Chapter One: My Deal with the Devil
This was by far the worst idea I think I've ever had. In all my life, I never thought I'd cut a deal with the devil, and over the stupidest yet most annoying thing.
"Seriously? What do you take me for, an amateur?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, seemingly insulted by my request. Not that I blamed him of course.
"Well," I began as I paced back and forth in front of his cell, then stopped to look him in the eyes. "This shouldn't be too difficult for you to manage then. I think we'll both get what we want here."
"Oh, I'm sure of that," the man smirked as he ran his red tongue across his mud spotted lips. I too, smirked, for he hadn't the slightest idea as to who I was. My request was rudimentary, but I myself am an entirely different deck of cards.
"Now, the terms?" I asked, forever knowing his predictable catch. No mater what, if a deal was made, Rumpel wanted a price and it usually involved a slick trick or two. A fine print I suppose I'd call it.
Rumpelstiltskin sighed, standing from his prior cross legged position, stretching his arms and sides but was interrupted. The sounds of rattling chains filled the room, and he looked back at them with a sorrowful expression. What an actor! He could be so full of himself.
"This may be a bit too much for what you're asking me to do, but if I am to do it..." he looked back at the chains again. Then to me. "These are really beginning to piss me off..."
"Really?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning on my left hip. "Wow, you are rusty at making a deal. I know you possess magic but are limited as long as you are confined to this cell. However, the spell I require is one you could clearly execute from here and as a matter of fact, I could watch you do it. Instead, you are trying to persuade me to release you, implying that you would rather do this the old fashion way."
"Well," Rumpelstiltskin said with a monotone. "You've done your homework. I'm somewhat impressed. But come now, just using magic to solve this problem. It's a bit...dull don't you think?"
A smile crept along my face, not that he could see it anyway. "My predicament isn't that awful, and I could easily step away..." I began to back up, but then again, I thought perhaps that's what he wanted in the first place. I could never tell. So, I had a trick up my own sleeve. I left the room, waiting around the corner.
"You're no fun you know!" he yelled. Then, I found a peeping hole to watch him through. He turned around, and he seemed unaffected by what had just happened. I was about to step away and forget about the whole thing, but then I heard him say something.
"She's the first one to actually walk away..." I heard him mutter. "I'll have to watch for her again." So, I intrigued him. Good, because I found him to be the same way. There must have been something in the air that night, I haven't any idea what, but I took the key from inside my cloak pocket and opened the door again.
Rumpel turned to face me, a rather surprised look painted upon his face this time.
"I suppose if you are to do it, you'll be needing this..." I threw him the key to unbind himself. It was an easy swipe when the guard is snoring away out front. He gave a wide smile toward me, and I let down my hood to display my physical features so he'd know who to look for when the time came.
"Don't think future deals with me will be as good as this," I said as I watched him unlock the chains. After that was done, he informed me that the next step to sealing this deal was me finding another key to unlock the actual cell door. I realized he was right; this would be way more fun the old fashion way.
"Paper?" I asked, but he shook his head.
"Not till you free me completely," he said with that sly, Cheshire cat smile still printed on his face. I reached into my hair, taking a black pin and working at the lock.
"Oh, you weren't worth the trouble I'd have to go through to get that old thing," I said casually.
Voila! His cell was unlocked and he was free to roam, but I knew at least a little better than that. Rumpelstiltskin never went back on a deal. Now, he merely stood for a moment, staring at me and I at him. It became obvious he was, to put it plainly, checking me out and the moment got longer and longer for me.
His eyes came back to meet mine and then it seemed I had snapped his attention back to where I wanted it to be. His left hand brushed across his face to push back his dark brown hair so that it no longer hung over his dark eyes filled with mischievous. The boney fingers trailed down to his chin and...there we go.
With the flick of his fingers appeared a piece of paper, and it was as though he was spiting me from my previous comment about his ability to use magic. I found it worthless to read the thing, thinking that: one, it was pointless to read because he could probably just change it whenever he wanted to what best suited him at the time and two, it would be more fun to be surprised at his terms, whether pleasantly or rudely. Well, at least I knew how to get his attention now, if what I had observed earlier wasn't an act.
"Don't make me regret this, Rumpelstiltskin..." I warned, leaving my sentence hang purposely. Then, I proceeded to come closer until he and I were standing so close that my mouth could rest just below his if I'd taken another step. I extended my right hand to trace the lining on the left side of his face down to his jaw. Not that he had to know, but I was only playing with him.
"Be there," I finished with a smile, and then stepped away to sign the contract which I noticed the ink was forming different letters under the section labeled: terms. That was fair game because I hadn't fully signed yet. This was about to get interesting. I finished my signature with a ~ mark after my name, as I always did, and then I took my leave.