Mattie watched her friends as they drew symbols and nonsense on the ground in chalk. She sat in the grass as she watched them become art majors. The young woman looked at her watch before clicking her tongue. If they didn't hurry up, she was going to be late for class. Mattie Baker worked harder than her classmates in her university classes, because she was a female. Females weren't seen gaining an education, but Mattie was different. She demanded to obtain an education, and she got her demands. She fixed her blonde hair as a few strands had fallen from the ponytail as she sighed. She had to work hard to keep her grades as one of the top students in her class. To meet her demands, the dean of the university had given her his own list of demands she had to keep up to stay within the university. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to watch them draw such a nonsense circle. She stood from her spot, brushed off her dress then walked toward them. The two young women were giggling; they were having a blast drawing the circle. Mattie grabbed the chalk from the one before she tossed it up and down in her prosthetic hand.

"Don't give us such a look, Mattie," Sarah whined. "You never want to do anything interesting."

"I hardly call drawing symbol nonsense on the ground interesting."

"It's a summoning circle, Mattie," her other friend, Clara, huffed. "It's supposed to summon a demon."

"Demons don't exist," huffed Mattie as she tapped her foot. "Where did you find this circle anyway?"

"In a book that was abandoned in the deepest corners of the library," giggled Sarah. "The warning above the circle said do not summon the Slayer Demon, so we had to try and summon him."

"What are you? Five?" Mattie growled as she snapped the chalk in half with her hand. Chalk dust fell to the ground as she continued to growl. "This is such a waste of my precious time! I'm not even sure why I let you two talk me into coming with you right before class!"

"We thought you'd be interested in seeing if it works!" Clara chirped. "I mean, can you imagine -- what happens if we did summon a demon?"

Mattie stared at them before she took the chalk from Clara before staring at the summoning circle. They were terrible artists. She glanced at her watch. If she finished this, and showed them nothing would happen, she wouldn't be late for class. The university student shoved the two of them out of the circle before she moved to fix a few of their symbols. Her blue eyes flickered toward the incomplete line in the circle as her hand stretched to connect the two sides. She stood in the center of it before smirking knowingly. She finished the circle and nothing happened. Sarah and Clara pouted as they realized nothing was going to happen. Mattie grinned triumphantly as she dropped the chalk on the ground. As the chalk entered the center of the circle, the symbols began to glow. After a few seconds, the lines of the circle began to glow with the symbols. Mattie made a noise before a bright flash of white light appeared with a force able to knock her off her feet. She tumbled to the ground as she barely made out her friends running off when the light appeared. She frowned as she realized they had abandoned her. The light began to subside as she closed her eyes to get rid of the floaties that appeared in her vision.

"Why was I summoned?" a smooth, tenor voice resonated within her ears. "I had more important matters to attend to."

Mattie opened her eyes, rubbing them once, before she made a noise as she tried to get away from the figure that had appeared before her. He was leaning on his scythe as he watched her squirm away from him. His clawed fingers tapped against the handle of the weapon as he waited for her to answer his question. Red eyes, glowing, watched her as she moved to hide behind a tree. Mattie shook as she peeked around the trunk of the tree as she got a good look at the man who appeared in front of her. He had short, black hair, glowing red eyes and he seemed to be a foot taller than her. She glanced at the scythe before yelping. The handle of the weapon came to his shoulders, if not a little past them, as it glimmered in a black metallic material. The blade was silver in color with a slight shine to it. Her eyes wandered back to the man. He was wearing a black overcoat as well as a top hat.

"Seriously, girl," he said as he yawned. "I do not have all day. You summoned me. What do you fucking want?"

"I-I don't want anything," Mattie managed to spit out. "Who are you?"

A fanged grin appeared on his face as he moved to spin the scythe over his shoulders before he bowed to her. The hat sat on his finger as he took it off to bow. With a smooth move, he stood straight with the hat on his head.

"My name is Augustus Moore, and contracts are my game," he said with a deep, feral laugh. "So, my dear, what is it that you want?"

"Contracts?" she tested against her lips. "Who are you?"

"Listen, brat, I just told you my name …"

"Yes, I realize that," she snapped as she gave him a look. "I'm not asking your name. Again, who are you?"

"Ah," Augustus said as his fanged grin reappeared. "I'm a demon. You finished my summoning circle."

"Demons aren't real," the student said with a click of her tongue. "What did the twins pay you to suffer through this act?"

Augustus stiffened as he heard her words. She didn't believe him. Nobody ever doubted his existence. He covered his mouth with his hand as he laughed. The woman was amusing. He straightened himself as he ran a hand through his hair. The demon shoved the scythe into the concrete as he made his way toward Mattie. She hadn't moved from behind the tree. He placed an arm on the trunk before moving to look around it. She jumped as he appeared closer to her. Augustus laughed before humming.

"So, you've summoned me with the belief that my summoning circle would not work, right?" he hummed. "What fool would do such a thing? Meddling with dark magic without knowing the consequences."

"Demons do not exist," she repeated. "Sarah and Clara must be paying you a lot of money."

"Money means nothing to me," Augustus said with a small sigh. "So, you truly don't believe I've been summoned by that circle. The glow-y bits didn't give you any inkling that I might be a demon?"

"Light tricks are easy to do and manipulate," huffed Mattie as she crossed her arms as she puffed out a cheek in annoyance. "You can cut the act now. I have to get to class."

"Class?" he asked with a bit of venom in his tone. "I didn't realize somebody as stupid as you could earn an education."

Shadows grew from beneath him as they moved to stretch and latched onto Mattie. She gasped as she was tugged to the ground. The young woman let out a stifled cry as her hair had been pulled, snapping her head in a position to stare up at Augustus. His red eyes seemed to darken as he stepped closer to her. A clawed finger ran down her cheek, careful to not draw blood, as he grinned at her. Mattie's pupils dilated as her flight or fight response kicked into overdrive. She needed to get away from him. He was dangerous. She struggled against the shadows that seemed to have bound her. The demon chuckled as he watched her struggle. Tears escaped Mattie's eyes as she watched him laugh at her situation. She bit her lip, drawing blood, as she tried to keep her scream from escaping her throat. The shadows grew tighter around her neck as it was getting harder to breathe.

"S-Stop," she managed to breathe out. "P-Please."

A fanged smile appeared on Augustus' face as he snapped his fingers. The shadows that bound her retracted before returning to the shape of his being. The demon leaned against the tree as he watched her recover. She coughed as she gripped her throat with her left hand. Her lungs refilled with oxygen as she heaved. He moved to grab her chin with his hand as he forced her to look at him once again.

"Now," he purred as his claws dug into her skin, "what do you desire?"

"I-I," she choked out. "I have no desires."

"No?" asked Augustus as he tilted his head. "I find that to be untrue."

"I have nothing," she said. "I don't need free handouts. Otherwise, I'd be married already."

The demon stared at her before he began to laugh. He let go of her chin as he leaned against the tree to keep himself upright. It had been a long time since he laughed as he was laughing at that moment. Mattie frowned as she watched him laugh at her words. She hadn't said anything funny. She didn't understand this man. Augustus recovered as he wiped a tear away from his eye from laughing. He grinned at the young woman.

"Well," he said. "Once I am summoned, I cannot leave until I fulfill the contract set forth by my summoner. If you truly did not have a desire, the summoning circle would not have activated. Therefore, you do have a desire. You just don't know what it is yet."

"What do I have to give you to give me my deepest desire?" asked Mattie as she moved to stand. She had to brace herself against the tree as her legs were shaking from the previous encounter with the demon.

Augustus stared at her before he moved to pick up his scythe. He moved a hand across the handle as symbols lit up on it. The scythe disappeared. He turned toward Mattie before his fanged grin reappeared. Mattie winced as she realized she wasn't going to like the answer he was going to provide her.

"When a contract is complete," he purred. "I require payment. Each demon is different with the payment they want from the humans. I want the thing that is the most precious to you."

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions," he snapped as he gnashed his teeth together. "I am a demon, and I require that replenishes my energy after I have used it to give you your desire."

Mattie glanced at her watch as she hissed. She was fifteen minutes late for class. Her shoulders sagged as she gave a sigh. It was pointless to attend it after being late for the lecture. She didn't want to interrupt the professor by walking into the classroom. She shivered a bit. All their eyes would be on her if she walked in fifteen minutes late. She growled as she gripped her arms with her hands.

"I'm going to kill them."

"Pardon?"

"When I get my hands on the twins, I will wring their necks," snarled Mattie.

"Are we sure you're not the demon?" asked Augustus. "By the way, I don't think I got my contractor's name?"

"Mattie Baker," she told him. "Don't think because I gave you my name that it means we're in a contract."

Augustus chuckled as he shrugged at her words. She formed a contract with him when she summoned him with his summoning circle. He hummed as he ran a hand through his hair. He glanced at the girl.

"By the way, where did you find my summoning circle? It's been at least 500 years since I've been summoned."

"I didn't find your stupid circle," grumbled Mattie. "My friends, Sarah and Clara, found your circle in a book hidden within the public library. Idiots. Both of them."

"Huh," he hummed.

"I'm going home," muttered Mattie as she turned to walk toward her dorm room.

The young woman growled as she realized she heard footsteps behind her. Mattie tried to ignore them for a few blocks before she turned toward Augustus. Her face had been blushed with pink from the anger and rage she felt brewing inside of her.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

"Following my contractor," Augustus said with a simple shrug. "I cannot leave. Therefore, I will be with you until the contract is fulfilled."

Mattie outwardly groaned as she heard Augustus. She was going to be stuck with him until he felt that their contract was fulfilled. Her peaceful university days were going to get longer, harder and unbearable. She pulled on her hair before she sighed. Mattie didn't want to think about this at the moment. She moved to straighten her dress before she flexed her prosthetic fingers. She was going to have to oil them when she got home.

"Can I ask?"

"It was an accident," answered Mattie. "I lost it when somebody's new invention went a bit haywire. Fan. Spinning really fast."

"Ouch."

"Says the demon," laughed Mattie.

"That would hurt even me if my hand had been severed off."

"Welcome to the world of steam powered devices," she told him. "It's been 500 years since you've been summoned? I bet a lot of things have changed."

"Oh, a lot has changed since I've been here last," hummed Augustus. "But, it's fine. Even as the years change and technology advances, humans will never change. I will always thrive off their greed."

"I'm not greedy," muttered Mattie.

"All humans are greedy. Their greed comes in a tower," he explained. "You might be at the lowest part of it, but you still hold a bit of greed, Miss Baker."Mattie rubbed the bridge of her nose before shrugging at his words. "You can call me Mattie. I hate being called Miss Baker."

"You are a strange woman, Mattie,"

Augustus tested her name on his lips. "You can call me Augustus in that case."

"I've always been told I'm strange," Mattie said. "You are not the first person to tell me I was a strange woman."

Augustus didn't say much afterward as he walked behind her as she made her way to her dorm room. Mattie sighed as she moved to grab her key to unlock the door. She stared at Augustus. He wasn't going to leave her alone. This demon was being serious. She turned to him before giving him a look of contempt. Augustus gave her a cheeky smile.

"Fine," she said. "If you're stuck here, you need to change your appearance. Nobody looks like that."

"Easy enough," he told her. "I do have a human appearance."

"You have to sleep on the couch if you do sleep," she continued. "And, you must always knock to enter my bathroom and my bedroom. The bedroom comes with a door."

"Fine, fine," he told her. "So, can we head inside before somebody sees me like this?"

Mattie bit her tongue to keep quiet about his snarky response to her demands as she opened the door to walk into the dorm. Augustus followed her before shutting and locking the door. The young woman took off her shoes before heading into the kitchen to find something to eat. Being scared, threatened then inviting the man who had done all that to her into her home made her exhausted and hungry. Food came before sleep. She yawned as she looked through her cabinets to decide what was easy to make for the evening. Augustus leaned against the doorway to the kitchen as he watched her.

"Do you know how to cook?" asked the demon.

"I get by," muttered Mattie as she grabbed a can of soup. "Soup is good for the soul."

"Only when there's chicken in it," snorted Augustus.

"Chicken soup sounds good," hummed Mattie as she moved to see if she had anything to make chicken noodle soup. She frowned as she found the flour to make noodles on the top shelf. Mattie grumbled as she moved to find a way to reach the bag of flour. Being shorter than the average person did have its downfalls.

"Why is the bag of flour on the top shelf in the first place?" she grumbled as she moved to climb onto the counter. "I think I can reaaaccch it." Her fingers gazed past the bag before she snarled. "Oh, come on!"

Mattie made a noise as she saw a shadow fall over her as Augustus moved to grab the flour off the top shelf. He set it beside her on the counter as he smiled at her. Mattie found herself cursing him out in her head for smiling too much. She got off the counter before grabbing the flour. She needed to make the noodles before she could do anything else for the soup.

"Do you eat normal food?" she asked the demon.

Augustus laughed as he heard her question. Mattie gave him an evil look. The demon shivered a bit before he clicked his tongue.

"Yes, we eat normal food. We're not barbarians," he said with a roll of eyes. "I prefer the rawer side of meat though."

"Ah, well," she said as she began to add stuff to the flour. You won't get rare meat with me cooking. I don't wish to get sick, Augustus."

"Very well," he said as he bowed at the waist. "I will abide by your wishes."

Mattie narrowed her eyes on the demon. He had threatened her at the park. Now, he was saying he'd abide by her wishes. She didn't trust the demon. She didn't trust him at all. She sighed before placing a hand on her hip as she continued to stare at him. Her free hand moved to rub the bridge of her nose.

"Let's make one thing clear, Augustus."

A toothy grin appeared on the demon's face as he began to realize what she was going to say to him. A pressure began to build as shadows began to dance around the dorm room. Mattie shivered as she tried to ignore the pressure and multiplying shadows. She wasn't going to be deterred by him.

"Do go on," purred Augustus.

"I don't trust you," Mattie said as she glared at him. "I trust you as far as I can throw you. And, believe me, I wouldn't be able to throw you far."

"Care to find out?" joked Augustus. "I can make it so you can throw me."

"No!" snapped Mattie. She rubbed her forehead before flicking a hand at him. "Just, go into the sitting room, you stupid demon. I'll get supper finished."

"As you wish, my contractor."