"The demon granted power to those who dared make a pact"
The demon granted power to those who dared make a pact... And Rue had been daring enough or at least desperate enough to make such a pact all those years ago... A pact with the demon Baalberith. Love makes one do crazy foolish things...
***
It was a dark cloudy day. The sky looked pregnant with rain. Rue always carried an umbrella even when it wasn't raining. It was an old fashioned umbrella with a point and hook for a handle. It had a feminine pattern of a bouquet of flowers.
And she always wore sunglasses even on cloudy days such as these. It gave everyone the impression that she was blind but Rue saw more than most people even on a clear day.
She had short cut dark blond hair. It used to be like spun gold but that was before she made the pact. It was like something darkened her down to her biology.
Rue could hear the demon whispering in her head. He whispered evil thoughts. What Rue liked about staying in the city was that she could walk outside in the crowd and somewhat drown out the demon's constant malevolent whispers. In quiet places the demon's voice was all she could hear.
Rue stood on the crowded corner of the congested corner. Traffic lights going from red to green. The pedestrian light blinking WALK then STOP. She never crossed the street but stood still like a statue in a grave yard.
A black car with tinted windows pulled up to her. Rue didn't even flinch or show any emotion. The passenger window rolled down to reveal a well dressed handsome man smiling at her.
"Are you her?" he asked. "The... one my boss wishes to see about his... artifact?"
Rue looked down at the man then calmly lowered her sunglasses to reveal her eyes. The man grew pale. It were as if he saw his greatest fear before him. Rue was used to that reaction.
The man was frozen. Angry drivers beeped at his car to go when the light turned green. Rue readjusted her sunglasses then climbed into the car without waiting to be asked.
The car was playing classical music from Swan Lake performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
"Drive," Rue said. "I have other appointments to keep."
The driver looked to his other passenger who gave a short nod.
"So...," Rue attempted at conversation. "Mr. Andrew Fisk, you're employer has an... extraordinary problem he needs to fix."
"How did you know my name?" Fisk asked.
Rue turned to him. Fisk could feel her one eye penetrate through the glass. Icy tendrils crawled up his spine at the feeling of it seeing through him.
"This eye lets me see everything," Rue looked away not wanting her driving companion to wet himself like most did when she revealed her demon eye.
Rue traded her own eye with the demon Baalberith to help someone close to her. The usual story. Sounds noble; giving up everything to save someone until you realize what you gave up and you have to live with it for the rest of your life. You're a stranger to yourself. You're alone.
"Can you turn up the music?" Rue asked. "It helps me think."
Baalberith was whispering to her again, trying to tempt her into doing awful things to Fisk and the driver.
***
They arrived to the high class part of New York City. The homes of CEOs and tech billionaires. Rue and Fisk were silent to whole trip listening to Swan Lake all the way to it's finale.
Fisk didn't offer to help Rue out of the car and Rue didn't mind. She tapped her umbrella on the pavement as if testing the integrity of the sidewalk.
Rue could feel the evil coming from inside the mansion. Rich people. They think they're entitled so they can mess with any supernatural force and think they'll come out unscathed. Rue's mouth curved upward in a cynical style.
***
Fisk led Rue into the house. It was elegant white marble, richly decorated with modern art paintings and sculptures and old works done by Picasso and Ruben. Rue sniffed the air smelling lemon pledge and bleach.
"This way," Fisk said but Rue went into another direction. Rue followed the aura of evil up the ivory marble stair case. Her demon eye throbbed as she got closer.
"Hey you can't go up there!" Fisk called regaining some of his courage.
Rue promptly ignored him. The throbbing of her eye intensified as she came to a room with a closed door. Using the point of her umbrella she tapped on the door knob. The door unlocked. That umbrella was no ordinary umbrella.
Rue opened the door to find a hospital bed with a 10 year old biracial boy in a coma hooked up to beeping machines and an IV. The boy looked so innocent but looks were often deceiving. As Rue inspected the boy she heard foot steps running up the stair case.
"What are you doing?" It was a woman's voice. A black woman by the octave of her voice so different from a white woman's. The mother possibly.
Rue ignored her and opened the boy's sleeping eye to find that it was a milky white. The eye quickly looked at Rue and she saw a glimpse of the infernal pit with the boy caught in a web of demon claws that ripped his skin.
"Who the hell are you!" The woman slapped Rue's hand away from the boy becoming a shield between her and the cursed boy.
A crimson streak leaked from her one right eye, the demon eye hidden by her sunglasses. Just a glimpse of it could send a sharp chill through a person.
"Indeed," Rue adjusted her sunglasses remaining calm, taking out a red handkerchief to wipe away the blood tear. "Who put this boy in his own hell locked inside his body?"
"Miss Rue." Rue turned around to see an older white man with silver hair and a beard with cool blue eyes.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
"Mr. Grayson, I tried to stop her..." Fisk grovelled.
"It's quite alright, Andrew," Grayson said. "Miss Rue is an expert in her field. She can help us."
"She's the expert?" the mother sounded unconvinced.
Rue turned to her and lowered her sunglasses to reveal her demon eye again. The mother's dark complexion ashened.
"It'll be alright, Alicia," Rue softened.
Alicia's eyes filled with tears. Tears of fear and relief.
"Now," Rue readjusted her sunglasses. "Tell me what the fuck you did, Mr. Grayson."
***
They all went down stairs into the dining room. They were served coffee and tea. Grayson came from old money then. Old fashioned when welcoming guests.
"Does that blood tearing thing happen often?" Alicia asked trying to keep her composure after being such a frantic mess before.
"My condition makes it so I weep tears of blood for damned souls," Rue explained as she took a steaming cup of tea. "Why not tell me what happened."
"We went to Egypt for a family vacation," Grayson explained. "We were given a private tour of a tomb in the Valley of Kings. Bryce... our son found a secret chamber while exploring with new a sarcophagus and one of these jars..."
Mr. Fisk brought the artifact in a glass case. Rue's demon eye throbbed. Her flower umbrella vibrated. It was a small ivory amphora with the head of a Jackal. Duamutef, jackal headed god. This jar protected the stomach. It appeared to have been sealed with wax.
"You disturbed a wealthy person's sacred resting place and defiled his remains," Rue stated.
"What? No we just thought it would make a good souvenir," Alicia defended.
"Doesn't matter what you think you did," Rue shrugged as she sipped some tea. Mmmm Chamomile. "Anubis is protector of the dead and so when your son opened the jar he activated the hex. You defiled a sacred resting place by taking that from it's home."
Alicia grabbed her husband's hand who gave her a supportive squeeze.
"He's just a child...," Mr. Grayson gasped.
"Hexes don't discriminate," Rue sipped more of the soothing tea. It warmed her bones like a gentle hug.
"What's worse is I believe your son opened it and activated a curse," Rue said. "He's trapped in his own body while demons eat away at his soul."
Alicia made a small cry of distress. Mr. Grayson looked about to break as well but he remained reserved for his family's sake.
Rue attempted to be more sensitive. Sympathy touched her hard heart.
"How long has Bryce been like this?" Rue asked.
"2 weeks," Grayson said.
"Hmmmm," Rue placed her porcelain tea cup down, her face contorted in dismay. "That's not good. But I think I can wake your son up if that's what you truly want."
"Of course we want to wake him up!" Alicia exasperated.
"There may not be much left of your son even if I exorcise the demons from within him."
"I don't give a damn!" Alicia stood up abruptly, her husband sitting down listening, his eyes brimming with tears. "You get your creepy ass up there and save our son, you bitch!"
Rue sat calmly looking at the parents.
"I understand your concerns," Rue soothed. "But I want you to understand that there are no guarantees. Your son may never be the same."
"Can you save our son or not?" Mr. Grayson asked, his sanity being held by a thread.
Rue heaved a heavy sigh and tapped her umbrella. It was no use arguing with parents. They never listen to reason when their child is at stake.
"Save? No," Rue spoke bluntly. "But help yes. There will be things I need."
"Anything you want is yours," Mr. Grayson stood up abruptly and briskly walked out of the room with his stricken wife in tow.
***
Exorcisms aren't pretty. Hexes are challenging especially old ones. They can't just be destroyed. Destroying a hex is like mishandling a nuclear bomb. One thing goes wrong and everyone dies. Which is why Rue had them strap Bryce down. An exorcism wreaked havoc on the body of the host.
The hex on young Bryce needs to go somewhere. Rue's demon eye was the only logical place for it to go... but it'll hurt like hell. Everything she needed was given to her within 24 hours.
Rue needed ashes from a Grayson relative and blood from his mother. Then she needed sacred oil from a thousand year old olive tree. All while invoking the Ancient gods of Egypt to help aid her in a language no one spoke anymore. And an amulet of the eye of Horus to protect what was left of the boy's soul.
The curtains were drawn as a storm raged outside. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled as Rue gathered the magic from it. Magic was everywhere in nature. Man has tried to harness and tame Nature's energies for centuries but the elements will never be made to heel.
Rue dipped the tip of her umbrella into the sacred oil. How they got it she had no idea but she knew better than to ask. With the tip covered in oil, Rue drew a large circle around the boy's hospital bed chanting in a low voice.
Alicia and Mr. Grayson stood outside the room. It was for their safety. There was always a chance for a hex to go erratic. Rue then marked Bryce's head, mouth, heart, and liver with the ashes and blood.
Rue removed her sunglasses to reveal her ugly demon eye. It was pitch black with a red iris. Small red veins grew from the eye ball. It looked infected. Her other eye was dark blue. It used to be lighter but as mentioned the demon pact darkened Rue to her very core.
Lightning cracked like a whip as Rue held her hands over the boy. As she spoke the old words to exorcise the demons that locked Bryce within his own body the boy's body began to convulse. Bryce's body arched, his eyes fluttered. He looked as if he was having a seizure.
Alicia's motherly instincts took over but Mr. Grayson held her back.
"Don't interfere," he hissed.
"She's hurting him!" Alicia cried.
"Miss Rue told us what would happen," Mr. Grayson calmly stated. "This is the only way to get Bryce back."
Bryce's mouth opened wide as his eyes fluttered open, both milky white and deranged. What came out of the boy's mouth wasn't human. It was a cacophony of rabid animals that made the blood run cold and the insides shrink.
"In the name of Osiris and Amun-Ra," Rue called in a commanding voice. "I command you leave this innocent."
In a horrifying scream a black cloud of insects flew out of the boy. The circle of sacred oil ignited filling the room with orange light. It was like a scene of some horror fantasy movie. The cloud of buzzing insects remained in a cloud trapped within the circle of fire.
Rue with arms outstretched said, "I command you."
The cloud of insects gave another inhuman howl as a jackal head emerged, formed from the buzzing black insects crying an inhuman howl before being sucked into Rue's demon eye.
Rue fell back, crashing to the floor as Bryce's body relaxed on the bed he was strapped to. She writhed on the floor, flailing about as the hex spread through her body, her veins turning black as if her whole body was suddenly toxic. Then the black veins were absorbed into her black demon eye.
Rue's body settled as the flames dissolved leaving a black scorch mark on the marble floor. All went quiet. The storm lightened outside, the thunder becoming a distant rumble. Gentle rain pelted the glass.
Alicia couldn't take it anymore. She wrenched herself from her husband's arms and ran to her son. She called her son's name and Bryce's eyes fluttered open to reveal normal human eyes but they were empty.
Mr. Grayson dared to look upon his son and finally let himself weep tears of joy.
"Bryce? Son?" But the boy didn't answer. "It's daddy..."
"It's mommy, honey..."
Bryce stared at them as if they were complete strangers. He was a blank slate unable to speak or move.
"What's wrong with him?" Mr. Grayson asked. "I thought you said you could help him."
Rue struggled to get up off the floor. Blood dripped from her demon eye from the pain and anger she felt from the hex that poisoned her body after it was absorbed into her demonic eye. She took a deep breath and said, "I told you... I could rid him of the hex but he was under for too long. Children are more at risk when it comes to soul eating hexes."
"Will he ever be normal again?" Mr. Grayson asked, his cool dissolving into the unhinged parent.
"He can eat and sleep, hear but I doubt he'll ever be the same," Rue said mournfully. Her whole body felt like it contained an angry African hornet's nest inside her; her very blood was on fire. The effects of absorbing the Egyptian hex.
Mr. Grayson looked at his vegetable of a son. Alicia cradled his head to her breast. Bryce was once a proactive, enthusiastic, curious boy who loved to run. Now he was a husk. Mr. Grayson collapsed, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed.
Rue didn't linger. What could she do? She did warn them. She had been paid and there was nothing left for her to do but move on to the next case. It sounds cold hearted but Rue had to be practical. Magic was not unicorns and rainbows and magic wands, it was often violent, soul crushing, and left a trail of shattered dreams and expectations in it's wake.
Though Rue would be lying if she said she didn't feel an ounce of sympathy.
***
Rue walked through the high class district back into the hustle and bustle of the city. She went to Central Park. It was Wednesday. Every Wednesday at 4 o'clock Rue would go to Central Park to the lake and sit on the bench.
The rain had moved on with a few specks of blue sky. Rue sat quietly taking out her iPod and listening to Debussy. Her body was used to the agony. It began to ebb away with the passing hour.
Then she saw him. A young boy with wheat golden hair and a scar on his chest, faded with time. He was holding a sail boat with a controller. He was with two people, his parents yet not his parents.
"Joshua," the woman called him. "This looks like a good spot."
Rue took out her ear phones to hear Joshua's voice. She sometimes forgets what he sounds like. It's as clear as a bell.
"I think I'm ready for next week's race," Joshua spoke cheerfully.
"Why do you torture yourself like this?" the demon's voice in her head mocked.
Rue ignored him keeping her eyes on the son she gave up, the son she gave up everything for.
"I'll never understand why you choose to sufferby keeping such ties," the demon snickered. "He doesn't even know who you are."
"That's good," Rue whispered. "I don't want him to."
"Hm and yet you still come here every Wednesday at the same time to watch him... watch the life you could never have."
"I was born for tragedy," Rue resigned. "But he wasn't. I refused to let him die. I gave up half my soul to you."
"Then why keep seeing him?" the demon asked somewhat curious.
Rue watched Joshua play with his sail boat, biting his tongue as he made the boat go faster with a push of a lever. Rue's maternal heart swelled up with longing. A blood tear streamed from her eye. She didn't know demons cried but Baalberith was not only a part of her, she was a part of him. He felt her pain which causes her demon eye to weep tears of blood.
"I guess it's something you'll never understand," Rue shrugged. Rue stood up, adjusted her sunglasses, then walked away without looking back, hardening her heart for the next client who would call her.
***
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