8.

  A day of driving.

  Near dusk, Twilight.

  The Crossroads.

  In the middle of nowhere Nebraska, Joseph and Xisira found the intersection of two roads just at dusk. They got out of the car and approached the meeting place at the crossroads.

  “We’re pretty far out, we shouldn’t be bothered,” Joseph said, turning to Xisira, “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Xisira nodded, reaching into her pocket for the vial of her father’s blood, “You just need a few dabs,” she said, “Do you have something to cut yourself with?” she asked. Joseph pulled up a dagger, one made from Damascus steel, a gift from his former mentor.

  “So how do I do this, just make a cut and mix our blood, let it drop on the crossroads?” he asked.

  “That should be all you need to do, that will summon him, that’s how you make a demon pact,” she said.

  Joseph took a deep breath and looked upon this innocent and amazing woman who seemed to want nothing more than peace, and to bring joy into his life. He took the dagger and made a small slit on the back of his hand. He took the vial of blood and dripped a few drops of demon blood on his cut to mix with his own. He turned his hand upside down and held it over the center of the crossroads.

  “So how long does this take?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, I’ve never seen something like this done,” Xisira said. Just then the ground began to shake. Joseph looked down and the patch of ground he dripped the mixed blood on began to open, slowly at first, then wider as he stepped back and gave the crater room.

  A black and near deformed hand clawed its way out of the crater, pulling a body of a demon out. Just from looking at it, Joseph could tell that Xisira definitely didn’t get her looks from her father’s side of the family. The creature clawing its way out of the below appeared as a nightmare to him. Four beady black eyes. Instead of a mouth an odd kind of beak with four mandibles, it had six arms that Joseph could see, two large ones, and four smaller appendages under them.

  The creature turned to Xisira, “Daughter, you have done it,” it said. Its voice was raspy and ethereal, it didn’t feel to Joseph like the words were coming from what he would call its mouth, but rather from this kind of shake that went through the air.

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  “I did, we did it, we’re free, father,” Xisira approached him, she reached out with a trembling hand and caressed the carapace of the demon, “This is Joseph, he helped me escape, we,” she looked at Joseph, “We just wanted to help you, I knew you said there would be no way I could convince a hunter, but I did,” she smiled.

  “You have done well child,” the voice reverberated through the air, he turned to Joseph, “My daughter must think highly of you, I thank you for your aid,” it said.

  “You want out of the war right? You’re here peacefully?” Joseph asked.

  “Of course he is, right father,” Xisira looked down at the demon.

  “I do indeed wish for an end to this conflict,” it said, “I thank you for your service hunter, but I’ve works to do in this world,” he turned to Xisira, “You have done well child, go and live whatever life you wish, I’ve works to attend,” it said.

  “Works? What are you talking about,” she said, “I thought you just wanted out, you told me your works were done,” she said, “Father, this is a time for peace, remember what you told me, about ending the war,” she said.

  “This war will not end by our hands, it is not our place to question it,” it turned it’s grotesque head back to Joseph, “I thank you for your aid, and I offer you no temptation to lead you to the below, but I must do the works I was meant for,” it said.

  “No, father, you’re not meant to do any work, not anymore,” Xisira said, her breath picking up, Joseph could tell she was a bit worried at the words her father was saying, “We don’t have to do our works anymore, that was the whole point of getting out, remember what you told me, the nice little house, a place we could live in peace,” she said.

  “Peace was never an option, you will come to see the need for our works in time,” the scales and carapace on the demon's back began to shift and open, and a foursome of insect-like wings sprouted from it, “I apologize, it was not her that mislead you, hunter,” he said.

  “What are you saying?” Joseph asked.

  “That it was you who helped my daughter, that it is you she has taken favor to, you will be spared, you have done a great thing for the Below, you have brought this war closer to its end, just not the end you think,” the wings began to flap, and the demon rose into the air.

  Xisira gasped, “Father, no, please, you told me you just wanted a life out of the below, we have that now, there’s no reason to continue any works that the below settled you with,” she said, “Father, please,” she said again.

  “I apologize, child, when you are more in your years, and when you see the true nature of our kind, you will understand,” he said as he flew into the air, his speed picking up and catching a tailwind as he darted away through the sky behind the setting sun.

  Joseph turned to Xisira, “What was he saying, what works, what happened, what did you do?” he asked.

  “I, I don’t know, he told me he just wanted freedom,” Xisira grabbed her temples, “I should have known, Joseph, I’m so sorry I should have known,” she said, “I knew that it was too good to be true,” she looked up at him, “He used us, he used both of us,” she said.

  “If he starts any trouble, Hunters will find him,” Joseph said, wanting to console her, “Once he gets a taste of a real fight, he might rethink these so-called works he was talking about,” he said.

  “You’re right, if he tries anything, the Hunters will stop him,” Xisira looked down, “Right,” she said, looking back up to Joseph with pleading eyes.

  “I’m sure,” he said, “Let’s go back to the hotel, it’s late, let's sleep on this, if anything happens we’ll know, and we’ll be able to stop him,” he said.