My Demon and Me

Matt accidentally summons a demon when trying to hex his Ex, and now he doesn’t know what to do with them.

Content Warnings: Sexually explicit scenes, Cheating, Death, Demons, Talk of an Abusive relationship, Talk of Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Profanity, Religious themes, Skeletons

Chapter 1

Alright, this was definitely not what was supposed to happen. How in the world had this gone so terribly wrong? He tried to think back to how this all began, but when was that? What qualified as the “beginning” for this hell scape he’d begun to call his life? His thoughts were interrupted by another clearing their throat. Looking in front of him, his green eyes scanned the creature in question, taking in all of their attributes.

They were tall, and while he wasn’t the tallest guy in town, they towered over him easily. They made his 5’8” seem like nothing. Their deathly white skin was covered in thick, black tattoos that swirled from one body part to the next, and were easily seen since the creature wasn’t wearing anything at all. He caught himself following the dark markings down the toned stomach, and toward the undoubtedly impressive parts between their legs. Quickly stopping himself before he could get too far, he shook off the thought. The creature tilted their head slowly and looked him up and down.

“Well?” They said expectantly, cocking a brow at him.

“I…” He swallowed the lump in his throat before quickly turning to grab the notes he’d taken. “I did something wrong. I had to have done something wrong.”

“Am I not who you meant to summon.” The deep, rolling timbre of the creatures voice seemed to vibrate through his entire body. It set every little atom of him on edge and he looked back at the thing, not entirely sure what insanity had driven him to look away from the strange being that had just crawled out of his fucking floor.

“Well… um… no?” He answered, questioning why he was talking to them at all. The creature slowly nodded before pursing their lips.

“So… who did you mean to summon?” It asked and he froze.

“Nobody.” His simple reply got a very curious and slightly confused look from the thing standing in front of him.

“Nobody?” It repeated and he nodded. They very pointedly looked down at their feet, where they stood in the center of a chalk drawn pentagram, surrounded by candles and bowls of various things. “Are you… sure about that?” They asked with a small grimace.

“Yes! I…” He turned back around, even while his brain screamed about how stupid it was to do so, and grabbed his notes. “Look, I wasn’t trying to summon anything, or… anybody. I was just trying to do this… this spell, right here.” He spun back around and thrust the notebook out at the creature, who gently took it and read the page.

“No, no… this is a summoning spell for me.” It informed him, and he deflated. “You did it perfectly, if it’s any consolation.” He dragged his fingers through his hair and sunk down to the floor.

“No, no, no! I didn’t want this! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” He snatched the notebook back and reread them again, for what had to be the fourth time in minutes. “I was just trying to cast a hallucination spell on my ex-boyfriend!” He cried, running back to his computer and searching through the tabs he’d left open from the day before. “I wrote down exactly what it said!” He scanned the page as quickly as he could, but everything on it matched what he’d written. Everything except the title of the spell, that is. He stared at it in absolute horror. “That’s not- …but I- … No.” His words gradually got softer, until the last one was nothing but a whisper into the otherwise silent room.

“Well,” The voice came from just above his shoulder, making him nearly jump out of his skin, but definitely leap away from the desk. “This is the first time I’ve met someone who was diligent enough to follow the spell to the letter, while also not even paying enough attention to the spell they were doing.” The creature hummed before turning those solid black eyes on him. “So… since you have me here anyways… what is it that you desire?” His heart skipped, the twinge almost nauseating.

“I… um… no.” Throwing his hands up, he turned and headed for the door to his bedroom. Maybe if he laid down, this would all go away, like the nightmare it clearly was. However, the moment he reached the door, he turned around and found the creature trailing close behind him in an unnerving silence. “What are you doing?”

“Following you.” They said, as though it were an obvious answer.

“No, you aren’t. You are going back to… wherever the fuck it is you came from and I am going in here to sleep off this insanity.” He shook his head and the creature crossed their arms.

“Seriously? You think that you can just sleep this off? I can’t go anywhere until you decide what you want to do.” They said, leaning heavily on a hip. “Do being the keyword here, because you have to do something.” He shook his head, and stepped backwards into the room.

“I don’t.” He said simply. “I don’t have to do a God damned thing.”

“Wait… I don’t even have a name for you.” They called as he started to close the door. He stopped a moment before it clicked closed and narrowed his eyes at them. “What? I can’t know the name of the one who summoned me… by accident?” They gave him an expectant look and he groaned.

“Matt. Matt Argeto.” His name sounded like the biggest mistake he’d ever made now, but he supposed that had something to do with the creature (or rather demon?) standing in front of him.

“Hello Matt. You may call me, Joulto.” They held their hand out, but Matt didn’t dare touch it. Instead, he quickly shut the bedroom door and forced himself to take a breath. Seriously, how the ever loving fuck had this gone so terribly wrong?

The night was spent tossing and turning in his bed. Matt didn’t go to sleep until around three in the morning, which he supposed held some irony. He did, however, wake up just in time to feel like throwing his phone across the room; two minutes before his alarm went off. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed, showered, dressed for work and reminded himself of the energy drink in the fridge. Just when he was feeling like it had all been a dream, he stepped out of the bedroom and froze. Lounging across the floor, their long legs stretched out as they casually leaned on one arm, was the demon from the night before. They were watching the silenced television with the concentration of someone working, despite their incredibly lazy demeanor. “No.” Matt whispered upon seeing his new, apparent, house guest. “What are you still doing here?!” He screamed, and they looked over at him with every ounce of nonchalance possible.

“I’m waiting for you to tell me what to do.” They said with the utmost matter-of-factual tone. Matt shook his head.

“Didn’t you hear me last night? I didn’t mean to summon you. It was a mistake, so go home!” Wherever in Hell home was. Matt didn’t care, as long as it wasn’t in his living room. Or anywhere else in his house, for that matter. They shook their head, their black eyes locked on him.

“Sorry, but that’s not gonna happen. There is no ‘going home’ for me, until you tell me what you want.” They looked back at the TV, but quickly held a finger up for an amendment. “And it can’t be for me to go home. It has to have something to do with the intentions you summoned me with.” Matt rolled his eyes.

“Why does this have rules?” He huffed, turning to get his caffeine. He heard the demon scoff from behind him.

“Think of this like… laws.” They said and Matt shook his head.

“Laws are rules.” He said as he popped open the can and took the first sip. Sniffling and shaking off the burn of carbonation, he began moving around the living room to grab all of his things.

“Laws have harsher consequences than rules.” They pointed out, watching him from their seat on the floor.

“Yeah, well, laws can also be… worked around, so just tell me what to tell you, so you can leave.” He finally stopped moving and stoop in front of the demon, propping his fists on his hips. “Because I have to go to work.” They sat up, and he was reminded of how large they were, when they easily evened out with his chest.

“Sorry, can’t do that.” They scrunched their nose. “Again, it has to be with the same intentions that I was summoned with.” Matt sighed and looked down at his watch.

“Okay… look, just… go somewhere in the mean time?” He shrugged and they cocked another sassy as fuck brow.

“You want me to just… ‘go somewhere’?” They looked down their very naked body. Very naked, dead skinned body with a piece between their legs that made Matt regret looking down. Good God, that thing would destroy someone if used right. Dragging a hand down his face, he tried to turn his attention to somewhere else, anywhere else.

“Okay, look just…” He groaned. “Stay here and don’t… touch anything. Don’t open the windows, or go outside, or answer the door, just… stay right there.” He pointed to the spot on the floor where they sat and watched the grin cross their face.

“What if I have to use the facilities? Should I still stay ‘right here’ in that case?” Their grin was a mixture of curiosity and amusement. Matt was ready to pull his hair out already.

“Then use the facilities, but don’t touch anything on the way there and back. That’s it!” Grabbing his keys, his drink, and anything else he would need for work, he was rushing to the door. He was already going to be late, even if only by a few minutes.

“By the way, really quickly…” They pushed off the ground to stand and followed him to the door. “Your ex, the one who spurned you… what was his name?” Matt swiveled around to glare at them. “I’m not going to do anything, I’m just curious. I wanna mull it over while you’re gone. It’ll give me something to do… without actually doing anything. That would be against the laws.” They smiled and he took a very precious moment to think about it.

“Derek Wilcox.” He said simply before grabbing the door handle and stepping outside. “If I find out you did something while I’m out, I swear to God I’ll call a priest.” He jabbed a finger in their direction and they lifted their hands up with a smile. After that, Matt was reluctantly locking the front door and racing to his car. As he pulled out of the drive, he said a quick prayer to whatever God would listen at this point.

Chapter 2

‘Derek Wilcox.’ Joulto repeated the name in their head, making sure to take note of the way Matt had said the name. They’d expected a bit more malice from it, considering what the man had wanted to do to his ex-lover, but it had been more resigned than hateful. Staring at the front door, they waited for just enough time to make sure that Matt was actually gone, before turning their attention to the room around them. Sure, they’d looked at it last night, when Matt had run to hide out in his room, but now they could see it without having to worry about the owner catching them touching things. And touch they definitely did. They’d picked up the candles that had been laid out the night before, but now they actually looked at the tools. The sigils marked on them for the spell had been meticulously carved just as the web page had shown them. Such a small thing, but it told them a lot about Matt, and that information matched the state of the room around them.

Everything had a place, and it was all organized. There wasn’t a spec of dust to be seen in the room, and not a single thing seemed out of order; but rather it was perfectly designed like an interior decorator had come in. That was it, though, because the place barely looked lived in. Clean and organized, but lacking the personality that most homes had. Moving around, they looked for pictures that weren’t art pieces, and found only a handful of Matt with what appeared to be family. His mother and father, and a little sister around college age. There was a picture of Matt’s graduation from High school, and then another from his college graduation, but none of any lovers. None with any friends, either. The space had plants, all of which were fake, and when he checked the fridge the food inside was just as bad. It mostly contained energy drinks and snacks, nothing substantial.

When they moved into the bedroom to snoop, they found the closet was only half full; one side was kept empty beyond the shoes that lined the wall on the floor. The way the side with clothes looked, Joulto could tell that there had been clothes in there recently, probably within the last year, but they’d been removed suddenly and Matt was still adjusting. “So, Derek left in a hurry. I wonder why.” They murmured, moving on to the bathroom. They were almost shocked to find no second toothbrush in the little wire holder, but looking around the place, they doubted Matt would have kept something like that for long. Just like the living room, the bathroom was spotless, even though Matt had used it not that long ago. It was still humid, but other than that, it was clean, organized, and the man even had spares for everything in the linen closet. Spare towels, new toothbrushes, several boxes of toothpaste, more bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and more body wash, all in different scents. The place was packed and ordered, and they made a note of it. “He either doesn’t like going out for things, or he doesn’t have the time. Or both.” They tapped a finger against their chin as they said the thought out loud. They moved back into the living room and glanced up at the clock on the wall, humming. It had only been two hours since Matt had left. So, what now?

By the time Matt came back home, Joulto had finished watching the news and had instead turned to watching murder documentaries. Surprisingly, there were a lot for them to chose from readily available at their fingertips. They had just reached the conclusion of an episode where a man had staged an assassination attempt on his entire family to look like a robbery, when the home owner stepped through the front door. Matt stared at them for a moment, blinking as the memory seemed to register, before narrowing those green eyes on Joulto. “Welcome home.” They tried with a smile, but the man didn’t seem convinced of any sort of innocence.

“Thank you.” Matt set his things down on the console table by the door, very carefully hanging his keys and coat, and putting his shoes on the rack. As he moved farther into the room, they noticed his eyes scanning the room to make sure that everything was in its place. He even stepped into the bedroom and spent a few minutes in there as well. Too bad Joulto had ensured everything they’d touched had been placed back precisely as they’d found it. They’d even wiped down the counter, toilet, sink, and the door knobs to ensure nothing looked used in the slightest. When the human came out of the room, they focused themselves on him. “What did you do all day?” He asked and Joulto smiled.

“Well, I caught up on the news for the day. If you didn’t hear, there was a plane that went down in a field somewhere north of Salt Lake City. It was on four different news runs, and I’m sure it’ll be on tonight's as well, just in case you want the details.” Matt frowned but Joulto kept going. “After the stories began to get too repetitive, I moved on to entertainment. I tried at first to watch ‘reality TV’, but that was no where near entertaining, or real. Too staged, too much drama.” They gagged melodramatically and Matt tilted his head with a small hum of agreement. “Seriously, what people find interesting nowadays is beyond me. I ended with murder documentaries. There are some very valuable things in those for me.” They motioned to the television and Matt pursed his lips.

“You’re making it sound like demons had nothing to with some of those.” He pointed out and Joulto laughed.

“Demons had very little to do with a lot of them.” For a moment, they couldn’t tell if Matt was horrified at the thought, or if he wasn’t at all surprised and had even expected it. They watched Matt walk around, getting himself more relaxed from the day, before he came and dropped himself on the couch. Joulto was still on the floor, but they were completely laying down now, instead of simply lounging. “How was your day?” They asked, simply trying to fill the silence that had followed. Matt looked at them with a droll stare and sighed.

“I know you don’t actually care about that.” He said and Joulto tilted his head.

“Fair enough.” Sitting up, they folded their hands in front of them. “I do have a question that’s been buzzing around in my head, though.” They waited for him to look at them again. “Why didn’t you just… egg his car or something?” Matt cocked a brow at them.

“Jesus, you really were watching reality TV.” He mumbled and they rolled their eyes.

“I just mean that you went to hex someone because, what? He dumped you? You could have done something so much easier.” They hooked a finger over a small section of their hair and began to twist it slowly. Matt shook his head.

“It’s not… it’s not because he dumped me, okay?” The man lay flat on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “Him dumping me, I could handle. Hell, him cheating on me, with me?” He frowned. “Him having a girlfriend at the same time as me, I could handle that too. It was what he did months after dumping me, when I was quietly moving on and not even so much as looking his way… that’s what pissed me off.” The man pointedly jabbed a finger into the air, like he was pressing an invisible button. Joulto shifted until they could lay their head on folded arms against the couch.

“What did Derek do months after dumping you that upset you so?” They were genuinely curious now. Sure, there were a lot of people who said they’d moved on and actually hadn’t, but Matt made it sound like he had a good reason to be upset so long after. He was silent for a moment before looking at Joulto.

“You want the truth?” He asked and they nodded. “Well, for starters, we dated for three years. Three years, and that son of a bitch was also dating a woman named Rebecca. He dumped me, because he’d asked her to marry him, and apparently everyone in town knew about their relationship, but me.” He gave Joulto a tight smile, making the demon cringe. “That part I can get over. So he’s a cheating, low life piece of shit; the upside is that I’m not with him anymore. So, he can’t cheat on me again, right? And I learned my lesson about him, so even if he did come crawling back, I wouldn’t take him anyways. That part was easy.” He shook his head and scrunched his nose in his disdain. “It was when months later, after not even so much as glancing his way, Derek decided to spread rumors about me.” That had Joulto sitting up and blinked at him.

“Rumors? What kind of rumors?” They watched as Matt’s body deflated.

“He told everyone in town that he’d caught me at a bar, fucking some strange guy in an alley. He even said that I’d bothered to hit on him, while being completely sober.” He threw his hands up. “And people believed him! In this tiny ass town, any sort of scandal is one that spreads like wild fire, and people judge the fuck out of you for it. So, naturally, I tried to put the rumors to rest by telling people the truth; that we’d dated and he’d cheated on me and his wife-to-be before dumping me for her.” They cringed even harder this time while Matt shook his head. “But nobody believed me. They said I was just trying to cover my own ass and drag him down with me. When I confronted him about spreading the rumors, he turned it around on me.” The man sat up suddenly and looked down at Joulto. “He said that I was trying to ruin his reputation and engagement by telling everyone the truth about our relationship. He even had the nerve to call me an awful person. Can you believe that? The cheater, liar, scumbag who destroyed my life had the absolute audacity to say that I was the bad guy here.” He huffed and flopped back down onto the couch, while they nodded along.

“I can definitely see why you wanted revenge, but you know… in my experience, most people in these types of situations just… leave.” They shrugged and he looked at them with a sigh.

“I know that. I know that, but… I thought about it and it just doesn’t feel like enough, you know?” He shook his head. “If I leave, it’s like he wins. Like he wanted that or something and I just gave in to him like I did so many times when we were together. I didn’t want that. I wanted him to know how he broke my heart, you know?” Joulto cocked a brow and Matt shifted until he was looking them directly in the eyes. “I wanted to drive him out of his mind. To make him think there was something wrong with his head, just like I did when this all began. So, I planned to hex him to achieve that. I wanted him to see werewolves stalking the woods outside his house. I wanted him to think every politician in this town whose ass he kissed was secretly a vampire. I wanted him to go crazy, and then… I was gonna leave. It wouldn’t be hard for me. I have a degree in hotel management, I can live anywhere in the world. Leaving just… wasn’t enough.” They watched him closely as he sank to lean his elbows on his knees. “Now I’ve summoned a demon by accident, and I‘m regretting feeling that way at all.” He sighed and Joulto sat back.

“Well… I can do a number of things, all you have to do is decide what you want and let me know.” They nodded and he nodded too in response.

“I just need some time to think about it.” He said.

“Of course! Just…” Joulto cringed again, they’d been doing that a lot with him. “Don’t take too long. We are kind of on a clock.” They informed him and he started to nod, but paused.

“Wait… a clock? What happens when the time runs out?” Joulto thought about it and shrugged. “You don’t know? Well… how long do we have?” Again, Joulto thought about the question and ended up shrugging with a small shake of their head.

“I’ve never actually hit the end, so I don’t know. I was told there’s a clock, but not what happens when you go over your time, or how long said time is.” They tapped a finger against the couch. “I also haven’t had anyone take more than a day to decide what they wanted after summoning me. Usually people do that with an idea in mind, and not by accident.” They waited while Matt thought, but the man shook his head once more.

“I don’t know. I still need time to think. Can you give me that?” They nodded and the man pushed off the couch. “Thank you. Now then,” He clapped. “Wanna order pizza? You’re here anyways, might as well feed you.” Joulto had never perked up so fast at the thought of food.

“Yes.”

Chapter 3

The first day was stressful. By the second, though, Matt had started to relax more around Joulto. He found that the demon, despite the apparent time limit, didn’t push him. They didn’t judge him for the little things that he did, either. Things that Derek had never liked. He’d even caught them wiping everything down after using it, to keep him comfortable, which he was more than a little grateful for. By the third day, Matt had come to accept the demon being in his home. Not only that, he had begun to expect them greeting him when he came home. It was nice to have that greeting again, even though he knew it wasn’t going to last.

A week went by before Joulto reminded him that they were on a timer. A cruel reminder when he was just starting to feel like himself again. However, it did get him thinking about what he wanted to do. Matt still wasn’t sure how much of his original plan he wanted to go through with. Did he drive Derek out of his mind and then stay in town? Should he leave right after making the deal? Or should he simply have Joulto help him forget after he left, allowing him to move on from Harker Point completely. The idea was tempting, moving from this small town and all of it’s gossip mongers to a bigger one with more anonymity. However, he’d also thought of completely wiping all of Derek’s memories. Nothing seemed fitting, though. Not yet, anyways.

The sound of his phone ringing snapped Matt out of his thoughtful daze. Looking down at the screen, he frowned before picking up. “Hey, Christian. What’s up?” There was a lot of noise on the other line; not static, but like his friend was somewhere busy.

“Hello?” The voice that answered him definitely wasn’t his friend, or former friend at least, Christian Randolph. It was much too deep, too graveled, too old sounding to be him. “Is this Matthew Argeto?” The voice asked and Matt froze, checking his caller ID once more to ensure that he hadn’t made a mistake. No, there it was, Christian’s name and number.

“Yes, this is him. Who is this?” He asked, expecting to hear the other person say that Christian had simply lost his phone. It had happened before, so he wouldn’t be surprised to hear it.

“This is Detective Kleeves with the Harker Point Police Department.” The man informed him and Matt nodded slowly.

“Ah, okay. I’ll come and get it for him, don’t worry.” He sighed, pushing off the couch and heading toward the front door to throw on some shoes.

“Sir, we do need you to come down to the station, but… I regret to inform you that Christian Randolph was found deceased in his home this morning.” Matt froze, his shoe only half on his foot. Staring in front of him, he opened his mouth to try and ask questions, but nothing came out. He reached a hand out and touched the nearest wall, steadying himself. “Mr. Argeto? Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry…” Matt forced himself to breathe, looking around himself slowly. Joulto had come from the living room to stand only a few feet away from him, holding a hand out for Matt to take if he needed, a look of concern furrowing their brow. “What did you say?” He asked and the detective cleared his throat.

“I am very sorry Mr. Argeto, but Mr. Randolph is dead.” The man on the other end of the line confirmed what he’d heard. Matt reached his hand out for Joulto, who didn’t hesitate to take it, letting him squeeze them as tightly as he needed. His stomach fell to the floor, while his heart leaped into the back of his throat. “We do have some questions for you, though, about Mr. Randolph. Would you please come down to the station so we can talk about it?” Matt nodded slowly for at least a solid minute before realizing the detective couldn’t actually see him.

“Yes. Yes, of course. I’m… uh… I’m on my way.” He said slowly. The detective confirmed it and they hung up, leaving Matt standing in the foyer, holding Joulto’s hand, and completely speechless.

The drive to the police station had been stressful as his mind roved over the various possibilities for the call. He had noticed a missed call from Christian the night before, but the other man hadn’t left a voice mail, and hadn’t messaged him either. He’d assumed, at the time, that the call had either been a butt dial, or something completely unimportant. He hadn’t thought of it until he’d received the call from the detective. At the station, they’d questioned him about the call and why he hadn’t answered, which was easily sorted out by the fact that the man had called at 1 AM. There was no way Matt was answering for anybody that late. They told him the very bare minimum about the case; that Christian had called him, and then a few hours later is when he’d died. They were even kind enough to tell him that his friend had died from some sort of animal attack, and warn him about locking his doors and windows and not being out later than absolutely necessary, because there might be a rabid bear on the loose. After that, he’d gone straight home, where Joulto was waiting for him with a million more questions.

“Tell me you didn’t do anything.” Matt looked at Joulto pleadingly. The demon drew back in a mix of confusion and insult.

“What? You think I did something to your friend?” They asked and Matt threw his hands up.

“I don’t know! You could have! I don’t know what you get up to while I’m asleep or at work, and I mean… I was mad at him for believing anything from Derek the last time we talked. But… just tell me that you didn’t do anything to him. Make me believe it.” He crossed his arms and stared down at them. They were sitting, cross-legged on the floor of the living room while he paced around. Joulto looked him directly in the eye, without blinking.

“I didn’t kill Christian. I have done nothing but hang around your house watching TV, reading every book on your bookshelf, and sleeping while you’re gone. I can’t do anything, until you make a choice.” They jabbed a finger in his direction, making Matt flinch. “While it’s convenient, I promise you that I didn’t even look at your friend, much less kill him.”

“So… you think it really was just an animal, like they said?” He asked cautiously and they sighed.

“Considering that this town is surrounded by wilderness… I think it’s a good bet.” They explained. Matt took a deep breath before sitting down beside them on the floor. The demon opened their mouth to speak, but didn’t get more than the first syllable out before a knock on the door interrupted them, and they both looked at the panel across the room. Peering out the window, he immediately groaned. Standing a bit taller than himself, with his short, perfectly coiffed, chestnut brown hair, and his picture perfect face, was Derek. His charismatic, lying, cheating, rumor spreading Ex.

“What does he want?” Matt sneered while Joulto focused on the man outside.

“Who’s that?” They asked as he turned back to the couch.

“My ex. You know, the whole reason I accidentally summoned you in the first place?” Before he could sit back down, the man was incessantly knocking on the door.

“Matt, I know you’re in there!” He called, and Matt couldn’t have possibly rolled his eyes harder. It was a shock they didn’t roll back in his head. “Come on, just… open the door. We have to talk!” Flopping himself back onto the couch, he tried to focus on the television in front of him, and ignore the pestering of his Ex. As Matt was reading the ticker scrolling at the bottom of the screen, the door clicked open behind him. It took a moment, but the second it registered, he was jumping off the couch to shut it before the other man could see Joulto.

“Can we help you with something?” Matt made it to the door just in time to find himself standing behind a man he didn’t recognize; at first. The voice was now all too familiar, though. A low rumble of a sound that slunk through his body to settle in the pit of his stomach like hot soup. He took in the vision in front of him; tall but, not as tall as they normally were, with short blond hair casually pushed out of their face. They were pretty too. The type of pretty that could make someone do a double take. Their dark brown eyes stared down at Derek with a look that bordered on disdain. Derek looked shocked as he blinked up at them before looking around them at where Matt stood.

“I-I’m here to talk to Matt.” He stumbled over his words a tiny bit. Joulto straightened their back and smiled down at him.

“Oh really? What makes you think he wants to talk to you, Derek?” The way they said his name slowly gave Matt a little rush. It had his Ex looking up at them, shivering before shifting uncomfortably to try and hide it.

“Look, a dear friend of ours just died and I need to talk to him, alright. None of this is your business anyway.” The man crossed his arms while Joulto simply watched him in the same hyper judgmental way. Setting his hand on their shoulder, Matt gave Joulto a small smile.

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” He said when they looked at him. They took a step back, but didn’t leave the entryway, standing behind him. “What do you want?” He asked and watched as the other man kept his eyes on Joulto.

“Already moved on, huh? Clearly you weren’t that torn up about it, were you?” Derek laughed, but it was strained. Matt, however, didn’t even smile.

“Well, you know, you moved on before even fucking me, so clearly neither of us was really that invested.” He huffed.

“Oh come on, Matt. Don’t be like that.” He cooed, but Matt wasn’t having it.

“What are you here for? Because if you’re just here to make jokes, you can get the fuck off my porch.” He waited for a minute while Derek looked back at Joulto again. “You have two minutes to talk before I call the cops for trespassing and harassment.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he waited again.

“Did you hear about what happened to Christian?” He finally asked and Matt nodded slowly.

“I was told about it.” He was going to ask how Derek had learned, but decided against it. It wouldn’t surprise him if they reached out to everyone Christian had called before he died.

“You didn’t…” Derek paused, looking him over. “You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?” Matt leaned away from the man in shock, his mouth gaping.

“Are you fucking serious?!” He was screaming before he knew it, and felt himself grabbed by a pair of strong arms from behind when he started to move. “You come here and accuse me of doing something to one of the only friends I kept after your little stunt?!”

“Well, what am I supposed to think when you fly off the handle like this?! I just know you were mad at him after he told you about the whole scandal you’re currently dealing with.” Derek crossed his arms in a huff while Matt barely missed kicking the man in his “crown jewels”.

“The scandal you started by spreading a fucking rumor about me!” He was pulled back and pushed into the house.

“It’s time for you to go.” Joulto informed Derek, but the man tried to hold his ground, sticking his chin out in defiance. “Now. Before I advise my client to sue you for defamation, trespassing and harassment.” Derek looked at them in utter shock. Without another word, but with a very loud “humph”, his Ex was practically running back to his car to drive off. Of course, Matt still had more questions than answers when it came to the man, but he decided they were questions best left unasked. Joulto turned around and returned inside, where Matt was waiting for them with a myriad of questions.

Chapter 4

A few more days passed in the blink of an eye. Matt got a few more calls from Derek trying to make peace with him in an effort to cover his own ass. Joulto was pleased when Matt wasted no time blocking his Ex-boyfriend. It was Saturday, sometime in the afternoon, when Matt came out into the living room to sit with them in silence. Looking at the man where he was seated, they noticed instantly that something about him was different.

“Matt? Are you alright?” They asked, watching as he stared out the window in front of him.

“Joulto?” He asked and they hummed curiously. “What happens when I decide and we make the deal?” Growing serious, they leaned against the couch with a deep breath.

“Well… I’ll initialize it and, depending on what the deal is about, is what will happen. Usually it will give us a sign to indicate that it worked. The signs go along with the decision made, so… if you decide you want to flood the town, it’ll start to rain.” Matt nodded along as they explained, but they both grew silent for a long moment once they were done.

“So, what would happen if, say… everyone in town suddenly forgot something all at once.” Still, Matt didn’t look at them. Joulto thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

“I’m not sure. It’s different every time, even if it’s something pretty common. Though, I haven’t had anyone ask for such a thing.” They watched him closely, taking in all of the little things that he was doing. The way he was tapping a finger, how he was looking out the window with no light in his eyes, the slow and steady pace of his breathing. All of it indicated to them that Matt was calm, but a little nervous. “You know what you want to do, don’t you?” Joulto asked softly, and the man nodded slowly. There was a small pang of sadness that shot through Joulto’s chest, and even though they tried to dispel it, the feeling lingered. Swallowing the lump in their throat, Joulto nodded. “Okay… what is it?” They asked with a smile, but Matt shook his head.

“When this is done… you’ll leave, right?” The question was said softly. Joulto nodded.

“Yes. I’ll have to go back to the ring of Hell I came from.” Joulto said, and Matt stopped his tapping at the answer.

“What will you get in return?” Finally, Matt looked up at them. His voice was strained, choked by the emotion that was currently hiding behind his pretty green eyes. They let the emotion weigh heavily through them, mixing with their own until they were on the verge of tears.

“One step closer to freedom.” They answered, the thought of such a thing now seeming obscene. Matt frowned and tilted his head curiously. “I wasn’t always a demon. I was human, once… years ago.” They watched the brunette’s face melt into shock.

“What?!” The single word was so aggressively yelled, Matt had leaned forward when he did. They gave him a sad smile and looked down at their hands; large, clawed, pale. They were Joulto’s hands, not his.

“I was a warlock from an old family of magic practitioners. My ancestors managed to escape the witch trials, and I found one of their grimoires. I thought it would be fun to try something out. So, I chose a demon in it named Joulto, and I summoned him. When it worked, I was so excited that I didn’t actually pay attention to any of the terms, and I asked for something ridiculous.” Matt shifted quickly, his eyes gleaming.

“What did you ask for?” He asked and they shook their head.

“It was stupid.” They laughed nervously, but Matt leaned in closer.

“Please? Come on! I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” He laughed and they sighed.

“I came from a time when you got married by twenty and had kids by thirty. Sure, the world was changing bit by bit but… I was thirty-one and lonely. I summoned Joulto and asked him for love.” They sighed, turning their eyes back down to the ground between their legs. “Joulto even told me that it was a hard thing. They told me it would take time, and require a lot from me and I still said yes.” Something they regretted to this day. The original Joulto had played them; promising they’d get love like this, but they’d seen through the ruse after the first few years. “The deal was that, I would take their place and they would take mine until I found the love I wanted. Then we’d switch back, but… that was fifty-five years ago. Obviously, they ran off with my now immortalized body, and I got stuck doing this. All in the hopes of falling in love.” Looking over at Matt, they found him biting his lip hard enough to leave behind teeth marks. “What?” The brunette slid a bit closer, until they were only a few inches away from each other.

“When was the last time you… you know?” Joulto tried to remember, but even they couldn’t. They shrugged, but they could already see where Matt was taking this. It was definitely a direction they would agree too. “Maybe that can be my payment? My gift to you, before all of this ends.” Shifting, they leaned even closer. “Just once?” Matt breathed.

“Just once.” They replied.

The moment their lips touched, Joulto was ravenous for more. Within seconds, the two were clawing at each other; fingers burying in locks of hair, hands pawing over one another’s stomachs and chests, while teeth nipped at lips, necks, shoulders. Anywhere they could touch each other was free game. The moment they could, Joulto was kissing a trail over the man’s abs and following the thin trail of hair that dipped under the band of his pants. They managed to get Matt’s pants unbuttoned, but not much farther before their lover was telling them to stop. “If you’re having second thoughts, I understand-“ They started, but Matt shook his head.

“The bedroom. We should move to the bedroom. I have a feeling we’re gonna make a mess, and it’s easier to clean the bed.” He panted. They nodded at his sound logic and quickly scooped him up off the floor, only putting him down on his own feet at the edge of the bed. Before anything else, they wanted a taste of him. Spinning the brunette so they could lean him over the side, Joulto knelt to get the perfect position. Matt didn’t fight back in anyway, but instead bent for him, even helped push his pants down below his hips until they dropped to the floor at his feet. At this point, they were salivating for a taste, dripping from their unclothed cock in preparation. The first drag of their long tongue against the tight ring gained them the most heavenly sound from their lover. It was such a good sound that they knew they would need to hear it again and again, so they set to work.

By the time they were ready to penetrate him, Matt was begging for more; for something inside him to ease the ache. Standing, Joulto wrapped their hand around the base of their cock, and pressed the tip against the brunette’s entrance. Leaning down, they both braced themselves before Joulto was thrusting their hips forward. Working the head of their member inside was difficult, but they didn’t hear any noises from their lover to indicate they didn’t want it. In fact, the man was pushing his hips back into Joulto the moment they stopped, demanding they keep going. “Joulto, please!” He begged, sending the tiniest rush through them. Another thrust forward and their lover was melting beneath them. Over and over, they pressed on until they were fully buried inside him. By that point, the man was clinging to the bedding, crying out Joulto’s name.

“You’re so needy, your body is practically strangling me, and I’ve just gotten in.” They hummed, leaning down until they could kiss Matt’s shoulders. Their lover moaned at the small touch, reaching back behind him until he could grab Joulto’s hair to tug slightly.

“You’re so… big.” Matt panted and they smiled. Pulling back rubbed the man against every sensitive little spot along their cock, making them moan. Delving back inside the brunette, Joulto wondered why they’d waited so long for such a blissful thing. Matt felt perfect; the right amount of warmth and pressure. Falling into a rhythm, they wound up pressing down on their lover’s back to hold him in place while they took what they wanted, and he screamed orders for them the entire time. They felt the end nearing when the pit of their stomach began to twist and warm. In a breath, Joulto was fully enveloped in their lover, spilling their seed while Matt did the same against the bed. “Fuck! Yes!” The man screamed, rocking with Joulto until every last drop was shed. As they started to come down from the high, moving to lay on the bed properly and wrap around each other, Matt sighed. “Maybe we wait for a few more days?” Joulto agreed without hesitation.

Chapter 5

They put it off for several more days, while Matt listened for any updates about Christian’s death. The police confirmed that it was an animal attack and funeral dates were set, but something still felt off to him. During that time, several pre-Derek friends came to him with some interesting stories. Apparently, since his visit the other day, Derek had tried to convince everyone that Matt was not just gay, but secretly married to a lawyer from out of town. It was so ridiculous that people had stopped believing him altogether.

Once they were good and ready, and had spent the time Matt was at home making him question if he would be able to walk the next day, they made a plan. That Saturday, just after sunset, they left the house and headed to the nearby cemetery. “How long has this place been here?” Joulto asked as the two made their way down a worn dirt path that started just passed the wrought iron gates.

“Uh, centuries?” Matt laughed, looking around at the many crumbling and now illegible stones. “It’s been here since shortly after the town was settled. A lot of these are miners who died in cave ins. Eventually, they started listening to the Tommyknockers.” Joulto frowned as they climbed a small hill and rounded a large tree. The forest was slowly creeping back into the cemetery, so several trees had planted roots throughout it and grown well over two stories.

“Tommyknockers?” They asked, their expression screaming skepticism.

“Yeah, Tommyknockers.” Matt nodded before looking at them and seeing their face. “They’re a sort of mythical creature around here. They knock on the walls of mines to warn miners of cave ins and such.” He shrugged. “Helpful little monsters.” Joulto nodded slowly. Matt looked down at the duffel bag slung over his shoulder filled with items they would need. Things like candles, salt, the stones that they had informed him were required, and even a dagger for purposes that Joulto had yet to tell him about. “Do we really need all of this?” Glancing beside him, he watched them nod.

“It’s all necessary, I promise.” They confirmed as they found the tree line. “Where does this lead?” They motioned to the forest and Matt shrugged.

“I don’t know… probably one of the old mines, or…” Looking up at the familiar mountains of his childhood, he pursed his lips. “Most likely Park Range, the mountains.” The demon nodded along. After finding a spot, they pulled out all of their equipment and got everything set up.

“Remind me again… what is it you’re wanting?” They asked as Matt lit the candles and ensured that they wouldn’t somehow fall and start a fire.

“I just want everyone to forget that any of this ever happened. The relationship with Derek, the rumors, me telling the truth… I just want all of it gone.” He sighed.

“You know that you’ll still remember, right?” They watched him with a serious expression, the dark brown eyes of their facade piercing.

“Yeah, I figured as much, but I’ll be able to live my life without worrying about people talking behind my back.” Matt pushed off the ground and smiled. “I just want to leave this town with some peace of mind.” They nodded in their understanding and looked at the circle. “So… are we doing this?” Again, Joulto nodded. His demonic lover stepped inside the circle and moved to stand in the center while Matt surrounded it in salt, trapping them there. Holding their hands out, they closed their eyes and took a deep breath while Matt watched, his stomach twisting with anxiety. Joulto focused on the task, leaving the two standing in complete silence with nothing but the wind and night sounds. They flexed their fingers, pressing the blade to their palm and opened their mouth, as if to speak, but stopped with a frown. A moment later, Matt heard the soft sound that he could only assume Joulto had heard first. The shifting of soil, a light thumping sound coming from under the earth that was quickly drowned out by the strain of grass as it was ripped from the ground. As something clawed it’s way out of the dirt. Joulto dropped their arms and looked around behind Matt, before he turned to do the same. A quick glance over his shoulder felt more like a nightmare than weeks before when he’d accidentally summoned a demon in his living room. At least they had flesh and weren’t grimy bones, dripping in dirt crawling toward him. His horror came with a stumble backwards, destroying the circle and knocking over a candle that immediately lit the grass.

“Let’s go!” Joulto grabbed him and dragged him off toward the forest. As they passed through the tree line, Matt quickly lost sight of the cemetery, the small fire that had begun from the candle he’d toppled and the living dead that had been coming for them.

The thick trees didn’t even allow him to see the night sky, much less anything in front of him. More than once, Matt almost tripped over lifted roots as he was dragged behind Joulto. After what had to be ten minutes, Matt pulled his hand away and grabbed the nearest tree for balance. Gasping for air, he fought the need in his body to vomit as the world spun slightly. “Where… where are we going?” The question was panted the moment he was even remotely close to catching his breath.

“I don’t know.” Joulto replied, looking back in what Matt assumed was the direction they’d come from. “I don’t know this area, I just ran.” He shook his head and straightened himself.

“Are you serious? Big scary demon raises the dead, only to turn around and run from it?” He huffed.

“I didn’t do that.” They said, emphasizing every word with a clawed finger jabbed in his direction.

“Joulto, don’t think I’m stupid now. You got in the circle, you did something with your arms, and then the dead rose out of the their graves! That’s kind of damning, don’t you think?” Matt crossed his arms, but in the blink of an eye, the demon was in his face. Black eyes stared down at him with an intensity that went straight to the pit of his stomach.

“I didn’t do anything.” They reiterated. “All I did was lift my arms. In order to do anything, I would need to speak.” They hissed and Matt crossed his arms. “Besides, you wanted people to forget, right? What does raising the dead have to do with that?!” Matt’s resolve crumbled at that. They’d even told him ahead of time that the indicators would have something to do with the deal itself. What did zombies have to do with the town losing one single memory? He slowly nodded and deflated.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I just… you have to admit, it looks a little suspect, right?” They thought for a second before tilting their head in agreement.

“True. It is a pretty convenient time for something like that to happen, but… I haven’t done that in….” They simply exhaled to indicate how long it had been. At first, Matt nodded, and then their words actually sank in.

“Wait… what?!” Joulto leaned back a bit when he yelled looking around them nervously. “What do you mean you ‘haven’t done that’? You’re making it sound like you’ve raised the dead before!” They sighed and dragged their fingers through their long blond hair.

“I used to do it when I was… me. It was one of the requirements for us to be called Warlocks, back then. The ability to do necromancy, but not the exclusivity of it. If we just did things like that, we were called Necromancers, but just knowing it wasn’t the defining nature of it.” They held a hand out to him and he reluctantly took it.

“So… you used to do it for like… clients or something?” He tried and they laughed.

“I used to do it for fun! I was fifteen or so, of course I was doing it for fun!” They carefully guided him over the terrain and back towards the cemetery. “Let’s go back and I’ll see if I can put them back in their graves. I haven’t done it in a while, but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember how.” Matt hummed.

“So, you just got scared of them because….” He teased and they rolled their eyes.

“If you suddenly had one of your old college professors walking up to you out of the blue, looking angry, would you be excited to see them? Even if you’d liked them before?” Matt instantly shivered at the thought and shook his head. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” They laughed again. “I just needed to process what was going on.” Reaching the opening that lead out to the cemetery, they peered out where the moonlight could finally illuminate everything, and stopped in their tracks. Nothing. There were no zombie skeletons walking or crawling, no upheaval of dirt, no fire. In fact, the circle had been set back up perfectly, just without the salt. As though they hadn’t even gotten that far.

“What the fuck?” Matt whispered, stepping out of the trees to get closer to the circle with Joulto in tow.

“Seriously?” The new voice made them both jump. “I’m gonna need that body back eventually, you know.” Turning, Matt focused on the shadow standing just off to the side of the circle, leaning casually against a tree. Surprisingly, they looked exactly like Joulto’s human disguise; tall, blond, pretty; all of the things the demon had worn to fool others. He frowned, but Joulto stepped in front of him, their entire body tense.

“You.” They whispered, staring at the man in shock.

“Well? Didn’t I say I’d give you what you wanted? Now you’ve found it, so it’s time to go back. Though… clearly you’re going to have to relearn your old abilities again. Guess it’s been just long enough, hasn’t it?” The blond glanced at the now fixed graves pointedly, and they both looked at them in shock. “It’s like you’re a teenager again! How fun!” They clapped their hands and turned their attention to Matt. “Now then… what was it you wanted, again?”

The real Joulto, the same demon who had spent the last five and a half decades in a now immortalized human body, was able to complete the deal for Matt just as promised. His Joulto, whose real name was Gene, later explained to Matt that the deal had been “free” because it had counted as one of Gene’s requirements, due to his own deal with Joulto overlapping with it. When the deal was done, before Joulto could leave, they made sure that something happened to confirm what he’d asked for. In minutes, Matt had received a call from a friend he’d lost to the rumors Derek had spread. She was under the impression that Matt would be meeting all of his old friend group at a bar in the next town. He’d politely declined, of course.

After Joulto’s departure, Gene lived with Matt while he got everything in order. Starting with Christian’s funeral and affairs, as he’d left all of his things to Matt for some reason. The investigation into Christian’s death turned up only a handful of anomalies, but the police stood by their claim that it had been an animal attack and even released a statement telling people to be wary. It still didn’t feel right, but everyone else in town moved on quickly, so Matt only voiced his suspicions to Gene, who agreed that the whole situation had been odd. Though, they also reminded him that what had been done was done, and couldn’t be reversed without consequences, so they should leave it alone.

It took Matt and Gene a year to get everything sorted out, but they were able to leave Harker Point without a single regret. He quit his job at the hotel and they took a trip across the state in search of something better. Something new for them both. Once they found it, all he had to do was sell his house and move, and Gene didn’t hesitate to join him.

“That’s the last of them.” Gene huffed, dropping the last, large box in the middle of the living room. The apartment was a decent sized two bedroom, two bath with a nice big kitchen. Enough space for them both, even if they were sharing a bed most nights. They dropped onto the couch beside Matt and smiled with tired excitement. Such a charming smile that Matt couldn’t help but smile back.

“Food?” He asked and they dropped their head back with a groan.

“Pizza?”

“Pizza.” He agreed and started searching through his phone for the nearest pizzeria. He was in the middle of placing the online order when there was a knock on the door. Glancing at Gene, they both frowned, and looked to the door.

“Did you park shittier than we thought?” They asked and Matt smacked their arm.

“No, I didn’t! I parked that motherfucking truck beautifully!” He jumped off the couch and moved to the door, swinging it open to greet the person beyond. He was good looking, and painfully familiar. Matt’s smile quickly faded as the man gave him a devilish grin.

“Hey Matt,” Derek said. “Did you miss me?”