Jon opened his eyes, seeing a brighter room than the one he saw before. He yawned, stretching his arms. Then he stopped. The pain was gone. All of it.
He sat up and was amazed that he could even do that, considering his "transformation". But when he looked down at himself, he saw that he was back to normal. No ridiculously huge breasts, no piercings, and no french maid's outfit.
He was back to his normal self. But how?
Jon swung himself out of bed, and was about to leave the bed, but someone stopped him.
"No, stay there." It was Zoe's friend Athena.
"What happened? How did I get back to normal?" Jon asked.
"Well, it was a team effort and it took some time, but we managed to remove your curse."
"My curse?"
"I don't know what you got yourself into, but this is some of the blackest magic I've ever seen. You're not part of a Satanic cult, are you?"
"What? Of course not."
"Then how did it happen?"
Jon was about to say, but then he remembered what the Devil did to him after he told Karyn. He didn't want to go through that again.
"I can't tell you."
"You have to tell me something. It's the only way we can help you."
"I thought you already helped me."
"With your curse, yes. But darkness still surrounds you. And until we get rid of it, you have to stay in the circle." She pointed at the floor.
Jon saw a circle of white powder. It went all the way around the bed he was lying in.
"What's that for?"
"It's keeping the darkness from spreading. And it's keeping the Devil out."
"What is it? Some kind of magic powder?"
"Actually, it's salt."
"Salt?"
"Yeah. It's the best defense when dealing with demons and evil spirits."
Jon laid back in the bed. Since he couldn't use the stone to fix his situation, this seemed like his best option. The Devil couldn't get to him and he didn't have to use the stone. All he had to do was wait until the week was over. By then the bet would be over and he could go back to using the stone normally, without any fear of losing his soul.
