“Mr. Saunders? Are you okay?”

A hand on Kyle’s shoulder startled him awake. For the second time that week, he had dozed off in the teachers’ lounge while trying to catch up on his work. “Sorry, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night.”

Ms. Richardson, the History department head, smiled at him before walking away. Kyle thought she hadn’t done a very good job hiding the suspicion in her eyes, but he had bigger concerns. There were only ten minutes left until his next class started, and he had twenty essays to grade. And if he didn’t have them done, he knew he’d never hear the end of it. His students had handed in this assignment almost a month earlier. If any of them complained to the principal, he was done for. How was he supposed to explain why his work wasn’t getting done?

Still, even with all that weighing on him, he felt himself nodding off again. And he knew he was asleep when the dream started. It was the only dream he’d had for the last four years. About the night he had become Ryka’s host.

 He was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and praying for sleep, for an end to his misery - and maybe a beginning to someone else’s - when a blinding flash of red light made him sit up, gasping. Seated at the foot of his bed was Ryka, as he had first appeared to Kyle. And Kyle felt his jaw drop. If he had still been a child, they could almost have been twins. Except of course for the pointed ears, forked tongue, wings, horns, and tail. The resemblance to Kyle’s ten-year-old self was otherwise uncanny.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Kyle had inquired when his thoughts had settled enough for him to be able to speak.

“I have nowhere to go,” the imp had told him, its huge, innocent eyes glistening with unshed tears. It hadn’t even bothered Kyle that those eyes were far from human, with bright red irises and narrow, cat-like pupils.

Kyle had a soft spot for kids. This one may have been a little unusual, but how could he say “no?” Thinking this was all a dream, he had offered to let the creature stay with him. “I have an extra room.”

“I need a body.”

“A body?” Kyle asked in disbelief. 

The creature nodded. “They said I couldn’t stay in Hell anymore; that I had to leave. But they said I couldn’t just walk around like this. I need someone to be my host.” Sniffling, the demon hugged his knees up to his chest. His wings and tail drooped onto the floor. 

And Kyle felt himself melt. Weren’t they both in the same boat? He, too, had just been cruelly tossed aside. They were both hurt and alone. “What’s your name? Mine’s Kyle.”

“I’m Ryka. Will you share your body with me? I won’t be any trouble, I promise. And if you do it, you’ll never age, and you’ll never get sick. It’ll be like we’re taking care of each other.”

Still sure he was asleep, Kyle agreed. But the doubts began as soon as the little demon, with a toothy grin plastered on its child-like face, sat himself cross-legged on Kyle’s chest and placed his hands over Kyle’s eyes. Kyle tried to pull them away, but Ryka was far stronger than he looked. “This is just a dream, right?”

“Of course not,” Ryka answered. Then, in a voice that made Kyle’s blood run cold, the demon said, “I, Ryka, take half this mortal’s body as my own. He shall be a good host, and in return for his service, he shall remain alive until such time as we are both called back to Hell.”

A thousand arguments tried to work their way out of Kyle’s mouth, but the only thing that made it was a scream. All at once, it felt like he was being torn apart. Worse than the feeling of his skin tearing was the sound – the ripping flesh and cracking bones. And he was sure he was on fire. There was no other way to explain the mind-numbing burning sensation that afflicted every cell of his being.

Even after he shouted himself hoarse, the agony continued. Blood clouded his vision, congealed in his throat. Somehow, he flopped onto his side, just in time to spit up a stomach-full of gore. Trying to quell his rising hysteria, he bit down on his tongue, and nearly bit it off. How were his teeth so sharp? His nails, too, embedded deep in his palms; there was more blood oozing out from between his fingers.

Eventually, thankfully, he passed out. When he woke, there was still pain, but he could think again. And he took stock. His temples throbbed, his tailbone ached like he’d landed hard on it, and there was an uncomfortable weight pressing between his shoulder blades. Unconsciousness was easier than trying to understand, and he had succumbed again.

When the pain finally subsided, hours later, Kyle found himself face down on the floor. Groaning, he had staggered to his feet, and immediately collapsed. His room had been covered in blood. It ran down the walls and dripped from the ceiling. The sheets and even the mattress were soaked through. It was everywhere.

Including all over him. He could feel it, drying on him, plastering the remains of his pajamas to his burning skin. His gorge rose, acid and iron forcing their way up his throat. He fought it back. Barely.

Panicked, he had crawled over to the mirror. This time, he managed to stop the scream working its way up his throat. It was the only time he’d worn Ryka’s wings, horns and tail while still having control of his body. His own brown eyes stared back at him from behind a tangled mess of wavy black hair. He wondered how it was possible that it had grown out more than a half a foot since going to bed. “What happened to me?”

Don’t worry, a much deeper voice had assured him. You won’t always look this way. Only when you summon me.

It was only at that moment that Kyle thought to ask the question he probably should have voiced much sooner. “What are you really doing here?”

The simple answer? Kyle nodded, staring wide-eyed at his own reflection. Are you sure? I can’t lie to you, not anymore.

“What? What do you mean?”

I can only speak the truth. I have … limitations here. And that’s one of them. Just as there are things you’ll be unable to do now, sealing this contract makes it physically impossible for me to lie to you.

“Then you lied before?”

His own lips had curled back in an evil smirk. Not entirely. So are you sure? Do you really want to know?

“Just tell me.” He had thought it would be better to know. And he had thought wrong.

Souls. I’m here for souls. Starting with yours. That would be the last time Kyle would truly feel cold. The chill spread out from his core - like his insides were packed with ice - and he could feel the hair on his arms and back of his neck raise up as he started to shiver. 

“Mine?”

No, it’s mine now. But don’t worry.

“Why shouldn’t I?” He’d just handed over his eternity, no questions asked. Or not the right questions, and certainly not at the right time.

Because we can be friends, Kyle. I want to be friends. I don’t want to be alone, and neither do you, right? I’ll protect you. Just like you wanted. And I promise I’ll never leave you. Ever. Somehow he felt colder still. Hadn’t that been what he’d been hoping for? Someone to take care of him, keep him safe from hurt. Was that all it took to wind up in this state - a few stray thoughts?

There wasn’t any time to dwell on it - that deep voice was still rumbling in his head. Making that same assurance. I won’t be any trouble.

“No trouble my ass,” Kyle murmured, waking from the dream.

“What was that?” Ms. Richardson asked. She had returned, and her timing couldn’t have been much worse.

“Nothing, sorry.” Wiping sleep from his eyes, Kyle glanced up at the clock. Only one minute until class. So much for that correcting, he thought.