And that was why he was there burying that box in the crossroad. The small, green box that reminded him of Marcus's eyes. It was rather chilly, but the brush of the wind against his face was slightly calming as he finished a hole with sufficient room for the box. He thought that maybe wherever Jose was he would appreciate it.
He placed his picture next to the one Jose put because he did not want him to be alone; after all, Aaron knew the emotion all too well to wish it to anybody.
Aaron never thought that a demon would appear. After he finished burying the box, he stood, turned, and started walking towards Jose's grave. That was why the sound of a cough behind him startled him greatly. He looked over his shoulder and saw a very beautiful woman in a black dress standing in the same spot he had covered the hole.
"You called?" she said, smiling at him and looking appreciatively at his body.
"Um. I'm sorry, but who are you?" Aaron managed to speak in an audible tone─ it was still hard to talk with people he did not know and the way she kept looking at him didn't help. It was uncomfortable.
Her eyes turned black and Aaron could not avoid the gasp that escaped him. "I'm the one who will grant any wish you have." Her smile broadened as she walked slowly towards him. He tried to step back, but Aaron found himself incapable to move, only being able to close his eyes when she was close, merely a few inches away from his face.
"Anything you want, sweetheart," she purred.
Aaron felt chills run all over his body as he tried to fight whatever forces kept him in place. He tried to think of something but Jose never told him what happened if he rejected a deal and he never asked because he didn't think it would be real! He tried to think of something, though, anything. But the woman kept smiling, flirting with her eyes and movements, using them as a weapon.
Aaron remembered for a second the weeks after Erika and Marcus died, the day he went to that dinner close to Will's that his brother always talked about, hoping to feel something of him in there. He hadn't felt anything, in the same way, he didn't feel anything when he tried to read Erika's favorite book. The only different thing was that when the waitress winked at him, he had to run to the bathroom to try to stop the gags that came before one threw up. After that, he had to clean the cold sweat that covered his forehead with little pieces of toilet paper.
Couldn't she see how death followed every step he took? How disgusting he was?
A snap of fingers got him out of his thoughts. The demon was still in front of him, the easy smile still plastered on her face, the amusement never leaving her features. She didn't seem to be sickened by their closeness, though perhaps the demon could see him by what he really was and that may have been why she flirted with him in the first place… maybe he already looked like a demon in her eyes. It made sense even if at the same time it made him sick.
"So what's your wish, Aaron?" Aaron flinched; he didn't even bother to ask how she knew his name. "Get the girlfriend back? Or what about your precious big brother? Mom? Maybe Dad?"
"How did you─"
She interrupted him. "You got a lot of blood in your hands, Aaron. I can see it. I can taste it," she said, leaning until her lips almost brushed his. "The question is for whom you feel enough guilt?" She grinned, licking the corner of his lips with the tip of her tongue and Aaron could barely swallow the broken sob that wanted to escape him. "You can even wish for me to kill you, a one way trip to Hell. Better early than later, isn't that what they say?"
"I, um, I─" Aaron's voice broke and the demon threw her head back and laughed, her black eyes glinting in the soft light of the night. It was the distraction he needed; he was finally able to at least move his head. He shut his eyes tight, trying to turn away from his, but soft fingers grabbed his chin in a surprising stronghold, making his eyes snap open.
"Ask, Aaron." Her voice indicated that she was all business now. "I've more deals to do and, unless you ask for us to sleep together, I don't think I'd like to spend too much time here." She glanced around in distaste. "I could kill you right now and avoid all trouble."
It was his tone, Aaron knew, the one that made fire lit inside him, not the same kind of fire that swallowed Marcus and Erika though. This one didn't burn, it energized him instead. He remembered that Jose once told him that he didn't want to be buried; he wanted a hunter funeral.
"Just throw me some salt until I burn to crisps, boy."
Now his body was here against his wishes, in this cemetery. And even if it wasn't what his friend would have wanted, the place deserved the same respect he had for Jose. He never pitied him or treated him as if he were something fragile. He treated him as a normal human being. He didn't deserve to look at this place in distaste. Not when his friend's body lay here.
"I like that expression on your face, boy," he mocked. A lazy smile on his face as his fingers lingered on his throat, lips moving close to his ear. "Finally decided for something or you want me to just kill you?"
He tried to fight against her invisible grip, groaning with every little movement he managed, but it only made him more impatient, bolder with her touch. She gripped his throat tightly, smirking at every one of his attempts, how it made him tired and heavy. If he hadn't fallen on his knees, it was just because of the invisible force that kept him upright.
His wrists, all his skin, prickled and itched, wanting to be scratched, wanting all to be over. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the blood pouring from his cuts, moving downwards to his hands.
Aaron clenched his fists, wishing they would be free so he could clean his palms on his jeans. He tried to think in something else, but the stench of sulfur on his breath only managed to remind him of Marcus and Erika, and maybe mom too, a little… Perhaps it was true that he deserved to be in Hell, to live in constant agony so he could do penance for everything that had happened because of him, it would be a little poetic when the fire of damnation started to lick his skin as they did with his family.
I don't want to fight. I can't … I am too tired.
The fire slowly left him as all the emotions he had tried to squeeze inside of him started to slowly surface. If he didn't try to entice her to break his neck, it was only because he didn't want her to kill him. He didn't want his final moments to be her eyes full of indifference and boredom, but it was true that he also didn't know if she would kill him for not wishing anything. He could not think of something he wished either; he knew that if he asked for anything and made a deal then hellhounds would come for him eventually. He should have asked Jose more about this.
Jose told him before that when it was supernatural related, you always had to pay something in exchange for every good-thing you wished, usually what you pay was something bad. But what happened if he asked for something bad? Would he receive something good? What would happen if she couldn't grant what he asked? Would she leave?
Everything was silent for a few seconds, the demon just took her time running a finger down his jaw while her other hand moved towards his wrist, trailing roughly the delicate skin with a nail, applying enough force to leave a trail of blood, her eyes always mocking at him while they did it. For some reason, Aaron felt that she was reading his mind, enjoying how his thought diverted towards a darker path.
He couldn't take it anymore.
So, something incredible, difficult to make happen.
"I want Satan to be my friend," he blurted, slight determination lingering on his tone. It was the first thing that came into his mind. He didn't know if it would work until the demon's eyes widened considerably, surprise written all over her face.
"What the hell did you say?" she growled.
"You heard me." He swallowed. "That's the only thing I want and if you can't do it then we don't have a deal." He didn't want her to kill him, not her. But at the same time, he didn't care, he wished for a slow death, to feel it as another killed him in anger, ripped him into pieces as the words of everything he had done were whispered against his ear. He couldn't think of anyone better than the Devil itself to cause him the pain he needed and even if Satan didn't come, the anger creeping in the demon's eyes may be enough for her to not kill him with indifference. If he kept saying things like that, maybe she would get angrier.
Aaron saw a knife appearing in her hand. "And you think that someone like you would ever be able to─"
"You're dismissed, Meg. I think this deal belongs to me." A smooth voice spoke a few steps away from them, surprising them both. The demon left his neck go and turned, kneeling almost too fast for Aaron to catch.
"My Lord," she said respectfully. "I apologize for any interruptions. I'll kill this human and─"
"I said go," he said, never raising his voice, but the words held a power that made her flinch in fear. He shot a glare at her before she vanished, then he turned towards him. "Hello, Aaron."
He blinked, his throat tightening at hearing the voice of the handsome man in front of him. Satan was nothing of what he thought he would be like, especially with the way he was dressed: all in white. His jacket, pants, vest, and tie─ everything. He surprisingly looked like any other executive in an expensive suit. If one walked past him, it wouldn't have noticed what he was, perhaps. Without looking him directly into his eyes. Those icy blue orbs held power, something alien and ancient in them, glowing faintly thanks to the light of the moon.
Aaron breathed when his body was finally able to move. However, he didn't possess the strength to do anything; he couldn't even understand how he was on his feet. The stare that scrutinized him may be one of the answers, he thought. The eyes on him felt more like a physical touch that pinned him in place. Not too invasive like the previous demon were and, luckily, he hadn't tried to flirt with him either ─ it was hard enough to avoid the mental breakdown that wanted to show its ugly face inside him without it.
"Not so brave anymore, Aaron?"
"You're not what I imagined," he blurted out.
"I'm often told this. So, Aaron, would you repeat your wish to me?" Satan smiled, waiting patiently for his answer, but Aaron could hardly listen to what the other said with all the blood on his ears, his heart pounding almost painfully against his rib cage as adrenaline shot through his veins. He wondered if what he felt was his instinct of survival telling him to run away and search for refuge.
"I want you to be my friend." Aaron surprised himself when it came louder than he imagined. He took a deep breath, his head held high as he waited for the first blow. Relief washing over him as it slowly replaced the fear ─ the tiredness was easier to ignore. He couldn't kill himself because of Will and Karen, but he wanted to be selfish for the first time in a long, long time.
He had tried for them, he smiled and went to see his doctor every day, never interrupting the man when he talked even when in reality he just wanted to lie on the bed, to just pace around until he would fade one day from the world. He didn't have any more to offer and living would get harder now that he didn't have a friend like Jose that could distract him from his thoughts, from the way his arms always itched. He couldn't kill himself but maybe if other, if maybe─
"Okay."
Aaron blinked several times while his brain tried to process what had happened. Had he heard right? Did the Devil, the frigging Devil just said 'okay'?
"What?"
"Wasn't that what you wished for? I said okay." He chuckled and walked towards him, his movements held some unworldly grace that he would imagine better in a panther approaching its prey than something using a human's body ─ Jose had already told him how demons used vessels to walk on earth, probably it was the same with the Devil?
"You know how we have to close the deal, right?" he asked, his hand brushing softly his cheek, face a few inches away from him. Aaron didn't budge, though this time it wasn't because of some force that held him, but more for the surprise that, even if it was Satan in front of him, he didn't feel the same disgust he did feel with the demon. The only emotion he felt was that indescribable one that he was already used to feel mixed with the yelling inside his head that kept telling him to run away.
"You may call me Lucifer if we're going to be friends, Aaron." His eyes were filled with amusement as he leaned closer, breath cool against his lips.
"Why? Why won't you kill me?" Aaron's voice quivered as the first tears started to fall.
Lucifer's lips brushed his as he answered with a small grin. "Because you wanted to die, but didn't ask for that."
And he kissed him, sealing the deal.