The dying light of the following evening found her back in the swamp, a place she had very much not wanted to see ever again. A new desperation held her as she called out, screaming for the demon that had sealed their deal in lies with a smile.

"Where are you!?" She screamed into the growing darkness. "Show yourself you fucking coward!"

Stillness. Not even the creatures of the bog were answering her.

"I-" She sunk into the mud. "I didn't agree TO THIS!"

Sobs shook her body as night settled around her, draping her in its coolness.

"I'm…." She wrapped her arms around herself, curling into the muck. "I'm…forgotten."

Cold water seeped against her skin as she shivered and cried there. A chill touched her spine when she heard it….soft laughter. Soft laughter drifting from the shadows of dying trees looming all around her.

364 days later…

Belle Chasse, Louisiana

June 25th, 1951

The Riverside Hotel

Sighing, Addie dug the key to the hotel room from the pocket of the torn jacket she was wearing. It was 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night which meant that hardly anyone was currently staying at the small, dingy establishment that lay just outside of town. The sole employee who would be on shift tonight was likely passed out drunk behind the front desk again. The room would be empty and no one would bother her for using it. She first started spending her time here after renting the room for one night a little over a month ago and leaving with the key. No one bothered to change the lock. It didn't see much use anyway and if anyone noted her coming and going, they would soon forget they ever had seen her regardless.

A year had passed since Addie LaRue made her deal with the demon in the swamp. Her wish had been granted. She no longer aged; only a short time had passed since then but she felt the truth of it. No longer could she even be killed; she had discovered. She was made free to live out a long life, seeing all the sights she wanted, doing all the things she felt she had needed done. The promise for this - of course - had been her soul, but truly, she hadn't fathomed it could hold any value to her beyond this lifetime anyhow. What use was a soul when you no longer existed? She did not know.

Still, the cost had come greater than she had known. The demon had implemented a nasty clause to their deal; he had made it so that Addie LaRue could no longer be remembered. The moment she left the presence of another person, she was forgotten. They simply had to look away from her, their eyes would grow blank and she was out of their memories forever. It made day-to-day tasks complicated and destroyed any possibility of having any form of a relationship with anyone. She had no friends. No family. Absolutely no one in her life to remember her, to know her.

Shrugging out of the worn jacket, she let it drop to the floor and she went to the bathroom to wash up before heading to bed. She kept very little personal possessions with her; it was simple to collect items she needed or wanted at a whim as long as she kept from being seen or slipped out of sight even for a moment. The only items she had with her currently was the jacket, some clothes she had lifted from the local Goodwill and whatever book she had with her to read. Nothing else.

In the bathroom, she ran the faucet and splashed water onto her face. Looking back at herself in the mirror, she saw that her long brown hair was a mess of tangles, and it was obvious looking at her dull brown/green eyes that she was both stressed and tired. The seven freckles that painted a constellation across her face stood stark against her pale skin. A whole year…and she didn't know what the fuck she was doing. Tomorrow she would track down a hairbrush and maybe some makeup but beyond that…she had no idea.

The lights flickered within the small apartment, nothing unusual in this place but the bedside radio suddenly switched on; producing a loud and sharp static.

Not really thinking that much of it, she went to switch the radio back off when the static shifted into music; softly playing:

"I'll never smile again, until I smile at you…"

"I'll Never Smile Again" - Tommy Dorsey -1940

She paused, just for a moment before the radio erupted back into static, then quickly switched itself back off.

A soft knocking came from the door of the hotel and her heart sunk. Apparently, she had errored in thinking she wouldn't be bothered this evening and she really was not in the mood to deal with the room having been rented out tonight.

Sighing heavily, she picked her jacket up off the floor and went to open the door; mentally flipping through ideas of where else she could go to tonight if this did not end well.

Opening the door, she stepped back and was surprised to find a tall, thin man wearing spectacles and holding a bouquet of beautiful red roses standing just outside the threshold. He was dressed finely in a brown pinstriped suit and nice black shoes. The man had a wide, welcoming smile spread across his face; his brown eyes almost tinkling with glee and his short, brown hair stuck out handsomely swept and disheveled off to the side.

She was about to tell him he had the wrong room when his face lit up even more and he said,

"Well, good evening, darling! Happy Anniversary!"

She froze, glaring at him now.

"You…"

"May I come in?" He asked, his eyes dancing with humor.

A part of her wanted to slam the door right in his fucking smiling face but she stepped aside and he swept in with lanky, striding steps.

"A whole year, come and gone!" He announced. "And just look at what you have accomplished!" He swept an arm out, gesturing proudly at the small, sad room; still holding the bouquet of flowers. "Why, your limitless freedom has proved rather rewarding, I dare say. Indeed!"

"I actually find it rather fucking limited, myself."

"Now, now Adeline. You are souring the evening. We should be celebrating!" He happily teased her.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded, shocked to hear him say it aloud.

"My dear." He spoke softly, still smiling. "I may not own your soul but I do hold it within my possession per our agreed contract. I know more about you than anyone. Though, that doesn't boast much now these days, now does it?" He laughed.

"I did not agree to…this!" She bit back.

"Oh, but you did." He chuckled. "I simply added a teeny-tiny…catch to our agreement. Purely for entertainment purposes, of course."

"Funny." She said dryly. "And, I still don't know your name."

"Yes, well, there is a certain power in knowing one's name." He explained, amused. "And before you ask; I won't tell you mine, please don't think me impolite."

"So what am I supposed to call you?"

"Hm….why don't you pick something?" He suggested.

"Luc." She said.

"How incredibly…dull, of you." He replied smiling, but clearly not pleased.

"Well, you look like a 'Luc'." She shrugged.

His smile never faltered but she could have sworn she noted the slightest twitch of an eye behind his spectacles.

"Fine. Luc it is." He relented. "Consider it an anniversary gift."

He turned away, going to the bedside table.

"I do love a good hotel." He went on chuckling. "Never know what wayward souls could be just passing through. Haha! But, a little color will do nicely, don't you think?"

Snapping his fingers, he produced a vase to place the roses in. Humming to himself, he went about arranging the flowers.

"Why do you look different?"

"Well, I can't very well walk around town looking like I did the night you found me enjoying my evening out by the bayou, now can I?" He chatted amiably, picking a dead leaf from off of one of the rose stems. "What would the papers say!?" He flicked the leaf to fall onto the floor.

"Ok, well…are we done here now?" She asked. He smiled back at her, not moving and saying nothing. "Or was there something else you wanted?"

He tilted his head, his smile widening.

"Out of questions for me already, Adeline?" He asked her, coyly.

"I'm pretty sure I'll always have questions but I'm not stupid." Her anger, simmering at the surface. "I thought you'd make an appearance, sooner or later. And, honestly…tonight, I'm not in the mood." She continued. "It's been a long year…I made my mistake. I made my deal. But, I'm not giving up. Even with your little…catch, I'm not done yet. I can make this work. Somehow…"

Laughter bubbled from deep within his chest, his sharp, brown eyes fixed on her.

"How…entertaining."