by Ali Hussain
“Our organization understands that you’ve recently come into a copious amount of … collateral,” he said, beaming. The well-dressed redheaded man pushed his way into the house and made himself comfortable on the worn sofa, leaving an overwhelmed Johann, who was still in his pyjamas and had a toothbrush in hand, at the open door.
Johann caught himself up after a moment and rushed to the sofa, wielding the toothbrush as if it were a sword. Every movement released white flecks from the toothbrush. The man in the well-tailored suit had already set his briefcase on the coffee table and was beginning to open it. “For the right price, we can offer you hefty rewards.”
That left Johann both confused and interested. He gulped down the froth of toothpaste in his mouth, not caring for its possible poisonous qualities in the rush of the moment. “What do you mean, rewards? And what for?”
“Ah, so I have your attention, do I?” smirked the businessman. “Take a seat,” he said as he nodded to the foldable chair stacked against the wall.
Johann regained himself from his momentary confusion. “No, wait, what? This is my house. Get out or I’m calling the police!” He waved the toothbrush at the businessman, causing a globulous fleck to land on the man’s shoulder. The businessman’s features seemed to sharpen momentarily as he snarled devilishly at the imperfection that had just landed on his shoulder.
“Alright, that’s enough of that.” The businessman squinted at the toothbrush Johann was still wielding. Before Johann could even begin to comprehend what was happening, the toothbrush became a ballpoint pen. He looked to the businessman, who was now staring back at him with a sly smile on his face, and back to the pen before him, which had so recently been his toothbrush. Johann screamed.
Or at least he tried to. His mouth was open and Johann could feel the movements in his throat but he could hear no sound. Johann clutched his neck.
“Listen,” the businessman told him ”I’ve only silenced you for now so that you don’t make any mistakes that you’ll regret later. Let me explain the situation. Here, take that seat I was talking about before.” With a simple striking movement of his eyes, the chair floated off the wall and into the air, unfolded itself, and landed next to Johann. Johann felt a sudden urge to sit that he was sure didn’t come from him.
“Ok, first things first, do you know who I am?”
Johann started to say that he didn’t but he realized he was still silenced.
“Oh, silly me.” The sly businessman waved his hand, “you can talk now, but don’t you be speaky now. If your voice raises over a certain decibel level, you’ll be shut down again”
Johann groaned. His one chance to get out of this hellish situation was ruined. “Not at all. Who are you?”
“Oh come on now, I’ve been around you all this time. How could you not know me?” the businessman smiled playfully. “Alright, let me help you.” His facial features sharpened ever so slightly. His face darkened and reddened and it seemed to become slick. Out of the sofa where he was sitting, a pointed tail peeked out. His hair parted on both sides of his head and two black horns peeked out.
Johann drew in a sharp breath of air. “You’re- you’re the devil!”
