I'd like to share something that happened to me and my friend. What started as a harmless joke may have turned into something else entirely. I honestly don't know anymore. Have you ever watched the TV show Supernatural? Remember the episodes about the crossroads demon — where people would trade ten years of a happy, successful life in exchange for their soul? Well, here's our story. Lucy and I were living in a dorm, always scrounging for part-time work. After graduating, we'd bombed one job interview after another. And our love lives weren't much better. So one night — after a party, a fight with my boyfriend, and a few too many cocktails — one of us jokingly suggested we try summoning the crossroads demon. Obviously, we weren't serious. We drove out to a crossroads on the edge of town in the middle of the night, set up some candles, and between fits of giggling, shouted something like, "Crossroads demon, we summon you!" Nothing happened. We didn't sign anything. We had a good laugh, got cold, and went home. We forgot all about it — until about a year later, at Lucy's birthday party. Everyone was telling her what an incredible year she'd had. She'd landed a great job, met a wonderful guy, and had a wedding and a bright career ahead of her. Then she pulled me aside and whispered, "What if that night actually worked?" I froze. Things had been going amazingly well for me too — I was in love and building my own business. But of course I brushed it off. "No one showed up that night," I told her. "We didn't sign anything." That was a little over nine years ago. And a month ago, Lucy was hit by a car. She's still in the hospital. She has everything — a husband and a son she adores, money, success. But she's lying in a hospital bed in critical condition, and she still hasn't woken up. We never signed any deal. We were just messing around. But our lives really did change after that night. We always told ourselves it was just a coincidence. But now… I'm terrified.