Chapter Text
Rey followed Finn, Poe, and Jessika up the hill in the woods, careful to avoid the patches of poison ivy. It was October 30th, mischief night; they were guided by Poe’s sense of direction, their path illuminated by the half-moon. Rey had her phone on her, but it would be next to useless – they were truly in the middle of nowhere, having left even the farms behind several miles back.
“Do you even know where we’re going?” she called to Poe, who had just clambered over a massive fallen tree trunk.
“Ye of little faith!” Poe said. Rey exchanged a look with Jessika, who shrugged. They followed Poe, their sneakers crunching on the dead leaves. At least it was dry, Rey figured; nothing was worse than damp fall nights.
As the trees thinned out, they came upon a field; within that field was a small wooden building, the white paint chipped. It had a steep roof, topped with a small cross. It was an abandoned church – Quaker, Poe had said, but Rey wasn’t too sure – stood next to a graveyard.
And that was their destination.
“Told you,” Poe said, smug. Another group, maybe half a dozen of Poe’s friends, were waiting for them. Poe waved his hand and headed toward them.
“Never doubted you,” Jessika said with a grin. Rey rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe that she let her friends talk her into this – it was cold, they were in the middle of nowhere, and it was all for some stupid bet.
“Hope you brought your running shoes,” one of the girls, a blonde, said as they approached. Another guy offered Poe a beer from one of the cases on the ground. There was a fire going, and some of the guys were using tree stumps as makeshift seats.
Another guy – Rey recognized him as Anthony, a guy she’d had a chem lab with – snorted. “You realize this is all bogus, right?”
Rey was inclined to agree. The only reason she even came along was because Finn had persuaded her, and it was more appealing than spending Halloweekend alone.
“It’s not though,” Jessika countered. “Weird shit happens up here all the time. The church used to be used as a cult house. People get driven off roads.”
“She’s right,” Poe said. He took a sip of the hard cider. “I had an uncle who did this – took a Ouija board out here, and heard screams from the church.”
Rey snorted. “It was probably cats mating, Poe.” She walked over to the case of beer and went to get herself one. If she had to put up with this nonsense, she should at least be a little buzzed. But her pursuit of alcohol was stopped by Jessika.
“Nope,” Jess said, swatting her hand away. “You’re our runner. You’re staying clean.”
Rey groaned. Finn clasped her on the shoulder. “Sorry, peanut,” he said. “You got this.”
“You’re all the worst,” Rey told them. She kicked a dead leaf. “I don’t get why you want me to do this. It’s just a backwater folktale, nothing more.” She tugged the sleeves of her sweater over her hands, kicking herself for not wearing gloves. The mountain air was thin and cold, and the heat of the bonfire only got her so far.
“You can have s’mores when you come back,” Anthony said with a grin, waving an unopened bag of marshmallows in her direction.
“If she comes back,” a girl named Mary corrected. Rey shot a glare in her direction. Leave it to the Appalachian girl to subscribe to this devil bullshit.
“It’s a wonder you got into college,” Rey said dryly, not particularly caring if she stepped on some feelings tonight. Before Mary could respond – and oh, Rey must’ve struck a nerve, the girl’s face was so red – Poe stepped in.
“So this is how it works,” Poe said to Rey. “You go to the graveyard, and you touch the first headstone on your right. Allegedly, that summons the devil. Then, you race him.”
Rey frowned. “To where?”
“End of the graveyard, around the church, back to the headstone in the front. The gate goes around the church, so you don't have to hop it.”
The way Poe spoke – with such gravitas – was so at odds with the whole thing. Rey would acknowledge that being out in the middle of nowhere, alone, at night, near an old graveyard and an alleged cult house – it was creepy. Like, the first five minutes of a horror flick creepy. Like, Texas Chainsaw Massacre creepy.
But racing the Devil? Maybe it was her atheist ass talking, but if she were a devil, she’d have much more important things to do.
“And I’m guessing I go in alone, and your lazy asses get to stay here?” Rey said, her tone a bit caustic.
“We can go with you,” Jess said, “We just can’t touch the stone. We’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”
“If she gets back,” Mary chimed in. Rey ignored her.
“Fine,” she said, straightening her sweater. “Let’s get this over with.”
They all ambled over to the entrance of the graveyard. The cast-iron fence had been destroyed in some areas, and the gate hung open. Poe led the way, Rey shortly behind with Finn at her side. He gave her hand a squeeze. “You’ll be fine. This is all hokey.”
“I know that,” Rey muttered. “I just don’t get why you volunteered me.”
“You’re the fastest on campus. Everyone knows that.”
Rey sighed – that much was true. She was fast, had spent most of her life running, and hadn’t peaked in high school like some other runners had. “I’m glad you think I’m fast enough to outrun the devil, Finn.”
He nudged her with his shoulder. “You’re fast enough to outrun death, peanut.”
Much as she was loathe to admit, Rey did feel that atmosphere change as they stepped over the threshold into the graveyard. Mind over matter, she reminded herself. Graveyards were inherently creepy – dead people were buried there. It didn’t mean anything.
She was a woman of science, dammit, and she wouldn’t be swayed by an Appalachian myth.
Poe walked up to one headstone in particular. It was utterly unremarkable, the epitaph illegible, the grass around it dry and overgrown. “Here,” he said. “You touch this, you run around, and meet us back here.”
“And you all owe me twenty dollars when I get back,” Rey reminded him. That was why she’d taken the bet, the money – but she was beginning to wonder if it was worth it.
She knelt down and retied her sneakers, making sure she wouldn’t trip over the laces. She adjusted the waistband of her leggings, and reached into her hoodie pocket to give her phone to Finn.
“Uhh,” he said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“What, afraid I won’t make it?” Rey asked, too-innocently. Mary paled. Anthony snorted. Finn looked stricken.
“Relax,” Rey said. “I don’t want to drop it. If I’m not back in five minutes, assume I fell or something.”
She stretched a bit, mostly for show. Then she let her fingers brush the top of the gravestone and was off like a light.
Whether or not the devil was on her heels was irrelevant – a sadistic part of Rey wanted to give them a show. She had half a mind to stay back, to make them look for her and have a good laugh – but there was something that spurred her on, made her run faster. The cold air stung her lungs, whipped against her face and urged her on.
She ran straight through the graveyard, made a sharp turn around the house. She was officially out of the sight of her friends and the bonfire now, the path before her lit with only moonlight. She ignored the shadows on either side of her and concentrated on not tripping over the fallen leaves. She was at the furthest point from her friends, and she could see the gate hanging open in front of her.
It was then that the scenery around her began to change. The shadows swirled, the wind whipped, and Rey ran smack into something solid and hot. She fell back on her ass, skidded with the force of it.
…how fast had she been running? And what had she run into?
Rey looked up. A figure in black loomed above her, the wind whipping the leaves around it. She scrambled to her feet and made to bolt back, but she stood frozen to the spot. Something primal awoke in her veins, something that warned her that she was merely a human, and that there were things out there that would make a meal of her.
Her mouth went dry and her blood ran cold. She could hear her heart thudding in her chest.
The figure stepped forward, making no sound, and took off a cowl, revealing a masculine face. He had yellow eyes, black hair, a narrow jaw, and – Rey could scarcely believe it – twin horns rising from his head. His bare torso was covered in swirling black tattoos, written in a language Rey couldn't read. He regarded her with something very old and very unreadable in his eyes, and Rey couldn’t look away.
“Only Death can outrun the Devil,” he said, voice low and quiet. “Yet you are neither. So tell me: what are you?”
There was something in his voice, something feral and strange and exhilarating hiding just underneath the surface of his civil words. Fueled by equal parts adrenaline and stupidity, Rey said, “I’m no one. Just Rey.”
“Not who,” the creature said, stepping forward again until he was mere inches from her. He was tall, so tall, that he had to lean down to make his gaze level with hers. “But what?”
“H-human.”
He straightened. “Human.”
Rey found herself babbling, fueled by adrenaline and a desperate need to not get dragged to hell by the devil, because oh my god this myth is real. “I – my friends – there’s a legend – they made me run, you know, I’m fast, and I didn’t think anything would happen, but you’re here, and –“
“Careful, little bird,” he said, a corner of his mouth tugging up. His hand came out, as if to touch her. Rey braced herself, but he dropped it back to his side. “Your disbelief does not make it less true.”
“So it is true,” Rey said, breathless. “You – you’re the Devil. Satan. There’s a god. It’s all true.”
The Devil scoffed. “Hardly. You humans have a way of oversimplifying it. There are many roles to fill. Mine is that of the Adversary – the Christian Satan, as you so eloquently put it. You tapped my headstone. You challenged me to this race. And you – a human, you claim to be – have won.”
Rey wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Her head was reeling and her heart was beating so fast she was surprised she hadn’t passed out. She steeled herself, and asked, “So I won. What does that mean.”
“It means,” he said at length, “That I am bound to give you a boon.”
Rey frowned. “Boon?”
For Satan, he sure looked exasperated. “A wish, a stroke of luck, a favor.”
“I – anything? How do I – what – “ he waved a hand, and Rey felt the words die on her tongue.
“There is no need to decide now. You have a year and a day to finish your request. You will summon me at a crossroads, a place both betwixt and between, and I will grant you one favor. This is the deal you consented to when you challenged me.”
Rey found that she could speak again. “That’s it? That’s all someone has to do to get a favor from – from Satan?”
His yellow eyes flashed and he grit his teeth. He disappeared and materialized a hair’s breadth in front of her, teeth bared. “I would not encourage your human friends to partake in the challenge,” he growled. “You claim to be one of them. But I can smell it on you. No human can outrun me. These are my terms. You have a year and a day.”
And with that, he disappeared.
The shadows retreated, the moon returned, and Rey found herself completely and utterly exhausted. She fell to her knees, dimly aware of her friends shouting her name in the background. She heard the pounding of footsteps and felt Finn’s hands underneath her head, but it was as if she were dreaming.
She came to in the car.
Poe was driving like a maniac, Finn in the passenger seat; Rey’s head was in Jess’ lap. Jess was hysterical, saying oh god oh god oh god, and behind them –
She could see the blinding light of the high beams and heard the roar of an engine.
Rey pushed herself up. “What – what’s happening?”
“Rey?” Finn shouted as Poe nearly upended the car as he swerved along the mountain road. Behind them, the high beams followed.
“This fucker’s been on my ass,” Poe shouted, not bothering to look at her. “Tried to drive me off the fucking road!”
“Rey!” Jess cried, hugging Rey to her. “Oh God, I thought we’d lost you, you were passed out when we found you, and so cold-“
“I-I’m fine,” Rey said. The truth of her encounter was on the tip of her tongue, but something told her it would be best to keep it to herself. One look at Poe’s frazzled expression told her that her friends couldn’t hear it right now, either. Someone – or something, a voice in her head reminded her – was pursuing them.
Rey chanced a glance back, squinting against the high beams. She couldn’t make out a driver. The car looked like a black pickup truck, and it was moving fast, occasionally swerving from side to side.
“Think he’s drunk,” Rey said, shutting her eyes against a pounding headache. “It looks like how fucktards drive when their drunk.”
“FUCK!” Poe screamed, slamming on the breaks. Before them the road was out, blocked by massive boulders that had fallen in a landslide. If they crashed into one of them…
Poe swerved, slammed the breaks. Rey felt her heart in her throat. She couldn’t look in front of her so she looked behind at the truck, and –
It was gone.
And Rey swore she saw a pair of yellow eyes stare at her from the dark road.
The car skidded to a stop, jolting them all.
There was a heavy pause, and then – out of sheer relief – Rey found herself laughing. It was the sort of uncontrollable laughter born of desperation, of the brink of insanity, of cheating death and the devil in the same day.
Poe was cackling along with her – it seemed that the gravity of the situation had gotten to him, too. Jess and Finn joined in, until the four of them were howling like lunatics at the absurdity of it all.
“We were going to a hospital,” Finn said, the first to find words. “We thought you fell and hit your head. Y’know – a concussion. And then -”
“And then that fucker started chasing us down the road,” Poe spat. “Missed the exit, and almost died.”
“Twice,” Jess said. She squeezed Rey’s hand. “Are you okay? We really were worried…”
Rey’s head did hurt; in fact, her whole body ached. “I have a headache,” Rey answered honestly. “And my back and knees. But that’s probably from running – I don’t think I twisted an ankle or anything.”
“Still,” Finn said, “We should get you to a hospital anyway, just to be sure. You don’t fuck around with head injuries. Jess, make sure she stays awake on the ride, okay?”
Rey nodded, and Jess squeezed her hand in affirmation. She doubted she needed medical attention – she didn’t think doctors could cure an encounter with the Devil- but the normalcy of a hospital was something she so, so desperately wished to return to.
“Yeah,” she said. Finn pulled out his phone GPS and navigated them back onto the main roads. She bit her lip and pulled her hoodie sleeves down over her hands. The past few hours scarcely felt as if they were real – she’d raced the Devil and won, for chrissake – how the hell was she supposed to process that?
There was one thing he’d said that kept coming back to her: You claim to be one of them. Why would she claim to be human? She was born human, she’d die human – there wasn’t another option. A human being. Homo sapiens. That’s what she was.
…wasn’t she?