In the morning, Elise lingered in her room. Having gone to bed several hours earlier than she normally would have, she was awake long before her neighbors and, she assumed, hearing no sounds coming from the other room, before Loki.
Shifting onto her back, Elise pulled the covers up to her neck and tried to make a plan. Her whole routine would have to change, she knew. It was Sunday, but she couldn't attend church, run errands, or catch up with her family and friends. He probably wasn't even going to let her shop for groceries. They were both going to starve. She just knew it.
Distractions were few and far between in Elise's bedroom, but she didn't want to wake Loki up, and even if he wasn't still sleeping, she didn't want to have to talk to him. She just wanted to sit on the couch, alone, and watch the news while she browsed the internet, sipping a cup of coffee. Instead, her entire day would be devoted to avoiding conflict or, more likely, trying to diffuse it. This wasn't her job, and she didn't want to do it.
The more she stewed, the more Elise wished that Skip Parmeri would call her and ask her to come to the office to work. She had never had to work on a Sunday before, but maybe, she thought, if she was lucky, today would be the day.
Then, just as the clock struck nine and the alarm sounded, Elise again remembered her missing phone. She bit the edge of her comforter, suppressing a desperate scream.
"Elise!"
"God damn it," she muttered. Loki was awake.
His voice grew louder and more insistent. "Elise! Come here!"
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, sighed, and then stood. Still wearing her clothes from the night before, Elise dragged herself along until she was in the living room. She ran her palms over her hair to flatten the bumps and inconsistencies in it.
Loki was pacing, but when Elise entered the room, he stood still, tilting his head as he looked to her. "What were you doing?" he asked. He seemed to have assumed that she had the energy for sedition this early in the day.
"I was sleeping," Elise replied.
Loki's frown deepened, and he adopted a scathing and facetious manner of speaking. "Well, if you're quite ready, I would like to start the day now."
He was acting like a spoiled brat, Elise thought, but rather than verbalizing her displeasure with his attitude, she asked, "Do you want some coffee or something?"
"Coffee?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing.
Elise sighed. "I'll go make it. You can try it if you want." She shuffled to the kitchen, still groggy, and she didn't notice that Loki was following her until she had opened the cabinet that housed the coffee filters.
"You do realize that poisoning my drink will do you no good, don't you?" Loki's tone was serious, but he smiled. "I sense that I am not welcome here."
Elise paused for a moment before continuing with the process of readying the coffee maker. "I wouldn't do that," she said quietly.
"And why not?" Loki pressed.
Elise was now wondering that herself. "I'm not that kind of person."
"Then it has to do with morals, does it?"
"I guess so," she replied as she poured water from the coffee pot into the back of the machine.
Loki chuckled. "Morals," he repeated. "What good have they done you?"
"Lately," Elise said, her voice edged with irritation, "not a whole hell of a lot." She turned the coffee maker on, and almost immediately, it began to leak and flood the counter top. "Damn it! Damn it, not today!" This relatively small frustration, on top of everything else, brought her to tears.
Loki's eyes didn't leave her as she unraveled several sheets of paper towel from the roll and mopped up the spilled water. "Did I upset you?" he asked, smirking.
Elise took in a deep breath, threw the wet paper towels in the trash, and said, "I'm just gonna go watch TV."
Loki did not protest as she returned to the living room, but he continued shadowing her. He stood behind the sofa as she sat down, picked up the remote control, and turned on the morning news. The same story that had been running for a month – the one about Parmeri's big pro bono case - was still running, but now with a bizarre twist.
"It's you," Loki observed as Elise's portrait from her last year of law school appeared on the screen.
The anchorwoman babbled on. "We've learned from an inside source that Elise Milton, a second-year lawyer, is heading up Loki Laufeyson's defense team. She could not be reached for comment as of this morning."
"Is that what you're doing?" Loki taunted. "How very kind of you."
Elise gritted her teeth as she flipped to the next news channel. It was worse. Again, her portrait appeared, but this anchor didn't mince words.
"And look, they've got a rookie on the case!" he exclaimed from his desk. "Who is this... this young lady? She can't be any older than twenty-five, twenty-six at most. They complained and ranted about a 'fair trial' and a 'good defense,' and now they're leaving it up to a kid? This is an absolute-"
Again, she changed the channel, and she finally found something worth watching.
"Yesterday, the Security Council condemned North Korea's most recent rocket launch, calling the event 'a threat to regional and global peace and security.' A spokesman cited fears that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un intends to develop and eventually launch nuclear weapons." As the voice-over continued, stock film of North Korean military exercises and demonstrations rolled.
"Who are they?" Loki asked. "Are they of this realm?"
"They're North Koreans," Elise answered.
"Yes, I am aware, but who are they?" He seemed intensely interested, almost desperate for information.
"North Korea is basically closed off from the rest of the world. I don't know that much about it."
"Closed off?" He meandered around the side of the couch and toward the television. "How so?"
"They're a dictatorship," Elise explained. "There's a whole personality cult built around their leader."
"And why does this council condemn them?" Loki badgered. "Should they not be able to defend themselves?"
"Because they hate the whole Western world."
"Is that so?" He touched his index finger to his lips, pensive. "What more do you know about them?"
"Nothing," Elise replied honestly.
Apparently dissatisfied with her response, Loki took one last look at the television. When the subject of the newscast changed, he began pacing once more, this time more purposefully. Elise watched him; he looked excited, energized, full of potential for action. It was troubling.
"Tomorrow," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Tomorrow," Loki repeated. "I must not be as hasty as I was on my last attempt." He seemed to be talking to himself.
A sour, dissonant feeling came over Elise. She didn't want to know - and she certainly didn't want to be involved with – whatever plan he was undoubtedly hatching. She couldn't stop him from scheming, so she just sat, her forehead tense with worry, staring as he wandered back and forth across the floor.
Finally, Loki stopped. "Prepare something to eat," he commanded.
"I need... I mean, there's..." Elise tripped over her words. "There's nothing to eat."
"Nothing to eat?" His eyes scanned her body as though he were considering making a meal of her. "Do you never eat, girl?"
Elise chafed at having been called 'girl,' but, in newly-formed habit, she swallowed her contempt. "No, I eat all the time," she assured him. "I usually get my groceries on Sundays after church, but-"
"But I won't allow you to leave." Loki stroked his chin as he assessed her from toe to head.
"Yeah." Elise watched the floor for lack of wanting to look him in the eye. "But if you let me go, I swear, I'll come right back. I won't tell anyone you're here. I won't even talk to anyone except the cashier. I swear to God."
A slight laugh escaped Loki's throat. "You swear to God, do you?" he mocked. He fixed his gaze on Elise's face, calling her eyes up to his.
"It's just down the block." She felt like a teenager bargaining with an overprotective parent. "I'll be back in less than an hour."
"Yes, you will," he said. "Go there. Return promptly."
"Thank you," Elise replied, trying hard to sound grateful. "Tha-"
"But," Loki interrupted. "I will be with you."
Elise's heart sank. "But if someone sees-"
"No, you misunderstand me." He seemed to be threatening her. "Take heed. I will be watching and listening. Not even you will sense my presence, but I will be there." He grew more and more frightening as he went on. "I will know your every movement, and not even the slightest misstep will go unpunished."
Elise stared, eyes wide, until he softened, clearly satisfied with the fear he saw in her expression.
"Go."
As quickly as she could, Elise located her checkbook – the only currency to which she had access with her wallet still in Asgard – and put on her coat and shoes. She walked briskly down the stairs, out of the building, and across the street, her ungloved hands sheathed in her pockets. Looking back only briefly at the window of her apartment, she observed that the curtains had not been parted. There was no sign that Loki was watching, at least not from that vantage point. She was scared, and her face curled up as she fought urges to run and to cry. She kept her eyes low until she reached the relative safety of the grocery store.
The store was crowded; this was comforting. Even if Loki's threat was real, Elise thought, he might lose track of her here. Basket in hand, she navigated the aisles, feverishly adding cereal, prepackaged deli products, and frozen dinners until the weight of it all nearly tore her arm from her shoulder. Then she took the most efficient route to the temperature-controlled shelves that housed the beer.
Elise nearly had to drag the twenty-four pack and basket to the register, and she set the beer on the floor beside her feet while she stood in line. Her basket was overflowing; she was well out of "ten items or less" range. The wait was torturous. She tried to calculate how long she had been gone, searching the walls for a clock and failing to find one. Bouncing on her knees and using her free hand to fidget, she obsessed over the possibility that she was being monitored. She craned her neck to see what was unfolding at the front of the line. Someone was counting coins for exact change. Didn't he know that some people had deadlines to meet? Elise kept her mouth shut to muffle a groan, but she still caught the attention of the man in front of her, who turned slightly to glare at her over his shoulder.
By the time she reached the cashier, Elise was a nervous wreck. She summoned the strength to hoist the case of beer onto the counter, but her fingers trembled as she unloaded the groceries, one by one, from the basket. "Do you have the time?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"Five of eleven," the girl behind the counter responded as she scanned a box of Cheerios.
Elise shuddered. She had five minutes to check out and get herself home, and she wasn't going to make it.
"You okay?" the cashier asked. "You look kind of shaky."
This was her chance, Elise thought. If she was going to do anything, the time was now. She surveyed her surroundings for any sign of Loki – there was none – and then spoke up. "I'm not," she whispered, leaning in close to confide in the grocery store employee. "Look, can you-"
"Ah!"
Before Elise could explain what she needed, something black fluttered across her field of vision and the cashier's, prompting them both to duck.
"It's a bat!" the employee shrieked, covering her head as the creature flapped around her in a stupor. "Bat!"
The attention of the entire store was on the wicked little animal and the screaming cashier until someone braver emerged with a broom to chase the flying menace outside through the automatic doors.
Her hair a mess and her face red, the cashier stood up and exhaled. "Hoo, boy," she breathed. "Sorry. That was crazy. I guess we're both having a bad day, huh?"
Elise just nodded, wrote a check, and left the store without saying another word.
She didn't stop on her way home except to adjust the positioning of the heavy plastic bags on her arms. It was only a block, but the weight of everything she carried made the walk feel longer. When she finally reached her building, rather than traverse the stairs, Elise opted for the elevator, which she rode alone.
When she opened the door, Loki appeared neither surprised nor happy to see her. From the couch, he turned his head only slightly to look at her before turning back to face the television. "Was your trip... uneventful?" he asked, his voice low and barely audible.
"Yeah," Elise replied nervously. "Pretty uneventful."
"And you spoke to no one?" His even tone skewed, revealing what could only be anger.
"Just the cashier," she responded uneasily, placing the groceries down on the floor and unbuttoning her coat. "When I was checking out."
Slowly, Loki got to his feet. He didn't walk, but prowled toward Elise. "What did I say to you before you left?"
"You said..." Fearful and shaken, Elise couldn't remember exactly what was said. "You said..."
"I said that I would be watching you," he spat. "We had an understanding, did we not?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Elise lied. "I didn't do anything."
"You lying wench!" Loki roared, bringing his hands up as though he meant to put them around her throat, then lowering them again, perhaps changing his mind.
Elise backed away as Loki closed in on her. Momentarily, she wondered why she instinctively put herself in a corner whenever she was threatened. It was a terrible position, but she gravitated to it. "I'm not lying," she squeaked, "I swear."
"You tried to alert the shopkeeper to my presence," he hissed, "I heard you. I heard you whispering."
"I'm sorry," Elise whimpered. "I'm really, really sorry, it won't happen again!"
"Perhaps I did not make myself clear."
To Elise's amazement and terror, a change occurred, first in Loki's eyes, which seemed to glaze over with bright red blood, and then in his skin, which transformed into a craggy, frozen landscape. With little distance between them, Elise first felt the heat leaving his body, and then bitter cold. She watched as he raised his hand, and she cried out when he grasped her bare wrist. The pain was excruciating, burning, what she imagined an acid bath might feel like.
"You will not disobey me again," Loki stated deliberately, his words horribly distorted. "Is that clear now?"
"Yes!" Elise howled as the pain permeated her flesh and touched bone. She felt sick, dizzy, and unsteady on her feet.
"Good." Loki did not withdraw his hand, but his skin steadily warmed until he looked and felt like himself again. He was perspiring noticeably. The sweat on his palm was somewhat soothing to Elise's corroded skin.
"Why?" Elise cried between sharp, shallow breaths. "Why would you do that?"
"So that you know that I can," Loki said. Rather than letting her go, he pulled Elise by her arm toward her bedroom. "Go in there," he ordered, pushing her lightly. "Stay in there until you have carefully considered what you will say to me when you come out." With that, he slammed the door shut, and the apartment was quiet once again.
Elise knelt by her bed, sobbing into her mattress, until she was ready to see what damage had been done to her wrist. The skin was mostly red and blistered, but bluish and hardening in the places where his fingers had left the deepest impressions. She didn't dare touch the wound. She wanted to go to the hospital. She cried louder.
For a long time – she didn't know just how long – Elise stayed in her room. She stood for a while, staring out at the brick wall across the alley. The fire escape extended down from the living room window, and jumping would surely kill her; she wasn't that desperate yet. She lay down in her bed, under the covers, but she couldn't make herself comfortable no matter how she tried, so she sat up until she was calm.
Eventually, Loki returned. He pushed the door open ever-so-gently, and pity was written in wrinkles on his forehead. "Does it hurt still?" he asked softly.
Elise nodded. "It burns like hell."
Loki's eyes wandered the small room before returning to her wrist. "May I suggest something?"
"What?"
"Would it not be easier," he said, "rather than lamenting over this relatively mild pain, to simply resolve not to bring any more of it upon yourself?"
"I already said I wouldn't do it again," Elise replied.
"Yes," Loki said, moving to seat himself beside her on the mattress, "but still, you resent me. I know that you do."
"How can I not?" Elise snapped. She was letting herself get worked up again. She took a deep breath to regain her composure.
Loki stood once more and positioned himself in front of her. "I believe that you will find everything to be simpler once you submit to a power higher than yourself."
"You mean you?"
"Yes," he said, gazing down at her. "Submit to me. Stop resisting what cannot be resisted." He flashed a pearly smile. "When you do, I can promise you a peaceful existence. Is that not what you want?"
Elise glanced at her blistered forearm. "I guess so," she answered.
"Really, this is nothing more than an exchange," Loki urged. "I will give you calm. I will end the pain of your ongoing struggle for control. And in return, all I ask is that you give up your own will."
Elise didn't know how to respond. "Can I think about this for a minute?"
"You may," Loki said as he turned to leave the room, "though the choice is rather obvious. Trust in me, do exactly as I command. Only then will you come to understand your powerlessness as a gift." He paused before closing the door behind him. "Come to me when you are ready."
Elise found herself alone again, still in pain, but far more confused than she had been before. But wasn't that the problem to which Loki was offering a solution? Mustering her courage, Elise touched a finger to the blackest part of the burn. She shivered at the lack of sensation. Anything she could do to avoid losing an arm, she decided, she would do.
Elise proceeded the living room, where Loki stood, ready to greet her.
"Okay," Elise said.
Loki's face brightened. "It is easy, is it not?"
Elise shrugged.
"Are you prepared to accept me as your God?" he asked, holding his head high. "Will you resign yourself to a life as my mortal servant?"
With a shallow sigh, Elise nodded. It sounded wholly unappealing when he phrased it that way, not to mention blasphemous.
"Good," Loki said. "Then kneel."
Elise obeyed despite her humiliation. When she looked up, she saw Loki grinning broadly, his eyes sparkling with malintent.
"Now," he said, "let us see what can be done about your arm."