Opposite halves

On guard

“You're playing with me, aren't you demon?” said between worried chuckles Khalid.

“You think I'm some kind of clown sent to make you laugh? Mentioned sharply the unknown demon in that dark room.

“Nononono, this is.... WHAT HAPPENED?” I protest sitting on the floor with my hands in my hair. “Can this be reversed, TELL ME!”

“No!”

“God, no, what did I just do?” shouting in anger between his teeth, then a silence between whimpers.

“There may be a solution” Said the demon looking at Khalid in concert.

“Really? REALLY?” Khalid replied shouting as he got up from the floor approaching the demon with small, timid steps.

“Yes, you're going to sell the other half of your soul to another demon from the book you have lying back there.” Pointed the demon at that book with his thin, long hand.

“The, the other half, I mean, all of it? Said the boy in a confused and worried voice.

“Yes, isn't it obvious, if you make up your mind quickly I can recommend one for you, shall I?”

The unknown demon raised his hand towards the book, causing it to float towards him in a slow manner. Khalid watched this very strangely, he stood looking at it with still, trembling hands. What is this, demons have magic, he wondered in the voice in his head.

“Well, you've made up your mind, haven't you? “exclaimed the demon dipping his index finger with some of his saliva to find a specific page. “¿Y?” He said as he scowled at Khalid.

“...Ah- ah, no” Khalid replied with a negative and frightened tone. “I don't want all my soul to be with the devil, no no no no, I don't want that, perchance you would want..... Oh, well, I don't even need to ask you. I look at the demon turning my eyes away raising my eyebrows.

“Do you think you're some kind of stupid clown?” he said. He grumbled “So what then?”.

“So?” I already told you I don't want to sell my whole soul.”

“Fine, I'm not going to force you or tempt you, I don't care what you do with your soul.”

That demon crossed his legs and dropped the book on a small nightstand.

“Yes, and now, WHAT WILL I DO WITH A DEMON AS A BODYGUARD?” Exclaimed the worried boy.

“Who said I'm your f*****g bodyguard?” approached the demon with long strides towards Khalid. “I will not be like dog attached to a b***h in heat with you, I will only be there when I see it necessary to protect you” Explained the demon.

“What, you will allow them to do me some kind of harm and you will see if it is necessary to help me? He asked absurdly, taking two steps back before the demon came any closer.

“Exactly.” He replied.

“But how will you know I need help.”

“I'll see your future.”

“Excuse me?” he exclaimed in surprise. “You can see the future?...That, that's impressive, I didn't know demons could do that.”

“How do you think every plan in politics works out?” said the demon moving his shoulders from side to side as if dancing.

“Hahaha, yeah... Wait what? You guys have to see on that-” He interrupted.

The demon covered Khalid's lips with his two fingers as a sign of silence.

“Ah, yes, we haven't introduced ourselves, my name is Gemory” He raised his elegant left hand in greeting.

“Ah, nice to meet you, my name is Khalid” He extended his hand to answer the greeting.

“Good, apparently you've calmed down already.”

“No, now I have to see where to work, it's the only clear solution, I think.” He replied worriedly. “Wait a moment” Making Gemory turn her head to wait for his word. “Am I going to have nightmares about hell or something?”

“What? “Where do you come up with such stupid things?” the demon retorted giving Khalid a dirty look.

“I, I heard some stories of people selling their souls to the devil and that happens to them.” He replied looking sheepishly at the Gemory demon.

“Point one, I'm not the “devil ”Holding up his fingers like quotation marks in the air. “And point number two, no, you won't have nightmares, the ones doing that are the demons themselves trying to f**k you over.” Explained Gemory “I won't do that, it's too boring.”

Gemory sat back down in the same chair as before, picking the gunk out of her nails with her teeth. While Khalid was just thinking what had happened in these short minutes. Let's call the roll.

One. He summoned an attractive demon.

Two. He sold half of his soul to that demon.

Three. He had a conversation that only in fictional movies exists.

Four. He didn't do well and now he has no money, though this must be point three.

He looked at Gemory from where he was, he started to sort out everything he had done. It was late at night now and he was sleepy.

“Well, you satan's servant, are you going to stay in that chair all night?” He asked.

“Ah, I guess so, are you going to bed?”.

“Yes, yes. I was just asking why, I don't know if you'd like a blanket or something. He suggested.

“Are you nice to a demon?”

“Well yes, you're like a guest here, aren't you? I wish you were comfortable, since you're going to be taking care of me and such. Oh, let me look for one that's clean. Said Khalid as he was about to leave for one, before Gemory tells him.

“No, don't go for anything, I'm fine like this” He said in a cold tone.

“You sure? Easy, if I have a clean one, I'll go-”.

“What no, I'm fine like this, kid.”

“Ah, well, okay... I'll just go to my room” He replied pointing towards his bed.

“Yeah.”

“Ok... goodnight, I guess, I don't know hahaha, bye. Khalid walked and locked the door as he is still afraid of having a demon in his little bachelor room.

“What an i***t hermit, why did he give it up to me?” He's unbearable, Gemory thought.

...

The next day, Khalid couldn't sleep, he was deep in thought about what he was going to do and more afraid of having Gemory in the house. What was going on he said. He got up at seven in the morning and opened his door very slowly so as not to wake his demoniac guest. He came out and he was asleep, cross-legged, is that possible? He looked comfortable, someday he was going to try it. Seven and thirteen minutes, he was still watching the demon, he was so attractive, like a movie actor. He mentioned that he chose to be like that, lucky demons he thought. It was time for breakfast, and to go out to look for a part-time job so that he wouldn't interfere with his classes.And a doubt came to his mind, what do demons eat? He remembered a series and apparently they like human flesh, that's why he didn't sleep at all. What if he woke him up to ask him?he thought.She moved even closer than she was, next to him and breathed through her nose hard.She was going to touch his shoulder with her hand, but then she reconsidered if she was taking a risk and if she would die. She ran silently into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest fork she had and started poking fearfully, while saying quietly.

“Wake up... Hey, you.” Crouched down and away.“What are you doing?”“Oh, hi, good morning, you're awake” He said smiling at her with his lips inside.

“Yeah, what are you doing with that fork, were you stinging me with that?”.“Ah, yeah, I just didn't know how you would react...”.

“Like anyone else to being woken up with a fork” She said sarcastically, looking at him with rolling eyes.“Oh yeah, uh...Oh yeah, what do you want for breakfast?”.“Breakfast?”

“Sure, it's too late now, we should eat” Khalid said with his hands clasped together by his waist.“You know that no matter what you do your soul will still be mine don't you.” Gemory replied as he shook out his black wool synthetic fabric wool coat that kept him comfortable and cool.“Yes I know” The boy pointed out ”it's just that since you'll be living here, I'm curious what they eat of yours...”

“Ah, the last time I ate something here was in 1873, what a big crisis we caused back then, what do I remember, so many bank accounts done in shit.” Smiled and guffawed Gemory.“Yeah, yeah haha-” Khalid not even aware.

In 1873, the world economy collapsed, starting with the financial panic in Vienna.The bursting of speculative bubbles in railroads and real estate, along with industrial overproduction, led to a prolonged and widespread recession, known as the Great Depression of 1873-1896.I look at Khalid the Gemory demon proud of that frightening feat, his hazel eyes even greener than usual, lost in those memories that hopefully would never happen again.“Ehm... So... what do you want to eat? Khalid asked.“Eat?He replied “Ah, yes” he remembered.Do you have sausages?All of it.“Ok, just that?“Yes.”

“Okay, I'm going to the store right now to .... Oops, I don't have any cash.”Said the child apologetically.

“You think I'll give you money? I'm not for that, you know that.”

“Yeah well, I'm going to the nearest ATM around the corner here and I'll go to the bakery.” He said as he readied his big old brown coat.

Khalid was getting ready to go outside, Gemory felt a bad feeling, she decided to see the future about ten minutes later. She saw how the poor boy was being murdered by a thief who was ready to stab him in the chest, because the fool didn't want to give him the money he had taken and that no one would help him, in that street where he had lived for more than three years it was nobody's place. What a bore, he thought, he had to plan how to kill that outlaw without being too obvious.

“I will accompany you” Said the demon standing up from chair so comfortable where he was.

“Ah, okay, I won't be long, hahaha.”

Poor boy or lucky boy, he would say, he was going to be murdered that day, what an opportune time to have summoned a demon hours before. They closed the apartment door, went down in the elevator, while Khalid didn't know what to talk about than uncomfortable minutes of tension. While the demon didn't give a damn whether to talk or not, he only went down to do his duty. They left that building that from afar seemed abandoned. Walking through the dirty and dusty streets, what luck not to have entered a corpse was not lying somewhere, although very soon it was going to be. On the way, Gemory saw a construction site in the middle of the street out of the corner of his eye, he also observed the bad guy wandering through the same streets, he was totally dressed in black, you could see that he had golden blond hair, thinner than the budget of a student. It was clear that he was drugged, not everyone walked looking up without looking to their sides to avoid bumping into someone.

Suddenly the thief perceived Khalid, entering the small place where there were only two cashiers and the glass door was about to break. It was obvious that he was going to withdraw money, he didn't know how much, but he wanted it. He moved to the other sidewalk where the construction site was nearby, hiding in some brown bushes. It's about time, thought Gemory, he had the ostensible idea.

And it happened.

“Well, wait for me here I'll be right out.” Said Khalid entering the ATM.

“Get to work” Gemory whispered.

She perched on a wall not so far away, there was still the junkie waiting in the bushes. Gemory raised her index finger, moving a misplaced piece of metal from a column of that construction that should have been finished months ago. And it fell, in those measly seconds, she looked up at the guy who was crushed by that piece of metal that weighed more than a hundred kilos. First it fractured his neck, then by inertia it fell on top of his head crushing every little piece of brain he let go.

“f**k, it landed a little in my pants” The demon complained. “How can someone so skinny have so much blood?”.

“There, I got the money- WHAT JUST HAPPENED!” shouted Khalid paralyzed before such a bloody scene. did you do this?!

“Yes” He said as he looked at the body.

“BUT WHY?!!!!”.

“Work, whatever, let's go now, I'm hungry.”

He replied

“This is very shocking, I should call the ambulance.”

“Why, do you even see him still alive?”She stressed.

“No, but... to the police then.”

“Don't waste your time, no one would have done it for you.”“What?” the boy asked.

“Forget it, I'm hungry.”I look at Khalid. “Shall we go?”He couldn't believe what had just happened, and what he had just done, leaving a dead body in the middle of the street without telling anyone or having done anything else. They turned and continued on their way to the bakery.“Hey, that was pretty... creepy” Said the boy trembling. “Trust me, I've only seen it in movies.”

“I'm shocked too” He replied.“Oh, you shocked, as a demon you must have seen thousands, millions of corpses worse than that.” He insisted.“Well no, I had never seen a corpse in my life, I organized murders, massacres, but I didn't see those bodies.”

“That's strange, and why didn't you see them?”.“It wasn't my area” He replied ‘Look at that’ He pointed with his hand.“AHHHH! that's an....EYE?” he shouted letting out a mumbling groan.“Yeah, it looks like it” Gemory said as she approached that blue colored eye with blood residue. “Funny, it rolled right over here” She grabbed it with her fingernails.

“Agh! Let go of that, it's gross.” Complained the boy.

“Oh yeah?Gemory said as she slowly approached the boy.“What are you doing?Get that away from my horny spirit from hell.He warned.

Gemory threw the blue eye of that drug addicted boy at Khalid. He was laughing so hard inside that he couldn't help but let out a chuckle after committing that mischievous prank. After Khalid's screams to avoid being touched by that eye, a few minutes passed. They arrived home after experiencing such situations only found in a book of phantasmagoric tales.

With the light from the window, eight in the morning, there was no sun because of the winter season, sitting at the same small table that approximately four people could fit there, where there were never more than three.Khalid was not so much of friends, he was a nice but strange guy. A boiling kettle that made the boy get up to turn it off and make the coffee. The demon staring into the void with his pants still stained with blood, I have no clothes, I must go shopping, he thought. What a vain demon.

“How many spoons do you want for your coffee? Khalid asked.

“Two” He replied.

“Here, move it.”

“You'll go looking for work later, won't you? The demon asked as he ate a loaf of bread with fried sausages.

“Yeah, I've already got it figured out where to go, like the store next door, the mall they're looking for an assistant in the shoe section and I think there's one in the library too-” The demon interrupted.

“I don't care where you go to work, on the damn corner, if that's the case, I don't care.” He sipped his cup of coffee. “Just let me know when you find one and what hours you'll be on.”

“Ah, ok, yeah.” Khalid said as he sat down next to the demon at that small old table. “Hey, you should go get something for this house too, though.” He proposed to the demon with eyes sunken into him.”

“Are we really that bad off?”

“It's just not fair and-”

“Ok, I'll pay for breakfast.” Gemory replied in a growling voice.

“Sounds perfect to me.” She smiled. At two o'clock I'll go find some work.”

Hi, I'm the author, sorry if it doesn't have good grammar, I'm translating it from Spanish to English to have more support. Thanks for your attention.