Tommy knew the rules of the crossroads. You don’t go at midnight unless you’re desperate, and you don’t bring anything you aren't willing to lose. He stood where the two dirt roads intersected near the abandoned coal mine, his hands shaking inside his pockets. His daughter was dying in a hospital room thirty miles away, her lungs failing. The doctors had given her forty eight hours.
Within mere moments, the wind died down instantly. The crickets went silent. A man stepped out from the shadow of a withered oak tree. He wore a sharp, tailored black suit that looked completely untouched by the dust of the road. His eyes were entirely normal, which somehow made him more terrifying.
"Tommy, you're late."
The man said, his with a smooth voice
"I have the deed,"
Tommy said, pulling a folded piece of parchment from his coat. It was the deed to his family's land, the only thing he owned of value. The man laughed, a low, rumbling sound.
"I don't care for dirt, Tommy. You know what the price is. A life for a life."
"Take mine. Let her live."
Tommy said without hesitation. The man smiled, revealing teeth that were just a bit too sharp.
"That’s not how the ledger balances. If I take your life now, who will raise her? Who will pay her medical bills? No, the trade must be fair. I will give her forty years of perfect health."
"And what do you want?"
"Your sight,"
The man whispered.
“Not your eyes, mind you. You will keep those. But from tomorrow morning, you will only see the dead. You will see them standing in the corners of rooms, sitting at your dinner table, pressing their faces against your windows. You will never see a living face again, not even your daughter's."
Tommy hold back a sob. He thought of his little girl's laugh, a sound he would never pair with her smile again. He looked at the man’s extended hand.
"Do we have a deal?"
The stranger asked.Tommy reached out and shook the cold, unyielding hand. A searing pain shot through his optic nerves, smelling of sulfur and burnt copper. When he opened his eyes, the man in the black suit was gone. In his place stood a rotting, pale corpse, its jaw unhinged, staring at him with hollow sockets.
"Daddy?"
A voice called out from behind him. Tommy turned, but all he saw was a skeletal figure draped in a hospital gown, reaching out for him.