"So, I've had an idea," Gene said as he jumped over the back of the sofa and onto a pile of woollen blankets.
Oliver rolled his eyes and shifted his weight a little.
"Go on," he prompted, knowing full well it would be better to get it over and done with.
"Well, I think I've worked out why none of the humans have summoned a demon in a while," Gene said as he picked at a loose fibre.
"A while?" Oliver scoffed. "The last serious bout we had was decades ago."
"Exactly! And I think I know why!"
"Go on…"
Gene ignored his brother's exasperated tone.
"It's because they don't teach Latin anymore."
"Yes, they do."
"Well, yes they do! But only to the boring kids apparently!" Gene complained. "It's that, or they've got rid of all the demon summoning books! Or, they've translated them into other languages."
Oliver hummed, deep in thought. He glanced around their underworld home. The walls were made of rock. There were no windows or doors, just a couple of open caverns. There were only two ways in or out; summoning and phasing. Summoning by a human took them up to the human world. Phasing allowed them to visit the rest of the underworld.
"Do they still work if they're in other languages?" he asked, more to himself than to Gene, but his brother answered.
"Only if we understand them!"
"What?"
"I was doing some reading, and the summoning only works if we understand it. It makes sense if you think about it. If someone shouted at you in a foreign language, you would ignore it, right? Summoning is no different!"
"So, because we speak Latin, and no one that you deem interesting understands enough Latin to read the summoning rituals, we aren't getting summoned?" Oliver surmised.
"Yes, exactly that!"
"I am failing to see a problem."
"You would fail to see the problem! I'm bored! I haven't conned some poor hapless human in decades and I'm bored!"
"I never should have let you date that lawyer."
"That lawyer was hot and you know it," Gene said. "We taught each other so much! It was wonderful."
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Oliver asked.
"I'm going to learn a new language."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Oliver sighed.
"What language?"
"I haven't decided yet. That hot lawyer was Japanese, so I was thinking that."
"He's dead though."
"And rotting in hell," Gene said with a fond smile. "But he might have had children."
"He was gay. And getting off on your former lover's children is just weird."
"Look, once we've been around long enough, we're going to have shagged someone from most people's family trees somewhere."
"You might have," Oliver muttered.
"You should get out more."
"I can't, no one has summoned me in decades," Oliver said. "And I want to finish my book."
"Well, I want you to learn a language with me!"
"So, I can increase my chances of being summoned by some idiotic human? I'm honestly not that bothered."
"Oh, come on! When's the last time you impregnated a man? Or cursed someone to speak in spoonerisms for the rest of their life?"
Gene wriggled closer to his brother and put his head between his brother's face and the book that he had been trying to read.
"When have you impregnated a man?" Oliver asked.
"Well, a while back this couple wanted a baby but they weren't very specific about their wants," Gene replied. "I was going to be nice to them, but then I heard the man badmouthing me. So…"
"What did he say about you?"
"That my price was too high!" Gene complained.
"Was it too high?"
"Only if you're stingy like that git was." Gene changed tack. "Please learn a language with me? It'll be a fun brotherly bonding thing we can do!"
"What can I possibly offer you to not do this?"
"Your first born."
"I'm not giving you that," Oliver muttered. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Why won't you give me your first born?" Gene asked, offended.
"Because I might want it. If I get one and I don't want it, then you can have it."
"Neat. You're the best brother."
Oliver rolled his eyes.
"I know."
"Right, so I have these books…" Gene sat up and dropped a pile of summoned language textbooks down in Oliver's lap.

Oliver soon found language learning was not entirely as tedious as he first thought. Insulting his twin in a new language had a certain charm to it.
"What are you going to do," Oliver asked one day, "if no Japanese speaking kids want to summon a demon either?"
Gene scowled.
"Learn another language. You can pick the next one."
"I agreed to learn one language with you, not two."
"You can have my first born if you learn a second language with me."
Oliver frowned.
"What on earth would I do with your first born?" he asked.
"I don't know. What do people usually do with first borns?" Gene asked.
Oliver's frown deepened.
"What were you going to do with my first born, had I agreed to give it to you?"
"Eat it?" Gene replied with a shrug.
"That is such a waste of a child."
"What were you going to do with yours?"
"Bring it up well enough that whenever you wanted to bother me, it got in the way and you bothered it rather than me," Oliver said with a shrug.
"And you can't do that with my first born?"
Oliver pondered this for a moment.
"Well, I suppose I could," he said. "But if it found out, it might have a problem with it. Children get touchy about their parents…"
"Oh, I suppose so… But what about—"
A swirl of gold and blue lights surrounded Oliver.
"Oh, for fu—"
He never finished his sentence. The orbs of light consumed his body and sucked him out of existence. Gene scowled.
"I make all that effort to learn a language and he gets summoned before me? That is so not fair!"

Thoroughly out of practice, Oliver landed with a thud. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Pink. Pink, soft and squishy. Whatever he had landed on wasn't alive, thankfully.
He sat up and looked around. The pink, soft, squishy stuff covered the floor. To one side he spotted a table and chair, covered in books and notes. To the other side, there was a bookcase and a door.
"Excuse me?"
Oliver spun around.
There was a bed behind him, with a young woman sat on it. He guessed she was the one that had spoken — in Japanese no less. Gene was going to be so pissed.
"You're excused," Oliver said.
The young woman frowned.
"I didn't expect that to work," she said. "You're a demon, right?"
"I did not want it to work," Oliver muttered. "Yes, I am a demon. I presume you want to make a deal?"
The woman looked a little surprised at this question.
"A deal? Um, maybe? Probably not. This was a mistake."
Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"What is your name, human?"
"Mai?"
"You don't sound so sure about that," Oliver commented.
"Well if you tell fairies your name, they can do stuff with it, can't they?"
"Then you are fortunate that I am a demon and not a fairy then, aren't you?"
"Fairies are real then?" she asked.
"If demons are real, why wouldn't fairies be real?"
"How do I know that you're really a demon?" Mai asked.
"I just appeared in mid-air in a whirl of pretty lights and you're questioning that I'm a demon?"
"Well, perhaps I'm a witch or something and you're just an ordinary person that I conjured somehow?" Mai suggested.
"I think you would know if you were a witch."
"I've read Harry Potter," she countered. "What if I'm a muggle born witch and my letter got destroyed by Voldemort."
"I did not understand half of the words you just said," Oliver said, exasperatedly. "What do you want me to do to prove that I am a demon?"
"Uh… Can you… Can you make that float?"
She pointed at a book on the desk. Oliver rolled his eyes and waved a hand, the book levitated.
"Well shit," Mai muttered.
"Look, do you want to make a deal or not?" Oliver asked as the book returned to it's place on the desk.
"What happens if I say no?"
"Then I return home."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Oliver repeated.
"What sort of deals can I make with you?" Mai asked.
"Well I sort of presumed you had an idea in mind when you summoned me," Oliver said. "Most people do. Most people want riches or love or something."
"And what do you ask for in return?"
"It depends on my mood."
Mai bit her lip.
"Can you… Can you bring people back from the dead?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Could you bring my Mum and Dad back?"
Oliver smiled sadly.
"I could, but you would not want me to." He made eye contact with Mai and continued. "It's like those foul creatures say, they can grant any wish but they will not kill, make someone fall in love or bring someone back from the dead."
Mai furrowed her brows.
"Foul creatures… You mean genies?"
"Yes."
"And you have the same rules."
"They're not rules, per se," Oliver said. "But the price will be too high. Or you will strongly regret it."
"You almost sound like you care."
Oliver chuckled darkly.
"Oh no, I do not care what you ask of me. But I'd rather not have my time wasted."
Mai frowned.
"Time wasted?"
"Well, you see, when people request… What was it you wanted? Your mother back from the dead? Let's take that as an example. I bring your mother back. But she's already started to rot and decompose. Her mind is not quite what it once was. She will suffer. Even if you were smart and asked me to bring her back in full health, she would be unhappy. The dead usually prefer to stay that way. Do you understand?"
Mai nodded.
"So, do you want to make a deal or not?"
"I… When I read out that incantation," Mai began, "I didn't expect it to work. I was hoping it would just sound suitably creepy."
"Suitably creepy?"
"My friends and I are having a scary story night this evening and my stories always suck so I wanted to go all out and find something that legitimately sounded scary."
"So, do you want to make a deal or not?" Oliver repeated with a smirk.
"Can you… Can you do some flashy, creepy looking stuff? And make yourself look like an actual demon rather than a model?"
Oliver's smirk widened.
Mai blinked and the handsome man sat on her floor morphed into a scaled monster. Horns protruded from his hair and his eyes glowed icy blue. Gold tinged scales erupted from his skin and his teeth lengthened into vicious fangs.
"Is this better?" he asked, holding up a clawed hand for her approval.
Mai, who had frozen with fear, nodded.
"Do you eat people?" she hissed.
"Only if I'm hungry."
"I have a packed of crisps."
Oliver chuckled.
"I'm not hungry right now," he said. "But I'll get back to you on that one. So, you want to summon me at some point this evening so I can scare your friends. I presume you want them all to live."
"Yes…"
"Just how scared do you want them?"
"Well, I don't want them to wet themselves or anything," Mai said. "But— Wait, do you have a tail or wings or anything in that form?"
"What?"
"Do you have—"
"Not at the moment, I can do if I so wish."
"Oh… But yeah, just like, so maybe they lose a couple of nights sleep? But no lasting damage."
"This is, at heart, a prank?" Oliver asked for clarification.
"Yes, exactly. So harmless, but like, creepy." Mai grinned, then she seemed to remember something. "Wait, what do you want in return?"
"Clever human… Hmm, what do I want in return…"
"You can't have my soul."
"What on earth would I want your soul for?"
"Don't demons eat them?"
"Some do," Oliver said. "But they're not to my taste."
"You sound like such a stuck-up demon."
"My brother says the same thing."
"You have a brother?"
"A twin, yes." Oliver smiled. "Yes, that is what I want."
"What?"
"I'll play along with your little prank, as long as I can bring my brother with me."
Mai frowned.
"What? Why?"
"Because he's bored. He'll be rather annoyed that I got summoned before him after so long. We don't get summoned much these days. If I can bring him too, we'll scare the shit out of your friends without maiming them or causing any lasting damage, and that'll keep him happy for a while."
"And he won't hurt anyone either?" Mai asked.
"He'll be bound by the same conditions as me," Oliver said. "As my guest."
"Are you trying to trick me?" Mai asked.
"Would I admit to it if I were?" Oliver asked in return.
"Fair point." Mai took a deep breath. "Okay, deal."
She held out her hand. Oliver crawled forward and took it in his own. The union flashed blue and gold and Mai recoiled. She glanced down at her hand to see a branded cross on her palm.
"It'll disappear once the deal is complete," Oliver said.
"Oh… I wasn't expecting that."
"You ought to have read more of that book," Oliver pointed out. "When you are ready this evening, summon me again, the contract of the deal will bring my brother with me."
"What is your name? I never asked."
"You may call me Oliver."
"Thank you, Oliver. I'll see you later!"
And as quickly as he had come, Oliver disappeared.

His brother pounced on him as soon as he returned.
"What happened?"
Gene grabbed Oliver's hands and checked them over.
"You made a deal! What is it? What happened? Come on, you've got to tell me everything."
"Get off me and I'll tell you everything."
"What's the human world like?"
"I didn't take much notice."
"You what?"
Oliver pushed his brother off him and took a seat on the sofa.
"The woman who summoned me did not expect it to work," Oliver began.
"They usually don't," Gene muttered. "Amateurs."
"But after asking some questions, she asked for help playing a prank on her friends."
"You made a deal for that?" Gene asked, disappointed.
"No maiming of her friends, no lasting damage," Oliver listed off. "But in return, I asked if I could bring you with me. Unless you don't want to do it…?"
He left the question dangling and watched as realisation crept over Gene's face.
"Damn straight I want to play a prank on some humans! What are we doing? Is that why you're all scaly?"
"She asked if I could look creepy," Oliver said, shifting back to his human form. "So, I demonstrated. She and her friends are telling each other scary stories. She apparently is bad at this and wanted to go one step further. Hence why she was trying out summoning rituals. She wanted to know if they sounded suitably creepy."
"So, when she does it and we turn up, her friends are going to shit themselves!" Gene clapped his hands with glee.
"Yes, she did ask for 'no wetting themselves'. She said nothing about shit."
"So, what are we going to do?" Gene asked. "I want to make this good."

Mai had to admit she was a little anxious about the whole thing. Yasuhara's story had been particularly good. Masako's had not been to her usual standard, but still, pretty interesting.
And now it was her turn. She took a large bite of chocolate brownie, to delay the inevitable.
"So, what have you got this time, Mai?" Masako asked as she poked through a back of sweets to find her favourite. "Who ate all the marshmallow hearts?"
"Not me," Yasuhara said quickly, looking down and picking at a thread on his pyjamas.
Masako narrowed her eyes at him and settled for a marshmallow egg. Mai swallowed down the last of her brownie, brushed a few crumbs off her bed and took a deep breath.
"I have something a little different today," Mai squeaked. "I…" She looked down at the book and caught sight of the brand on her hand. "I found this old book, it's a translation of old demon summoning rituals. So, I brought it along."
"That's cool," Masako said. "What sort of demons?"
"Well, I was thinking we could find out," Mai said. She opened the book to the bookmarked page. "That okay with you?"
Masako shrugged from the other end of the bed. Yasuhara frowned and twisted on the office chair so he could reach the bag of sweets.
"You don't think it's actually going to work, do you?" he asked, fishing out a gummy ring.
"Let's find out."
Mai began to read the incantation, as clearly as she could. She finished the last word and waited.
For a moment nothing happened. Yasuhara and Masako both looked around, as if waiting.
"I guess it's not—"
"Oh shit! Look!" Masako pointed.
In the centre of the room, a bright golden light pulsed in mid-air. It grew bigger and blue sparks shot out of the centre.
"What the fuck?!" Yasuhara scrambled back.
A hand pushed out of the light. No. Not a hand. A claw. A claw with sharp talons reached out grasping for a purchase. A second claw joined it.
Mai, who knew it was going to happen, still recoiled in horror. Masako covered her mouth.
A demonic head emerged along with a second set of hands. Another figure fought for escape out of the light, pushing the first out of the way.
"Mai! Mai, make it stop!" Masako cried. "Please make it stop!"
"I don't know how!" Mai admitted.
It was the truth. She had no idea if she could escape the deal she made.
"Freedom!" one of the monsters screeched. It was almost free of the glowing ball of light.
Yasuhara bolted to the door, only to find it would not open.
"The door's locked!"
One scaled creature landed on the floor. A second emerged not a minute later. Both stood, back to back, and surveyed the room. Oliver caught Mai's eye, cocked his head to one side, and winked.
Mai was not sure if she found this reassuring or not.
The other demon hissed something to Oliver in a language Mai did not understand. Oliver hissed something back.
"Leave us alone!" Masako shouted.
"Why would we leave you alone?" Gene purred. "When you invited us so kindly in?"
Yasuhara, who was still rattling at the door, turned around. He looked for something to use as a weapon and settled on Mai's badminton racket. Masako seemed to have had similar thoughts, but she had nothing better to pick than the pillows on the bed.
Mai just sat there, staring, wondering what the demons would do. Oliver waved a hand at her, and suddenly she found she could not budge an inch.
"I'm hungry, Brother," Gene said and raised a claw in Yasuhara's direction. "This one looks quite tasty, don't you think? Young humans are always so… Tender…"
He grinned and revealed pointed teeth.
"I haven't eaten in so long…"
Gene stepped forwards towards Yasuhara, his arms reaching out.
Yasuhara swung wildly with the badminton racket. Gene danced out of its reach with a cackle.
"Mai! Mai! Get up! We've got to get out of here!" Masako screamed.
Mai did not move.
"She can't hear you," Oliver said simply. "Well, she can, but she's currently incapable of moving."
Masako turned her attention on him.
"You leave her alone! Take me instead! Leave Mai alone!"
Oliver smiled.
"Take care of the boy," he said to his brother. "I'll have this one. We'll come back for the summoner later."
Oliver flicked his hand and the bedroom door swung open. Yasuhara looked between the door, Gene, and Masako.
"I—" But Yasuhara was cut off by Gene's growl.
"I suggest you run, if you want to live."
Yasuhara ran.
"How much of a head start do I have to give him?" Gene asked.
"I'm sure that is plenty, have fun, Brother."
Gene grinned, then sprinted after his prey.
"What a git," Masako muttered, then turned her attention back to Oliver.
"Yes, humans are rather rubbish aren't they…" he commented.
Masako scrambled from the bed and stood in front of Mai. She grabbed the closest thing she could see to a weapon; a stapler from Mai's beside table.
"I won't let you hurt Mai!" Masako declared.
"You don't need to let me do anything," Oliver said.
"You're a demon, right? Demons make deals. Let me make a deal with you!"
Oliver held up his hand and showed her the branded mark on his palm.
"I'm already under contract, so no can do."
Having decided there had been enough talking, Oliver waved his hands and made various objects float up into the air.
"What the—"
He sent them flying at Masako, one at a time. She dodged them — though he wasn't really aiming to hit her — and started screaming.
"Help! Anyone! Help us!"
"No one can hear you, girl," Oliver muttered to himself. "As if the first thing I did wasn't soundproof the room? How stupid do humans think demons are these days?"
"Mai! Wake up!"
Oliver send another tirade of objects at Masako, but she would not leave her friend. She failed to dodge a few of the objects. Oliver scowled. He wasn't allowed to hurt her. He wasn't allowed to maim Mai's friends…
But he was allowed to maim Mai.
He sighed and waved a hand, Mai's body floated into the air.
"What? No! Mai! No! Let her go! Don't hurt her!" Masako shouted.
She grabbed Mai's arm and tugged, but Oliver's power over Mai's body was too strong. Masako had to choose between staying out of Oliver's reach and holding onto her friend.
Her fear was stronger than her bravery.
"Please!" Masako pleaded.
Her eyes darted around for anything she could use as a weapon as Oliver took hold of Mai's doll-like body.
"I have no reason to listen to you," Oliver stated.
Masako edged backwards and hit the wall. She crept along it until she reached the corner. Oliver watched her move, then looked down at Mai's lifeless body. He opened his mouth wide, displaying his teeth for Masako's benefit.
Then sank them into the flesh of Mai's neck.
Masako screamed. She crashed into something in the corner. Barely glancing at whatever it was, she grabbed at a metal pole and wrenched it forwards. The electric fan swung wildly. The cord tethered Masako and her weapon to the wall. She yanked at it and it came free.
Oliver lifted his head, his mouth dripping with fresh red blood. He chewed a little and swallowed. A stray chunk of flesh fell from his lips.
Masako's mouth fell open and she gagged.
Oliver's clawed hand ripped at Mai's chest, her skin flaking away like pastry. He cracked her ribs like pencils and yanked out her still beating heart. As he raised it to his mouth, Masako screamed. She swung the fan, letting go so it crashed into him, and pelted for the door.
Smiling, Oliver let Mai's body hang in mid-air. He waved a hand at Masako, and she crumbled to the floor, unconscious. He beckoned with his finger, and Masako's body floated back to the bed.
"Hmm, I seem to have made a bit of mess…" He flourished his hand for a third time, and the room began to tidy itself. The objects that he had thrown by magic returned to their rightful places. The fan, that had bounced harmlessly off his body, straightened itself out and floated back to the corner. The cable flicked up and plugged itself back in.
He turned to Mai and cocked his head to one side. Waving his hand over her body, her injuries seemed to fade away. Flesh regrew from her neck and her heart returned to her chest cavity. There were three snaps as her ribs cracked back into place. As the skin healed over her bones, she came to.
He morphed back into his human form and waited for her to speak.
"What did you do?" she asked as he feet touched the ground.
Her knees were weak and she stumbled. Oliver caught her and held her for a moment, until she felt strong enough to stand by herself.
"What you asked me to do," he replied.
"But I felt it! I felt your teeth ripping my skin and—"
"Did it hurt?"
"Well…" Mai frowned. "No. Not really, but I felt it. Like it was really far away…"
"It was an illusion." He shrugged. "Judging from your state of dress, your friends were sleeping here tonight?" Oliver asked.
"Yes."
"Good, then I'll leave your friend on the bed."
Mai nodded.
"I… Wait, what happened to Yasuhara?"
"Gene's probably chasing him around somewhere, he'll come back." Oliver strolled over to the chair by the desk and sat down. "Are you satisfied?"
"I will be once I know Yasuhara is safe."
Oliver nodded.
"You know," he began, "I never agreed not to maim you."
Mai screwed up her face, trying to remember.
"No… No, you didn't," she agreed. "Then why am I still alive?"
He shrugged again.
"Just remember that, for next time."
"Oh, there will be no next time," Mai said. "I think one demon summoning is enough for my liking."
For a moment, Mai thought Oliver looked a little disappointed.
But then two figures appeared out of thin air; Gene, who had also returned to his human form, holding an unconscious Yasuhara.
"Okay, so before you get mad at me—" Gene began.
"What did you do?" Oliver asked sternly.
"Was the whole 'not wetting themselves' a formal part of the deal?" Gene asked. "It's not my fault he's a pansy. A smoking hot pansy, but a pansy nonetheless. I cleaned it up for him, you can't tell."
Oliver slapped a palm to his face and sighed. He looked to Mai.
"Your call."
"He's unhurt?" she asked. "If he's unhurt then I am not bothered."
"Yeah he's fine. I stopped him crashing into anything too damaging. He did try to jump out a window at one point, but I conveniently opened up another option for him to take…"
"What happened?" Mai prompted.
"Well, I chased him a bit, he grabbed a few chairs and a traffic cone and tried to fight me. I roared a bit, bared my fangs, the usual…"
"This idiot made Masako see him rip my heart out and begin to eat it," she told Gene, gesturing at Oliver. "And like, he had me under some sort of trance while he did the illusion but I could feel it!"
"Aww, neat! I wish I'd thought of that!" Gene said. "I could have done the whole 'eat them while they're still alive' thing…"
"Oh my, you're as bad as him."
"Honestly," Oliver said, "he is much worse."
"Aww, thank you!" Gene said, smiling at the compliment.
Yasuhara's body floated over to the bed and he flopped down next to Masako.
"Where will you sleep?" Oliver asked.
"I have a sleeping bag, I'll sleep on the floor," Mai said.
Gene stared at the two on the bed.
"Are they lovers?"
"What? No. Yasuhara's gay and Masako's a lesbian. You couldn't be any more wrong."
Oliver groaned.
"He's gay?" Gene's eyes lit up. "Damn my gaydar is rusty. Can I give him my summoning ritual?"
Mai narrowed her eyes at him.
"Is that like the demon equivalent of giving him your phone number?"
"The dial-y machines for talking? Yes, yes I guess so."
"That kind of ruins the prank," Oliver points out.
"But he's—"
"No. You can't give him your summoning ritual." Gene pouted and turned away. Oliver stood up. "Mai, are we done? Are you satisfied?"
"I guess so?" she said. "Thank you for not eating me?"
Oliver rolled his eyes and held out his branded hand.
"You have to shake it again as a sign of the deal complete."
"And then you'll go?"
"And then we'll go."
"Unless you want us to hang around and eat some—"
"Shut up Gene."
Mai laughed.
"Well… It was nice to meet you both."
She took Oliver's outstretched hand. There was another flash of light. She blinked. They were gone.

"That was fun," Gene said. "We should do it again sometime."
"What? Scare humans for pranks?" Oliver asked.
"I think I enjoyed the relief on that girl's face when her friends were both safe in bed as much as I did the sheer panic in that boy's scream…"
"She said she would not summon us again."
"Shame…"
Oliver reached for a book.
"It was fun, though," he said, "being back in the human world for a bit…"
"You liked it!" Gene accused him.
"So, what if I did?"
"You, Mr Grumpy-I-Don't-Want-To-Leave-The-House, enjoyed it! Ha!"
Oliver rolled his eyes and opened his book.
"Does this mean you'll learn another language with me?"
"No."
Gene pouted.
"Why not?"
"Because I see no need to," Oliver said. "Besides, you slipped your summoning ritual into that boy's pocket. So, you'll be busy soon anyway."
"What— How did you know that?"
"I'm your brother, Gene, and you're very predictable."
Oliver smiled to himself and settled in to read.

"You're alive!" Masako clutched at Mai as if her life depended on it when she woke the next morning. "You were dead! I swear! I saw that demon rip your heart out and—"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Mai asked. She had decided to play dumb.
Masako shook Yasuhara awake.
He screamed as he came to, then realised where they were and calmed down.
"What the fuck? Where are the demons? What happened?"
"You saw them too, right?" Masako demanded. "I saw one literally eat Mai's heart and she's all like 'what are you talking about?'"
"One of those fuckers chased me halfway down the street and I swear it was going to eat me!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mai replied innocently. "Did you drug the brownies?"
"What? No! You know I don't do drugs," Masako said. "I would never!"
Mai scoffed.
"And I didn't even have any of the brownie," Yasuhara pointed out. "I just ate all the marshmallow hearts."
"What? That was you? You git!" Masako poked him in the side. "Fine, Mai, what do you think happened last night?"
"We told stories, then went to sleep?"
"So, you don't remember the demons at all?"
"No?"
Masako narrowed her eyes at her best friend.
"I'll believe you for now. But I want you to give me that book you brought last night. If I read the incantation and nothing happens, then I'll believe you for real."
"Are you kidding?" Yasuhara asked. "You want those monsters to come back? Are you mad?"
Masako opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Good point. No more summoning. No more demons. Let's just move on with our lives. Maybe my flatmate spiked the brownies without me knowing. I don't know."
"Let's get some breakfast, I need a coffee," Yasuhara said.
He shuffled to the end of the bed and stood up. A piece of paper fell from his pocket.
"You dropped something," Masako said, pointing.
"Did I? Oh…"
Yasuhara bent down and picked up the paper. He frowned, then read it aloud.
"Hey, I had fun chasing you last night. Your butt is super cute. If you'd like to go on a date, please summon me according to the instructions below."
Mai swore. Both of her friends turned to look at her.
"Mai," Yasuhara began in a level tone. "Why is one of the demons you summoned asking me out on a date?"
"Coffee!" Mai said quickly, jumping up and heading for the door. "You want coffee, right, I'll make coffee for everyone and breakfast and—"
"Mai! Wait up! Answer my question."
But Mai had already gone.
"That demon said he already had a contract," Masako mumbled. "You don't think… You don't think Mai made a deal with a demon to… I don't know? Prank us or something, do you?"
"She wouldn't…"
Yasuhara and Masako both looked to the open door that Mai had just left through.
"Would she?"

Author's note: "Hannah!" I hear you cry, "I thought you weren't posting anything during NaNoWriMo?" Yeah okay well I wasn't but then I had this idea in the shower and then the internet didn't work on the train so I couldn't get to my NaNo doc and so I started writing this and then oops. Super late Halloween present I guess? Please review :)