The sharp sound of snoring slowly chipped at my already fragile wellbeing. Worry welled in my belly, making me want to retch up what little I had to eat that day. The world around me spun as if we were living on a top.
It hadn't been the first time that trip that my festering dread made me feel physically ill, but it definitely felt like it would be the last.
"Willow". Amity's call carried my attention away from my poor condition. From the sound of her slightly wavering voice, she was not doing so well either. "How long should we wait before we go after them?".
The question only added to all the stress I was feeling at that moment. Just the possibility alone that Luz, Gus, Camila, and Boscha wouldn't soon come back from their trip to the second floor made my heart feel like it was going to tear itself out of my chest.
The lavender haired witchling noticed my apparent distress, and she shared it.
"I know it's a scary thing to think about, but we must prepare for the worst. How long should we give them? An hour, or so?".
"No," I sighed. "That might be too long. We should probably wait another twenty minutes. That'll give them some time to look around upstairs a bit".
Amity looked unsure about my answer. She said nothing but her golden eyes unveiled her uneasiness. I could tell she was barely able to keep herself from running out the hotel door after her injured girlfriend.
Maybe we should have gone with our friends. Yes, there may not have been any part of Amity that wasn't covered in scratches, and I had to move at a snail's pace lest I anger the fresh deep wounds on my back and chest, but who knew what the killer had planned for them as soon as he noticed them heading for the stairwell.
And why in the Titan's name did I let Gus leave at all? Luz, Camila, and Boscha could've handled looking around the laundry room all on their own. But, no, they had to bring the witch that, according to Luz's mom, was the most severely injured after Emira.
I huffed my sudden anger out with a sigh. I pressed my fingertips to the middle of my forehead as I tried to calm myself. Gus was in no more danger than the other three people who went with him were. If he was, then I was positive that Camila would have stopped him from going.
Yet that Titandamn prophecy wouldn't leave me alone. "To Willow, one life is more valuable than the other". Ever since Amity said it in her sleep, I had worried about Gus non-stop. After all, Amity had said I would break my promise to not put anyone else's life over or under mine just before that, and she failed to say anything else about Gus's future.
But I cared about Gus dammit, and I wasn't about to stop because of this titandamned hotel!
A panicked, "huh?" broke me out of my angry thoughts. The sounds of the covers being thrown off the bed besides me brought my attention towards the two other Blight children, who were now both awake. Emira was as sat up as she possibly could be. Her eyes were the size of pin pricks, confusion shining in them as they frantically searched the room for anything that made sense to her.
"Where am I?" the delirious witch wailed. "What's going on?".
"It's ok, Em" Edric consoled, trying his best to make his sister meet his gaze. "We're staying at a hotel with Mittens, remember?".
"Mittens? Shit! Where is she? She's in danger!". Amity arose from the desk chair and carefully walked into the twin's line of vision.
"I'm here, Em. I'm right here" she softly said.
The sight of her younger sister did not calm the sickly witch down, but it had turned her maddening fear into excitement.
"Amity!" Emira cried as she reached out to her sibling. The aforementioned witch took a step forwards, allowing herself to be scooped up. "Are you ok?".
"Yes, Em" Amity hissed as Emira's arms pressed against her wounds. "I'm ok".
"Where is everyone?" Edric yawned.
"Luz, Gus, Camila, and Boscha all went to the second floor. Luz and Gus found something strange in the laundry room earlier and Boscha wanted to take a look at it" I explained.
My words sent panic coursing through Emira's veins. Her alarm had reached its boiling point, turning each word she spoke into a very slurred yelp.
"That's not Gus? Who is that then?!".
Her maddened stare was laser focused on the wall in front of her. Despite everyone in the room trying to pull her attention away from whatever she saw, she refused to look anywhere else.
Edric put his hand on his sister's arm in attempts to ground her, but his touch only made Emira panic more. Lost in her extreme shock, she swung at her brother's face, raking her nails against his cheek. She then dug her nails into where she'd been touched as if there was a swarm of bugs crawling under her skin she was trying to claw out.
"Gus! Stop walking with the shadows!" she begged her vision. "They are not our friends!".
As soon as the Blight mentioned Gus, whatever was holding me back from rushing up to the second floor faded into nothing. Amity and I locked eyes, silently agreeing with each other that we needed to check on Gus and the others as soon as we could.
"What do you see, Emira?" Amity asked, trying her hardest to sound gentle through her horror.
"Gus is walking towards me, but it's not Gus! You said it wasn't Gus! Who is it?!" the older witchling shuttered.
"It's a vision, Em. Someone's trying to tell you something" Amity sounded as if she were talking to a younger child, yet amazingly didn't sound condescending. "Let's see if we can figure out what it means. What is Gus doing again?".
"It is Gus? I thought you said–".
"Fake Gus, Emira. What is fake Gus doing?".
"He's trying to walk towards me, but he's not moving. And walking next to him are more shadow witches. He needs to get away from them! They say they're going to bring him to "the mender of death!".
Gus was being taken to the killer! Though mender and death were a very odd combination of words, I knew that's who Emira meant just by the way she was freaking out!
"We need to get to Gus straight away" I commanded while racing towards the door.
"Right behind you, Willow,"Amity affirmed, rushing to the door just as fast.
The witchling's response brought tears to Emira's eye. Her intense confusion morphed into powerful heartache; her panicking being replaced with raw devastation.
"Wait!" she choked. "Don't go!".
"It's okay, Em. I'm just–".
"You can't go! I'm…I…".
Emira's ears flicked as she went quiet. Her face scrunched in deep concentration. There was a silence filled pause before the witch started to stammer in protest.
"No! I…I'm not ready! Amity, don't leave… Please! I don't want you to go!".
Both Edric and Amity went to console their sibling, but Emira's ears started twitching again. She tried her best to argue with whatever was whispering into her ear, yet, in the end, her hope quickly bled out of her, and she sunk in defeat. The older twin composed herself as much as she could, though she couldn't stop herself from sniveling.
"You have to go, don't you?".
"I do" Amity remorsefully lulled. "But I'll be back real soon".
"I know," Emira whimpered, her voice now only a saddened whisper. "But you won't be the same".
Emira turned towards her brother, burying her face into his shoulder. She began to choke on the sob she kept trying to swallow, gritting her fangs in a last attempt to keep her despair-filled cry from breaking free.
"Go" she squeaked, before she finally stopped struggling and let herself weep.
Amity reached out to her sister for a moment, ready to walk over to her and offer her some consolation, but she quickly brought her hand back down and looked away. She then shoved through her shamed sympathy as she drug herself out into the hallway.
Emira's last words to Amity sent dread blistering through me like it was a spreading disease. "You won't be the same". Could that mean that the big tragedy that would change Amity's life forever was going to happen before we came back?
That just solidified my deepest fear. It wasn't just me being paranoid anymore. Gus was in life threatening danger… danger he probably wasn't going to survive.
No. I needed to stop being so ridiculous. He would be fine. The prophecy said that he would get hurt if I didn't value him enough. All I had to do was care and be careful.
Honestly, I preferred the eerie silence of the basement to the creaky second floor. With each step we took, the wooden boards underneath the dingy faded carpet let out a tired moan, one that echoed through the empty corridor. I may not have been in as much danger, I was armed this time, but each squeak made me feel like disaster was creeping closer each second.
In an attempt to ground myself, I looked towards Amity. She was just as scared as I was, but she didn't show it. As she marched forwards, she kept a defensive look of apathy.
I could still see strong emotions brewing in her eyes, though. Fear, anxiety, despondency, they were all trying to claw past Amity's confident facade. But the strongest of all of her feelings was the feeling of guilt. With the way it made her golden eyes grow dull and tired, I noticed it straight away.
She was thinking about the prophecy. As soon as Emira had said Gus's name, I knew her mind had gone there. It, along with all the other premonitions we'd heard the night before, were about her future, all of it leading up to some glorious transformation into the "amalgamation of beauty". The idea that Gus, let alone anyone, had to die for that to happen must have been poisonous to her.
Did she want to die instead? Well, "want" seemed like the wrong word. It's more like she felt it'd be better for her to die. Yet she was destined to have a future, one that was filled with even more regrets than she already had to bear.
We had arrived at the second-floor laundry room within minutes. Unlike the hallways outside of it, there were absolutely no shadows in the room whatsoever. The room was not that well-lit nor completely dark, but all the darkness that would hide in the corners had seemed to have fled.
"Do you think this is what Emira meant?" Amity questioned; her eyes wide as they skimmed her surroundings. "That everyone was taken by literal shadows?".
"But where were they taken to?" I murmured while deep in thought.
I was at a loss. I wasn't exactly certain, but I couldn't shake the feeling that they were being taken to where the killer was hiding. But where that was was still anyone's guess. The only clue we had was that wire Luz and Gus had talked about.
"We should check the surrounding rooms first. If this cord is for what we think it's for, the killer shouldn't be hiding far from it" I concluded.
"What if the killer left his hiding spot?".
"Then we'll just have to find where he ran off to" I growled in frustration.
Amity nodded at me before determinedly responding, "let's get to it". She strode out of the shadowless room, her daring strong enough to take on the killer on its own, only to freeze in front of the elevator door. It was suddenly open, revealing a long vertical passageway covered in wires and darkness.
There was such a thing as elevators in the demon realm, but they were nothing like this one. I didn't see it in the elevator shaft, but the platform you stood on looked like it would be able to fit our entire year in it. I carefully poked my head inside in search of anything you would stand on. There seemed to be nothing there, but it was hard to tell. The wires lead up and down into nothing but pitch-blackness.
"What is it, Amity? Did you notice something in the elevator?" I inquired.
"Listen" she whispered back.
The witchling leaned her ear closer to the elevator shaft causing me to do the same.
"Amity," a familiar voice hollered. "It's me! I'm down here!".
"Luz!" I cheered. "Thank titan you're alive! Are you hurt?!".
"Amity" Luz called out as if I weren't even there. "Come down here! I need help!".
That struck me as odd. As much as Luz was obsessed with the youngest Blight, her refusal to acknowledge me seemed unlike her. And she hadn't mentioned Gus, Camila, or Boscha either. Even if they weren't with her, you'd think she'd say something about them. Something was up, I could sense it.
Amity looked to be just as wary. She glanced at me confusedly before hurriedly bringing her attention back to Luz.
"Is anyone else down there with you?" Amity shouted.
"Come down here, Amity! Please, be quick!".
Amity stood there for another moment, trying to decide whether or not to trust the voice. After the human, or maybe the human's imposter, cried out again, Amity laid her scythe against the wall and swiftly leapt into the air. She clutched onto one of the wires, it swaying as she steadied herself.
"Cover me" Amity commanded.
"You're going down there? But we don't even know if that's the real Luz". My holler was pointless. My friend was already climbing down the elevator shaft as I spoke.
"I'm not risking it" she shouted up at me while slipping into the dimness below her.
I paced back and forth in front of the open elevator doors. Each second I waited, the faster I would go. If it wasn't the real Luz down there, then we would be wasting time we didn't have to begin with.
Every time I heard even the smallest noise, I'd peek back into the elevator in hopes that I'd see Amity climbing back up with Luz in tow. But each glance left me even more worried than I already was which, of course, led to more pacing.
In contrast to the small squeaks unearthed by my footsteps, a loud thud rang through the empty hallways. I flew to the elevator doors and once again looked down into the depths of the elevator shaft. Just like the other thousand attempts to spot something, I saw no sign of Amity resurfacing.
Another thud, louder than the last, brought my focus to the ceiling. The sound didn't exactly come from right above me, yet it was definitely close. It sounded like something kept stomping its feet, probably the dust bunny Luz said they ran into.
A few more thuds, that happened simultaneously this time, made me instantly throw that theory away. There was more than one set of feet running around up there, and those feet definitely didn't sound like they belonged to a giant rabbit. No, those were witches' feet!
That had to be where Gus and the others were and, from the sounds of it, they were fighting something! My combined alarm and excitement tried to drag me towards the stairwell, yet the part of me that was patiently waiting for Amity succeeded in pushing me back to the elevator door.
"Amity!" I yelled as loud as I could. "There are witches upstairs! I think it's them!".
There was no reply.
"Amity!" I yelled again. "Come back up! We need to go now!".
Once again, there was no reply. Terror fueled frustration surged through my veins. It was getting harder to just stand there as the thudding noises raged on.
"Wait here!" I finally commanded as my patience shattered. "I'm going upstairs!".
It wasn't the smartest idea, I must admit, but I had no time to wait for Amity! I had to get to Gus. His entire future was in my hands! Hell, whether or not Gus had a future at all was all up to me!
Amity seemed relatively safe in the elevator shaft and, if something happened, then the witch definitely knew how to defend herself. But Gus literally had fate going against him. He needed my help more.
I spotted the commotion as soon as I entered the third-floor hallway. Farther up ahead three dark shadowy creatures had their arms tightly wrapped around Luz, Camila, and Boscha. In front of them, Gus stood up tall, his darker skin covered with painful looking black and blue splotches. The bandages on his bad eye were surprisingly holding on. They were shredded up, but they still covered the witchling's awful wound.
Standing a few feet away from him was a much older, much taller, witch. His skin was wrinkled like the bark of an ancient tree, while his greasy hair was a deep dark blue like a starless night sky. His eyes were a sharp icy blue that were piercing deeply into my soul for the second time that day. They were just as scary when completely lit as they were partially hidden in the shadows of the basement.
"This doesn't concern you, child" the elder growled. He was careful not to open his mouth too much so he wouldn't agitate the hammer sized sore on his chin. "This is between me and the humans".
"Not a human" Boscha deadpanned. Her flat expression dropped when she and the killer locked eyes.
"I know you're not," the hotel owner spat. "But we've yet to discuss what happened in the basement".
"Com'on then" Gus badgered. "If you want the humans, you gotta get through me first".
He raised his small shovel, I think Luz had called it a trowel while we were handing weapons out, in a threatening pose. He looked completely exhausted, yet his determination kept him going strong. Though that determination quickly turned into astonishment once he noticed me walking towards him.
"And if you want to get through Gus, you've gotta get through me". I stopped right beside my younger friend and held my hand saw at the ready.
"You're in trouble now," Luz laughed, almost manically.
"Let the humans go," I ordered. "Or else".
"This is none of your concern either" the old man barked before bringing his focus back to his favorite Hexide student. "Luz. I must insist you stay. Both your knowledge of the human realm and your charisma would bring this hotel to life. Please be cooperative".
"For the last time. I'd rather die than have you kill me!". Luz paused for a moment to think about what she had just said. "Never mind that. What I'm trying to say is, my experience in this hotel hasn't been too great, what with almost freezing to death, getting attacked by rats, and even right now where I'm being held here against my will by you.
So why would I want to stay here for the rest of eternity?".
"I wouldn't have to bind you down if you weren't so belligerent," the killer argued.
"Trust goes both ways, bud. You want me to trust you, you gotta trust me first. So, these guys…". Luz jolted her head back to point at the shadow man holding her. "Are gonna have to take five".
"Take…take five?".
"Let me go. Make them let me go".
The hotel owner took a moment to ponder a bit. Though he said nothing, we all knew what he was thinking. He didn't want to lose control of the situation, yet he didn't want to lose Luz either. Besides, during all those phone calls, Luz was the nice one. She never threatened to murder him like Boscha and Camila did. Maybe that was why he favored the human, although I'm sure her being human also had something to do with it.
The killer raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The shadows that held Luz in place dissolved into the floor, causing Luz to drop to the ground on her hands and knees. She stayed there for a second in shock, baffled that she was able to talk the murderous witch into letting her go. Then she rose to her feet and joined Gus and I.
"Okay. Now let's start this conversation over". Luz stuck out her hand in offered greeting. "Hello Mr. Killer".
Without hesitation, the killer grabbed Luz's hand and firmly shook it. In the meanwhile, he formally introduced himself.
"You can call me Mr. Rucker if you–".
The killer was suddenly flung towards the ground. When he hit the floor, Luz leapt on top of him and sat on his back. Gus and I followed her lead. I crouched down, in spite of my pain, and pinned him by his left shoulder, while Gus did the same to his right one.
"You have made a grave mistake, evil doer" Luz thundered dramatically. "Release my friends and I, Luz, master criminal, traveler of different realms, and self-made human witch, will spare you of my might".
"What happened to trust goes both ways?" the hotel owner wheezed.
"After everything you've done, you expect me to trust you? Now release my friends or pay the price".
This time the killer didn't hesitate. He shuffled his shoulder, prompting me to loosen my hold on it a bit, lifted his hand once again, and snapped. All of the shadowy creatures melted into nothingness, allowing Boscha and Camila to return to their feet.
"Thank you" Luz said politely. The younger Noceda then bared her human fangs in a sneer. "Now about that magic barrier".
"You aren't asking me to take it down, are you?".
"No. I'm not asking".
"Luz…" Mr. Rucker urged before anger washed away his pleading tone. "Fine".
Luz's bright brown eyes grew wide, as did mine. Did he just say he was going to let us go? An excited hope slowly rose in me. We could all go home. We could all have our wounds healed and see our families!
The rational side of me pushed my growing elation back down. It couldn't have been this easy. After all the struggle, he was just going to let us leave without a fight? There had to be more to this.
"I will open the barrier and let the rest of Hexide go…" the killer sighed. "...If you agree to stay with me, Luz".
"Not happening!" Gus snapped before the human could answer. "There's no way in hell Luz would agree to that. RIght, Luz?".
The human said nothing. She was too lost in her warring thoughts. Confliction radiated from her fearful gaze which stared down blankly at the carpet.
"Luz. Mi bebé. Why aren't you saying no?" Camila uttered. She looked as if her daughter was in the middle of betraying her.
"So many witches have already died, and there are so many witches on the verge of death" she murmured. "But I could stop the killing".
"You idiot! You can't just give yourself up to that bastard!".
Boscha's growl truly shocked me. Out of all the people here, I expected her to be the only one for Luz making a deal with the killer. Luz was only one life after all, a life she didn't care for in the slightest. I thought she would be more than happy to trade her away for everyone else's freedom.
"Boscha's right Luz" I jumped in. "There has to be a better way!".
"Everyone quiet!" Mr. Rucker howled. "This is Luz's decision, and Luz's decision alone! Let the poor girl think!".
"There's nothing to think about, human!" Boscha howled right afterwards. "We have the advantage! Just say no!".
Luz opened her mouth to answer, but nothing but incomprehensible stuttering came out. She jumped off of the killer and began to stumble backwards. There was so much pressure on the poor Noceda that threatened to bring her to her knees. She struggled not to hit the floor.
Bang!
Everyone in the room jumped up in fright. Boscha held her hammer up defensively while Camila raced over to her daughter's side. Gus and I lost our hold of the killer in our sudden panic. The old witch was able to shove us off of him, but, instead of fleeing, the man uneasily turned towards the nook in the hallway with the laundry room in it.
"What was that?!" Luz asked in alarm.
"It sounded like it came from downstairs!" Camila gasped. The older woman glared at the killer demandingly, her fear for the children below her brought her a ferocious strength. "What's going on?!".
"I may be wrong," Mr. Rucker began. "But it sounds like the elevator's come down".
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, or speak, or even think. All I could do was feel my shock tear at my chest. A denial filled terror made my heart race. I began to shake as I grew anxiously distraught.
"We need to get downstairs!" was all I was able to cry out while I sprinted towards the stairwell.
Before they asked any questions, everyone followed me down to the second floor as quickly as they could. Even the killer joined our race to get to where I last saw Amity, though I was the only one who knew why we were running down there in such a hurry.
I swung into the nook that held the elevator doors, sliding to a halt right in front of them. On the ground, hanging from the bottom of the entrance to the elevator shaft, was the youngest Blight child. Despite having to hold on for dear life, Amity's arms were heavy just like her head that was lying face down on the ground.
I didn't know whether to feel relief to see her, scared that she looked so weak, or confused about where she was resting. The bottom half of her body was still in the elevator shaft. Shouldn't it have been crushed?
"Amity!" Luz shouted once she slid beside me. She immediately leapt to her girlfriend's aid, grabbing her by her arms so she could yank her back into the hallway. The human pulled only to frightenedly stop. She pulled again, this time a lot more delicately, but the witch still didn't move.
"Amity? Agridulce?" Luz called as she grabbed her love by the chin.
She carefully moved Amity's head to where she saw her face. She looked into the Blights eyes only to find they were dull and lifeless. Luz stared silently at them for a moment, her mouth gaping wide, then let out a mournful scream.
"Amity?!". The panicking human began to shake the witch. "Amity! Amity, wake up! Please, wake up!".
I slowly approached the elevator shaft and looked down into it. The part of Amity that wasn't in the hallway was smashed against the wall. A majority of her body clumped into a mass of flesh and bone that smeared all the way down into the darkness.
My fright-filled eyes moved from the gory sight back to Amity's head. My mind strained, as if it were refusing to connect the dots. I didn't want to believe that the bloody stains were a part of the limp witch at my feet. I didn't want to believe that that witch was dead.
But I couldn't deny it, nobody could. The witch at my feet was dead. Amity Blight was dead.
My guilty mind started screaming into my ear. Each time it shouted my heart started beating faster.
"To Willow, one life is more valuable than the other"
"To Willow, one life is more valuable than the other"
"One life is more valuable than the other".
"One life"
"One life".
"Edric was right!" a voice behind me cried. A few feet behind me, Gus was staring down at his deceased friend with wide tearful eyes. "I don't want this! I never wanted this!".
His words cut me to the bone. I didn't want this either! Even though that titanforsaken prophecy said I didn't care about her, I did! I had always cared about Amity!
A long time ago, Amity had been my only friend. When I was a little kid, I was very shy. I didn't like to talk to people because a lot of kids would just use that as an excuse to tease me. But Amity was different. She was more patient than all the other kids, though only when it came to me. She didn't laugh at me, or ever tried to make me do something I wasn't comfortable with, or never yelled at me whenever I couldn't do something she could. She was a good friend for those first few years.
That never changed, even when Amity did. She mocked me, treated me like I was worth less than the dirt on the ground for almost a decade, but I couldn't forget how happy she made me those many years ago.
Then, it turned out that Amity still cared about me. She had all along. She started to work on making up for what she did. She fought fang and nail to get our friendship back.
It was never going to go back to how it was. Those seven years of torment could never be erased no matter how much Amity changed. But, as she started working on herself, she turned into a witch that I felt I could let back in. I was willing to ache a little so I could be her friend once again, and I knew that that ache would grow duller over time.
And then she was dead. I heard some stupid omen that made me worry about Gus's life so much that I completely forgot about Amity. I left her to die in an elevator because, at that moment, I was too busy worrying about Gus.
I had made my decision without even realizing it. I had chosen Gus.
"Hey". Luz's shaky holler surprisingly brought me out from deep within my thoughts. She delicately let Amity out of her arms and rose to her feet. "You said you'd bring her back to life, right?".
Everyone's eyes turned towards the killer. He actually looked sad, though more for the people grieving then he was the loss of life. The older man nodded before answering Luz's question verbally.
"I will, Luz. I will give her a body similar to yours, round ears and no magic bile sack".
Luz took a second to take in what she'd just been told. Her thoughts, once again, seemed to be at war with one another.
"Does your offer still stand? If I stay here with you, no one else has to die?".
"Luz! No!" Camila, who was now kneeling besides Amity's body, wailed. The younger Noceda sadly turned to her mother.
"Lo siento mamá, pero no puedo dejarla (I'm sorry momma, but I can't leave her)".
"Y no puedo dejarte,no otra vez (And I can't leave you. Not again)".
"¡No puedes quedarte aquí! ¡Este lugar es horrible! (You cannot stay here! This place is horrid!)".
"Entonces, ¿cómo puedes quedarte aquí, mija? (Then how can you stay here, mija).
"My offer does still stand," Mr. Rucker butted in. "If you stay with me, I will open the barrier".
"And no one else from Hexide will die?" Luz continued to all of her loved one's dismay.
"Everyone else from Hexide will be free to go home" the hotel owner reassured. "Except for the two other Blight children. They will have to stay until they've worked off the damages they've caused".
The mention of the twins just solidified Luz's decision even more. Just like how she didn't have the heart to turn down an opportunity to save her classmates, she didn't have the heart to make Edric and Emira deal with the killer on their own after our week was up. She was staying. No one or thing could stop her.
"Okay" Luz sniffled bravely. "I will stay in this hotel as long as no one else from Hexide dies in it and you bring Amity back".
"No!" Gus hollered desperately. "Luz, you can't!".
"You're making a huge mistake!" Boscha yowled.
Both Luz and the hotel owner paid no mind to them. They were too focused on what each other had to say.
"Really?" the killer asked in disbelief. "This isn't a trick?".
"It's not. I'll even make an everlasting oath once the magic is turned back on". Luz offered her hand to the killer again. When he hesitated, she chuckled as much as her fresh grief would allow.
"I know I can be pretty sneaky,". The human's frown quickly returned as she grew serious once more. "But I promise I'm being genuine this time".
The killer took her word for it. He, cautiously, grabbed her hand and then gave it a firm conclusive shake.
"Well, Miss Luz. You have yourself a deal".