Chapter Three: Pact with a Demon:

“Hey. Hey. Can you hear me?”

“What?” I was floating on my back in the darkness. I couldn’t see anything at all.

“Oh good! I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to hear me.”

“Who are you?”

“A friend. Just a friend.”

“But I don’t even know you.”

“I want to get to know you.”

“Why?”

“Does there have to be a reason?”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, please be my friend? I am so lonely.”

“Lonely?”

“Yeah. Don’t you ever get lonely?”

“No…”

“That can’t be right.”

“But I’m not. I have grandma, mama, and all their friends.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Hm…”

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just…”

“What?”

“Oh… What about little girls your age?”

“I don’t know.”

“There isn’t any there, is there?”

“No…”

“Come on. Please be my friend? I am just so lonely. Please?”

I don’t remember how the rest of the conversation went, but I know I said yes in the end. I felt someone squeeze my hands.

“Let’s be really good friends,” this voice said. I don’t remember what I said next, but I must have agreed. Then, I woke up and found myself in the hospital.