“Chester, what is this?” Mike asked pointedly with an incredulous look written over his otherwise youthful face. He held up a dark leather bound in one hand as he leveled the newly hired singer with an expectant look. There was a very visible pentagram in the center of the cover.

It was early 2000 and it was almost a year since Chester joined Linkin Park. And about half of that since he and Mike started dating.

Right now however, Chester anticipated all of his fears becoming true due to Mike discovering the hand-me-down Book of Demons he received from his older sister. Tobi, a then newly minted demon, didn’t have any need for it any longer so she gave it to him on his 23rd birthday.

Apparently there was a more comprehensive version of it down in Hell.

Chester looked for all the world like a kid who just got caught committing a felony. Or taking a cookie out of the cookie jar but on a much bigger scale. His eyes darted everywhere but Mike as he sat down on the ratty sofa in their shared apartment.

Or rather what was about to become just Mike’s sofa. Chester predicted an immediate breakup followed by being kicked out of the band and subsequently the lives of his, soon to be former, bandmates. Ah well, it's been a good time while it lasted. Give his old boss a call as soon as possible and tell him guess who’s coming back.

And yes Chester realized he could’ve lied and played it off as reading it for a laugh, but something about Mike prevented him from doing so. Chester couldn’t explain it in detail other than loving him so much he wouldn’t dare to give him a false reality. It would be a crime of the highest order to ever lie to one Mike Shinoda.

Mike didn’t come from a broken home, didn’t have a fucked up childhood like him. He didn’t dabble in hard drugs or alcoholism. And he had loving wholesome parents and a brother who looked up to him. Chester can only lay mutual claim to the loving sibling aspect in the form of Tobi who became his legal guardian when he was 13. Their parents split and their dad one day left to go get milk so to speak.

Mike also never ran wild in the streets either for years like he did. Always on the cusp of being arrested. In short, Chester didn’t want to be the reason Mike eventually became jaded and disillusioned with the world.

“It’s an encyclopedia of demons. It’ll give you information on all the major demons of every rank in Hell,” Chester explained honestly as he glanced up towards Mike. Even then he didn’t look directly at him, but rather to the side of his face.

Boy did he look gorgeous even when he was in great dismay.

Chester swallowed a lump in his throat as his nerves increased by the second. He fidgeted with his fingers down on his lap, “It’ll also give you instructions on how to summon a demon.”

“For like a deal?” Mike wanted clarification and he wanted it right this second. There was a note of disbelief in his words among the impatient tone of voice.

It was somewhat of an open secret that demons and angels existed. Most people in mainstream society were in the dark, but the knowledge was there if one searched long and hard enough.

A scant moment passed in actuality before Chester nodded. He sighed in resignation as he accepted his fate. Boy he can hear the grave disappointment already and he hasn't even elaborated yet.

“Yeah. I heard of some cases where people summoned a demon because they’re friends or to have sex….but most of the time it's for a deal.”

“And were you thinking of making one?”

A beat.

Time to face the consequences of his own actions.

“Honestly yes Mike. Look-” Chester stood up to properly face Mike. He even forced himself to look him directly in the eye. Despite how anxious he felt, and let’s be real it probably showed conspicuously on the outside, he kept his voice steady, “-I’m getting tired of our band getting rejected over and over by motherfuckers who don’t know great music if it bit them on the ass.”

Another beat then Chester continued, “So I figured why don’t I get us a bit of help. To make us the most popular band the world has ever seen. And-and listen you don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but I seriously wasn’t gonna ask for more talent. We have fucking loads of that already. But how the fuck can we show the world our skills if we keep getting shut out by all the goddamn record labels out there? The world deserves to fucking hear what we so lovingly created-”

Chester’s explanation was fueled by his anxiety more and more as each second passed. Case in point, the explanation can be now classified as a ramble. He also started pacing around in a small circle in front of Mike.

Chester waved his arms around as he kept on. Because of this, he didn’t notice Mike becoming increasingly intrigued as he searched through the book. He didn’t notice the younger man stopping on the page that detailed what one must do to summon a crossroad demon to make a deal.

He didn’t notice the contemplative look that slowly overtook Mike’s countenance.

“-All I wanted deal wise is just a fucking boost into the industry. And ok yeah I also want to get to the fucking top, I want the fame and the glory not gonna lie. But you and the rest deserved that too. You guys worked your asses off to try and get your music career off the ground. I don’t want you guys to suffer through the failure of a band like I did with Grey Daze.”

Meanwhile unbeknownst to Chester, Mike tuned out most of his words as he carefully read each line on the page. As he did so, a deeply rooted desire mired in vengeance crept up from the depth of his soul. A desire that had been relegated to the back burner ever since he became too busy with his music career. But now since it was brought up, all the memories of his lifelong ambition flooded back into the forefront of his mind.

A spark has been reignited.

It would be very remiss of him, even downright idiotic, to not notice the golden opportunity in his hands. Mike knew he didn’t want to let this go to waste. Finally he’d have a chance to make his greatest desire in life a reality. And oh boy did the urge grew with an intensity the likes he never experienced before.

Revenge.

Historical based revenge. A chance to finally give payback to those who harmed his family and others like him back in World War 2. And as the seconds flew by, the more the idea of retaliation grew in its intensity. The more temptation sank its hooks deeper into the nooks and cranny of Mike’s brain. The more Mike wanted to take back what was stolen from his family.

_____________________________________

It was the early 1990s and Mike was staunchly determined.

“I want to make a deal.” Mike declared boldly, his hands balled into fists as he stared down at the demon before him.

If his dad and his family won’t give him the nit and gritty about what happened to them in the internment camps then fine.

Fuck them.

Fuck all of them.

Mike was infuriated to no end. By both his family’s tendency to sweep everything under the rug, and the fact the Japanese internment camps were relegated to nothing but a paragraph in textbooks.

He will get the information one way or another. Make no mistake. No long will he allow himself to be in the dark about this horrible event. He was stubborn and determined to get his answers by any means necessary.

Even if it meant setting the world on fire.

Once upon a time Mike believed he was above making a deal with a devil.

How naive he was.

“Oh cutting to the chase right off the bat aren’t we? No greeting, no hello my name is, just straight to I want to make a deal,” The demon chuckled brightly in amusement as she crossed her arms, “I like you already. First off, how old are you?”

Mike clenched his fists tighter and his eyes hardened with irritation. He growled impatiently, “Does it fucking matter?!”

“Oh feisty too,” Anna commented with a bubbly tone as she leveled him with observant eyes. Her casual demeanor was in direct juxtaposition with Mike. Her eyes grew wide with realization, “Mark was right. You do have the potential.”

Mike grew angrier. He really did not come down here to deal with fucking bullshit. What the ever loving fuck was she talking about anyways? What kind of shit did he have potential for?

All he wanted was to know the truth.

“But to answer your question, yes it does matter. I don't make deals with minors,” Anna walked closer, her resolve unbreakable against Mike’s tryhard attempts to be as intimidating as possible, “Admittedly there’s some that do but most demons actually have a code of ethics believe it or not.”

“So that said,” Anna continued, “Are you or are you not 16 year old Michael Kenji Shinoda of Agoura Hills, California?”

“How-How the hell do you know all that?!” Mike was overtaken by shock and properly dumbfounded by what Anna just said. One can also say the wind was taken out of his sails.

“I’m a demon, Michael. I can easily find out every bit of information about you and your entire family history,” Anna replied, this time in a more pointed, matter of fact tone.

_____________________________________

“...You don’t have to say anything Mike! I know what you’re gonna say. Chester Charles Bennington what the actual fuck are you thinking?! How the fuck could you fucking do this?! How can you fucking stoop so low as to make a fucking deal to artificially get us into the limelight.”

Chester was visibly fraught with anxiety as he let loose his stream of consciousness with nary a care, “You know its better to get famous on your own fucking merit do you? Do you fucking realize that? Goddamn it Chester I’m breaking up with you-”

“Chester,” Mike said abruptly as he looked up from the book. His voice was strong, concise and enough to startle the older man into silence, “Where exactly do you make a deal? Does it have to be a specific area?”

Mike’s tone was more inquisitive than disgusted, which honestly took Chester by surprise. He for sure thought Mike would have a problem with it, he based that assumption on the fact most people would.

It took Chester a couple of moments to get his brain to function properly, “Uhh no, not really. You can summon a demon anywhere. But it's encouraged to summon one somewhere where you’re secluded. Less chance of the both of you getting caught.”

“I see,” Mike simply said in a thoughtful tone.

The air was tense but not as tense as Chester thought it was going to be. If anything it was lighter now than minutes prior with Mike’s initial reaction.

“My uhh…my sister did her deal in an abandoned asylum. I was there, I witnessed it,” Chester confessed. He became more visibly relaxed, much more calmer now but he still wasn’t sure what this all meant. It sounded like Mike was taking this all into consideration? As if he wanted to do the deal alongside him.

But then again, there was an equal chance Mike could very well calmly tell him with no uncertainty to get the fuck out of his house. To be fair it was most likely his anxiety talking. They had arguments here and there before, but in this case it was seemingly nowhere near as bad. Chester would definitely know when Mike was truly pissed off. And right now this wasn’t it. He got the vibe Mike was on board with the idea more than he thought he would be.

“Your sister made a deal, huh. What’s it like?”

“Umm, well, not as dramatic as people like to make them in fiction,” Chester softly chuckled before he cleared his throat with slight awkwardness, “But yeah there’s not too much to write home. You just draw a summoning circle with the right symbols, recite the words and boom you got a demon to sell your soul too”

“What did your sister ask for?”

“Fame. Tobi wanted to be an actress, and she willing to do whatever it fucking took. Wasn’t even patient enough to try it the normal way either, she just went straight to making a deal with the devil.”

Chester further recounted how when he was 13, he was legally put in his older sister’s care. Tobi was in her early 20s then, around 23 or so. Shortly after they made the move to LA. It wasn’t until after they got settled in and finished with the whole moving deal when Tobi sought out a crossroad demon. At first Chester planned to go hang out with friends that night, but it fell through. So because he didn’t want to be bored out of his wits all by his lonesome, he tagged along.

He watched Mike, searched for any possible signs that would denote any sort of disapproval in this whole thing. Any possible decision that this was ultimately a bad idea and why the hell would anyone want to dabble in the occult like this? He can imagine Mike’s parental like tone in his head. Just because his sister did it, doesn’t mean he should either. The occult was not the way to achieve success in life and Mike would be right. Mike was always right with shit like this. What sane rational person would think summoning a demon was the thing to do.

But Mike continued to display the same old thoughtful expression as before. Honestly this served nothing to decrease the level of anxiety Chester felt over this. Why was he taking so long? Why can’t he just make a reaction either good or bad? Can’t he cut it out with this neutral crap and give him something to go off. Before Chester would’ve guessed for sure Mike would be unequivocally against this. But now he wasn’t so sure and he wanted to know his stance like yesterday.

“Look I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking,” Chester blurted out, his anxiety now has reached the edge and spilled over. At this point, he started to regret this whole thing. He felt disappointed in himself for letting his frustration over the status of the band get to him. There was time to take it all back. Hopefully anyways, “This isn't the way, you’re right. You’re fucking right Mike. I’ll put the book away in a hidden spot and I’ll completely forget about it. I swear.”

Chester would also still understand if Mike wanted to kick him out of the band over this. If that was the case, he’d offer to give him the name of the guy that was supposed to audition after him. The guy was one of Chester’s classmates back in high school and they were good acquaintances. He can give Mike his name and possible phone number. May or may not work but it was the least he can do.

But in hindsight, all of his worries turned out to be unfounded.

Mike immediately closed the book and spoke with utmost determination. Chester was once again brought out of his thoughts and gave Mike his full attention.

“Let’s do it.”

A beat then Chester’s eyes widened with confusion. Although he also felt relieved it didn’t seem like he was about to be kicked out of Linkin Park, “Wait, you actually want to do this?”

“Sure. It’ll make revenge easier now that I think about it,” Mike explained casually, as if this was a normal topic of conversation, “I mean we’re humans Chester, we don’t have any powers. I can’t exactly give out overdue justice in a satisfying way that doesn’t involve prison.”

Even though the two men were around the same height give or take, Mike gave off the impression he was well over six foot tall.

“Why do you want revenge?” Chester was genuinely curious. This convo definitely took a swift 180 from just a few minutes ago so he wasn’t sure what to expect anymore. Luckily Mike didn’t appear to be fazed by his question so he continued without much thought, “I mean…no offense but you don’t seem the type Mike. You’re a straight A 4.0 student who never even cheated on a test and-uhh…never mind, sorry.”

If there was anymore Chester wanted to add on, he wisely kept them to himself. Why the fuck does his brain have to run his mouth without his consent in times like these? Why can’t he have better control over the filter inside his head? That was a highly dumb thing to say out loud, Chester kicked himself for saying such a presumptuous sentence.

“Looks can be quite deceiving Chester,” Mike simply pointed out with a smile. He threw the book aside on the couch before he proceeded to take a half step back.

For reasons Chester wasn’t sure of, his boyfriend didn’t take any offense to what he just said. Or at least he didn’t express that he did in his demeanor.

Of course Chester knew that, of course he knew things aren’t always what they seemed. Just because Mike was a goody two shoes who grew up in a stereotypical culdesac, doesn’t mean he can’t be swayed and enticed by instant gratification by way of dark magic.

“Anyways to answer your question,” Mike put his arms behind his back and stood tall in front of the blond spiky haired man. He put a little extra force behind his words “What ethnicity am I?”

“Oh, you’re Asian. You’re half Asian,” Chester pointed in the air towards Mike with full confidence in his reply.

“Specifics Chester. I need you to be more specific” Mike requested not unkindly. If anything he was slightly impatient.

Thankfully Chester needed only a second to answer, no awkward stretch of silence allowed on his watch.

“Japanese.”

“Correct,” Mike said as he began to leisurely pace around in a small line in front of him. He continued, “And do you know what happened to Japanese Americans in World War 2?”

“Uhh…” Chester wasn’t sure of the answer, he felt so lost now. But he got the notion it had something to do with his reason for revenge. He opened his mouth, but his mind blanked and all that came out was an incoherent noise. He didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing and, subsequently, offending Mike.

Offending Mike was the last thing Chester ever wanted to do. He’d rather be exiled forevermore to the most secluded area on Earth than say something truly hurtful to the person he loved the most.

Mike noticed this but still wasn’t fazed. In fact he took pity on him. Mike stopped in his tracks and looked Chester in the eyes, “I’ll give you a hint. It happened after Pearl Harbor.”

Unfortunately Chester still found himself at a loss. He should’ve paid more attention at school. Especially in history class, But it was just his luck he had subpar history teachers all throughout high school. They all sucked in one way or another. And unfortunately they all made history come off as boring to him.

Chester eventually groaned and apologized as he hid his face in his hands. His slightly muffled words jittered with nerves, “I’m sorry I-I don’t know Mike.”

Mike suddenly took a step forward and grabbed both of his shoulders. Chester automatically looked up and noticed his dark brown eyes set ablaze with rightful vengeance.

“Internment camps!” Mike spat out as he got close to Chester’s face. A split second later, he released his grip as he dashed over to the living room window in a burst of adrenaline. Chester meanwhile was frozen in place, like a deer in headlights, as he watched Mike open the blinds to peek outside. He honestly felt like he was a step or two behind on keeping up with Mike.

“Wh-what do you mean by internment camps? That doesn’t sound good Mike,” Chester replied, a little too soft spoken then he wanted as Mike didn’t obviously respond to what he just said.

“This is good timing. It’s almost dark,” Mike turned back around, a newfound fire in his step, “Should be completely dark by the time we find an abandoned building.”

“You want to make a deal tonight?!” Chester asked with wide eyes as he watched Mike fly towards the front door. He was a good way north of frantic, the changes in Mike’s attitude about gave him whiplash.

This marked the second time tonight where Chester was completely taken by surprise. He, to be frank, only started to give it some serious thinking just a day ago. Honestly it was a bit pathetic he got found out so damn quickly, but that was neither here nor there by this point.

“Yes. I want to go before we both change our minds,” Mike informed him as he picked up two of his shoes. Only then did he stop in his tracks, “Or did you not want to go through with it after all? Cause if not, then I am. It’s been too long the fuckers in charge of Manzanar went without any goddamn punishment.”

There was no hesitation at all. One of those easy decisions to make while put on the spot. Chester found himself not wanting to back out of this. He talked the talk, and damn him if he wasn’t gonna walk the walk.

And let’s be real, the notion of losing Mike after ten years already pained him like nothing else.

“No I do,” Chester readily said as he nodded.

“Great. Grab the book, whatever else we need and let’s go.”

With that Mike worked on putting on his shoes as Chester sprinted off to their room. Luckily for them both, he already had a pack filled with the special candles and chalk they would need for the ritual. This was courtesy of Tobi who wanted her baby brother to have only the best quality tools should he ever wanted to go down the same route she did.

Chester slung the backpack over his shoulder as he ran out the bedroom and back into the living room. Chester grabbed the book before he rushed over to slip on his shoes.

Mike waited until Chester was done with the second shoe to rush out the door. However afterwards, the latter paused for a second as a sudden realization dawned on him.

“Wait Mike you never told me what you meant by internment camps. I assume they were really fucking bad,” Chester shouted as he closed the door and ran down the second floor balcony after Mike.