An intense heat filled the room, akin to that of an oven. Something was screaming with pain and terror, an endless noise. He managed to fling the book away just as the light began to stream from the center of the open book, to the extent he had to shut his eyes against the blaze.

He couldn't see he couldn't hear make it stop!

And remarkably, it did.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes. His arms fell to his sides, but he didn't allow himself to relax. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, and he was intensely relieved to find it wasn't coming from him.

The source of the smell was the body laying several feet away.

Who- or what- ever they were, they faced away from Chase. The small amount of skin that wasn't burned was just... white, not simply pale, but the soft color of paper, or snow. Short, bright red hair covered the top of it's scalp, and it had a tail, a thin, fur covered tail that twitched feebly.

It wasn't human.

He stood, making his was across the room carefully, as if the slightest sound might awaken it. The boy- he could see now that he was most definitely male- was stark naked, and the areas where the skin had been burnt clear away to reveal a grotesque assortment of muscle and bone was rapidly diminishing, leaving the pale skin looking completely untouched.

This was not normal!

In the blink of an eye, the boy was no longer lying prone against the cool marble. He knelt on the balls of his feet, tail lashing angrily behind him as the last of his wounds disappeared. Red eyes seemed to glow with demonic energy and he /growled, a deep, horrible noise that practically shook the room, giving the room's other occupant a clear view of his dangerous looking teeth, each one coming to a fine, knife-like point.

"Who are you? What year is this?"

Chase blinked. It sounded like Chinese, but... different somehow. Off-balance.

"Well?" The boy growled.

"Err..." He wasn't used to not being in control of the situation, and could do little more than answer the questions until his rational mind stopped reeling. "Chase Young. The year is 2013. You're...?"

At this point the... whatever it was... had realized that Chase was no less confused than he was, and straightened up, deciding it was best if he didn't want to threaten his new master on their first meeting. "Jak. My name's Jak. What do you want?"

"Maybe we should discuss this after you've put on some... ah. Nevermind." Truth be told, he was having trouble wrapping his head around this, and the fact that black- modern- clothing had just materialized onto the strange boy was definitely not helping.

Meanwhile, Jak was examining himself. "Hm... not bad. Not bad at all." He was clad in a dark trench coat, black jeans, and combat boots, tail curled up comfortably behind him. Then he returned his attention to the awestruck chinese man standing behind him. "Now about the deal...?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, our deal. You released me from hell, I grant you my lifelong service in exchange for your eternal soul...?" Honestly. Were all mortals in this century so stupid?

"Ah,"

"So?"

"So... what?"

"What do you want? I am your servant now."

"But I haven't made the deal yet, and I am not entirely sure whether I want to trade my soul just to have a- a demon for a slave."

The redhead looked offended. "Hey, demon is a derogatory term. That was highly uncalled for. And anyway, the deal was made when you broke off the lock."

"I... what?"

"For the love of-" he broke off with a sigh. "Alright, so, that piece of shit over there is a tome. It can be used to send spirits-" he stressed the word, glaring at the other man, "into hell. When you open the book, you let a fragment of me out for a while, I pitch the whole service-for-a-soul speech, and if the person accepts, they sever my ties with that realm."

A cold sense of dread was growing in the pit of his stomach. "The tie being the silver lock,"

A toothy grin split his face. "Exactly! And now, I belong to you, but your soul belongs to me."

"But I was unaware of this-!"

"Hey, I don't make the rules. You should have read the instructions."

"Those were completely illegible!" He spluttered.

"It's not so bad." He reclined in a nearby chair, stacking his arms behind his head. "Come on, you never have to work again. Now that the deal's been sealed, I have to do whatever you ask me to."

"Then return my soul!"

"Er... yeah. Except that."

Chase was about ready to strangle the insolent worm when a knock came at the door. "This is perfect. Absolutely perfect." He muttered to himself. Nevertheless, he straightened up and went to answer the door. "Guan," He greeted, bowing slightly to the older man. "Why don't you come in?"