by Jen L. Grey
When I reach it, I pull at the rope and surprisingly it’s not a super tight knot. It’s almost as if whoever did this wants me to be able to get it down with ease. After it’s untied, the baby doll hits the ground.
This can’t be good. I lower myself back to the ground and walk over to the doll. I pick her up and find a note in its hand. This is your last warning. Find a way to locate the crystal in the next hour or one of your parents is next.
Holy shit. Who the hell could be threatening me? Could it be the council reiterating their timeline or someone else? I rub my thumb along the baby doll’s neck line and notice there is a name written on the inside of the backside of the shirt. I turn it around and pull the shirt out. The name Beth is written there.
My heart jumps in my throat. This is one of Beth’s dolls? I flip it back around, and now it does seem a little familiar, but it’s been almost thirteen years since we played with any of these. Whoever is threatening knows me well and knows how to hurt me.
The smart thing to do would be get rid of the doll, but it was Beth’s and there is no way in hell I can part with it now. I walk in the door and am surprised when I don’t hear the television on or hear my parents in the kitchen. All the lights are out.
Could they be in their bedroom? I head in that direction, but the door to the room is wide open and the light is off. A weight lifts from my shoulders. After the past hour, them not being here is a huge blessing.
Becca has to be up by now, so I hurry into the kitchen and make a few peanut butter sandwiches and grab some waters. I head up to my room and unlock the door.
My room is very quiet when I walk in. Oh, dear God, please don’t tell me my parents found her. I rush to my closet and the pile of blankets is gone. I move back the clothes and open the hideaway door.
She yelps when the door opens, and her eyes open wide.
“Hey, it’s me.” I hold up both hands. Thank goodness she’s here.
It takes a second, but she lowers her hands and then bursts into tears.
“Are you hurt?” I reach out to touch her.
But she flinches away. “No, I… I just don’t know what to do.”
Okay, this isn’t good. I take a few steps back, giving her some space. I can’t even begin to understand how she feels. She woke up thinking she was going to have another day like all the others and then she dies. But to make matters worse, she had someone bring her back and mess with all kinds of things.
She climbs out of the room and crosses her arms. “I want to go home.”
“What?” What’s going on here? “We’ve already been through this.”
“Yeah, but what if you’re wrong?” She wipes the tears away from her face. “I want to see my family.”
“They’ll find you as soon as you leave here.” I throw my hands out at my side.
“So, what am I supposed to do?” She steps forward with her jaw clenched. “Hide in the closet for the rest of my life?”
“Well, no…” She’s got a point, but I don’t know what the hell to do yet. I have other huge problems to contend with right now. Can’t she go back to being the agreeable girl she was just yesterday?
There is a knock on my window, and I jerk toward the open door. “You’ve got to hide.”
Her face goes pale, and she scurries back into the hideaway room. She may not be happy, but at least she still has survival skills right now.
As soon as she climbs in, she shuts the door and I move the clothes back in place.
Another knock louder than the first echoes through the room. I walk out the door and find Brad there squatting outside my window.
I walk over and open it as the breeze blows into my room, wafting around the scent of vanilla. “What the hell are you doing?”
He grins and slips in beside me. “I just wanted to check on you.” He bumps his shoulder against mine. “I know it’s been hell for you.”
That is an understatement. “I might have found some solutions, but the one I thought would be the lesser of the two evils turned out to be the opposite of that.” The pictures flash through my head again and my stomach rolls.
His eyebrows draw together. “Hey, wait.” He reaches out and squeezes my arm. “You didn’t do anything. Don’t get like that.”
“I’m almost out of time.” I close my eyes. Why can’t things be easy? They’ve never been super easy for me, but better than this.
“You said you had two options.” He grins at me. “That just means you go with the other one.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen them since we last spoke.” I let out a breath. “What the hell am I going to do?”
He paces the room and stops to look at the collage I have of Beth and me next to my bed. “Did he give you any way to contact him?”
I want to smack myself. Of course, he did. He gave me a freaking business card. Why the hell am I acting dense? I pull the card out of my back pocket. “He gave me a business card.”
“See.” He turns to me and then focuses on the two peanut butter sandwiches sitting on my desk. “Let’s go call him, but let’s call from the kitchen. Let’s get something better than that to eat.”
That’s not a bad idea. It will also allow us to get a little space from Becca. I open my door and we both head downstairs.
As we walk into the kitchen, I pull out my cell phone and dial Damien’s number.
Brad walks to the pantry and begins hunting for things to snack on.
My appetite disappears with each ring. I still don’t know if this is the right answer, but I can’t save that witch. There is no way in hell I can do that. After it rings eight times, I hang up.
I set my phone on the island and sit down. I can’t believe this. What if I have no options left at this point?
A pack of Doritos is placed in front of me, and Brad sits down beside me. “I take it he didn’t answer?”
“No, he didn’t.” I grab the chips and throw the bag in his direction. “I’m not hungry. You eat them.”
He shrugs and opens the pack. “Well, maybe he’s busy.”
“What if he was just messing with me?” That’s what demons do. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve heard. I bet that pain in the ass was just getting my hopes up so he can enjoy watching me fall apart.
“He seemed to go out of his way to meet with you.” He shrugs and takes another bite.
“What am I going to do?” I place my face in my hands.
“Hey,” he turns to me and lower my hands, “you are going to figure this out. I know it.”
Well, at least, one of us is confident. But confidence isn’t going to fix my problem. Solutions are what I need. “That’s not helping.”
He shoots a wink my way and stands. “Then let me leave so you can get to it.” He throws his trash away.
We walk to the front door and pause.
“This is weird leaving through the front door.” He smirks at me.
A giggle escapes. “You’re weird.”
He opens the door and turns before shutting it. “Give him a call again here in a little while. Don’t give up.”
I nod, and he shuts the door.
Maybe I will try later, but right now, I need to figure out if there is another option. I walk back into the kitchen and grab my phone. I doubt he’ll call back but want my phone just in case. I can hope for a miracle, right?
The kitchen vibrates, and the sound of the garage door echoes against the tile. Shit, I guess my parents are home. There goes my quick reprieve.
I push the seats back in, not wanting them to know Brad was here, and try to get out of the room before they walk in. However, the door opens right before I can clear the room.
Mom’s heels clank against the floor. “Christina, did you get our problem solved? If so, we can head straight to the council right now to let them know.”
“Oh, she’s here?” Dad enters the room right behind her.
This is going to be fun. I turn around and face them. “No, it fell through.”
“Well, I’m not surprised.” Dad’s lip curls up and he shakes his head.
Yeah, I’m sure he’s not.
“This isn’t a game.” Mom’s face pales. “This is serious. We are all at risk.”
I’m done. “You don’t think I know this?” I bark out a hard laugh. “I can’t do this with you both.”
“Christina, don’t you leave.” Dad’s tone is full of warning.
For the first time in my life, it hits me. I will never please them, so why do I try? I walk out the door and let it slam behind me.
Mom’s shoes pound on the floor. “Just let her go, Frank.”
I don’t stay to chance anything else. I need to get to my room, even though, with Becca there, it’s not a sanctuary either. But that’s all I have right now.
When I reach my bedroom door, I yank it open. However, I miss a step when my eyes land on who’s standing in the middle of my room.
16
“You rang?” The black-haired demon stands in my room as if he belongs there.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I wanted to talk to him, but having him in my room seems to cross some kind of boundary.
A smirk crosses his face. “I thought you wanted to talk?”
“Yes. I wanted to talk.” I stomp into the room and shut the door. “But not freaking here. I figured we could meet somewhere. You know. Common grounds or something.”
He chuckles and leans against my wall. “And I thought you would be happy to see me.”
Shit, he’s right. I should be happy. I don’t have time to get caught up with being upset over something like this. I have a problem that needs fixing as soon as possible. “Well, I won’t say happy, but yeah. We need to talk.”
“Took you long enough.” He points out my window at the darkening sky.
“Yes, I’m slow.” Just another person to point out my lack of intelligence today.
He shrugs. “It’s okay. You came around to the right decision, and that’s all that matters.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I didn’t trust you right off.” I roll my eyes. “You’re a demon, you know.”
“That’s true.” He raises an eyebrow. “But I’m too old to want to play games with a reaper.”
All right, I want this conversation to move along. “So, you want me to reap three souls, no questions asked, and you’ll unblock whatever is keeping me from locating the crystal?”
“That’s correct.” He snaps his fingers, and a contract appears, floating in the air between us.
I might live to regret this decision, but it seems as if he needs me. He wouldn’t be here in my room otherwise. “Okay, I need one more thing.”
“Wait… what?” He tilts his head and narrows his eyes.
Here goes nothing. “I need you to protect someone for me.”
“Are you talking about the girl you brought back from death?” He raises his hand to his chin.
How in the world do both him and the witch know so much about me? “Yes. If she leaves here without me near, they will just reap her again. I need her to be hidden.”
The contract remains floating between us, but he stares out the window. The silence is killing me, but at the same time, I don’t want to push this more than I may already be.
After a minute, his gaze lands back on me. “If I agree, she must come with me. She’ll get to live her life and see her family from time to time.”
“I can’t make that call for her.” I take a deep breath. “Hold on.” I go to my closet and move the clothes aside.
This time, when I open the door, she seems to be expecting me.
“Hey, I think we may have found a compromise.” I step aside so she can get out.
When she’s standing on both feet, she glances out the door. “What do you mean?”
“I think there is a way you can see your family and live a life.” I bite my lip. Once again, I don’t know if this is right, but at least she can have an actual life. “Come on. There is someone you need to meet.”
She follows behind me, and her head jerks back when Damien comes into view. Then her eyes land on the floating contract. “How the hell is that floating?”
“He’s a demon.” I’m not sure what else to say.
Her face turns a shade paler. “What?”
He smiles and winks. “Hi, Becca. I’m Damien. I’m here to help you.”
“How can you help me?” She glances at me and then back at him.
“Well, if you were to leave here or not be around a reaper, you’d become a target again.” His tone is warm and caring. “Your time is up. So, Christina has asked for me to hide you.”
Oh, wow. He’s laying on the charm.
“But my family?” She bites her lip and bounces on her feet.
“If you agree to let me help you, you can see them from time to time, but you’ll have to stay close to me.” He takes a timid step toward her.
Her mouth drops open. “I don’t want to live in Hell.” She glances at me, her body tense.
Who would? I hadn’t thought of that one.
“No, I live on Earth.” He raises both hands and grins. “My assignments keep me here. We can live close to your family even, so you can visit them often.”
She takes a deep breath and glances around. “Ugh, this is not fair.”
Tell me about it.
“Look, I know it doesn’t seem that way.” He glances at me and focuses back on her, smiling. “But this is the best way. You can still live and spend time with your family. If you don’t do this, you’ll either be hiding in that room,” he points to my closet, “or die as soon as you separate from her.” The inky blackness is almost transparent, and he speaks with octaves in his voice instead of the monotone he holds with me.
“Okay.” She looks at me. “I’ll do it. At least I can see my family.”
This hurts, and it sucks. I wish I knew another way, but I don’t. Maybe saving her wasn’t the best thing in the world. I smile and nod.
Damien flips his hand, and the wording on the contract changes. It’s fascinating. “All right, it’s been revised. I will protect Becca as soon as you sign.” He glances at her, and when he looks back, some of the blackness bleeds through revealing his demon again. “Once the three… items have been handled, I will unblock the magic on the crystal.”
It’s weird. When he talked to Becca, he did appear human in all ways, but now, when he deals with me, he goes back to his true nature. I shake my head. Focus.
“Hey, I’m going to clean up before I leave.” Becca leaves the room, heading toward the bathroom.
I wonder if she felt the shift in him and that’s why she left so fast? It’s a good thing. We can talk more openly without her here. I skim the contract and it seems to be pretty straight forward. But the question is, are the three souls the lesser evil than helping the witch’s sister? However, those kids… “I know I’m not to ask questions…”
“I promise the three souls are evil, and I’m not asking for you to revive them, unlike the witch.” He motions toward the contract.
Yeah, but it’s still before their time. “I understand, but I still could get in trouble for this.”
“It’s all taken care of.” He lifts his chin. “No one will ever know except for you and me.”
My heart begins to race. Why is this still hard to agree to? I don’t have any other choice, and just thirty minutes ago, I was desperate to talk to him.
“Christina.” My dad calls for me from downstairs. “Will you please come down here? Your mother and I want to discuss something with you.”
Shit, this is the last thing I need right now. “One minute.”
“Time’s ticking.” Damien leans against the wall and crosses his arms.
That asshole. “Yeah, well. This might be easy for you, but it’s not for me.”
“Christina, now,” Dad calls out again.
“Okay, coming.” They aren’t going to leave me alone.
Becca walks out of the bathroom and glances at my
door. “You better go. They may come up here.”
I turn, but Damien grabs my arm.
“Look, I need to know if you are going to do this.” He steps in front of me.
Two sets of footsteps are coming up the stairs. Crap, my parents are coming up here. They aren’t going to wait.
The demon snaps again, and the contract appears right in front of me. “Do we have a deal?”
At this point, I almost feel like Ariel with Ursula. I have no idea why that pops in my head, but it does. I push past him and grab a pen.
A loud knock sounds at my door. “We need to talk.” My dad’s tone is loud and urgent.
Forcing myself not to overthink this any longer, I head back to the contract and sign. Dread pools at my stomach.
The demon snaps and it disappears. He grins and walks over to Becca. “Now, it’s time for me to take you to your new home.”
A hand hits right above the doorframe, looking for my spare key. Shit, dad is determined to get in. What are we going to do?
The door handle turns and my heart drops.
17
My dad opens the door, but I block him from entering the room.
His eyes widen. “What the hell are you doing?”
What am I going to do? He can’t find a demon and Becca in my room. “I was coming downstairs.”
“No, it’s fine.” He pushes the door open further. “We’re already here.”
Mom slides into my room between the two of us.
I tense, waiting for the nail to drop, but nothing happens.
“You’re acting really strange.” Dad’s forehead creases, but he walks into my room as well.
Yeah, I am. I spin around, and both Becca and Damien are nowhere in sight. How the hell is that possible? But, you know what, I’m not going to push it at this point. I’ll take small wins right now.
“Why does it smell like fire in here?” Mom’s nose scrunches up.
They may be gone, but he still left his scent behind. Go figure. “I had the window open earlier. It must have been something out there.” I shrug and rub my hands together. I can’t remember the last time both of my parents came into my room on their own accord. It’s been years.