//------------------------------// // Deal With a Devil // Story: When Nature Calls // by SwiftEthan //------------------------------// I blew gently on the steaming tea and stared blankly at my laptop screen. The lines of text seemed to blur and fade the harder I tried to focus on them. I leaned back in my chair, sighing. It hadn’t been the brightest idea to come to a public place to try making a start on my project. What I really needed was peace and quiet, but the buzz of conversation in the coffee shop was constant, just loud enough to keep me from concentrating on the ‘mandatory mini-assessment’ I had been assigned. I was starting college in a week, having been forced to drop out of sixth form when I didn’t achieve the grades necessary to continue. The school had recommended a change of scenery might help, which roughly translated to “We don’t want you here any longer, get the hell out.” I wasn’t terribly upset when I found out my results, but at the time it was the middle of the summer holidays, and all I wanted to do was enjoy myself and not have to worry about the future. So, when summer did eventually wind down, I was a bit put-out when the college I’d enrolled in announced that all students in my course were to complete an assignment before the start of the course. I drummed my fingers on the keyboard lightly, occasionally pausing to hit the backspace key when I accidentally typed a letter out. It didn’t help that the establishment provided free wi-fi which meant distractions were far more common than I’d have liked. ‘Just five minutes’ turned into ten, which turned into thirty, and before I knew it my tea had gone cold. I found this out when I went to take a sip and grimaced at the bitter taste. Shrugging, and not wanting to waste my money, I downed the rest and called over a waitress, asking for another. She smiled, which was nice enough, and walked off behind the counter to start on the brew. I looked back to the screen, which was still blank. With a groan, I rested my head on my hands, rubbing my eyes in despair. It didn’t help that I was feeling tired, either, but I’m normally at least able to function in that state. Here, my mind was just blank. “Having a hard time?” I looked up toward the new voice and was greeted by a hand presenting me with a new cup of tea. I took it gratefully, then looked back at the person who’d handed it to me. Well, it wasn’t the nice waitress, for a start. The man who’d delivered my drink smiled back at me in a far less friendly manner than the waitress had, in fact, he looked almost predatory. “Can I help you?” I asked warily. The guy looked like a con artist, frankly. With a fedora pulled low over his face and a long trench coat covering his dark suit, he fit the stereotype perfectly. Maybe a little too perfectly, as though he was trying too hard. All he needed to do now was hold open his coat revealing row upon row of fake watches. “Perhaps.” He replied, taking the seat opposite me a gazing coolly over my laptop screen. “And if so, maybe I can help you in return. How does that sound?” It already sounds like a scam, I thought. “Care to elaborate?” Why did I say that? The man’s grin grew even wider. “Of course. It’s only fair.” For some reason, I shivered as the word fair left his lips. “So,” he said, adopting a businesslike tone. “I’m in need of a representative for a very important event. Are you a fan of video games?” The sudden turn surprised me. Maybe he worked for a game company. “Yeah,” I replied, not sure where this was going. “Why?” He raised an eyebrow. “It’ll make sense. What games are you into at the moment?” Ah, maybe this was a survey of some kind? I felt much more at ease at this point. “I’ve been enjoying RPG’s lately, like Fallout and Skyrim,” I replied. “That’s all really.” His eyebrow fell back to its original position and his eyes narrowed. “Excellent.” He pushed my laptop screen closed with a little unnecessary force. I wasn’t hugely fussed by this, it was old and I’d been meaning to get a new one when I actually started college. “I would like to make you a deal.” He said, staring at me intensely. I realised I hadn’t put the cup of tea down throughout the entire conversation and raised it to my lips. “Go on,” I replied, after taking a sip. I noted with annoyance it tasted slightly sweet, as though sugar had been added. His grin now threatened to split his face, it looked manic. I leaned backwards. As I did so, I noticed the dog that was lying down beside the strange man’s chair. It’s eyes snapped to mine, and I thought I detected something more than in normal dogs. I returned my gaze to the man, more suspicious than ever. “As I said before, I need a representative for an event. I would like you to fill that role, Thomas.” I sat bolt upright in alarm, trying to remember when I’d told him my name. I realised with a sinking feeling that neither of us had introduced ourselves. “You will be transported to another world, where you are to participate in a game. You will be given-” He stopped, interrupted by my snickering. “What is so funny?” “Transported to another world?” I laughed. “Sure. I totally believe you. Where do I sign?” Maybe sarcasm wasn’t a concept this man knew, or maybe he chose to ignore it. Whichever it was, what happened next came as a bit of a surprise to me. “Well that was easy,” his grin became less malicious and more cheerful, which actually worried me more. “I don’t think anyone’s ever agreed to one of my deals without hearing the full terms. What do you think, Barbas?” He addressed the dog to his left. The dog, Barbas, rolled his eyes in response. I had realised who this guy was the second he said the name, but it was just too ridiculous for me to consider. “Hold on,” I stuttered. “You’re...Are you..?” “Clavicus Vile, at your service,” he simpered, returning to the shark-like grin. “Well, to be more accurate, you’re the one at my service. Fancy that?” He cackled. I regained my composure. This guy was clearly either insane or this was all a big practical joke. “Right. Next you’ll tell me that I have to retrieve a powerful axe from a necromancer.” He laughed loudly, drawing looks from the other patrons in the cafe. “Oh, nothing so archaic. That’s been done already, you see,” he reached down and patted Barbas on the head. “Besides, I doubt you could take Barbas in your state anyway, magical weapon or not.” “What do you mean, ‘in my state’?” I grumbled indignantly. Sure, I wasn’t exactly the sporty type, but I still kept in good shape by walking everywhere. “That body. So slow, so weak,” he replied, gesturing to all of me. I started to get a bit annoyed. “Which is why you’ll have to get a new one before you go off to participate.” “Hold on, get a new one?” This was sounding more and more ridiculous with every word that came out of his mouth. “But of course! In fact, since I’m feeling so generous, I’ll even let you pick,” he grinned. After a split second the grin vanished, replaced instead with a thoughtful expression. “I’m thinking...An atronach of some kind. You’ve certainly been very cold so far, how about a frost atronach? No? Alright, maybe a sabre cat? Have you ever wanted to just bite someone’s head off? I know I have,” he growled, glancing down at his dog. He was just listing off monsters in Skyrim. Well, two can play at that game. “What about a dragon?” I grinned at him, which turned into a look of confusion as he shook his head. “Boring! Try again.” Oh. Well, this was a bit awkward. I struggled to think of a creature that hadn’t been said. “A troll?” He mulled it over, before shrugging. “I suppose we can’t rule that one out. Bear in mind that if you don’t choose, I will.” He leaned forward. “You wouldn’t want to be a hagraven, would you?” I shuddered at the thought, racking my brain for another creature. “Err...Spriggan?” His eyes widened, and he leaned back appreciatively. “Yes, not bad. Might have to make some tweaks to the current model, but all in all, good choice.” He nodded at me. “Well, now what?” I asked, taking another sip of my tea, which had also gone cold. I rolled my eyes before downing the rest of it. At this point I just wanted him to leave so I could get on with my project in peace. “Now?” He leaned forward, predatory grin once again present. “Well, since you agreed earlier so readily, all that’s left for you to do is take a nap.” Something about the way he said it set off alarm bells in my head. I looked down at the now empty cup. My eyes shot back to his. “What did you do?” I asked fearfully. “Oh, nothing much,” he explained calmly. “Just a little something I added. You may have noticed the slightly sweet taste?” “Help!” I tried to shout out, only to find my face wasn’t working. I tried to stand up, raise my arms, do something, but I found myself completely immobile. My eyes felt heavy and my vision was fading away when I heard him say one last thing. “Well, that was surprisingly easy.”