by Idella Breen
“Ah, you have returned.” The cold, apathetic voice of Death made me open my eyes.
***
My grip on June tightened as I met the dark gaze of Death. The man that was responsible for all of my hardships. I held up the bottle of the combined tears and blood. “I have what you want.”
He stood and moved with the grace of a cat, and he stalked over to us and reached out to grab the bloody water bottle between two fingers as if it was a dirty diaper.
“Yes. You seem to have done as I requested. I suppose I should fulfill my end of the contract as well.” He walked with a lazy gait that belayed the power his body held that the grace hinted at. He placed the bottle on his desk and unscrewed the lid. Tipping it over I watched as the mixture of blood and tears poured down onto his impeccably clean desk. I gasped and watched as the wooden monstrosity morphed into a giant mouth that rose up and grabbed the bottle from Death’s hand, swallowing it whole.
“The desk-“
“Now that you have signed with blood, the contract will not fade; you are under Death’s dominion until Death is remade.”
“Did I just make another contract?”
Bored dark eyes met mine, and the man sighed. “Was either of those substances yours?”
I shook my head.
“Then why would you believe it was a contract made for you?”
“But you said that thing! That thing that you say!”
He nodded solemnly. “Yes. It appears I did indeed say something.”
I frowned. “If it wasn’t for me then who was it for?”
Death’s apathetic gaze met mine and he seemed to sink into his leather chair. “To free you from your role as the Lamb of Essence, I must put into place another contract that will prevent the demons and angels from beginning their long and boring war with each other. Did you think that everyone would be happy go lucky if I freed you from your duty?”
“Well, no but-“
“But, you are now free from all the contracts with me.”
“I’m free?”
Death waved his hand in the air. “All contracts are nullified by Death’s decree; I set you Eliza Trust, free.”
My heart stuttered, and I suddenly felt a heavy weight lift from me. A giddiness filled me as I looked down to June, who was still unconscious but something Death said struck me, or rather something he didn’t say.
“You said I was free. What about June?”
He shrugged. “What about her?”
I glared at the man before me. “The agreement was that both June and I would be free from the contract she first made with you.”
He leveled me with the coldest look anyone has ever given me. “That was not the agreement that I made. She is still a bone walker under my service, and I have no intention of releasing her today or anytime soon. I keep up my end of all contracts I make and you Eliza Trust have no contract with me and no longer have any reason to be within my realm. I will let you keep your memories as that was stated in the contract but I will not have a human in my presence.”
He seemed to sneer the word human as his face twisted into an ugly frown.
“So, I ban you from the Otherworld until further notice.”
“You can’t-“
“Begone human with no purpose to me or my own.”
“But-“
I gasped as I felt the familiar feeling of being pulled through a portal. I gripped onto June, but she was fading as if she wasn’t physical.
“June!” I screamed.
The feeling disappeared, and I was once again alone in the four walls or my apartment. I was still covered by the blood of a demon but the tears streaming down my face were my own. The last thing tying me to my soulmate was gone. I was once again torn from the woman I had come to realize meant more to me than anything else in my existence. She was gone, and I had no way of finding her again. Banned. I was banned from the Otherworld, the world where June resided. We were once again, worlds apart.
***
I slapped a twenty down onto the counter startling the teenage boy. He looked up from his phone only to take a step back in fear, probably from my expression.
“One ticket? Hold on I’ll get it for you. Just, give me a second.” He croaked and hurriedly printed off one ticket, handing it to me.
He didn’t even bring up the fact that there were no tours currently running at the moment. He simply watched on in fear as I took the stairs leading down into the Underground. I took the now familiar path until I tracked down the parlor. Quickly, I waded through the wide crumbling opening and climbed over the bar all but falling over myself in my haste to get to the back room, to get back to June. But as I walked behind the bar I was met with a solid stone wall instead of the wooden door that I was expecting.
I stared at it numbly for a moment. A wall? Why was there a wall here? Where was the door? That bastard! That fucking bastard! My hand flew out slapping hard against the wall. The pain didn’t even register. “Damn you Death! Damn you to Hell!” I screamed as I fell to the ground wailing and cursing the man’s impeccable suit and cold dark eyes.
I don’t know how long I sat there crying. It could have been only minutes or hours. It didn’t matter much. The only thing that mattered to me had been ripped from my grasp and held out of reach forever. It wasn’t until I felt warm hands on my shoulders that I realized I was being led back up the stairs and back into the lobby.
The boy at the counter must have told someone that I went downstairs. I looked at the woman that was leading me and saw that it was the same woman that had led the tour the last time I visited the Underground. She was telling me something as she led me into a bathroom, but I just continued to cry. She must have thought that I was insane, but she patiently stayed with me until my tears dried up, then handed me a box of tissues. Once I had cleaned up a little bit, she gave me my money back and walked me the few blocks to the bus stop.
“You’ll be alright Miss.” She whispered before gently squeezing my hand and walking away.
I took the bus back to my apartment in a state of numbness. It wasn’t until I was laying in bed that night that the reality finally sank in. I was never going to see June again. I was once again alone in the world. Death had taken from me my most important person, and he was never going to let her go. Was my freedom really worth the cost of never seeing her again? If I could do it over again, would I? Would I give up a chance at a normal life to be with her again? In a heartbeat! I drifted off to sleep cursing him even as I silently begged him to set her free.
Chapter 13
I knocked, and Angela answered the door with a smile.
“Eliza, you made it! Happy Thanksgiving! Come on in. May just pulled the turkey out.”
The Asian woman all but dragged me into the warm house. The smells of Thanksgiving dinner surrounded me making my mouth instantly water as I was dragged into the living room which was filled with screaming children chasing each other and May’s and Peter’s rambunctious family.
“Angela, slow down!” I laughed as my friend dragged me through the living room, passed the dining room and into the kitchen where May was chopping potatoes.
“Look who’s finally here!”
May looked up, and I winced as an image of her chopping off a finger flitted through my mind. “Stop chopping!” I said.
May laughed and placed the knife down before reaching out and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. “Eliza! I wasn’t sure if you would make it!”
She released me, and I shrugged. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She smiled and picked up the knife again. “Peter is in the game room. Grab a beer and join in. Angela will introduce you to all the non-crazy relatives. I’ll warn you now to stay away from my aunt, Bertha. She’ll talk to you about her millions of cats for hours.”
I chuckled. “Dually noted.”
Angela tugged on my hand. “I’ll take her to Peter. Is dinner almost ready?”
May held the knife up to point it at us. �
��Ask me again, and things will get very dangerous very quickly.”
I gulped. “I think I’ll get that beer you mentioned.”
Her face lit up with a smile. “Of course! They're in the cooler downstairs in the game room.”
“May, have you started the potatoes yet?” An older woman asked as she carried a tray of steaming yams passed us.
“I’m on it, Mom. Can you help me chop?”
“Sure.”
“Now shoo! You two. You’re distracting me.” May waved the knife around, and Angela, and I hurriedly left the kitchen.
We were dodging tumbling children as we made our way to the stairs. “Remind me to never ask May a question while she has a sharp knife in her hand.”
Angela chuckled. “You should know that the short ones are the ones to watch out for.”
I laughed, and we made our way down to the game room. Peter was shooting pool with three other men. They were his older brothers if I remembered right. The television was on with the football game and boo’s along with the appropriate cheers could be heard in the background. Peter looked up as Angela, and I entered the room.
“Hey, Eliza! You made it.” He came over and pulled me into a bear hug.
I laughed as he let me go. “Hey Peter, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
He smiled. “You know what? I think you need a beer. Can’t have a party without one, you know?”
I nodded and followed him into the small kitchenette where they kept the cooler. I looked around at the basement which I personally would call a man cave. “Is this where you go when May puts you in the dog house?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Something like that. I also come down of my own volition. Every guy needs his own space just to cool off. May has a crafts room upstairs. She only comes down here for movie night. Says the lighting down here depresses her otherwise.”
Angela grabbed a Samuel Adams and laughed. “I don’t blame her. It’s seriously is a cave down here.”
“Hey, there are lights! It isn’t that bad.” Peter pulled out a bottle and popped the cap off with the bottle opener on the counter before handing me the beer.
“It is a bit dark down here.” I played along.
“It’s a basement!”
Angela and I laughed as he pouted then the Asian woman moved in closer to him and whispered, “So, Pete. Which one of your brothers is single?”
He frowned. “Seriously? I thought we went over this. They are all jerks.”
Angela nodded patiently, and I smirked. He really should learn that no man is off of her radar. “I know we talked, and I assure you that I attempted to listen, but all I could hear was how protective you are of your older more sexy brothers. Now, which one is single? I need to start working one over now so that by the end of the dinner I can drag one home with me or at least get a number.”
“Angela-“
She gave him a deadpan look. “Peter.”
He sighed. “Fine. I don’t know why I even try. Paul is single right now. He just got out of a long relationship. But I'll warn you, Angela; he’s not looking for anything serious right now.”
She shrugged. “Who said I was? So, which one is Paul?”
Peter nodded his head in the direction of the pool table. “He’s the second youngest and the one taking a shot right now.”
“Hmm, nice ass.”
“Angela!”
She looked at him. “What? He has one.”
“He’s my brother!” Peter all but whined.
Angela gave him a once over before smirking. “I wouldn’t have guessed.” Then she sashayed over to the pool table, and Peter grumbled under his breath.
I took a swig and smiled. I missed these guys! Peter pulled out another beer then mentioned something about going to see May before walking off with a deep frown. I leaned back against the counter and took another drink.
It’s strange how I could be in a room filled with people that I care about and yet still feel so alone. Almost like being invisible even when I’m in plain sight. When I was with June, it always felt like I was the center of her universe and she was the sun that I orbited around. Now, my sun was gone, and I felt an emptiness in my chest that I didn’t think I could ever fill. In this lifetime I had only known her for little over a month, and yet she quickly became the closest thing I had to a real family. She was a person that knew of all of my faults and still loved me despite all of them. How was I supposed to keep moving forward without her?
I watched Angela giggle at something Paul said and twirl a lock of her hair around a finger. She had always been able to have fun with another person no matter how briefly she knew them. Peter and May were able to as well. They were all able to build bonds effortlessly when I felt like all I ever did was break them. My bonds were like weeping wounds as they all ended suddenly and without warning. How was I supposed to make a place for myself in this world when everyone I loved kept dying or disappearing from my life?
I was brought back to the present by someone poking me in my shoulder. I looked up from my beer and into May’s eyes. She smiled. “Dinner is ready. Are you coming back upstairs?”
I looked around the room and noticed that it was empty. Nodding, I slowly followed May back into the dining room and couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face to see that Angela had saved me a seat between her and May. Taking my seat between two good friends, a thought occurred to me. Not all of my bonds were broken. In fact, the ones that had survived were stronger than ever. I had friends that had become my family. If I was going to survive this constant ache in my chest, it was going to be because they supported me. I needed to tell them what I could; what they would understand. I needed to tell them because they were my family even if it wasn’t by blood and they had stuck with me through thick and thin.
"Hey Eliza, pass the cranberry sauce!" Peter said as he handed me the basket of rolls while attempting to shove one in his mouth at the same time. I giggled and picked up the requested dish. It is said that you don't get to choose your family, but I wouldn't trade them in for the world.
***
“I'm so stuffed,” I whined as I pat my swollen belly.
Peter laughed and passed an opened Samuel Adams Octoberfest over to me. “Enough room for a beer I hope?”
I took the offered drink. “There’s always room for one more beer. Except for when I’m puking my guts out. That’s when I’ve reached my limit.”
Angela snorted. “That’s some limit.”
I smirked. “You would know.”
May snickered. “I’m glad you all liked it. It was my first time leading the cooking. It’s nice to know that I pulled it off and it is appreciated.”
I burped. “Much appreciated.”
They all laughed.
Peter cleared his throat. “So, have you been alright lately, Eliza?”
May smacked him in the arm. I frowned. “What do you mean?”
May interrupted before he could answer. “What Peter is trying to say is that you’ve seemed distant lately. We were all wondering if something was going on.”
“Like a secret lover!” Angela wiggled her eyebrows.
I studied my beer for a moment. Should I tell them? What could it hurt? Everything was over now. It might as well as have all been a really vivid dream. I shrugged and took a drink before answering. “There was a secret lover.”
Angela sprayed her drink and May cringed. “Eww.”
“What!” Peter yelled.
Angela turned to me. “You are dating someone?”
I nodded. “Well, I was. Yeah.”
Peter frowned. “Wait, was?”
I looked up and met the stunned faces of my closest friends. “Yeah. You could even say she was my soulmate.”
I could feel the tears falling even though I had no energy to stop them.
“Oh, Eliza.” Angela moved over next to me and pulled me into a hug. “What happened?”
“We just weren’t meant to be, I guess.” I hiccuped.
Peter interrupted. “Wait. Did you say she?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Her name was June, and I think I was in love with her.”
“Shhh, it’s okay Eliza.” Angela pulled me closer.
“You’re gay?” Peter said.
May slapped him in the arm again. “Would you shut up captain obvious. Can’t you see she's torn up about this woman?”
“Hold up. How come none of you are surprised that Eliza is a lesbian?”
I looked up at Angela and then to May. “Neither of you seem very surprised.”
Angela chuckled. “We both just figured you were in denial. That’s why you never dated in college. I mean, come on Eliza. You never even talked about guys when either May or I would gush about them.”
I frowned. “But I never talked about girls either.”
May shrugged. “We figured either you were a late bloomer and were going to find a great guy one day or you were gay. Either way, we all love you, Eliza. I just want you to know that we would never stop talking to you just because you like the fairer sex.”
“She’s a lesbian.”
Angela growled. “Peter would you shut up!”
He turned to me. “Are you telling me that I could have dated a lesbian and had hot threesomes in college and no one told me!”
“Peter!” May smacked him in the face this time snapping him out of whatever daydreams he was having. He blushed. “Sorry. I just had a moment. It’s passed.”
I laughed even as I gasped. “You guys are great. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Have hot lesbian sex.”
“Peter!” Both Angela and May yelled.
“Sorry.”
Angela turned back to me. “Do you want to talk about her?”
I shook my head. “Not right now. It’s still too fresh. I just…I just miss her so much. I couldn’t tell her how I really felt before she left. If I could just get one more chance to see her, I would give anything to tell her how I truly feel.”