The Contract

This is a work of fiction. No real people, places or events were used. Copyright ã 2011 Plot Roach.

The Contract

By Plot Roach
　
Susan curled up with a good romance novel, a roaring fire in the fireplace, and the rain a staccato of drumbeats on her roof. The cat curled up beside her, and her favorite tea in a mug on the end table next to her. What more could I want? She asked herself.

She turned the pages of the novel and devoured half the book by the time the clock chimed midnight. The witching hour, she smiled. She thought of her grandmother who scolded her to get to bed before this time. She claimed that women who stayed up past a ‘decent’ time were tempted by unholy desires and that the devil would come and take their souls away into the dark of the night.

Her smile faded as the last chime of the clock struck with an odd sound. Mercedes, her cat, dashed off into the bedroom as if something were chasing her. Silly cat, Susan thought. What could have gotten into her now? She reached out for her mug of tea, and found it missing. Had Mercedes knocked it from the table in her mad dash to leave the room? She checked under the table and began to look around her chair when she was interrupted with a loud slurping sound.

“I didn’t think that you would mind.” said the tall dark figure from behind her. “It gets awfully hot where I’m from and the journey here to see you tonight had left me rather parched.”

The figure slinked off from behind her chair, to reappear like a shadow mere feet from the front of her overstuffed chair.

“Do you mind if I take the other seat?” the shadow asked.

Susan shook her head and gestured to the seat. She would have screamed long before now, but a mysterious feeling had overcome her. She was unable to use her voice. Her hand shook as she pointed to the other, unoccupied chair. She thought she would faint, prayed for it actually, but she was not that lucky.

A fear held her heart in a tight grip, the likes of which she had not felt since childhood. This is why we fear the dark, she thought. Because of things like this.

“I’m a him, my dear. Not a thing.” said the shadow perched beside her. He returned the mug to the end table and waved to himself. “Though with such a shoddy appearance, it is easy to understand the confusion.” With a grand sweep of his hand, the being materialized, and Susan wished he had not.

The tall, long shadow was replaced with and equally lithe being that Susan was sure was the inspiration for many a horror movie. His black pebbled skin reflected red in the light from the fireplace. It looked too thick to be anything other than the pebbled hide of an alligator, yet framed him in such a delicate nature that she could make out every pore. He wore a cream colored suit that reminded her of a gangster in the old black and white movies her grandmother loved so well. And the thought of her grandmother stabbed at her heart. Oh why didn’t I listen to her? She asked herself. I thought it was only an old wife’s tale.

“She tried her best, Nana Willow. But despite all of her good intentions, she joined us just the same.” the demon sighed. For that was what it was, and Susan could no longer deny it. The beast of the dark places had come for her soul. “Would you like the ability to speak now?” he asked. “I froze your vocal cords because I so hate it when a woman screams. At least when it isn’t at the end of my claws.” he said, flexing his hands against the firelight.

She nodded. Though she did not know what good her voice would do for her in a situation such as this. He flicked a finger in her direction and the stiffness in her throat disappeared, like snow thawing in the sun. “It wastes my energy to read your thoughts.” he said. “And I have so much power to show you tonight, so many reasons for you to see things our way.”

“Our way?” she asked.

“Why the legions of the Dark Lord, of course. We need every soul we can get if we’re going to win this one.”

“But why do you need me?”

“You see, some people are useful to lead the armada of the damned, once the end of days dawns upon this diseased land you call Earth. Some souls are needed to fight fiercely, face to face with the Angels of Order.” the demon paused, as if savoring the mental image of a battle yet to begin, yet highly anticipated. “But there are those, like you dear woman, who could have a hand harvesting far more souls than I could do on my own. In fact, it was something like what your grandmother did for us, for so many years.”

“Nana Willow? I don’t believe it.”

“Oh, I know, such a hard thing to take for ‘gospel’, so to speak. The woman appeared to be such a god fearing woman, always a churchgoer and more than willing to lend a hand in the most dire of situations. She touched a lot of lives, changed the way that they saw things. A fact for which we are grateful. But the fact of the matter was that she did fear God, and what punishment he would cast upon her. For you see, she was the only one of her mother’s nine children to survive the Great Depression, and do you know why? Because she poisoned the others. With less mouths to feed, she thrived in conditions that would not have kept a dog alive. And back in those days. The doctor thought it was just the flu that got her siblings. No one would suspect an eight year old girl. It was genius, really.” the demon said, studying a smudge on his suit. “So when she found out that she was going to go to Hell for murder, she decided to make a deal with the Big Man himself.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“What makes you think that I need to lie to you?”

“Couldn’t she have asked for forgiveness?”

“Not in true Christianity. For once you have sinned in some way against Him, there is no forgiveness. The other versions of a benevolent, loving God were mere watered down copies of the Great Creator. Something we used to confuse the masses. And eventually lure them to our side.”

“So no one who asks for forgiveness can get into heaven?”

“Funny enough, only those souls who suffer and think that they do not belong there are the ones who end up going.”

“So I’m…”

“Yes, my dear. You are on the slippery slope to Hell, riding on a hill of butter and strapped to a bobsled. So you might as well enjoy it. Become one of us, and we can make it worth your while.”

“But what happened with Nana Willow?”

“She served her time, and now her reward is to torture those souls who caused her the most pain while she was alive.”

“I didn’t think that she had it in her.”

“Evidently neither did your Grandpa Charlie. Though he found out the hard way.”

“So there’s no going back? No way I can be saved?”

“There’s no technicality in the fine print of our contract. A contract by which you were entered into against your will.”

“How?”

“Your mother had you out of wedlock. You’re a bastard and doomed from the moment that you took your first breath. Had she been married just a month earlier, you might have had a chance.”

“That bitch.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you join us, you might get the chance to torture her yourself, if Nana Willow lets you have a crack at her, that is.”

“And am I on Nana’s bad list?”

“No dear, she loved you the most. She knew that you would have a lot in common, both in life and in death. In fact, she’s the one who suggested we approach you. She’s quite the head hunter.”

“And to avoid an eternity in never ending torture?” she asked.

“Just do your duty by us and we’ll take care of you.”

“So when, exactly, do I start?” she asked.

“You already have, my dear.” the demon said, his liquid mercury eyes boring into her, even though she could not see his pupils. “You already have.”