Demon
He stood before the gates of heaven, radiant and expectant, until Saint Peter looked upon him and shook his head sympathetically. "You cannot enter as you are now," the old keeper said simply. "Return to Earth as you are, caught between worlds. When the time comes, we will revisit your case." And so the specter fell back to the world of the living, invisible and untethered. At first, he wandered in confusion, watching humanity stumble through their days. But confusion gave way to bitterness. He saw injustice rewarded and kindness punished. He saw cruelty dressed up as ambition, indifference masquerading as practicality. Decades passed, and the specter grew cynical. If this was the world, if these were the souls he was meant to aspire toward, then what was the point of striving? But boredom is a crueler master than despair. And one day, as a woman cursed at her child, the specter realized something: he could touch this world. He could influence it. Why not have a lit...
