Contracted Demon

All of your hard work has finally paid off.

Compared to before, now you live in a big house, have a job that pays very generously and gives you lots of paid time-off, and have more than enough money to purchase anything you want. You hired a cleaner to keep the house in pristine condition so you wouldn’t have to do any chores, and hired a cook to make delicious food for you. As a result, whenever you woke up or came back home from work, there would always be a warm meal waiting for you at home. And the best part of living in all this luxury?

Knowing that everything you had was earned through your hard work and dedication!

Your life is perfect—well, almost perfect.

If you had to make one complaint about your life now, it would be about your stalker.

Whenever you walked out of your bedroom and into the living room, he would be watching you from outside the window. Sometimes, he’d even be at the end of the table or at the foot of your bed when you were trying to have a nice meal or go to sleep. You warned all of your hired help to be extra careful about letting strangers in, but still he managed to get inside despite all of the new security measures you implemented and hired. Luckily, you were never hurt. He only watched you expectantly as if you owed him something, so after months of seeing him around the house, you learned to ignore his presence.

Idris’s eye twitched as you walked past him again as if he was air. He set down your morning mug of coffee he had been drinking, not at all amused as you simply began preparing another cup. It’s been a week of him tolerating your newfound indifference, but today—now that the grace period has finally ended, he could truly begin to take what he is owed. If you had paid before the grace period, Idris might’ve considered being lenient on what he would take. But, after months of patiently waiting, his patience has been worn thin. The price for this contract is going to be the most expensive yet, and Idris is going to make you wish you had never made the deal.

You grabbed your newly prepared cup of coffee, getting ready to leave the house.

Idris snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a puff of smoke occupied the space you were just at in front of the door as you found yourself sitting on the kitchen stool across from him. You blinked, surprised before finally meeting his gaze. Idris scowled, crossing his arms.

“Mortal.”

Allowing his human disguise to fade away, Idris’s eyes sharpened, white sclera being consumed by black as his pupils took on a bright golden hue. A pair of horns grew out of his head, wrapped by black vines patterned by sharp thorns. Sharp claws tipped the end of his fingers, black with their ends dipped in gold.

“Did you really think that all of this,” Idris waved a hand around, cocking his head to the side. “Was only a result of your hard work?”

Idris snapped his finger again, and a long scroll materialized on the kitchen counter. Your gaze followed the movement of his fingers as they lowered onto the parchment. Tap,tap,tap they went, right atop where your signature was.

“Little soul, you can’t escape the price of the contract.”