Alex rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. He was awoken by a knocking at his window. It took him a second to process this. Knocking at his window. He looked over at the window and had to keep from screaming. 

He saw a large man who seemed to be made out of the shadows. He wore a long coat with a red shirt under it. His top hat looked kind of familiar, but he didn't want to think anything of it. His one eye that wasn't hidden looked at him, a toothy smile flashing him. If the man hadn't seen him right away, Alex probably would have acted like he never saw a thing and went back to bed. He watched as the man pulled his window open, looking at him. Alex was paralyzed with fear. 

"Like the new look Alex?" the man asked. That voice was someone Alex would never forget. That's when he noticed the man was holding his book. 

"Eric?" 

"In the flesh. Though call me Black Hat now. That's my new name," Black Hat told him with a grin. 

"What happened to you? Are you okay?" 

"I've never felt better," his friend told him, sitting down at his desk. He reached over and lightly stroked Alex's dog. Vinci didn't seem to mind the weird person at all. "You see, your book was harboring a demon who took a liking to me. She's living in my body and we have a deal going on." 

"You made a deal with a demon?" Alex asked, surprised. He thought Eric would have been smarter than that. 

"Yes. She informed me that I can't get her out of my body so it was either make a deal or let her slowly kill me to use my body. I decided to go with the deal. I like living. I feel like I can do anything." 

"What was the deal Eric?" 

"It's Black Hat. That's part of the deal. She hated my name so she told me she got to change it. She noticed the top hat you got me and decided Black Hat would be an interesting name. In turn for doing the two things she said, she'll tell me where Missy is. I'm doing this to find her Alex. I have to." 

Alex blinked a bit. Find Missy. It seemed impossible, but if anyone could do it, he figured a demon could. But just a simple name change seemed like too low a price. And Eri- er, Black Hat said two things. What could the second one be. 

"Hey Alex, you have to give this book a read," Black Hat told him, holding the book out. Alex took it, staring at it. He did want to read it, but he wasn't so sure after the story his friend told him. 

"I don't know... is it safe?" 

"Of course it is. Just open it up and read. I'll protect you from anything that tries to happen." 

Alex debated it for a while. In the end his curiosity got the best of him and he eagerly opened the book. His eyes scanned the pages to see the secrets it held inside. He was so into the words that he didn't noticed the blackness that seemed to crawl towards him. He did when it grabbed his hands, holding them tightly. 

He went wide eyed, trying to pull them away. He looked up at Black Hat, hoping his friend would help him. All he got was a sad smile. He knew he was part of the deal to find Missy. This demon wanted to change him too. He didn't understand what was going on. Nothing felt weird. That is until the shadows got to his face. 

He felt a huge burn seem to cover his entire head. It felt like it was burning the skin right off. He screamed, but it had to be muffled since no one came running. He fought like crazy to pull the thing away, but it kept burning away. He lost sight of everything. It felt like he was dying. He slumped forward, out cold. 

___________________________________ 

"What did you do?!" he heard someone say. The voice was fimilar and made him smile. He looked up to see Black Hat holding him tightly, looking worried. He knew something was talking, but he couldn't hear it. "But look at him!" 

Alex lifted his head and looked at the window. The glass showed the sight before him. His head was gone. All that was there was a large wisp of dark smoke. He gasped at the sight, trying to grab his head. But he missed and his hand went right through. 

"What did you do to me?" he asked Black Hat. 

"I don't know... Alex I'm so sorry... I'll fix this..." 

"You can't! My head is like this forever now! I thought I was your friend. I though I cou-" 

Alex blinked when Black Hat put something over his head. It became dark until two holes were cut out, his glasses placed over them. He noticed they had changed too into googles. It was weird. He reached up and felt the thing on his head before he looked at Black Hat. 

"Really? A paper bag is the best you can do?" 

"It works for now!" 

The two looked at each other. Black Hat noticed that his friend's outfit changed too. His blue shirt actually got something on it. A plane that crashed. His white jacket he always wore became a lab coat. His hands were covered with yellow gloves. Over all he looked the same with minor changes. But he knew that he didn't like this. He was regretting doing this, wishing he could turn back time and fix this. 

Remember Missy. It will all work out. 

He sighed a bit, standing up. He held his hand out for Alex to take. 

"Come on. We can't stay here. We've got to leave." 

Alex glared at him before he stood up. He hated everything about this. He looked Black Hat up and down. He thought about things as the two crawled out of the window and ran off. Black Hat was actually a cool name. A new start and a new name. 

"Hey Black Hat, with this new look, could I change my name too?" Alex asked.

"I mean I don't see why not," Black Hat told him. 

"Cool! Could your demon do it? That name really is cool." 

There was a silence has it seemed she was thinking. He looked at his friend for a long time. After all picking the right name took time. After a while, he smiled, seeming to have the new name. 

"How about Dr. Flug?"