DEMONS (any gender, early thirties to late life)
So: Thank you for coming over. It's a big day for you, I know. And I want you to know Barry... Barry you can still walk away. Right back out the door and nothing will happen to you.
I want you to really think about that.
Because if you decide to join up, there's no going back. You will be a different person. Literally. It will start two minutes from now.
You notice it's a bit warm in here? The next room is the kitchen and in the kitchen is an empty skillet that has been sitting on high heat for the last hour. If you decide to join up, you are required to go to that skillet... and fry each of your fingers until your prints are gone.
And you probably heard about that part. Work for us, you need to be untraceable. Hurts like hell at first, then you get to have your fun as globe-trotting super-spy gangster- blah-blah.
Let me tell you what happens when you put your first finger to the skillet. All the nerves in your body give birth to a screaming demon baby. Multiply that by ten. Each finger is a screaming demon that's going to hang on for at least three days. The pain goes away? True but that's actually the bad news. Because it just makes room for more demons, even bigger ones. You are entering a realm full of surprises and terrors like you've never known. The things you will have to do for us...
And you know what? There IS a lot of fun to be had. But the person having that fun will no longer be you.
Yes or no. You have five seconds.
Copyright 2016 by Matt Haynes.
If you would like to use this piece, please credit: "Courtesy of Matt Haynes and The Pulp Stage"