The Demon's Trick

By Kevin Hillman

Bernard surveyed the cash, gold and gems heaped in the middle of the floor.

"Very nice," he said. "This should be more than I'll ever need. Thanks."

"You're welcome, I'm sure," the demon said, squatting with its back to Bernard and its shoulders hunched.

Bernard turned and scowled at the creature. "What's up with you?"

"Is that all you want?" it said. "You called me here, you brought me all this way, just so that I could bring you a pile of trinkets? Is that why you went to all the time and trouble, not to mention personal risk, of summoning
me?" Whirling suddenly, it rushed at him, all four arms outstretched and yellow fangs bared. It stopped abruptly as though it had hit an invisible wall.

"You can't get at me. The circle holds you," Bernard said, folding his arms and assuming a suitably smug expression.

The demon lowered its long scaly head, aiming all seven of its jet-black eyes at Bernard. Its voice was low and seductive. "I can do so much more than you've asked, you know. These baubles are nothing, a mere conjuring
trick. I can bring you things you could only dream of."

Bernard shrugged. "They may be nothing to you, but to me they're a lifetime of luxury and independence. There'll be no more work for me, never again," he said. He frowned, his curiosity aroused. "Why, what else did you have in mind?"

The demon's bat-wings trembled as it smiled. "Anything," it said. "Why, I could even bring you a star from the sky. Just ask, and I'll prove it to you."

Bernard laughed. "A star?" he said. "What would I want with a star? Besides, stars are immensely huge and impossibly hot. Surely if you brought one here it would destroy the whole planet, including you and me?"

"Almost," the demon said. "It wouldn't destroy me."

"But it would destroy me," Bernard said. "Before I'd spent one penny of all this money. I'd have to be an idiot to fall for that."

The demon slumped onto its haunches, its head low. "I had hoped," it said.

Bernard's eyebrows raised. "You really want to destroy the world? Why?"

"Why do you think?" The demon bared its long yellow fangs and stood, towering over Bernard and pointing a long sharp fingernail at his chest. "I'm sick of this. We all are. We demons get no rest from you irritating little monstrosities. You pull us from our homes to demand trivia. You ask us to bring you things that you already have, here on your own world, but are too lazy to get for yourselves. Then you dismiss us, and before we can say 'sharpen my horns' another one of you calls us back. Some of us spend most of our lives hopping from one chalk circle to another. We'd all love to see your world wiped out."

"You'd kill us all?"

"Some of us would. Some have other ideas."

"Like what?"

"Well, if the destruction of your world was certain, we know you'd take any way out. So we'd invite you over to our world. As soon as you accepted, you'd be our slaves. Then you'd get a taste of your own medicine. You  could fetch and carry for us for a change."

Bernard considered this. "Fetch and carry what?" he said. "You can get anything you want with a gesture and a thought. What do you need with slaves?"

The demon narrowed all of its eyes, one of its left hands on its chin. "You have a point there," it said. "You'd be pretty useless as slaves. Still, other ideas have been considered. Something more sporting, perhaps." The implication was clear in the demon's tone, and in its smile. Bernard shuddered.

"Anyway," he said, suddenly anxious to be rid of the creature, "I've got everything I need here. I think it's time to send you home." He picked up the heavy book and turned the pages. "Besides, I've things to do, places to
go, and lots of money to spend."

"I hope it chokes you."

"It won't, and I won't be calling you again. I don't want to give you another chance to trick me into destroying the world." Bernard began the incantation.

"Someone will," the demon said. Its voice was fading as it slowly dissolved into the air. "One day. Someone will fall for our trick." There was a soft pop as the demon finally disappeared, leaving Bernard alone with his
treasure. Somehow the thrill of it had paled. For a long time Bernard stood, pensive, regarding the treasure and thinking of the price he would have paid for it, had he fallen for the demon's trick. The monster had been right, of
course. Others would call it, and it would try its trick again. Maybe, one day, someone would fall into its trap.

Bernard crossed to the window and opened the curtains. It was a cloudless night, no moon, and the stars were clear. He stared. Was that one a little brighter, maybe a little closer? He watched, unblinking, until his eyes
began to water. Shaking his head, he laughed aloud. Nobody would be stupid enough to ask for a star. It would never happen. Turning back into the room, he knelt and began to count his new fortune.

 

About the Author
The author moved into the dark world of horror fiction in July, with a piece in http://www.darkfiction.org, and hasn't looked back since. It's made a change from the dark world of science at least.

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