Chris Rogers, Author

Invite the Devil In by Chris Rogers

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"Hey, you know that thing you did, getting me a date with Judy?"
"I TOLD YOU, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN IN THE CLINCH."
"Can you do that with other people? Like my Mom?"
"YOUR MOM WANTS A DATE?"
"No, a job."
"SHOW HER THE MORNING CLASSIFIEDS. PAGE NINE."

The job was for a computer animation trainee at a video interface company. They hired Mom on the spot.

Within a month, they gave her a raise. Mom was a new woman, excited about her work, happier than I'd ever seen her. She bought some hot new clothes and looked five years younger. On my own front, history grades inched up to A-. Judy and I saw each other every weekend, usually with a gang of her friends, since we still had little to talk about. Alone, we managed to enjoy ourselves without words. In Literature, we started studying Faust. I'm no mental wizard, but I didn't miss the similarities between Dr. Faust's good fortune and my own. This started me thinking about things I didn't want to think about. Like who was Abra, really? Why was he helping me? And what did he want in return?

That last question was the one that bothered me most. There's no such thing as a free lunch, my dad used to say. Or free history grades. I'd been so eager to enjoy the perks of having Abra as a friend, I hadn't wanted to consider the source of his power. What the heck, he might be like Superman, someone whose super-human abilities were normal for the planet he came from. On the other hand, if Abra was, like Mephistopheles, a minion of the devil, I was in deep dog pie.

That afternoon, I spent some time in the library. I looked through every book I could find on mythology, demonology and sorcery. In the dustiest book on the shelf I finally found one sentence that mentioned the name:

Abra, a lesser demon so vile that the Dark Master refused to look upon his countenance when remanding him to the outer wastelands of Hell.

I had to look up the word "vile." As I suspected, it had a number of meanings, all bad. I tried to picture Mr. Knowitall, the guy I beat at Antigrav more often than not, sitting on red hot coals, surrounded by clouds of smoke and burning sulphur, keystroking wise cracks on his new 486DX Plus. A picture right out of a Far Side comic.

That night, I woke up as usual shortly after midnight. Instead of going straight to the PC, I lay in the dark reviewing the upgrades in my life since the night I downloaded Antigrav, and considering what I might have to give up if I told Abra to get lost. My history grades would definitely take a dive, since I hadn't cracked a book in weeks. Instead of sailing through tests with a certified A in my pocket, I'd be scrambling for D's.

Big deal.
Even the thought that Judy might look at me as if I'd grown two ugly heads wasn't enough to make me want to buddy-up with a demon from the outer limits of Hell. But what about Mom's new job? It would kill her to lose it.
And if Abra could take away all the goodies he'd given us, could he take even more? Could he make our teeth and hair fall out, give us warts or nose hair or the big C?

As I lay there, wondering what to do next, my PC booted up. Just like that, without my flipping a switch. It beeped and clicked and whirred, and the screen glowed blue with gray type:

"I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE. PUT YOUR SKINNY ASS IN THE CHAIR AND LET'S TALK".

I didn't want to talk, but I did want to know just where Abra's power stopped and started. Could he read my every thought, for instance, or did he only get the general picture?

"YOU LOOKED ME UP IN THE LIBRARY. GOT YOURSELF A LITTLE SCARE. NOW YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT I WANT FROM YOU."
Close enough.
"WHAT I WANT IS EASY AND WON'T HURT A BIT."
Sure.
"I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE FOR A WHILE. CAN YOU BLAME ME?"

I had moved close enough to read the screen, but still hadn't touched the keyboard. He could be reading my mind or just guessing. I decided to think of a question off the subject and see if he got it: "What was Judy wearing at school today?"

"A PINK DRESS SO TIGHT ACROSS THE FRONT SHE KEPT POPPING HER BUTTONS. NOW PUT YOUR ASS IN THAT CHAIR AND LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS."

I didn't move immediately. Truth is, I was scared.

"WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR MOTHER TO WAKE UP BALD AND TOOTHLESS?"

I rolled off the bed and into the chair.

"What do you want?" I typed.
"I WANT YOU TO OPEN A PORTAL."

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