A subtle, yet cooling wind blew upon the fallen maple leaves, forcing them into the air in a wild dance with a rhythm only nature could create. Daisies blew lazily throughout the small fields. The sun shone brightly on this cheery entourage, a little above the horizon. It was getting darker, and colder. People began to go home from their day at the park, without a care in the world. Well, most people that is.

A man sat on one of the park benches, near a grove of trees . He wore a tattered and muddy black overcoat and a weatherbeaten fidora. He had a dark black bruise on his arms and a long jagged slash going down the whole of his left cheek, from a scuffle he had been in a few days ago. In one hand he held a fairly large bottle of 160 proof vodka, fresh from Russia, in the other he held a mahogany cane, with a peculiar glass orb at the top. In his belt, he had a .22 Pistol and a small knife.

In Johns mind troublesome demons were abrewing. He waited anxiously for Rith to come. He quickly pulled out his pocket watch, fastened with a gold chain to his belt. The time read 9:23. "Only thirty-seven more minutes" John muttered to himself.

He had met Rith in a bar a few weeks back. Rith had promised him any information that he needed, for a price of course. John, being desperate (and slightly inebriated), sealed a deal with the man for any information regarding his daughter.

The sun was down by this time, and the bats began to leave the grove for their nightly hunt. The fog started to slowly pour in, shrouding him from the rest of the world. John took a swig of Vodka, impatiently he pulled out a small coin and began to flip it across his knuckles.

He heard the bells of the clocktower ring in the distance, The loud toll telling the town it was now ten O'Clock. "about damn time" John said aloud, and then took another large swig of Vodka. From the left, he heard the quiet sound of footsteps coming down the path, as they got closer John began to see the shape of a man.

"Hello John" said a sharp, yet slithering, voice from the right, opposite of where John was looking. He turned, confused, and saw -- No one. He looked back down the path to the left, the shadowy figure had dissapeared. " I'm glad you came John, we have a deal to ssssettle" the voice said, again from his right. John looked over, this time there man there. This man wore a black trenchcoat with a silver mantle, and a black cavalier. In his hands he he a cane made of black oak, with a brass eagle atop it. His skin was a pale white, as colorless as the fog around them. His hair was coal black, and almost came down to his eyes. His eyes were a radiant blue, and gleaned like sapphires. But even still, there was a hint of darkness in those blues.

"Well Rith, what do you know, and can we keep this short, I have business elsewhere?" John said, slightly worried.

"As we ssstated when we first made this little deal, I ssshall tell you nothing until you give me what I have come for" Rith whispered.

"Of course of course, here you go" John reached into his pocket and pulls out a small vial of glowing-blue liquid and handed it to Mr. Rith.

"Not a bad ssspecimen John.....all iss ssatisssfactory for now. Here is your information: Your daughter is ssstill alive, ssshe livesss with the one who took her" Rith whispered into John's ear as he walks past him, Back into the fog, back into the unknown from which he came.

John sat on the bench for a minute realising he had just traded a soul to Rith, The Lord of Darkness, to serve in hell for all of eternity. All that for a petty piece of information like that. 'Oh well though', he thought, 'I was going to hell anyways'.