I Scraped My Knees When I Was Praying

Rebecca kneeled in front of the altar, having already lit a candle. Her hands were clasped together and her eyes were closed. Silently, she begged God to bring him back. It just couldn’t be like this. He was so young, not even ready to leave home. Some horrible person hadn’t been watching where they were going as they drove and… Rebecca sniffed, doing her best to keep her tears from falling. Please God, please bring back my little brother… He doesn’t deserve this… With that last thought, she pushed herself up and ran a hand over her damp face.

“He won’t bring him back,” a voice said from behind her. Rebecca turned and saw the priest of her church standing in the aisle. How could he say such a thing? Where was his faith? “But I know who can.” The man approached her and handed over an envelope before walking away. Trusting the priest, and anxious to have her brother back, Rebecca tore open the envelope.

Bury a container with graveyard dirt, a bone of a black cat and a photo of yourself in the middle of the crossroads on the edge of town. it read. She wasn’t impressed. It sounded like some weird spell, and she didn’t believe in magic. But it was her brother, and she’d try anything just to have him breathing again. Maybe this was how Rebecca would get to talk to God, to plead for him to change his mind.



Rebecca knelt down and scraped away some gravel at the centre of the crossroads. Her hands shook as she placed it in the hole, eager to find out if anything would happen. With a sigh she put the gravel back on top, then stood back up and started looking around. The night was calm, and she was still alone. The priest had lied. There was nothing to do here. Rebecca couldn’t get her brother back, and that was that. She reached down to retrieve her container and shiny black shoes appeared in her view. Rebecca jumped back and looked up to see a man. Just an average man that had snuck up on her.

“What can I do for you, Miss?” he asked in a smooth voice.

“Where did you come from?” Rebecca stammered. She truly hadn’t heard any crunching footsteps on the gravel, or seen him a few seconds earlier when she had been looking for someone to show up.

“That doesn’t matter. You’ve summoned me, and I’m here now. So, what do you want?” he replied. Summoned him? Rebecca glanced down at the pile of gravel where her container full of items was buried. Had that somehow made this man appear?

“Are you… God?” she breathed, making him chuckle.

“Oh, definitely not,” he grinned. “I’m a crossroads demon. The name’s Crowley. I’m here to grant you a wish.” Did demons really grant wishes or was he just being sarcastic? Rebecca didn’t care. As long as this demon could bring back her brother…

“Can you bring someone back to life?” she asked cautiously.

“Of course. I can do anything, for a price,” Crowley answered smugly. His minion had done well at recruiting people. Picking a priest to possess was perfect because they saw so many people who were desperate and losing hope in their God. They were the perfect souls to recruit in deals.

“If I… If I was to ask for my brother to be brought back, what price would I have to pay?” Rebecca wondered. Her nerves were getting too large to ignore. She knew this guy was bad, if he really was a demon of all things, so she shouldn’t be talking to him. But this was her last option.

“I’d have to take your soul.” Her soul? That was a pretty big deal… Rebecca firmly believed that souls existed, and she was positive she couldn’t live without hers. That meant she’d be exchanging her life for her brother’s. Could she do that? Rebecca thought about what little hope her future held. Her grades were low, she didn’t want to go to college in a few months, she wasn’t that happy, she didn’t have a boyfriend or anyone else to care about… But her little brother had been doing so well. He had such a bright future ahead of him; everyone knew that. Could Rebecca truly give up her soul to save that future?

“Okay… Do you take it now?” she asked. Crowley hesitated, wondering if he could collect this one early. Instantly would make the other demons suspicious, but this girl was desperate and didn’t seem to know anything about making deals.

“Tell you what, I’ll be nice. I’ll let you have a year to live so you can spend it with your loved one. Then I’ll collect your soul,” he offered, trying to sound as genuine and generous as possible. Rebecca bought his facade.

“Yes! Oh thank you so much!” Rebecca breathed. She could barely believe it. God couldn’t, wouldn’t do a damn thing, but a demon was kind enough to. Why had she had such faith in someone who didn’t have a heart?

“So, I’ll bring your dead brother back to life right now, and in a year I’ll collect your soul. Deal?” Crowley proposed with a grin.

“Yeah, deal…” Rebecca agreed, extending her hand to shake on it.

“Oh, us demons don’t shake hands to seal a deal,” Crowley told her as he closed the gap between them. Rebecca was hesitant but forced herself to stay still. The demon reached out and cupped her jaw, pulling her face in to kiss her. Afterwards, Crowley moved back and clicked his fingers. “It’s done. I’ll see you in a year.” The demon then vanished, leaving Rebecca stunned. How had he done that? This couldn’t be a joke, which meant her brother… Rebecca spun around and ran back to her car, recklessly speeding towards the cemetery. Once there, she jumped out of her car, grabbed the shovel she had brought with her just in case, and ran to her brother’s freshly dug grave. When she reached the top of the coffin, she could hear someone banging on it from the inside and calling out for help. Rebecca jumped into the grave and pulled open the casket, shoving aside a lot of dirt. There he was. Her little brother was alive! Rebecca cried as he sat up and pulled her into a hug, gasping for air. It was a miracle!



Rebecca sat in the town hall, watching her brother perform as part of his high school production. He wasn’t the best actor, but she was still overjoyed whenever he was in a scene. For the past week she had seen the big black dogs, and it reminded her that her time was near. But it was worth it. Seeing her brother back alive and thriving, living every day to its fullest, was wonderful. She was ready to die. Hell, she could even ignore the fact that there were two imaginary death dogs sitting in the hall with her.

“Ready?” a voice said on her left. She saw Crowley had appeared in the vacant seat, one of the Hell Hounds at his feet and growling at her. Rebecca nodded and then turned her head away from the demon to look back on stage. Her brother was reciting some lines, looking so happy. Definitely worth it… The black dog jumped on her at Crowley’s command, ripping easily into her and grabbing her soul. Rebecca didn’t put up a fight at all, just stayed mesmerised by her brother’s happiness and ignored the pain for as long as she could.

Her soul was clenched between the Hell Hound’s sharp teeth, unable to break free. It felt like she was being dragged downwards, but the overall motion was so powerful and unusual that it made Rebecca extremely dizzy and disorientated. When she came to, the dog was gone and she was chained up against a wall. In front of her was Crowley, the demon she had made the deal with, holding a dagger in his hands.

“Wh- What are you doing?” Rebecca said, panicking. This wasn’t what she had expected. “Where am I?” She tried to escape from the chains, but they were on far too tight. The temperature was high and she could feel herself sweating, as well as the metal heating and burning her soft skin.

“You’re in Hell, sweetheart,” Crowley told her with a smirk, approaching her as she struggled. “That’s part of the deal. I get your soul, remember? And I get to do whatever I want with it.” He stabbed the knife straight into Rebecca’s heart. She tried to scream in pain but only coughed up blood, taking a mere three seconds to die. But then she woke up. She was ‘alive’, and still with Crowley. How was that even possible? She tried to ask Crowley what was going on, but he started to carve at her soul with his blade. Rebecca cried and begged for him to stop, but he never did. He killed her over and over again, torturing her in every way imaginable. Crowley only left when he was summoned to make another deal, and he refused for any other demons to come in and take his place in his absence. She was special, and she was his.



Time passes differently in Hell. One month on Earth is equivalent to ten years in Hell. Crowley spent six hundred and sixty six years in Hell torturing Rebecca, and Rebecca alone. Her soul had turned into a black demon long ago, but that wasn’t sufficient. Crowley continued his torture and she became red, ready to work the crossroads alongside him, but that still wasn’t enough. No, Rebecca was special, and she had to be white. They were rare demons, partly because it took so long to turn them, and partly because only a select few types of souls were able to change. Crowley had known from the moment he had kissed Rebecca that she was one of them, and he just had to keep her to himself.

With one last cut by an iron knife, the last of the red tinge in her soul disappeared. Crowley took a step back and watched Rebecca recover from the pain he had inflicted. She was pure white now, that was for sure. He had finally done it. Crowley reached up and took the large metal hooks out of her shoulders, letting her fall to the ground and bleed. It took Rebecca a few moments to look up at him, and she was still out of breath from her seemingly endless torture.

“Hello, darling,” Crowley said to the demon. He had managed to strip away every single part of her humanity, and then twist her soul so much. She wasn’t even anywhere near the person she originally was. He was so proud of his work.

“What do you want with me?” Rebecca demanded as she stood. She hadn’t been able to walk by herself for six hundred and sixty six long years. The freedom felt so wonderful.

“I want to rule the planet with you,” Crowley proposed, taking Rebecca by complete surprise. All of those years of pain just so she could rule the world with him? It didn’t seem likely. “You’re a special kind of demon, and you can do great things. I’ve set everything up already; I rule Hell and I rule Purgatory. But I can’t conquer Earth or Heaven until I have you by my side.” Rebecca’s ears perked up.

“Heaven, did you say?” she repeated. After such a long time in Hell, Heaven would be… unimaginably perfect.

“Oh yes. But like I said, can’t do it alone,” he answered. “So, how about this. You help me, and you can be Queen of all of the dimensions, and you’ll have your own corner in Heaven. Deal?” Rebecca thought about it, clenching her fists and feeling her power. She was so strong now, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Rebecca chuckled once she arrived at her answer.

“Yeah, why not. Deal,” she grinned. Crowley smiled too, glad he was going to rule everywhere, and with the perfectly created white demon. She’d be much better than Lilith ever was. Rebecca threw herself at Crowley, pressing her lips firmly onto his to seal the deal. Crowley embraced her, kissing her back and not letting her go. Rebecca was his Queen.