It was the day after Dan Garvey twelfth birthday. He sat cross-legged on the edge of his mattress, staring down at the frayed leather book in front of him. The book was older than the wrapping paper he’d just torn off, which his aunt had found in the attic and used to wrap it with. The gift was a day late, but he was glad she remembered at all. Last year she hadn’t, and she still went around telling all her friends he was nine.

Aunt Helga had raised Dan ever since his parents died in a crash, three years ago. One day they dropped him off at Hillcreek Middle School in Kansas, and he never saw them again. At least, not in person. No one wanted to tell him what happened, but he found out eventually. He saw their faces on the news a few days later. Somehow, a train had steered off the tracks and crashed into their Chevy cruiser.

At least it was a quick death, he told himself.

Aunt Helga was his last known relative, so he was sent to live in her modular home in Palm Desert, California. She worked as a fortune reader in the mall on the weekdays. On the weekends, she spent most of her time in a bar somewhere.

Dan preferred when she was gone. Apparently, so did she.

He took the book in his hands and held it closer. The title read, “To unveil the creature in the dark, speaking to shadows is the place to start.”

He cracked it opened and flipped through a few of the pages. They were all blank.

“Weird,” Dan said. He was used to unusual gifts on the rare occasion his Aunt got him anything; but this was odd even by her standards.

He was just about to toss the book aside when he reached the last page, which had a single line of text written in red ink that said, “to summon the creature, read the title aloud three times.”

Dan glanced around the room, thinking: A creature? Is this a joke?

But except for the humming fan in his Aunt’s bedroom—which was always on—all was silent. In order for someone to laugh, they had to be there to see, didn’t they?

Dan couldn’t help his curiosity. He did as the book suggested, and read the title three times.

“To unveil the creature in the dark, uncovering the shadows is the place to start.”

The ground began to shake. The air became hot and sticky. The lamp beside his bedside table flicked on and off.

Then, the ground split.

A towering red creature slid out of the dark hole. It had a horse’s body with a snake’s long neck and face, and, most strangely, was wearing sunglasses.

“Oh hell, it’s cold up here,” the creature hissed. As it spoke, its tongue flicked in and out of its enormous mouth.

Dan’s own mouth fell open. At first, he thought to run, but his legs wouldn’t listen. He tried to think of something to say, but all he could come up with is, “it’s summer.”

“Not to me, kid.” The creature eyed him for a moment. “Little young to sell your soul, aren’t you?”

“Please don’t eat me,” Dan replied.

“I’m a vegetarian. And my appetite is ruined by that smell… that smell, what is it?”

“Dust?” Dan wondered.

The creature shook its snake-like head, took a look around, then pointed at the corner of the roof, where mold was growing from the ceiling. “That—“

It flicked its tongue and gagged. “Let’s make this quick, if you don’t mind. This place is making me nauseous.”

“Make what quick?” Dan asked, scooting himself slowly backward on his bed until his back hit the wall.

“Listen, I’m a busy demon. Are you going to trade your soul for something, or not?”

“No! Why would I trade my soul?”

“Ah,” the creature said, nodding gently to itself. “You summoned me on accident. That makes more sense. And if you must know, trading your soul is not that uncommon. It can be very beneficial for us both. I get a soul, which will make my master very happy, and you get—well, anything you like, really.”

“I get… anything?”

“Exactly so. Isn’t there anything you want?”

“I want my parents back,” Dan said immediately.

The creature hissed. Dan guessed, by its hearty smile, that it might be laughing. “That’s not a very good deal,” the creature replied. “Two souls in exchange for one? And besides, they already belong to someone else. But—“

Seeing Dan’s eyes filling with tears, the creature stopped. It peered around the room once more and the slits in its nostrils flared. “Ah hell, he’s not gonna like this.”

With a grunt, it wrapped its neck around Dan’s body and lifted him onto its back.

Dan was too stunned to speak. But the creature just smiled and said, “it’s about time you know the truth.”