Everything in Creation is governed and bound by Laws;

Heaven and Hell are no exception.

In times when Demons refuse to comply,

When the actions of the rogues jeopardise the balance,

Hell sends their ancient and most dangerous spawn;

The Contractor…

Act VI – The Scientist

“Day 761 - 04/07/2006

“Alexander has just opened his first novel, ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens and already he is mouthing his lips to the words of such a complex story. I do admit, when I first started the research on my own son, I did not expect such abnormal findings; Al is not like most other two year olds and I fear that his psychological development may not be applicable to the normal populace.

“But speaking personally, I think that Al may show signs of accelerated learning. If only his mother were here to see him, I think she would have been able to come up with a theory as to how and why Al is so gifted.

“Earlier in the day, Al was playing with Peek-a-Blocks and ordered roughly 30 blocks by species. He then pointed to each and every one of them and started reciting the phylum, genus and kingdom in Latin.

“Truly my son is a child prodigy; I hope that he maintains this level of thirst for knowledge in his older years. Perhaps my research of Al will yield a catalyst for higher learning in young children.”

Dr Nikolas Rausz

PhD in Developmental Psychology and Human Biology

Sitting at his old, wooden kitchen table in a large estate in Stuttgart was a tired old man, sipping his third cup of ‘Café Hag’ instant coffee. His hands were shaking as he brought the bitter brew to his lips, not noticing his white beard dipping into his beverage.

His wrinkled eyes travelled from the white coffee mug in his hands to his lavish lounge room before finally setting on the commemorative name-plate that his late wife Anke had made for him after he graduated from ‘Heidelberg University’: ‘Doctor Nikolas Rausz’.

The old man, Nikolas Rausz, took a deep breath and jumped slightly as the antique, mahogany grandfather clock struck eleven o’clock in the evening. He placed his head onto the table and tried to fight his heavying eyelids as he felt the warm feeling of sleep wash over him.

He awoke finally as he heard a loud rustling sound enter the room.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ said a cold, sardonic voice behind him, ‘traffic’s a bitch.’

Startled, Rausz’s flailing arms knocked his mug off the table. He turned around quickly and found himself staring into the blood-red eyes of an ebon-haired man wearing a very long, crimson trench coat.

‘Herr… Herr Faust!’ He exclaimed. ‘You’re here.’

‘You were expecting someone else?’ Faust replied rhetorically.

‘N-no, I just –‘

‘Let’s just get on with it.’ Faust interrupted. ‘Section 49 of the “Pacts to Hell Act” ante bellum requires me to stipulate the terms of the contract before its final execution.’ From within his crimson trench coat, he pulled out an old, brown parchment and unfurled it. ‘At midnight, Nikolas, it would have been seven years and your soul will be forfeited to Belphegor.’

‘Meine gute!’ Rausz gasped. ‘Seven years have gone by so fast.’

‘Seven years have gone by in seven years Nikolas,’ Faust stated bluntly, ‘slow or fast, it’s almost time for you to give up your soul. Do you understand what happens after that?’

‘Ja,’ he replied quietly, ‘I will… cease being myself.’ He took another deep breath. ‘But I am ready; I had a good seven years with my son. We have made so much progress together.’

Faust nodded disinterestedly, paying little attention to the doctor’s anecdotes.

‘Would you like to see him? Would you like to see my little Al?’

‘Fine.’ He followed Rausz through the marble lined hallway and up a tiled set of stairs. Rausz’s shaky hands gripped the platinum bannisters as they spiralled up the magnificent, pearly steps before walking through a carpeted hallway.

‘Here we are.’ Rausz pointed to a white door with a variation of ‘Vaska’s Complex’ formula crudely drawn with crayon. He knocked on the door softly. ‘Al? Can we come in?’

A quiet and muffled, ‘Yes papa’, was heard through the door.

Faust followed the doctor slowly into the room to see a young boy lying on the carpet of his bedroom floor, drawing complex maths equations while listening to a rendition of ‘Macbeth’ blaring through the speakers. ‘Papa,’ the young boy, Alexander, said concernedly, ‘you should not be up so late.’ He sniffed the air. ‘And drinking coffee this late may aggravate your cardiac dysrhythmia and trigger a tachycardia. You know this papa!’

Nikolas Rausz let out a hearty laugh. ‘Al, I am supposed to the one worrying about you, not the other way around.’

‘How can I when you show a complete disregard for your health papa?’ Al defended.

Rausz was speechless for a moment and stared at his shoes ashamedly. ‘Al,’ he said finally, ‘I would like you to meet an associate of mine; Mister Faust.’

Faust entered the room and stood with his back to the wall without saying a word.

‘It’s nice to meet you Herr Faust.’ Al said politely. Faust nodded in acknowledgment. ‘What businesses have you with my father?’

Rausz began to panic. ‘Now Al, you mustn’t ask ab-‘

‘Just debt collection.’ Faust stated bluntly. ‘I’m hired to retrieve things that belong to other people.’

Al blinked innocently and turned to his father. ‘Papa, can I have a glass of warm milk and a small strudel for supper. It’s late and I should prepare for sleep.’

‘Of course you can child.’ Rausz then turned to Faust. ‘I’ll only just be a moment.’ He said as he exited the room, leaving the Contractor alone with the young German boy.

Faust looked around the overly-large and extravagant bedroom, fully aware the young Al was watching him intently.

‘You’re not very talkative are you?’ Al stated, cutting through the silence.

‘We don’t have much to say to each other kid.’ Faust returned.

‘Oh, but I think we have plenty, Nyxanoth Faust.’ The young child replied, with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Faust's blood red eyes fell upon the intriguing nine-year-old before him, saying not a word and peering into the child's eyes. Before long, the child's lips parted again and spoke.

'I know who you are.' He stated knowingly. ‘Or rather… what you are.’

'Oh? And what am I kid?' Faust asked unamused.

'You're a denizen of Hell, but you're no demon. No… If my research is correct, you must be the fabled Contractor; Hell’s oldest and most powerful weapon.'

Faust was unsurprised by Al's remark. 'If you know who I am, then you must know why I’m here.'

'If I'm not mistaken, and I never am,' the child began, 'you are here to reap the soul of someone who was foolish enough to strike a deal with you.'

'And you're not afraid?'

'Fear is an absence of knowledge and there is nothing of this world in that I am not proficient, Contractor; I fear nothing.'

‘You can fear death.’

Al sat up and folded his tiny arms. ‘Well when you say it like that Herr Faust, it sounds like a threat. But I know that according to the laws set down by the Creator and enforced by His Angels, you cannot harm me; you cannot harm anything of this realm.’

‘I don’t hurt humans regardless, least of all a smart-ass for a kid.’ Faust replied coldly. ‘But for all your worldly knowledge, you’re still just a kid; pricks on the playground will still take your lunch money and bigger kids will still always stuff you into lockers. So what makes you think it’s wise to be mouthing off as though you’re all-invincible?’

Al picked himself up and ran over to his bed. He peeled back the large picture of ‘Albert Einstein’ that sat on the taupe walls and revealed a small, circular hole, no bigger than an adult thumb. He then dug his small fingers into the hole and produced a vial filled with a silvery-blue liquid, secured with a glass stopper.

‘Did you just put ‘Wizz Fizz’ in ‘Sprite’ and cram it into a vial?’ Faust asked sarcastically.

Al ignored him. ‘Like my father, I share a natural curiosity about the world; science, the advancer of humanity. But unlike my father, I was born naturally gifted about the workings of our universe.’

‘Translation: you’re very, very smart. I got that.’

‘Using my own talents, and no others’, I have created this; an elixir of immortality.’ He said, pompously waving the vial in the air.

Faust gave him a very perturbed look; standing before him, without any semblance of adulthood, was a nine year old that will live forever. He folded his arms and stared at Al. ‘So what now? You market that off to some big conglomerate and live your life as a king?’

Al let out a childish, mocking laugh. ‘And earn the ire of the Black Princes of Hell for giving humanity immortality en masse? Do you take me for a fool Contractor? No, if I can exist eternally, I can unlock deeper, darker secrets of our realm and perhaps one day transcend humanity.’

The Contractor glared at the child. ‘You want to be a God?’

‘My wishes are not so shallow; I wish to be the God of Gods. My knowledge shall surpass even the Creator’s.’

‘And what makes you think the Creator would bow to you? An arrogant, snot-nosed little shit.’

‘Hmph… look around you Faust; our world is decaying, dying and the almighty Creator is nowhere in sight? Where is He to correct the flaws of His design?’

‘The Universe was created and left to its own –‘

‘To its own design? If I helped father a child and left it to ‘its own design’ would I be doing it any favours, or would I be negligent?’

‘That’s completely –‘

‘Mankind needs their hands held Faust; it is a race of stupid, selfish, hateful and spiteful people. Without a proper leader and proper dogmata, they will surely be responsible for their own extinction.’

‘And you reckon that you should be the one to govern them? You… a shitty little kid?’

‘I may be a child, but I have done what many other before have failed to do; I have unlocked the secrets to being omnipotent and I am one step closer to being a God.’

‘You know,’ Faust stated, folding his arms unamused, ‘you’re not the first human who has ever thought that they were closer to a God than others.’

Al shrugged and climbed back onto his bed, tucking the vial back into its hiding spot. ‘That is true, but after I am done, I will be the last and I will show all the simpletons on Earth that I am better than everyone else, vater!’

Faust chuckled condescendingly. ‘So this is what it’s all about; you just want to get back at daddy.’

‘No I –‘

‘You wanna prove that you’re better than him?’

‘It’s not about –‘

‘You think you’re smarter than your old man?’

‘I know I’m smarter than that old man!’ Al burst suddenly. ‘No matter what I do, no matter what I have done, he still sees it as some sort of childish, developmental phase that I go through; “oh aren’t you talented Al, oh look at the particles you drew Al”, it’s disgusting how patronising he is!’ Al slammed his adolescent hands onto his bed post. ‘I’m glad you’re taking him from me.’

‘Do you know what will happen after I take his soul?’ Faust asked cautiously.

Al stared dangerously at Faust. ‘When you reap his soul, Contractor, he will cease caring about me and he will see my accomplishments from a purely logical standpoint. He shall finally acknowledge that my work is far superior to his in every way!’ Al’s eyes began to well with a sea of angry tears; he quickly turned his head away from Faust and wiped his eyes furiously. ‘You’ll be doing me a favour by taking his soul Herr Faust.’

‘You don’t even know why I’m taking his soul.’ Faust defended.

‘I know exactly why!’ He jumped off his bed and ran over to his desk in the corner of the room and opened his laptop, rapidly hammering away at the keys until he found an article. He picked up his laptop and raised the screen to Faust’s face. ‘Here; a few years ago, my father made excellent strides in the field of neuropsychology and research coming just a stone’s throw away from unlocking the secrets to memory invocation. Before then, he was struggling with obtaining funding and grants because his research was spiralling down the drain.’

‘You don’t think that he came up with a solution all by himself?’ Faust replied as Al shut the laptop face violently.

‘That simple relic could never have discovered something like this in a thousand years; obviously he had to have sold his soul.’

Faust opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming from the hallway and the smiling face of Doctor Rausz walking into the room holding a silver tray with Al’s supper. ‘Now make sure you finish all the milk and go to bed Al, I must continue my business with Mister Faust in the lounge room.’

Al nodded and took the tray from his father, setting it down onto his bedspread. ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Faust,’ he said, staring at Faust intriguingly, ‘I will see you again.’

Faust stood, staring at Doctor Rausz as he sat on the couch of his lavish lounge room, his shaking hands eagerly clutching onto yet another cup of bitter-black coffee.

‘You’re scared.’ Faust stated obviously.

Rausz nodded, taking a slow sip of his drink. ‘I am just now thinking about the ramifications of my actions.’

‘Don’t you think it’s too late to be lamenting your actions Herr Doctor?’

‘Yes I… forgive me Contractor; I cannot help but think about my little Al and how much I will be taking from him.’

‘What are you taking from him?’

‘Propinquity,’ Rausz answered definitively, ‘sharing a bond through our love of science; discovering new developments in the field of neuroscience and perhaps even one day unlocking the secrets of the brain.’

‘As per your agreement with Belphegor, don’t you think you can achieve that now?’

Rausz shook his head fervently. ‘I am fully aware of our pact, but his abilities have not manifested completely.’ He took another sip. ‘To be quite honest with you Faust, had I not seen a rapid acceleration in his mental development, I would have thought the Black Prince had gone back on his word.’

‘If he did, I wouldn’t be here Rausz.’ Faust said knowingly. ‘As dirty and sorry assholes as they are, they are still bound by Law to uphold any and all contracts made with your kind.’

 ‘My point, Faust, is that even though he is learning at a fantastic rate, his knowledge is nowhere near as developed as mine.’

‘You don’t think he’s as smart as you?’

‘Well, not now; not yet.’ Rausz shrugged. ‘But I am sure that one day he may be.’

‘Yeah, he may one day even unlock the secrets to immortality.’ Faust remarked coldly.

Rausz let out a hearty chuckle. ‘Perhaps.’ He let out a long and longing sigh. ‘I hope he doesn’t miss me too much, Contractor.’

‘I’m sure he’ll be fine.’ Faust said bluntly.

‘You know, you never truly bond with another human being as much as you do your own kin; having a son… I don’t think any of my past achievements could measure up. It’s a shame that I won’t be able to feel this way after tonight.’

‘Okay, that’s it;’ Faust suddenly exclaimed, ‘I’ve had enough of your fidelity bullshit!’

Rausz jumped in his seat as he listened to the angered Contractor.

‘You keep telling me that you love your kid, that you wish you had more time with him? Then use that smart-ass brain of yours, invent a time machine and go back to the day when you met Belphegor so you can punch yourself in the face and stop this fucking deal.’ Faust was breathing heavily. ‘Maybe then you can raise a normal son with a normal brain instead of rearing a megalomaniac.’

‘M-megalomaniac?’ Rausz asked confusedly. ‘You mean my little Al? You think… there’s something wrong with him?’

‘I think there’s something seriously wrong with his fucking father! Who the fuck will make a deal to change a two-year-old?’

‘A father!’ Rausz defended, jumping to his feet angrily and matching the Contractor’s temper. ‘A father who loves his son! I want him not to struggle in life and have the know-how to succeed in whatever he puts his mind to!’

‘And why did you need Hell’s help for that? Why wish for infinite knowledge on a baby?’

‘B-because –‘

‘Because you’re lazy as shit Rausz!’ Faust shouted. ‘Because you wanted your son to be smarter than you so that you don’t have to put in so much effort in your own shit; so that he could do your research for you; so that he can advance your studies and you can still coast off the Rausz name! Why else would the Sloth Prince Belphegor answer your call?’

‘That’s… that’s not true!’ Rausz asserted. ‘I did it because I love my son!’

‘Save your benediction for a priest, Rausz; in a few minutes you’ll stop giving a shit anyway!’

‘I think –‘

Rausz words fell short as the large grandfather clock chimed loudly, signalling midnight. He let out a pained cry as he tore his shirt open, exposing a large, green pentagram inscribed on his chest. It glowed ominously as a low, growling sound emitted from his torso.

Faust stared at the sigil expectantly as he saw the head of a sickly-green wood demon poke through the glowing symbol. Between its rotting and yellowed teeth shone a small, golden orb as the demon clawed its way out of the human’s heaving chest.

It landed on the Persian rug with a dull thud as Rausz’ body fell to ground, completely out cold. The demon stared at Faust curiously.

‘Hand it over.’ Faust demanded dangerously.

The demon nodded its head and obediently walked over to the Contractor, dropping the drool-drenched orb into Faust’s hands and then sitting on the floor, scratching its decayed ear with its hind leg and awaiting his orders.

Faust inspected the soul and pocketed the orb. He then walked over to the unconscious body of Doctor Nikolas Rausz, slumped on the floor and whispered coldly to him. ‘It’s a good thing you don’t give a shit Rausz, because you’ve just created a monster. Now you get to live a comfortable life without the guilt of the calamities you have unleashed upon this world.’

Faust stood up and straightened his crimson trench coat before beckoning to the demon to follow. He walked through the painting-adorned hallway and stopped at the front door, looking back over his shoulder at the grand marble steps and locking eyes with Alexander Rausz, staring back at him intensely.

‘I will see you again Contractor.’ The young boy whispered under his breath.

Faust matched his gaze with his blood-red eyes and whispered back. ‘I know you will.’

He opened wide the double doors and exited the building, the green wood demon bounding behind him happily as they made their way back to the depths of Hell.

And so ends the tale of the Scientist… and the Contractor.