Case Closed

"You sure this is the right house?"
The two of them were standing in front of a smoldering wreck. A once beautiful, almost antique house destroyed by fire.
"Well I don't suppose you see any other burnt-down houses around, do you?"
The shorter of the two men stared at his friend. He let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the smartphone in his hand. The marker on its screen was  aligned with their location.
"I double checked. You happy now? Let's get this over with."
"Cog, it does no good to be hasty."
"I know, I know. Just do your thing and let's go. I'm cold and I want to grab lunch."
"You still don't find this interesting?"
Cog turned his back towards the house and yawned.
"Yeah. It's just a house fire. Those happen all the time. Besides, you're the one who gets to do all the cool shit."
"Oh, don't be so down," he ducked and picked up a piece of coal lying on the ground.
"I guess I won't keep you waiting.
He straightened up and reached into his pocket.
Out of the back pocket of his jeans he pulled a pack of cigarettes and a completely white lighter. Putting a crumpled up cigarette between his teeth he slid the rest of the pack back into his pocket.

As he lit the lighter whit fog crawled around him and cowered the world.  In front of him no longer was a destroyed house. What he saw was a grand, well furnished home.
"Jack, is the house worth checkin' out?"
"Well.. for starters, it's a house now."
"Wait, what?"
"There is a house there now. A proper one. You know, not that burnt-down heap it was just now."
"It can do that now? What's it look like?"
"Uh.. I'm not too good with descriptions. Big? It's kind of hard to see."

Jack stepped towards the entrance with Cog following him, making sure not to dirty his white sneakers.
Entering was easy as the door was wide open. The hallway had family portraits along the wall and a broken vase by the door with a lily amidst the shards. Jack could her sobbing coming from inside. He motioned Cog to stay put. The living room floor had books lying all across. A girl stood in the middle of the room. She had a light-blue dress and couldn't be more than twelve years old. Jack went closer. The girl spun around.
"Who's there?"
"I'm Jack."
"I'm cold, Jack."
"You shouldn't leave your door open like that. The breeze is keeping you cold. What happened here, anyway?"
"I was cold."
Jack took a deep breath. The look on her face was a mix of emotions Jack was unable to read. There was something about it that was off but he couldn't put his finger on it. He exhaled the smoke from his cigarette.
"You tried to warm yourself up? What did you do?"
"Will you help me no longer be cold?"
"Jack!"
Cog was standing in the doorway with a concerned look. He was staring at the little girl who was inching herself closer to Jack.
"Just a moment, Cog. I still didn't get a clear answer."
"Dude, you should get away from her. Now."
Jack was now completely facing Cog, "her?  You can see her?"
"How could I not?! I mean, look at her!"
Jack spun around.

Mischief. That's what had been bothering him before. Plastered across her entire face, it was now glaringly obvious.
"I want you to warm me up."
She kept coming closer. Jack took a step back.
"I don't know about you but I think I'm gonna' run. There's no way we can stand against this."in
"Stand against this?"
Yeah, the girl was ominous but there was no reason to 'stand against her'. He inhaled and with that his cigarette flickered and the flame was gone. In front of him stood a cloud of fire, smoke and rubble.
"I'm cold."
"Oh, hell no."
Jack tried jumping out of the way but the creature was quicker. The blast it had created wasn't anything spectacular but it was clear why the house burned down.  Parts of Jack's jacket had embers on them. Jack shook them off and stood up. The back of his jacket was pitch black from the burnt wood he was just tossed against.
"I'm cold."
"Oh, change the fucking record."
Jack want back into the room and ran past the fiend. He looked around the room for something to use to stomp out the thing with.
"Are you fucking retarded? Get out of there!"
Trough a rather large hole in the wall Cog was looking at Jack in terror.
"It's not like we can leave this thing unattended!"
Bingo! Jack dashed past the cloud that was looking more threatening by the minute and grabbed a fire iron lying by the fireplace. He only to jump aside to get away from the flames spewing his way.
"Alright, you wanted to warm up? So, let us dance!"
He kept moving clockwise striking every now and then but not getting a single hit. Every one of the well aligned hits went straight trough. He had to step back and catch his breath.
"Come here and make me warm."
"Like hell I will.."
"Jack, are you alright in there, I can't see you! What's happening?"
They had moved away from the hole so Cog couldn't see the fight. He could't see. Jack had a sudden burst of thought and he pulled out his lighter.
"You want to get warm? Come here!"
He lit the lighter with a theatrical motion returning to the plane where he could see the little girl.
With a smirk on his face he swung his iron.
"Let's end this!"
The fire iron smashed into the temple of the little girl and the grin disappeared from her face as she slumped to the floor.
"This feels wrong but I can't take chances."
Jack lifted up the iron and stabbed it into the back of her head.

"Weren't you terrified?"
"Oh, you and your puns. Yeah, I was. This was the first time something like that happened to us."
"But you stood and took it down like a champ!"
Jack stopped for a bit. Cog looked back at him.
"Let's go get you that dinner. We have a lot to discuss."

Limbo

"Ahh, I see you've arrived."
"You expected me?"
"But of course, I knew you would come."
"Then you must know what I came to propose."
"I refuse."
"Huh, I thought you'd be more than excited.."
"Believe it or not, I am not the bad guy here. I only give people what they want."
"You must have a plan. What reason would you have to amass all those-"
"Knowledge. I want to know. That is all."
"You want to know."
"Precisely. To forget is what you want. I hope we can strike a deal."
"I will no longer be myself."
"You will. Until your wish is fulfilled."
"What will happen to me once I attain it? My wish that is."
"Nothing. The same as with everyone else."
"I- I accept."
"Very well. Now, there is something else I will require from you. I believe you will do nicely."