There's nothing quite like Winter in the north. Snow falling from the sky, the cold wrapping you as you wrap yourself to counteract it, and a nice cup of coffee. It's the only way I can clear my head after what happened. Wilson got out of the hospital yesterday, but I haven't talked to him. I told Emmret to scare Wilson. Not kill him! If Wilson died because of me-

Someone sits on the bench behind me, the two benches in the center of this part of the bustling mall. She speaks softly, nervous, "You deal in demons?"

"I know my way around a deal with their kind," I reply, "Are you the one who contacted me on the deep web?"

"I made a deal," she sighs, "And I... I want out."

Oh. OK. Was looking to recruit someone to the Children of the Dawn, but this is... what do I do here?

"What type?" I ask.

"Sloth," she sighs.

"I've made a deal with a Mind demon," I sigh, "But why contact me if you want to get out of a bargain?"

"Because I'm desperate," she sighs, "I have a concert soon and I heard there's demon hunters about."

"Concert?" I inquire turning around, "What do you-"

The young woman who looks back at me is none other than the beater of drums, the leader of the dance, self proclaimed queen of beats, Penelope, drummer of the band Dead Sea Dance.

Penelope smiles at me, her green eyes holding more weariness and exhaustion than anything else, as if she's using her smile to mask her true feelings. She wears a grey hoodie, and stands right at my height, give or take about an inch taller. She's muscular, or well, beefy. A strong build with a hefty amount of weight. She has short black hair, which is dyed red at the tips.

I am at a loss for words, what could she want from a Sloth demon? She has it all. A band, looks, all of it.

"What did you bargain for?" I manage to squeak out, totally starstruck at this point.

"You don't need to be nervous," she chuckles, "I mean, I'm not any different from you. Just a normal person in the end."

"Yeah you're right," I smile, speaking normally now, although kinda embarrassed. "So the bargain was for-"

"The ability to play music without any effort," Penelope explains, "made a deal with Sloth himself, but now, when I'm out on that stage I want to try harder. I want to push myself to make better music. However, because of the deal I made, I can't. Sloth holds me back."

"When did you make this deal?" I inquire.

"Like a year ago," she sighs, "when I dropped out of my junior year of high school."

I think for a moment, and then get a bad idea. However, it's my only idea.

"I can call a buddy of mine," I explain, "He's a member of the demon hunters but he's chill. He can help."

"How do we know he won't tell the others?" Penelope demands.

I take out my phone and explain, "They call him Mr. Nothing. He's gonna be far more interested in helping you. Trust me."

I dial in and the phone begins to ring. Wilson answers, sounding sleepy, "hello?"

"Hey Wilson," I force a jolly tone through my guilt, "You OK? Heard you got hurt."

"I was attacked durring the Dawn by Emmret," Wilson sighs, "Bastard. Defending underage drinking. Not that I was in the right on Halloween. I should've called the police. At least, I'm like 99% sure now it was Emmret. It makes sense, considering how berserk I went and he mentioned Halloween. It has to be him. Yknow? He totally could've gotten The Gift from that."

"I'm so sorry," I sigh.

"Hey it's not your fault," Wilson replies, "Besides, Emmret would've attacked me at some point with The Gift. What's up?"

"OK so if I find someone who's made a deal with a demon," I inquire, "What do we do?"

"Well we have to kill the demon," Wilson explains, "Now, I take it you don't want the others knowing if you called me, but they won't judge I'm sure if we need their help. The demon most be lurred out and slain to free their victim. Is this hypothetical? When was the last time you ate?"

My heart pounds in my chest, "What?"

"That Famine Fiend wasn't there for me," Wilson explains, "Beth, you're not dealing with demons are you? Are you eating?"

"Yes," I lie, "And the question was only hypothetical."

"Alright," Wilson replies, "But if you need a demon killed on the down low just ask. OK? I mean they won't judge, but I understand if it's a concern."

"But you can't fight on your own," I remind.

"I ain't gonna need reminders of that every day," Wilson retorts, angered, before hanging up.

"So what's the deal?" Penelope inquires.

"Well you frankly just," I sigh, "Look, the demon hunters aren't so bad. Trust me. I know them. We need them to kill Sloth to free you from the bargain."

"Oh God," Penelope sighs, "So what? You gonna turn me in?"

"No no," I shake my head, "Sloth will appear anyways. Provided you don't get possessed they'll never even know about you. Even if you do get full on possessed, it's nothing that shouldn't be OK as long as Sloth is killed quickly. You get possessed for to long though, you could die."

"You really know a lot," Penelope explains, "What demon did you deal with?"

I shake my head and sigh, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Yeah actually I got a couple of hours before practice," Penelope explains, "And I'm hungry. Eating alone sucks. Do you wanna go grab some lunch from that fried chicken place?"

"I mean I'm not hungry," I reply, "but I can tag along. Yeah."

She shrugs at me not being hungry and the two of us begin to walk down the massive halls of the mall towards the food court. I ignore my stomach growing as we sit.

"So tell me about yourself," Penelope smiles.

"Oh," I reply, "You sure?"

"Yeah," Penelope smiles, "You seem cool."

"OK," I shrug, "Well I've honestly always been a fan of your band."