I turned the car off and sat in the driver's seat for a minute. I wondered if I was doing the right thing, but then my face ached and I remembered the ugly purple and blue bruises that were about three days old covering my eye and my neck, making me remember why I was here.
I slowly slid out of the car and moved to the center of the four-way intersection. I tenderly held the small box in my hand. I'd found it at a thrift store a few days ago when I was trying to gather up the rest of my supplies.
The box had a picture of me from a few years ago, some graveyard dirt, and a bone from a black cat. I had a bundle of nerves in my stomach making me feel like I could puke. I didn't know if this was the right thing to do, but I didn't have another option. Another beating like I'd taken a few days ago might end up killing me and I wanted to live, even if it was only for a few years.
I got on my knees and pulled the dirt away, making a hole just big enough for the box to set it. I took a deep breath and pulled the dirt back over it to cover the box. I stood slowly, glancing in each direction until I heard a noise and turned around.
A man stood about fifteen feet away, messing with a leather cuff around his wrist. He stood there for a moment before he looked up at me and I got my first real look at him. His dark brown hair was shaved on the sides and underneath and the hair on top was dyed green and gelled to stick up in the front. He wore a black button up and slacks, chains dangled around his neck and his ears were full of earrings. His face was adorned by an eyebrow ring and snakebites in his bottom lip.
He was probably the most attractive man I'd ever seen, but I knew he wasn't a man.
He made to say something, but he paused. He took a few steps towards me and fear coursed through me like ice water. "Does your deal have anything to do with the bruises?" He asked, more gently then I expected him to, considering what he was.
It took me a moment, but I nodded. "I didn't…" I felt so weak speaking about it, like he'd suddenly turn up and try to kill me again. I knew it was stupid, but I checked over my shoulder anyway. "I didn't have dinner ready when he got home. He threw me across the room and tried to choke me out."
He nodded slowly and I wondered if this was how all the deals went.
"I um…" I cleared my throat, feeling it close up as my eyes welled up a little. I coughed, trying to get myself right. "I love him, even though I know it sounds stupid. I just… don't love him enough to die for him. And it's been getting a lot worse lately."
"You want to trade your soul for his life?" The man asked me quietly and I knew he wasn't human, but the simple consideration for not talking too loudly or meanly meant so much to me.
"I mean you can have his soul too." I said with a shrug. "I'd feel a little better giving up my soul if I knew he suffered a little bit," I told him, stealing a nervous glance at him. My stomach as in knots and bile rose at the back of my throat.
He nodded a little, ducking his head, licking his bottom lip. "You know how this works?" He asked, looking down at me with those steely gray eyes.
I nodded nervously, wringing my hands. "My life for his. The time frame is like five years or something. Seal the deal with a kiss." I nodded.
He smirked a little. "You actually get ten years according to the standard contract." He told him, watching me for another moment. "You were going to sell your soul for a measly five years?"
I shrugged and kicked at the dirt, feeling embarrassed with his eyes on me. "I would've sold it for a year. A year of freedom is worth more than the last two of being beaten like a dog."
I saw him nod. "Let's seal this deal so I can make him suffer."
"Can…" I froze up, the words on the tip of my tongue, not willing to force themselves out of my mouth.
"I'll be gentle." He told me, stepping closer to me and resting a finger under my chin.
"Thank you," I whispered, barely loud enough to hear.
He tilted my head up and his lips felt so gentle against mine, I fell a little deeper into the kiss than I had intended. Slowly, he pulled back and it took a moment for my eyes to flutter open.
"S-sorry," I mumbled, taking a deliberate step back away from him. He wasn't human. He wasn't being nice to me, he was working. He was doing his job.
He had a smirk on his face. "Don't be sorry. It was a good kiss." His eyes were playful and I couldn't help but smile. He turned and started walking away, before suddenly pausing and turning back around to face me. "I'll make it hurt."
The knots in my stomach returned and I could taste the bile in my throat. Part of me was happy; part of me didn't want to hear how it would go. "Thank you," I told him quietly and suddenly he vanished before my eyes. I nodded slowly, heading back to my car.
I'd told my sister I was going to spend the night at her place, my bag rolling around the floorboard of the passenger seat. She dished me a plate of pizza when I showed up and she hugged me, asking me not to go back to him. I knew I couldn't. I knew he'd kill me, especially after being gone for a couple of hours now.
"We need to go to the police." She told me pointlessly for the tenth time since I'd been trying to eat my pizza.
"I will, in the morning. I'm exhausted. I'm tired. I just want one night of sleep where I don't have to worry about him climbing on me in the middle of the night." I told her through cheese and crust.
"The sooner we go, the better." She told me for the tenth time as well.
"You've never listened to me my entire life. Have you ever heard me tell you before that I'm done with him? Completely, totally done with him? I will go in the morning after a cup of coffee and I will tell them exactly everything he did. Please, just give me tonight." I begged.
I knew she wanted to argue, but slowly, she nodded. "I'll drive you over in the morning."
"Thank you, Lily," I told her, squeezing her leg.
"It's getting late, go get some sleep." She told me, taking my dirty plate to the sink.
I grabbed my backpack and moved to the spare room. I closed the door, pulling off my jeans and sliding into bed. Before I could even lay my head down, the window threw itself open and an envelope floated in on the breeze. I got up and closed the window, wondering where the screens were, but as I latched the window, the screens were firmly in place.
I carefully picked up the envelope and my name was on it in a fine script and my heart thundered. Slowly, I opened it and three words were sprawled out in the same script on the front.
'With love, Mike.'
"Who in the hell is Mike?" I mumbled, looking over the note to see if there was a hidden message somewhere.
A knock echoed through the room and I stuffed the note and envelope under the comforter. "Lucy, are you awake? The cops are here."
"The what?" I asked quietly, yanking open the door.
"The cops are here to talk to you. It's about Todd." Lily told me, looking pale.
For all her talk of wanting to go to the cops, I thought she looked rather shaken about them showing up. But I pulled on pajama pants and moved to the front door, where two uniformed officers stood.
"Can I help you, officers?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and knowing good and well my bruises weren't covered up.
"We have a couple of questions to ask you about Todd Smith if you could spare a moment." Officer Daniels asked, as I read his name tag. His friend, Officer Bell, was eyeing my bruises pretty good.
"Yeah, of course," I told them, looking between them.
"Are you aware that Todd Smith was found dead in your joined apartment an hour ago?" Officer Bell asked.
My mouth actually fell open. "What? He… what? How?"
"It's hard to say right now, we're still investigating, but it appears that his heart exploded." Officer Daniels said solemnly.
"Exploded?" Lily choked out next to me.
"Miss Darrow, where were you an hour ago?" Officer Bell asked.
"I'd just gotten here," I said, turning to Lily. "Um, I stopped at the gas station at the end of the road like ten minutes before I got here. I didn't have any tampons on me."
Officer Bell wrote it down in his notepad. "Probably security cameras there."
"And before that?" Officer Daniels asked.
Obviously I couldn't tell them I was making a deal with a crossroads demon. "I was home. We got into a fight; he tried choking me again. I got out of his grip and ran for my car. I drove around for… I don't know, maybe an hour. I uh… I was worried to come over here. I knew Lily was going to be mad at me."
The officers both nodded. "And these bruises are from a previous altercation you had with Mister Smith?" Officer Bell asked.
I nodded. "I mean, you could say that. I didn't have dinner ready when he came home. He punched me in the face and while I was down, he tried to choke me to death. I blacked out for a few minutes, so when I came to, I just pretended to be unconscious and he went to the bar. I went to the Urgent Care on Sunday after it happened. There's a record of me being there."
"Are there any other records of you being there?" Officer Daniels asked.
I nodded. "I've been four times in the last year," I said, coughing to clear my throat.
"Lucy… you never told me that." Lily said next to me.
"I didn't want you to worry." I told her quietly.
"What for?" Officer Daniels asked.
"Broken ribs the first time, broke my collar bone another time." I paused, trying to remember. "I got a concussion and a busted lip one time, and then this last time was for Sunday."
"Why did you stay?" Officer Bell asked, taking an offensive stance. "If he beat you regularly, why didn't you leave?"
I crossed my arms over my chest again, holding myself tightly as my eyes welled up. "It's funny, officer. Everybody always asks why I stayed and nobody ever asks why he felt the need to throw me across the room or attempt to kill me. I think the answer to those questions are a little more important, but I guess you've never had the guy you love actively try to kill you every day, so I can see why you thought it was all my fault."
Lily moved to wrap her arm around me and I thought I heard a growling noise coming from the back end of the house, making me glance in the direction. For only a brief second, I thought I saw a tall, black shadow with red eyes and for some reason, I was reminded of the crossroads demon.
"Officer Bell, you can wait in the car." Officer Daniels said with an authority that left no room for questions, bringing my attention back to the two men. Obviously Officer Bell knew he had overstepped, because he quietly moved for the door. "I'd like to formally apologize. He's a Rookie and doesn't know anything. My wife dated a man like Mister Smith before her and I met. I have the most sympathy for someone who just wanted somebody to love them, even if it meant a beating or five."
I nodded. "It means a lot, Officer. I didn't hate him and I'm sorry he's dead. I would never have wished that fate on someone, even him." I told him, knowing it was a lie.
He nodded. "If we need anything else, can we find you here? And can I have a phone number in case I need to reach you?"
After I gave him my details, he left, wishing us a better night. Lily and I stood in silence for a moment. "I can't believe he's dead." She said.
"Me neither." It was such an odd feeling setting in my chest.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy. But wow, his heart exploded." She spoke.
"He deserved it, though, you have to admit," I told her.
She nodded. "No, totally did. I guess his wrongdoings finally caught up with him."
"I'm gonna try to go to bed and not imagine his chest blown apart," I told her, giving her one more hug before closing the bedroom door.
I was shaken, I was surprised. But most importantly, I was free; at least for ten years. I would make it the best, most fulfilling ten years anybody ever saw. I closed my eyes, leaning against the bedroom door. "Thank you. Thank you so much." I whispered quietly into the silent room and the wind blew the curtains in response and I smiled.