“Serve me mortal, and I shall reward you greatly.”
Harry spun around, looking for the source of the seductive voice that had suddenly appeared in his bedroom laboratory. Desks covered with scattered papers and boxes stacked to the ceiling all made for easy hiding places, but Harry didn’t have to search behind them for the voice. He saw it at once, reflected in the mirror that hung over his unkempt bed: a hovering shadow in the center of the room, visible only in the mirror’s reflection.
“What are you?” Harry choked out.
“Whatever you want me to be, for whatever you want to do. For that gift I ask of you only one thing.”
“No,” Harry said, his voice trembling but resolute, “I know you monster. You are Satan!”
“Sharon actually, but close enough.” The spectre folded her immaterial arms. “I take it that any deals are off the table then?”
“Away with you foul demon! My soul is safe in the bosom of the Lord, for he is my shepherd and my master!” Harry crossed himself as he continued to recite any lines he felt potent enough to cast away a being of pure evil.
“pfft. Fine, suit yourself.” Sharon had enough experience to see when a soul wasn’t worth her effort, and she left Harry to his devotions. She passed through the bedroom window as if she didn’t exist, which she currently didn’t, and floated high enough to get a good lay of the land. Harry’s apartment building was one of several located nearby the campus for students. Beside the campus was a small mainstreet of stores bordered by rows of quaint houses for teachers and locals. Beyond that was rolling mountains and forest for as far as the eye could see.
This wasn’t the first time Sharon had survived the complete eradication of herself and her entire world, but it wasn’t the sort of thing one could get used to. Unless she wanted to rattle pots and slam doors for the rest of eternity she’d need a new body. And where better to get one than a clustering of emotionally fragile young adults totally unprepared to survive in the world. “Mmmmmm,” Sharon said as she licked her ethereal lips, “Freshmen.”
Wed Sep 11 04:11:55 2013