Hunger

He watched her come in, every day, for two years. She was a regular at the Starbucks he works at. She was never very social, a keep-to-herself type, and always waited patiently for her white foam, three-pump vanilla latte. He knew he was doomed the moment she came into the coffee shop. She was the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, He was in love at first sight.

she wasn't very tall, standing at 5'2 but she had a soft face that was framed by her red curls; a vision of cottage core if there ever was one, complete with freckles dotting across her nose and a smile that never stopped to awe him. They only ever had small conversations but with each conversation, the more he fell deeper and deeper for her, drowning in his love for her.

Before his work-day, he decided to take the plunge, he was going to ask her out on a date.

He clocked in, got the morning prep ready, greeting his coworkers before finally opening the store. within a half hour of being open, she walked in.

She was tenth in line so he at least had a few minutes to think of what to say to her.

The time flew by and finally, she was up, greeting him with that damn smile, tucking a red curl behind her ear. "Morning Stephen."

He felt butterflies in his stomach and his hands shake. "Morning Beth, the usual?"

"Yes please."

He checked her out, handing her a small piece of paper. "One more thing, before you go. this is my number and I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date sometime?"

She looked at the paper in his hand. "oh, I'm really sorry, I'm not interested in dating right now."

He felt all the blood leave his face. It took him all night to work up this kind of courage. "Oh." Is all he can say to it. She frowned. "I'm really sorry, I'm just going through a lot of personal shit and my therapist doesn't recommend dating right now." He just nodded and she left the line to wait for her drink.

He couldn't take it, after the morning rush, he handed in his apron and went home to figure out a way to win Beth.

Once he found a way, nothing stopped him. He went to Walmart to get everything he would need to do the craziest thing he's ever done; make a deal with the devil.

Once home he moved everything from the living room floor, taking up the carpet and starting on making the summoning circle and putting the right symbols and sigils in the right places. He lit the candles and then stood outside of it, looking at his phone before reading what was needed.

"o obscura unum voco te, auxilium meum vota vera fiunt"

At first, nothing happened then the flames on the candle danced wildly, the air got cold, cold enough he could see his breath and suddenly a seemingly human-looking man in a suit stood with a clipboard.

Stephen swallowed. "You.. you're not the devil."

the man smiled. "Oh absolutely not. Did you think the devil would come to every humans wish and whim? No, I'm one of his many helpers. let's get to business, why did you try to summon the devil?"

"uhh there's a girl-"

The man was already checking off boxes on his clipboard.

"She rejected me and I wanted a way to win her over."

The man nodded. "A classic love wish, easy enough." He handed Stephen a small handful of papers. "I need you to read over this before you agree to sign your soul over to the devil and his dominion of hell for all eternity."

Stephen glossed over a lot of the papers. "When is payment due exactly?"

"Ten years time."

Stephen looked surprised. "Ten years? I get a whole decade-"

"Yes but I implore you to read-"

Stephen was already signing the papers and handed them back with a huge smile. "Here, when will it start? when will she love me?"

The man took the papers with a strained smile. "No time at all. Now Stephen this is your last chance to read over the fine print and what it would mean for your soul."

Stephen just waved him away. "I'll deal with it then, I got ten years."

The man smiled. "Right. Enjoy your time." And then he was gone.

Within moments there was a knock on his door. When he opened it Beth was standing there. "beth?"

She smiled. "Hi. I'm so sorry about earlier, I'd love nothing more than to go on a date with you." Stephen smiled back. "Lets go then."

Ten years later

Stephen sighed as he pulled into the drive way , turning the ignition off.

When he stepped out he was greeted by two children, hugging him around his waist. "Whoa, love bugs."

They both smiled up at him, walking with im and telling him about their school day.

when he stepped through the door though, everything suddenly felt different. he felt ill.

no not ill, hungry.

so hungry he felt nauseous.

He went to the fridge, Beth seeing him as he walked to the fridge.

Beth saw him. "Stephen? how was work?"

He didn't answer, just opened the fridge, staring at the marinating steak.

"Stephen?" He took the steak out and took a bite of it. and another and another and found he couldn't get enough, he ate the whole thing.

Beth just stared in shock. "Stephen, are you ok?"

He felt a lot better now. his mouth was red with the beef blood and various herbs of the marinade. "Yeah. why?"

"You just ate the entire dinner. Raw. Maybe you should lay down."

Stephen smiled, getting a towel. "Why? I feel great now. I'm sorry about dinner, lets's order pizza, you know how much the kids love that."

Beth swallowed. "Alright. we can do that."

He woke in the middle of the night, curled in pain, trying to hide it from Beth who was sound asleep.

He felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, or months. the hunger pain coiled deep in his stomach. He looked over at Beth, able to smell her blood, feels like he can see it going through her veins like a steady river. He felt his mouth drool at the thought of eating her.

He moved over her without any thought, staring at her neck before he opened his mouth, fangs instead of teeth showed and he tore into her. she woke, screaming in agony, blood painting her neck, Stpehns face, and the white sheets below.

the door opened and the light was suddenly on and he looked, seeing his two children.

Not children.

Prey.

"Daddy?" One of them asked and he ran for him before the door slammed in his face and he realized what he was doing. he looked at Beths now dead body, neck completely eaten and exposed and bleeding.

"Looks like you should have read that fine print."

Stephen turned, seeing the man that took his wish ten years ago.

Stephen ran over to him, pleading. "What's happening to me?"

"Well, you no longer have a soul. I took that just a few hours ago and often when something like a soul is suddenly missing, well, the body does all manners of things to overcompensate for it; the most common is hunger."

Stephen glared, trying to grab the man by his blazer labels but he was gone, on the other side of the room. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did. I distinctly remember trying to get you to read the fine print of the contract you signed. But you didn't care. You just wanted to live happily ever after with a girl who had no interest in you. and now you will do the same to your children and your neighbor until the police kill your body and your consciousness will live in hell. Have a good rest of your time on earth Stephen and thank you for your patronage."