worse than death

Jazz

by Jazz

Story

James Burns slowly opened his eyes, still feeling tired. He wanted to rub them, but something stopped him. He tried to move his legs, but couldn’t. As he looked around, he noticed that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be in a prison cell, lying on an uncomfortable mattress, staring at the gray ceiling. He was supposed to hear yelling in the background from other inmates, but it was silent. And he wasn’t in his cell. He was in an electric chair. “NO,” he yelled, panicking. “I’m innocent.” But nobody reacted. He was all alone.

She walked down the hall, towards a gray steel door. The man sitting on the other side of it was innocent, she knew that. And she had a plan.

The room was lit by a white, cold light, coming from the ceiling lamp. She rushed towards the squirming man. “I’m inno-” “I know,” she interrupted. “James Burns, right?” The man nodded, looking at her confused. “Why am I here then? Get me out!!” “I will,” she hissed, “if you let me.” “Trust me, I’d do anything to get out of here,” he whispered. She smiled.

Something about her was off. She acted weirdly and hadn’t even introduced herself. Instead of uncuffing him though, she knelt down. “Listen carefully, this is a one-time opportunity. We’re going to make a deal. You’re going to give me something, in turn for me freeing you. See, I don’t belong here. Not in this institute, not on this planet.” James frowned. What was that supposed to mean? “Now, this is too complicated for the human mind to understand, but I’m what you would call a demon.” He scoffed. “Think it’s funny, huh?” she asked, rolling her eyes, “Humans are so narrow-minded.” Then she snapped her fingers. Their tips lit up in flames. James flinched.

The demon grinned. “Look, I’ll free you, right here, right now, I’ll snap my fingers, and you’ll be home, never having to worry about this again. But I will want just one thing.” She stood up. “Anything.” The demon grinned. “Good. I will want your soul.” James laughed again, but quickly stopped when he realized she was serious. “How will that affect me?” he asked. “Oh, not at all. You’ll live the same mundane life you always have.” “Fine, take my soul then. Just get me out of here,” he said, stressed. The demon smiled.

She bent down, giving James a passionate kiss. She felt life filling up her lungs, her veins, her body. Oh, how she loved it when humans fell for her tricks. They just never questioned her enough. “Humans are so naive” she whispered as James slumped into his chair. She kept kissing him, sucking his soul from his body. She took one final deep breath and separated her lips from his. Then she looked into his eyes, them staring back at her blankly. “What did you do to me?” he whispered. She giggled. “Never trust a demon” she whispered back.

She snapped her fingers and they both disappeared. James Burns now lay slumped in his bed. Without his soul, he was nothing. All that was left was his body and memories. And while he was lying there, not feeling anything, he wished he had chosen death.

© Jazz 2022-02-22

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