You know you should feel fear, that you should be in denial. But as you stare down the monster before you, chatting about what a lovely day it is, and how nice it would be to go for a swim later, you can only smile calmly and nod pleasantly. Yes, it is a lovely day, and you should both go swimming. But why wait?
"Lets go now."
It's like she knows what's going on. But, she must. She's one of them. She's like him.
The soft summer breeze as the sun begins to rise along with the heat feels nice. The texture of your silky dress as you let it slide up your torso and past your arms reminds you of soft touches. You feel surprised eyes on you, but don't turn to look. Simple steps towards the water are all you need. One, two, three... And you're there.
The water rippling around you, sliding as you glide through it. It's fresh and relaxing. Your bra and underwear feel a slight bit cumbersome now that you simply want the sensation everywhere, but you don't want to waste time removing them. Not yet.
You bob up on the surface of the water, lazily kicking enough to take you towards the center of the empty pool. Your companion shouts from the end, "I didn't mean now! Don't you have a meeting you have to go to?!"
You scoff gently, appreciating the warm rays of sun beginning to try and bake your face.
"I do, but they don't really matter right now," you reply loudly as you let yourself relax onto your back. The soft breeze that slowly rolls through the air gently tickles you and makes the slightest of goosebumps raise. You keep your eyes closed as you move your arms around, but keeps your legs closed tightly.
Today's your last day. You want to make it last.
"Mom, what are you doing?"
You turn towards the voice. It's your young assistant Arlene. She a sweet girl. Her long black hair wraps around her oval tan face in a lovely bohemian braid. Her sheer champagne rose blouse shimmers around as she reaches forward, running her fingers through your freshly cut and dyed purple hair. A look of worry overcomes her features, evident by the distinct way her bottom lip twists delicately, and her naturally thin but shapely eyebrows scrunch together.
"I've always wanted to dye my hair purple. Did I ever tell you that? When I was in high school, I was so envious of all the girls with pastel and vibrant hair colors, but I never could convince myself that all I had to do was go to the salon and dye it. When I was in college, I convinced myself employers wouldn't hire me if I had some wild hair color. But now, I don't care. I'm going to enjoy this day as much as I can, and do all the things I can at once."
Arlene's face drops even further. It hurts your heart a little, not being able to explain. Even more so knowing that you're going to have to leave her behind. That you're going to make her an orphan yet again. If it were up to you, you would make sure she knew you were alright, but it's not. Neither up to you, nor alright. Not this situation you're leaving her behind in. But, you've made sure that she'll be as ok as she can.
In the past 10 years since your deal, you've made a name for yourself. You pummeled through any and all obstacles set in your way, you conquered the giants, and you played the rules against its own game.
You run a successful charity company now, as well as a significant vegan restaurant chain that does both fancy meals, and easy microwaveable foods for people on the go. Arlene came into the picture 4 years after your deal, but it was 4 years too late. She was so young, and alone. Still, so hopeful and inspired. She wanted to go into the culinary world, and make a name for herself the way her parents did, but they passed at the same time you did.
Though she would never know who you were before your deal, you came to discover that you had originally passed in a horrific traffic accident, along with 30 others. Of those 30, Arlene's parents and her older sister were three of the victims. She had survived only because she begged her parents to let her stay with her grandmother a few days longer so they could practice making some family recipes. Everyone knew abuelita Tania did not have long to stay, so her family tried to make the best of each of her days. That weekend, they had a catering event to get to. They needed all hands on deck, but Arlene resisted. She knew she needed to practice with her grandmother if she wanted to do justice to those dishes after she passed. Her parents were very upset, but they relented.
You on the other hand had not been paying attention. When you went for your allergy pills that morning, dazed and groggy as you were from how sick you had gotten the past couple of days, you didn't realize what bottle you were grabbing. You were a creature of habit, and you were too trusting- in others and yourself.
With how terrible you had been feeling, you had bought yourself a bottle of sleeping pills and a couple of tablets of vitamin C. You needed only half a tablet of the sleeping pills, 3 tablets of vitamin C, and 4 doses of your allergy pill. But you didn't notice how you arranged the medication when you placed the bottles back the night before. And you failed to realize that the bottle of pills you had palmed and swallowed quickly were not the 4 allergy pills and 3 vitamin C tablets. You didn't see that yes, you got the correct dosage of vitamin C, but the allergy pills you swallowed that day, those were in fact 4 sleeping pills. You swallowed 8x the amount you needed to fall asleep all night. That was 3200% more than you needed!
It was a miracle you managed to get to the freeway at all. But it was a terrible miracle since it left over 2 dozen dead.
Poor Arlene did not need to know your true identity. All she knew was that you were someone who cared for youths with bright dreams and tragic backgrounds. She knew you helped all the young kids you could. She didn't know why you took such an interest in her, but she recognized your desire to be a mother. She recognized your willingness to love in an all consuming, agape manner. She knew you wanted a child, and she needed a family. You two came together as if by magic, and you held her under your wing as long as you could.
When the months leading to the end of your contract started becoming shorter and shorter, you made arrangements so that everything would be taken care of. And you thought of no one better for the job of taking over after you than your dear adopted daughter Arlene.
You set up your will, and talked to all your company comrades. You explained the situation and had them make a binding oath to support your decision, as well as your daughter's. They all signed the contract you created for them. And with all your affairs taken care of, all you wanted to do was take this day for yourself. Arlene had to see that, even if she didn't know what was going on.
"Mom, are you ok?" She asks, eyes watering slightly as she intertwines her fingers with yours.
You smile and place a soft kiss to her temple. "Of course I am, my love. Go make me a tarte au pomme please. I'm craving apples, and you make the best tarte."
She nods, desperately trying to hold back tears as she quietly responds, "Ok, mommy..."
She walks away quickly, leaving you to your thoughts. This is the one thing that you know is going to be hard to deal with. This is why you didn't want to fall in love, or have children. You would leave someone behind. Yet, here you are, leaving someone behind.
"I'm sorry, honey," you whisper into the air.
The howls start an hour after you leave the office. You told Arlene to take care of some business for you, and make sure to let her know this would take all day.
You didn't fear the noise, nor any of the horribly twisted monster faces you passed on your walk home. You ignored the sunken, disfigured face of the man at the crosswalk. You smiled at the shrunken, rotten face at the bakery when she told you to have a good day. Your loud notes resonated in the alley, making the person with vomit inducing boils and scales turn your way in amusement. They all knew, and in the faces of some like the one before you know, you could read something akin to pity.
"What's a pretty little lady like yourself doing alone in an alley?" he asked, looking you up and down.
You smiled at him and sighed.
"Do hellhounds like treats of any kinds? I know regular dogs like nice meaty slabs of steak. But apart from people, is there any other treats hellhounds like?"
The demon looked at you curiously, cocking his head to the side before letting out a deep belly laugh. He wiped tears from his meat suit's eyes before letting you know that you were in for a world of pain come the end of the night.
"No treats are gonna save you from that, little lady."
Your lips tighten in frustration but you shrug and say your thanks as you continue on your way down the alley shortcut to your loft. The man stares st you curiously walk away, then decides to follow a few paces behind.
You hear him coming. You know he's there. But your pace remains even, and your notes as you sing continue to sound sweetly thanks to the alley acoustics.
"I hope you know, I hope you kno~ow! That this has nothing to do with yooou."
A black cat jumps in front of you, and runs up to the top of a wall before turning back to stare at you with squinting eyes.
"It's per-son-aaaal, myself and I. We got some straightening out to do."
The howling gets louder. The cat hisses, and jumps away. The man following starts to get closer from his spot behind you. He swallows nervously considering his options in the occurrence the hellhounds find him when they find you.
Tears slowly start to escape your eyes as you get to your spot and behind climbing the dumpster to get to your fire escape and continue singing.
"I'm gonna miss you, like a child misses their blanket. But I gotta get a move on with my life!"
Your hands and feet move automatically, though you have a hard time seeing. And now singing for that matter. The demon sees his chance to go after you, but he knows you're done. Why bother torturing you further and getting maimed himself when you were already torturing yourself just fine on your own. He shakes his head and then makes a run for it down the rest of the alley and to the right. He's gone for the rest of your life, but then again, the rest of your life is only for the next two hours more or less.
You climb the final rungs and then walk up to your floor and window. You grab your little magnet hook to help you undo the lock from your side, and then go in. You are quick to undress down to your interior wear, leaving your clothes piled there in front of the window, then head towards the kitchen. You wipe your tears with the back of your hands, not wanting the grime to get to your faces but needing to wipe your eyes already. You can feel the mascara running.
After washing your hands, you grab a wine glass from the cupboards and grab the cheapest, sweetest wine from your fridge and down two glasses in a solid minute, opening and pouring time included. Maybe drinking isn't the best idea, but you're a happy drunk, and you want to be happy before you die. You want to enjoy your time. After you feel a slight warmth on your cheeks, you go to the fridge and pull out the slabs of steak you'd left to defrost. They're thick slices with a nice ring of fat right in the middle.
Before continuing, you pull out your pink hedgehog apron from the drawer under the sink, and smile at the design. It's simple, but it's cute, and it makes you happy. That's something you want to feel now as you cook your final meal.
For the steaks, you turn on the heat and lay a pan out to sear the meat once it's ready. In the mean time, you chop up some onion, boil and mash a head of garlic, and pull out some mushrooms. You're quick to start browning the onion quickly. Before it burns, you add the freshly made garlic "paste" followed by the mushrooms immediately after. You pour yourself another glass of wine, and splash the rest of the wine into the pot. A large flame immediately ignites in the pan. Unfazed, you toss the ingredients around until the flames finally disipate. Once that's done, you move the pan to the side and lay the slabs of meat onto the sizzling hot steak. Your mouth waters at the smells permeating from the stove. It's been over a decade since you had meat, and before now, you never felt the urge to eat any. Yet, for your last meal, this is what you wanted.
What will they say when they find your body? What a laugh...
You walk over to the table, setting two plates while you wait for the steaks to finish cooking. You open another bottle of wine, but this time the fanciest oldest one you own. It cost you well over $2000, but it was worth it. It was your reward to yourself after your first big check, and you knew you would save it for this very day.
You walk over, the howls getting louder and closer. Almost outside it seems... You hum quietly to yourself as you now move the steaks from one pan to the other so they'll soak up the flavors. Finally, they're done so you plate them, spooning the remaining mushrooms on each steak.
Before you sit down to eat, you pull out the bones you bought a few days ago and lay a few at each entrance to your home. Next, you take out some candles and place them in the middle of the table. Underneath the chair across from you is the sigil which became so ingrained in your mind all those years ago. It's been 10 years, but you still remember everything about that day so clearly. And this time, you can summon him properly. You've researched since them and prepared for this day.
You began chanting the incantation, and once done, slice a bit of steak and pop it into your mouth. The smooth texture feels so abnormal in your mouth, but it tastes better than you remember. You're already pretty intoxicated, and mixed with the overwhelming joy the food brings you, you begin to have a very bodily reaction. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. Likewise...
"You know wining and dining me won't change anything, right?"
You take a measured sip of wine before answering. Clad in his long black overcoat, black button up, and textured satin red tie is the demon you made your deal with. At his side is a huge black dog looking creature with blood red eyes, overgrown teeth, and claws that immediately splinter the hardwood floor with every step.
"Hello, Crowley."