Escape

[Alison]

Alison sat on the ground, she felt weak, everything about the demon world was getting harder to handle as she pulled her knees close to her chest and hugged them thinking frantically on how she could get out.

She felt regret. This was a feeling Alison could not stand, she had done a lot of bad things in her human life, before death, and after death. She had made her best friend out to be a murderer, and then to make matters worse she had killed her own parents. No Alison thought, that was something she would have no regret for. Her mom and dad were scum, the shot coke up their noses, and banged heroin through needles. They never loved her, with them she had just cleaned up the mess that they left.

" FUCK!" Alison screamed out, tears running down her face now. She had fucked up, her whole life had been meaningless, it was something she had realized after spending such a long time down here. She needed out.

Get a hold of yourself Alison. A calming voice said inside of her head. At this she stood up, she then looked around her, she was going crazy, no insane, this place wasn't for her. Looking up Alison muttered something, one positive thing about this place was her power, she could feel it rising here. She put a hand to the top of her head and thought frantically about the spell she had used to put herself here, a hopeful smile came to her lips, she remembered, more than remembered at that matter, she felt something stir inside her as she felt her power rising, changing her from the inside out, she called something out loud and before her, some sort of black whole opened wide, their were colors spining slowly around like clouds.

Alison recognized it as a portal, something odd, that wasn't what put her here the first time. Whatever. Alison thought, it would have to do to get her out of there.

[Adrian]

A dark chuckle rang through the air, emanating from one of the shadows. "I wouldn't go in there, if I were you. Unless of course you fancy joining the buffet? That's up to you." From the shadows emerged a human figure, limping along the uneven ground with but a cane for support. "Ever wonder why so few who go in here return? It's not just 'cause of the beasties, mostly its nasty little things like that." He paused to lift his cane and point it at the pulsating portal, planting it firmly in front of him and straightening his back. He was young, tall and pale as salt, not much more than a few years older than Alison. At least, that's what his appearance gave away. "I'm not native to these parts, thankfully, but I know my way around them. You may have the power to rip this world to shreds but that won't help you when it just patches it self up at the same speed. I know the way, and I'll lead you... For a price." Emerging completely from the shadows more of him was revealed, and it did not fit in with the sorroudnings. A creaseless black suit adorned the skinny figure, with a white shirt and a blood-red tie for good measure. He wore gloves, and the cane he supported himself against carried strange inlays and what looked like mother of pearl. He had long black hair tied up in a pony tail and just a hint of beard around his chin and upper lip, though he still appeared well-shaven.

"You can go two ways now, go into that thing there and hope I bother to pick up your slimey bones when it's shat you out, or you can come with me and see your friend again. It's up to you." He offered his hand, gloved in black fabric, it represented more than a mere greeting. "All that I ask in return is that one day, when I call upon you to return the favour, that you'll repay your debt to me. Nothing more." His eyes had briefly run up and down her figure whilst he had still been one with the darkness, and he could imagien quite a few ways that she could... repay him, but that would be for later. Those things did not belong in favour trade. "Maybe it's just me, but I think that your friend will be happier to see all of you rather than just a couple of bones and a pile of reddish goo." Bad things lurked down here, really bad things. He was somewhat protected by his standing, but even he did not go into these regions without reason, and very good reason at that.

[Alison]

What the hell? Was Alison's first thoughts when she froze on the spot after hearing a man's voice coming from the depths of darkness behind her. Slowly she willed herself to turn around. It was one thing she had learned from being here in the demon world was to not be afraid of what lurked down here, being afraid would only get a person killed, so slowly she breathed in deeply and turned around, as she did so, she listened to his voice hearing something that seemed like a threat, or maybe a warning, whatever it was she couldn't tell and was preparing her defenses against whatever or whoever else was here with her.

As he warned her not to go into her newly made portal, Alison rolled her eyes, it seemed everybody had a lousy habit of underestimating her and her abilities, though she wouldn't go around bragging about that just yet, in fact, Alison tried a different tactic, something she had never really tried out before, instead of going on the defensive and attacking the newcomer, Alsion stood silently still and listened to what he had to say, hiding a snicker once she seen that the man holding the cane didn't look all that old and she wondered how ridiculous and out of place he looked at the moment.

She let the man finish talking, taking him in as he did so, thinking about his offer in helping her out of here, she had to admit, coming out of here may prove to be harder than it looked, and god knows it would probably be a boring journey if she had to make it all by herself, but he wanted something in return, what he wanted she did not know, but it may not matter as well, he may end up just dying anyway, finding it a little hard to do so, this guy seemed to know a lot about her, how did he know about why she wanted to get back home so bad? " Fine. You can take me home or whatever." She said feeling a little short at the moment, she was secretly hoping that perhaps after this, maybe he would forget about payment.

[Adrian]

"Is that a promise?" Grinning mischievously he continued to hold his hand up. The spell would not be complete until she shook his hand and thus sealed the deal, a deal they would both suffer from greatly should they opt to break it. He had nearly everything set up but he needed one more person with some power to cement the result of the conflict there would be. The seers had not been very specific, but he knew that it could not hurt to have this one along, not least since it would not be a way fo her to repay the favour. "I may be a bit old fashioned, but until you give me your word and we shake on it, well, I'm not the one who needs help getting out of here. I give you my word that I'll see you out of here in one piece, and that I won't ask for anything outragous in return." He giggled, letting his hand fall and pointing at her with his cane. "It's not like there's enough left of your soul to fetch a decent price, anyway."

He wasn't sure what the favour would be yet, but someone of her power was best kept on one's good side. In his current state he doubted that he would be able to take her one-on-one, but then again he didn't need to. She was the one who needed him right now, and if she decided to go violent, he had ways of staying alive. "What'll it be?" Both his hands were resting on the cane again, he would wait for her to put her hand forward and give her word before sealing their contract. Human's, they no longer seemed to understand the power of an oath, good thing that he had the means to... remind them.

[Alison]

Alison sighed and took in the cane which the young man pointed towards her. She looked at it questionlly and then up at the man's face. Gritting her teeth she sighed once again at the man's poor attempt to be funny, did he even truly realize the power he was messing with? That was when she didn't even know that power, but he was right, there was always a chance that she wasn't capable, even though her art was practiced and she had felt a increase with her powers. She may actually need him to escape from down here, so slowly she extended her hand towards his own and sealed the deal.

" I don't know what your idea of payment is." She said impatiently, she had been down here for a long time and she felt her fuse running a tad short from it. " But if you even think of trying anything, I'll turn your skin inside out." With this she flashed an attempted smile, just to try to soften her sharp words, but deep down inside she knew that if she actually focused hard enough she may just be able to pull off such a feat.

[Adrian]

The being smiled, the deal was sealed and they were now both bound to it, at least the wording. Contracts like these took on lives of their own, and they did not take kindly to oathbreakers. But then, who did take kindly to those who sullied the very foundation of one's existence? "Oh please." He responded, chukling to himself. "There are far easier ways of getting far better. Shall we?" He smiled, taking a step to the side and indicating the path behind him. Whether or not it had been there before was hard to say, things were not as constant in this realm as in the home of humans. He began limping along the uneven ground, he knew the way better than most. He looked forward to see his home again.