxy."
"So what do I have to do?"
The lion scratched an underline. "Find a loophole. Get me out of this."
"How much has happened so far now?"
The lion scratched a slash dividing my parents from my brother.
"How much of this is inevitable?"
The lion put another scratch between the dozen and the taking over of the world, then pointed left.
"How do you know what's going to happen?"
The lion pointed out a final sentence: "I was you. I had the visions you did, including this one. Good luck."
"Will the vision be over soon?"
The lion nodded. I paused for a few seconds. How could this be? How could I have done this? I'm no beast...
"I'm...so sorry..." I stammered. I ran over and hugged the lion's massive frame, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Please forgive me..."
The lion folded his arms around me. "I already have," I heard a deeper voice say. The air went hazy again, and I was back in my class, the bell ringing.
The visions kept coming. Over the next couple weeks, I saw my brother inverse-crucified, my friends' corpses smoldering, and my best friend mutilated. Granted, it wasn't real, but it was so horrible, knowing they'd all be dead soon. I forestalled classes, worrying about the coming consequences. Find a loophole. How was I going to find a loophole? I haven't even seen the contract!
Whatever the case, I started interacting with my friends and family more. I called my parents every night and told them I loved them. I chatted with my brother online on several occassions. I went out with friends every night and made sure to tell them how much I appreciated them.
It wouldn't save them, but it made me feel a little better.
The sky was unnaturally dark one morning. The oppressive clouds hung low in the sky. What a day to be possessed, I thought. I knew from my visions that this would be the day. I put on the same pair of jeans and the same black T-shirt I had on the day of my first vision. Symbolic.
I walked out, heading on with my day. I tried not to think of the coming destruction, but it haunted my every waking moment. As I sat down to my art class, I was treated to one final vision:
It showed my anthro form sitting on a demonic throne. The blood of the innocent flowed in fountains down from my throne. The world was erupting in fire. Mankind was my slave. I watched as I beckoned for a servant; the servant came forth. He was ragged and weak, but my anthro form grabbed him by the neck and bit his head off. I nearly vomited from the sight.
I was a being of pure evil. My eyes shone red and my bloodlust was evident. I had grown in stature and in power. The cities of man had fallen before me, and man lived in the ruins. Rivers of lava and fountains of fire flowed out from my city, THE city.
I couldn't take watching this anymore. I tried to escape from the vision, but my lion-form looked towards me. The red eyes softened into normal brown ones. They pleaded with me, "save me." "I will," I mouthed silently. The emperor of the world grinned, then his eyes turned red again as he devoured the rest of the body. I was pulled back into nothingness, then returned to art.
"I can't let that happen," I said to myself.
The rest of the day went by normally. I ate with all my friends one more time at lunch. I called up my brother and my parents and told them all I loved them. I couldn't stand this much longer. I quivered before I collapsed on my bed and slept until eight.
I woke up again in a cold sweat. The time was fast approaching. I wanted to scream "Nothing's inevitable!", but I knew it to be a lie. Only the last part could be changed. I assumed that my other half, the one I met in my second vision, had already tried. I sighed as I walked out of my dorm to the bell tower.
The bell tower is one of the oldest buildings on campus, and I sometimes went here to be alone. Now I went to fulfill my destiny. I climbed the steps to the top and sat on the edge, wanting to jump. But no, that wouldn't work at all.
At nine o' clock exactly (I know because the bell chimed), I heard the trapdoor open and somebody else came up. It's him...I thought to myself.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" he asked. "It's a little dangerous, you know!"
"I'm no stranger to fright," I replied.
"Is that a fact?" he wondered. "Well, I was wondering if you could help me; you see, I need somebody to run a few chores for me. I'm getting up there in years, and I could use some extra help."
"Really?" I asked. "And what, pray tell, is in it for me?" I blinked, and for a split second, I saw the old man for who he truly was.
"Well, I don't have much, but..." He beckoned for me to come closer; I obliged. He withdrew an evil-looking dagger from his coat pocket and stabbed me in the chest.
I knew it was going to happen, and I knew it would hurt, but I didn't know it'd hurt that much. A wave of evil energies rushed over me. The corruption flew through me, and I felt myself changing.
Slowly, I grew taller, making my baggy jeans shorter. I was washed over with golden-tan fur. My kind of long brown hair grew even longer and fuller, turning darker as well. I could feel my muscles expanding, becoming very huge indeed. My spine lengthened painfully, and flesh and fur covered it to form a tail. My hands became more paw-like, and my fingernails turned into huge retractable claws. My feet followed a similar path, but still retained their shape. My shirt ripped off, as did my jeans, which were replaced with the loose black pants. Finally, my skull shifted, giving me a longer snout and sharp fangs, signaling to me a lion's head.
"Is this suitable?" the devil asked.
I grinned back. "Very."
"Great. Now, on to that contract," he said, pulling out some parchment. "It's simple really: you do as I ask, and the world will be yours."
"And I keep this form?"
"Yes, but for now, only at night. Would you like to sign? You can say no, of course. I'm a fair kind of guy." Oh, the irony.
"No, I think I'll sign it." I grabbed the contract and pen from him. I quickly scanned the contract for a loophole. If I didn't sign quickly, he'd know something was up. I looked carefully, then I spotted it. Grinning a grin of power to disguise my feelings of happiness, I dipped the pen in my blood and signed the contract.
"You know it's a ballpoint, right?" the devil asked.
"I know, but it's more dramatic this way," I replied. I handed the contract back to him. "Now what do you want me to do?"
"Well, first, kill your parents."
"What?" I acted dumbfounded. "I can't do that!"
"Oh, I think you can. In fact, you will. Remember the contract."
I sighed; he had me there. "All right, I'll do it. How long do I have?"
"Have it done by morning."
"Fine." I leaped backwards off of the bell tower, landed on my feet, and sprung off to the south.
I didn't want to do this. My parents meant everything to me. Killing them would make life difficult forever. I had to do it in the nicest way possible, if you can kill somebody nicely.
I arrived at my front door. I knocked on the door and waited. I needed to say goodbye. The door unlocked, and I cringed for what was about to happen.
There stood my dad, gasping like a fish out of water at the sight I laid before him. He ran back and called out "Dear! Get back!" I could hear him grabbing his shotgun; he never used it, but he had it for defense. He ran back to the door, took aim, and fired.
The bullets hurt, to be honest, but not much at all. It made several holes in my chest, but they didn't hurt. In fact, they healed up pretty quickly. He gasped at what had happened, then fired again. Once again, the wounds healed up fast.
"Dad! Stop it!" I cried. My deeper voice made things difficult, but he got the message.
"Hal? That you?" he asked. I nodded. "Well why didn't you say so? Come in!" I padded through the door, ducking down to get in. "Dear, it's Hal!" My mom came around the corner, nervous and shaken, and nearly screamed.
"H-Hal?" she stammered. "Is it you?"
"Yeah," I said. "Can you both sit down for a bit? I have something I need to tell you."
They sat down on the couch, and I sat in the armchair. I started to cry as I explained everything that had happened: my visions, my deal, my new body, my purpose. They sat through the whole thing, a look of shock developing on their faces.
"So...you have to kill us," my dad said simply when I had finished.
"Yeah. I don't want to, not at all, but that's what I have to do. Else...well, I don't know for sure."
"But why? Why did you do it, Hal?" my mom asked.
"The visions said that it was inevitable. I have to do it, Mom."
"Nothing's inevitable!"
"I'm sorry, Mom."
They looked at each other. "If you have to, then I guess we have to comply," my dad said resolutely.
"Don't worry, Dad. I've got it figured out. I'm going to bring you back, after this is all done. It'll be like falling asleep."
"Okay. I trust you. You're a good kid, you know." He got up. "Where are we doing this?"
"The basement. I'll kill you fast; you won't feel a thing."
My mom got up. "Lead us on." My parents were full of valor, I'd give them that.
I led them down to the basement, watched their final kiss, and let them close their eyes.
"I love you," I said simply. I extended a claw, and with one quick slash across their throats, they were dead. I nailed their wrists and ankles into the wall, cut out their intestines, and collected their blood. My vision-self would be here anytime now. I painted the picture, wrote the sentences, and headed back to my parents. I lay down near the wall, letting my tail hang out into the hall. Finally, I painted the pattern next to me, then lay down and fell asleep.
A while later, I woke up again. I was a little groggy, so I shook my mane to wake up. That's when I noticed my human-self, sitting nearby. My human-self was a little vaporous, and I realized it was the vision. I knew instinctively I couldn't talk to it, so I slowly got up and towered over it. I walked around the corner and looked back, motioning to follow.
I walked to the spare room and stood in the center. My ghostly-self walked inside and noticed the picture. I pointed to it, then to him. He nodded an acknowledgement. The scene played out as before but from a different perspective. The vision could talk to me, but I couldn't talk to it. I motioned to the sentences to communicate back.
"Please forgive me..." it said as it hugged me. I returned the hug, and then said softly,
"I already have."
The vision faded away, leaving me in the room, alone.
I returned to the bell tower later that night and jumped up to the top. It was actually around three in the morning, but that's late night. The devil was waiting for me there.
"I see you completed your task. Well done. You'd better get some rest; I'll need you tomorrow too."
"Sure." I jumped back down again and headed to my dorm.
When I awoke the next morning, I was back to normal, and the strange robes had disappeared. I dressed for the day, which happened to be a Saturday. I flipped on the news when the word came on that my parents had been killed in a suspected cult killing. The police didn't know what to make of the strange drawings in the other room. My brother didn't get our local news, so I called him up with the news. He said he'd be there as soon as he could, probably the end of the day.
I sighed. My friends came by offering their condolences. I accepted them, then turned away, wanting to be alone. My guilt was disguised as grief; perfect.
I knew I could bring them back, but that would count on the loophole working. I hoped for the best.
Okay, take a break now. It'll still be here when you get back. Go outside, enjoy life, and be happy. This story's pretty dark. I'll be waiting.
...Okay, you back now? Jeez, took ya long enough. I didn't say "live a life", I said "enjoy life"! That takes like five minutes! Meh, whatever. Just get ready again.
My brother came later that day like I knew he would. (Seeing visions kind of ruins the fun.) He stayed in a hotel nearby. To take my mind off of the next task, I headed over to the library. Reading was an easy way to keep preoccupied.
As the clock chimed eight, I headed out behind the library where I changed back into my lion form. The devil was there waiting for me.
"About time!" he yelled out.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied. "What tonight?"
"Tonight? Well...kill your brother. He's in town, right?"
"Yeah. Never liked him anyway," I lied. "I'll have it done by morning." I fled into the night.
I climbed to the roof of the hotel, then down to the window of my brother's room. I grabbed onto the top railing, pushed back, then swung in.
He yelled out as I dropped in, all eight-point-five feet of me. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, half-terrified, half-angry.
"It's me, Hal," I replied simply. "Don't do anything; just sit down."
For some reason, he trusted me and did as I said. "What the hell, Hal? You scared the living daylights out of me!"
"I'm so sorry," I began. "I just have to..."
"Have to what?"
I explained the whole story again. I won't bore you with the details. At the end, my brother was pacing by the door, holding his head in his hands.
"Why, Hal? Why?" was all he could say.
"Don't worry. I plan to bring all of you back."
"All of us? Who else...oh my God..." I had forgotten to mention that I had killed our parents.
"I didn't mean to, but I had to, you see? Trust me, I can bring you back. Please, trust me."
He just stood there, staring at the beast I had become. "Will it hurt?" he asked softly.
"No. Not a bit."
He looked at the floor, silently shuffling his feet. "Okay. I'll do it." He paused. "I love you, Hal."
"I love you too." We hugged one last time before he closed his eyes, standing ready. I extended my index claw again and slashed through his throat. He was dead before he hit the floor.
I tore apart the bed, grabbed two long beams and four bolts, and fixed the two beams into a cross. I then set it upside down and hung my brother's body on it, fastening his wrists and ankles onto it. I cried over what I had done; I had no more family. I took a running leap out the window just as I heard my vision-self walk inside.
I woke up the next morning in anguish over what had happened. The news told of another killing, this time the son of the couple murdered yesterday. I cried loudly when the news came on. My friends came in once again, and we hung out that day. They tried to make me feel better, but I couldn't, not when I knew that they'd have to die as well.
In the afternoon I was alone again in my dorm when two policemen arrived. They wanted to protect me in case this was a vendetta against my family. I didn't know of anybody who had a vendetta against me, but they didn't want to take chances. So with the guards outside my room, the day progressed as normal.
Later that evening, I waited for the usual appearance of the devil. I worried about how I'd get out; the window was sealed, and the guards were right outside. At eight o' clock precisely I changed again (luckily I have no dormmate) to my anthro-lion form. The devil appeared at the doorway.
"Armed guards, huh?" he asked. "Eh, no worries. They're nothing compared to you, right?"
"What tonight? Do you want me to kill them?" I asked without giving a reply.
"That's a part of it. I want you to kill them, then your friends, then yourself."
"What? What use to you am I dead?"
"Not really kill yourself; I should clarify. Make it look like this cult 'killed' you too; this'll give you more freedom to move around."
"How can I do that?"
"Oh, come now, you're a demon! Making a corpse appear shouldn't be a problem at all!"
Stupid me, I thought. "Right, sorry. I've just been using my strength so far."
"Well let's test those powers, then. Kill all of these with your demonic powers. Get in touch with your evil side." He grinned a twisted grin. I wanted to punch him so bad.
"Okay," I said simply. The devil disappeared, and I conjured up a corpse that looked like me. I splattered the room with blood, drew satanic signs, and cut up the corpse, throwing pieces everywhere. I decided to kill the guards with style.
I jumped through the closed door, splintering it. Before the guards could react, I had driven blood-red stone spikes through their skulls, pinning them to the wall. I ran down the hall as fast as I could, barely escaping before somebody came out.
My friends were all getting together at the local drive-in for shakes that night and had invited me. I declined because I knew that was where they would die. I ran to the drive-in and waited for them to show up. By ten, they were all there relaxing and having a good time. I looked at my right hand; I conjured up a firestorm and waited to unleash it. I was saddened that I'd have to kill them without saying goodbye, but I couldn't do it this time.
I released the storm and watched it arc up before it extended as a net, trapping them inside. I jumped through the flames and threw flames at the nearest people. I shot more of the stone spikes at a couple others, impaling them. I levitated a few and shot spikes through their chests, pinning them limply to the wall. Finally, I jumped up, commanding the firestorm to burn the place down. The flames obeyed, killing all inside.
As the fire died down, I was sure I could see a ghostly figure wandering through the ashes.
I hid in the woods. For all intents and purposes, I was dead. Dead like my parents, my brother, the guards, and my friends. I was horrible. I didn't deserve to live. Only one thing kept me alive: the hope of bringing them back. When the sun came up, I remained in my anthro form. Apparantly, I had passed the test and could remain powerful.
I wanted to experiment with my powers (as I had plenty), but I couldn't enjoy my new body without remembering what it had done. It'd all be over soon, though.
Nobody passed through, thankfully; I half-expected that Satan would come back and tell me to kill them too. As night fell again, the devil appeared one more time.
"As you can tell, I've let you retain your power through the day. Call it an early present," he said as he came near.
"What do you ask of me, master?" I queried.
"I have twelve devout that I'd like you to get rid of. Take them, and it'll be easy to take the world."
"You wish me to kill them so that I can take the city, then with those forces, take the state, the nation, then the world?"
"Exactly. You're a bright one."
"I will do as you wish, my lord." As I walked past, I bumped into him. "Sorry, my liege."
"Not at all," he replied. "Just get rid of them."
I ran off with a dagger in my pocket...
The blood-red dagger turned out to be my loophole. With a glance at the right part of the contract, I had successfully found the loophole:
If the servant can retrieve the portion of the dagger within him and unite it with the dagger, he can retain his power and the contract is void.
The devil knew that he'd never have to honor that portion, as he kept the dagger on his person at all times. All I had to do was tear open my chest, retrieve the dagger-shard, and reunite it with the dagger. But first I had to kill the twelve...
I didn't want more blood on my hands, but this much I had to have. I decided to do this the easy way. I used my demonic powers to find them and teleport them to the warehouse where I was located. I then slew them all as fast as possible. I arranged them like they were in my vision, and created the patterns as I saw them. I shut off the lights and quickly ran off to the upstairs office.
Once in there, I made an incision with my claws through my fur-covered skin. The pain was immense, but I pushed on. I peeled back the muscle to find my exposed chest cavity. There, lodged in my heart, was a small bloody shard. How it kept beating was beyond me. I pulled the shard out of my heart and pushed the muscle fibers back. The wound healed up, and I was as good as new. A wave of happiness washed over me. I reunited the shard with the dagger. As I did so, an intense burst of light erupted from within me. My vision-self had seen the corpse and was on his way out, but I was roaring in pain. The light was purifying me, getting rid of the evil inside.
When it was all over, I sat there panting for breath. The deed was done. I was no longer the devil's servant. With the strength of light behind me, I had grown in size by nearly a foot. I coughed up some blood as I stood up again. It was time to show the devil who's boss.
As I returned to the woods, the devil was waiting for me. "Great job," he congratulated me. "Now all that's left is the corruption of the world! Shouldn't be a problem for you."
I simply said "No."
"I'm sorry, I must've heard you wrong. I thought you said 'no.'"
"I did."
"Well, I guess you're going to burn, then. Poor guy; I thought you were going to make it. Oh well." He conjured a portal to Hell. "Come on, let's get going."
"No."
"It's not a choice; come on."
I withdrew the dagger from my pocket. "This says no."
He snatched the dagger from me. He inspected its whole blade. At last he handed it back. "Well, a deal's a deal." He conjured the contract and let it disintegrate. "You're a crafty one, you know that?"
"Yeah."
He stepped through the portal which closed up behind him. The "devil's servant" was no more.
I told you it was interesting! But wait, I'm not done yet.
After the devil left, I started bringing things back to normal. I used my powers to bring back those I had killed and I explained the whole thing to everyone. I even went on national TV once to explain everything.
I offered a free service to any furry fan who wanted to be a real furry. All they had to do was come to see me and they could change into any fur they wanted. It was the least I could do, really.
Nothing's really changed besides. My friends and family have memories of their deaths. They say heaven's pretty cool besides. I figure I'll trust them on that count. I'm really in no rush.
I've also started up my own video game company. My first game will be a first-person shooter where the player starts getting visions about his demonic future and has to find a way to save his soul. I'm thinking of calling it "Blink." What do you think?
So yeah, the world's coming along pretty nicely now. I guess things did work out in the end. Oh, have you met my mate? Her name's Kali; she's a white tiger. Yeah, life's pretty cool in the end, I guess.
Oh, and if you want a moral...uh...Don't sign something without reading the whole thing. Hey, it's the best I can do.
So, that's it. You can stop reading now if you want. Go out and enjoy life for real this time!
END
Well, that was interesting, now wasn't it? Sorry that my first story here doesn't have any yiff, but quite frankly, I don't think it could be improved by adding any. So nyeh!
I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while, and I just now decided to write it down. I'm not quite sure how I should've handled the possession, but I think it turned out nicely in the end. I just couldn't stand killing my parents without saying goodbye, or my brother, or my friends. Sorry if that gimped it a little.
All in all though, a good story. I may rewrite it, as I have a couple new ideas, but that'll come later. Just goes to show what one day of heavy writing can do for you, huh?
Peace,
--Elkayen