A Devil's Dealings

I woke up the next day lethargic, my body refusing to move. My mind continued to ponder recent events. I stared up at my ceiling, my vision blurred slightly by the tears that formed during my slumber. It took me a few minutes to get my shit together, getting out of bed to pace around my room; that's when I saw it. Standing where my reflection should be in the mirror was a woman. She looked a little like me, but she wore different clothes. I took a few steps, placing my hands on the mirror before I blinked. She was gone. "What..." I mumbled to myself, looking down at my own clothes and realizing that I needed to get ready for work.

"Good morning." I heard Lucian's voice come from the bathroom, he sounded melancholic. Choosing to ignore him for now, I made my way into the kitchen, finding dad seated at the table with a fork and knife in his hands as he ate his breakfast. I quickly bowed, waiting for him to tell me what to do.

"Back to your room." He growled, gnawing on a piece of bone as he flayed the meat off of it with his teeth. I had no choice but to obey; I guess there's no breakfast this time too. I was trapped in my room when Greg called me. I let out a deep sigh, opening my window and leaning out slightly to look at the ground below.

"Lilith. Father's looking for you." I heard Lucian say as I leaped out of my room and crashed headfirst into a rock. Not my best death, but it gets the job done. My vision went dark as the smell of smoke filled the air. This looks like an interesting one.

"Help me!" Before I could even process the situation, my summoner's voice reached my ears along with the wooshing sound of arrows flying through the air. My eyes opened in time for me to catch them. I threw them back the way they came as I turned to look at my new master. "My village! Help me!" He said as he took me by the hand and started running. I used that time to seal the contract, running behind him until I could see something glowing in the distance. I could feel his emotions swell up; mostly panic. "No..."

I grit my teeth, picking up my pace as I felt my body getting stronger. But a question kept running through my mind. "Why am I so concerned over people I've never met?" I asked myself as I fashioned myself a lance with whatever energy I had leftover. I looked over at my master, his brows furrowed as rage mixed with his worry. I tossed him the lance and I made myself some daggers. Bandits, raiders, they filled the village and littered the streets with corpses.

People ran by, screaming in agony as they choked on their own blood; bandits torching the houses and pillaging what remained. It took some time to clear them out, but the two of us managed to drive them out of most of the village; though it was mostly my doing. All that was left was the house farthest from our initial location which happened to be my Master's. "No..." All that was left of the house was a pile of ash and debris.

I heard the thud of the lance against the dirt as he fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands as I looked around at the carnage. There were barely any survivors, and every single building had been razed and looted. I should be relishing in the destruction, this is what I was born to do, but... "This... I'm sorry we didn't make it in time." I knelt down beside him to console him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Demon... take your payment and leave..." He swatted my hand away, growling at me as I tried to claim what was mine. I tried for a solid minute, just trying to siphon what I could, but nothing came.

"Help me." The contract reminded me every time I tried. Help him? It couldn't possibly mean...

"I'm sorry." I pulled him closer to me, resting his head against my chest as I felt his tears fall onto my arms. "I really am. If I had been here a little sooner... Who was in there?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair as I felt his breathing get more unstable due to his weeping. His emotions changed again, sorrow washing over him as his eyelids got heavier.

"My sons... they were so young..." He muttered, wiping away his tears as I hugged him tighter. "They had so much to live for... they should be here instead of me." He pushed his body up, looking at the ruins of his house. He stood up, walking over to what remained of his door. "I'm home, kids..." He said weakly before breaking down again. I didn't know what to do. I stood there, watching him from a few feet behind. I left him to mourn, disguising myself as a human in order to talk to the other survivors. We scrounged up what we could, making a makeshift tent that was big enough for everyone to sleep in, at least for tonight.

"Hey, you'll get sick if you don't come and rest," I said, walking back to him and calling him for lights out. "Master, please. Rest." I placed my hand on his shoulder again and felt him hic down another wail. I led him to the tent, making sure he slept before I lied down and waited for morning.

"Follow me." He said to me when I woke up the next day. He had calmed down, but his mood was still melancholic; not like I blame him. He led me over to the wreckage of his house, stepping through the charred rubble and picking out a few things from the ash. After that, we left the village, going down a path through a forest until we found a clearing near a cliff. "Mother, I'm sorry." He said, kneeling down by some archaic graves made up of piled up stone slabs. There were three in all, each etched with a name.

The one he called his mother was the tallest, etched with the name Elizabeth and subtitled with the words: Caring Mother. Resting in a row in front of Elizabeth's grave were stones for his wife and sister. He moved some stones over, grabbing a nearby stick and scratching the rock. "Can I?" I asked, kneeling beside him and taking a stone, using my nails to etch the message he wanted to leave. He offered up a short prayer as I watched; he started feeling slightly better, slightly. "What is it you want to do now?" I asked, seeing him rise to his feet.

"I have to help these people rebuild. We lost a lot, and we'll only lose more if we dawdle." He put on a stoic face as he started to walk back to the other survivors. But something didn't feel right. I ran up to him, placing a hand on each of his shoulders to hold him steady.

"You're allowed to mourn for as long as you like, you know," I said as he turned back to me with a smile.

"I have to keep moving forward. I think that's what they would've wanted." He said as I felt something in my hand; that was it? That was what I needed to do?

"I see... goodbye," I said, seeing him off by waving my hand as I returned to the graves. I looked at them for a few seconds, wondering what kind of people they were. What's wrong with me? Why do I care? It frustrated me, and I didn't know why it kept happening. I sighed, walking over to the cliff and swan diving over the edge until I felt my head collide with something.

It was eerily silent at Greg's, not a soul in sight in as literal a sense as possible. "Lilith. I see." He called me over the moment he saw me. The machine was already set out, along with five bottles. I checked on my hand, filled with diamonds of varying sizes. One by one they were loaded into the machine as the lekos got extracted from them; Greg had to get two more bottles.

"Awfully quiet today, isn't it?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. It was surreal, like a ghost town. This shouldn't be happening. This is where souls go before they are sent to their final resting place, for it to be this barren is abnormal. His response didn't help.

"Your brother is waiting for you." He slid over the seven bottles, watching me with his hollow eyes as I walked over to the door that led home.

"Father! No! Not aga-AAAAAHHH!" Lucian yelled the moment I got my bearings straight. "Stop! Please stop!" The sound of wood splintering reached my ears along with the shattering of glass. I don't know what came over me, but my hands just moved over to the bottles I just got.

"Stop it," I yelled, smashing the seventh glass bottle on the ground as I opened the door to our house. Dad was standing over Lucian's unconscious body, his hands as bloody as my brother's face. My adrenaline was surging, my veins electrified as I flexed my fingers and clenched my fists. He could barely turn around in time to see me as I rushed over and threw a punch at him, striking him right in the jaw.

I looked over at my brother, his limbs bent in the wrong way; the only way it could've been worse is if they were torn off. My rage seethed, bringing my hand back for another punch that snapped some of my father's bones. Over and over again, I hit him.

"This is for everything you put us thr-" I got cocky, getting lost in my new power. His hands wrapped around my throat. I tried to claw out, kicking and flailing everything I could in an attempt to break free. I furrowed my brows as his grip tightened around my neck.

"Insolent child! Learn your place!" He threw me to the ground, pressing my body against the floor with his foot as he glared down at me. I grabbed onto his boot, pushing with all my might; it wasn't enough. He stomped down, smashing my ribcage, and puncturing my lungs. Blood started to fill my mouth as my body stopped responding to me, spasming uncontrollably. "Lekos. You're a fool to rely on power that isn't your own!" He smirked, taking his foot off of me and lifting me by my hair with one hand.

"Die!" I grunted as I felt his fist collide with my gut, getting me to spit up blood as the pain coursed through my body. It hurt! It hurt like hell! But I went for a gamble with the lekos and lost... Lucian, I'm sorry. He beat on me again, throwing me against the wall and pinning me there by my neck.

"Go and join your mother!" He said, choking me once again.

"You killed her?" I gasped out as I lost my breath. I tried to kick him, but the bones in my legs shattered when I connected with his body. "I'll never forgive you! I'll kill you!" He laughed as he headbutted me, causing my head to bleed and cover my eyes; it stung. He tightened his hold on my neck again, my spine close to the verge of snapping. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, and I couldn't fight; I'm sorry Lucian, I couldn't protect you even when I tried my best.

He laughed as he twisted my neck. Then it went dark. It was cold, quiet, and lonely. So this is what happens when I die outside of a contract. Where am I?