Gloom

Chapter 8

-Whatever?

"Anything you want," he replied in the same soft tone as before.

I shook my head in a leisurely denial. For some reason, that didn't sound like a good offer.

"I don't want anything.

“Please, Amy,” he said, maintaining his half smile, “everyone wants something. I've seen how you look at your brother's car in the mornings when he leaves. I can get you a thousand times better.

Although that was true—in part—owning a car of his own was not something he urgently needed. At least, not something he would make a pact with a demon for. And much less wanted one that he got it, because he wouldn't even know where the hell he would get it from. What if he stole it from someone else to give it to me?

"I don't need a car," I muttered.

"How about a couple?" I can make you be with anyone you choose.

I almost snorted.

—No, I'm not interested in forcing anyone to be with me.

The demon's half smile had already begun to fade. 

-Money? Your own house? Her,” she offered with a hint of anxiety. It can be whatever, Amy. You just have to ask for it, and it's yours.

I tightened my arms around my torso and shook my head rapidly, overwhelmed by the way he was proposing all of this, as if it were the easiest thing to do.

"You can't possibly not want anything," she rebutted impatiently.

-Well no. I frowned, confused. I like my life the way it is.

"Are you going to tell me that you're seriously happy with your miserable life?"

Something inside me hurt slightly with that question.

a deathly silence. I watched the way his Adam's apple twitched as he swallowed. I bit my lip and then stared at the ground. It hadn't been his words themselves that had pierced a hole in my chest, I didn't care in the slightest if a demon thought my life was miserable.

It was that I myself thought that it was so. It was the fact that I believed it too.

I worked at a little-known coffee shop. I never excelled at anything in school; my grades weren't even enough to qualify me for any good university. I went unnoticed by my colleagues, both those at work and those who were in high school. My friends have been the same for as long as I could remember, since I was never able to make friends with anyone else. My own family tended to ignore me at times and I could never make them proud of any achievement, because I was mediocre at everything I did...

Maybe it was true. Maybe I was finished when I was almost twenty years old.

But was being miserable enough to let me be influenced by him? Was it fair grounds to allow me to make a deal with a true devil? With no idea what madness I was getting myself into?

"I don't think so . " I heard the echo in my mind, and I supported it.

Even if my choices had made me  pathetic , I still had a long way to go, a long way to go, a long way to go. And I couldn't let this guy try to persuade me in any way.

With a strange fervor gaining ground in my chest, I looked up. The demon's brow furrowed, and I caught a glimpse of suspicion in his eyes.

"I don't care what you think my life is like," I replied, my voice deeper than normal. I wouldn't change my decisions for anything in the world, especially if you try to make things easier for me.

He breathed out hard through his nose. I saw him clench his jaw and fists hard. It seemed like he was losing his temper, but I found it hard to believe that my words had begun to wear off his patience. 

However, it didn't seem like his patience was something I could take lightly.

The demon stared at the wall, as if the last thing he wanted to see at this moment was me.

"Does this hurt you?" I whispered fearfully, slightly raising the rosary tight in my hands. Right now, he didn't seem to care that I had it, but I needed to know in case this got out of hand, although I still doubted he was going to be honest. He nodded without even looking at me, and I was grateful to myself that he didn't yell at me. The holy water didn't seem to hurt you much, either.

"Because I'm a different kind of demon," he snapped, still not giving me a glance, as if the landscape on the wall was more interesting.

I frowned.

"And why would you be any different?"

Only then did he look at me again and I reflexively jumped. Something had changed in her eyes, a kind of shine that I couldn't interpret, but that made me feel insecure.

"Did you seriously try to summon me just to understand why I called you  a 'creature' ?" she inquired suspiciously.

I blinked several times and tried hard not to look like a fearful child. Although a part of me allowed it because,  shit , I was facing a real fucking demon. And this was not being easy at all.

A fraction of my mind wanted to clarify that it wasn't really just because of that, but because of the uncertainty that he could reappear at any moment, that he would catch me just as unprepared and unprotected, risking my family. And the mere idea of ​​seeing myself wrapped up in that fear again was simply overwhelming.

However, I just pursed my lips and nodded.

“And even though you rarely talk at work and with your family,” he went on, “you haven't shut up to ask me questions. A combination of courage and clumsiness washed over me, but I didn't respond. A new smile spread across her face, revealing her white teeth. You are very curious, and I am an inexhaustible source of information. Instead of searching the internet for shitty pages written by morons who think they have real knowledge about demons, you could ask me everything.

My mouth dropped open in surprise, as I felt a blush build up my cheeks knowing that he knew what he had searched for on my laptop. Something in my head tried to warn me of the danger of his proposal, but his words managed to attract my attention and I was almost unable to listen to the voice of my conscience.

Information in exchange for information? Was it that simple? Without tricking me into taking my soul in the end? And that way she could finally understand why she was doing all this? Why was this happening to me?

If I did, could I try to protect my family too? Keep him away from them if he agreed?

I shook my head.

“Then…you definitely don't want my soul.

His vision narrowed.

—Well, since I'm asking you to be honest, I'll return the same:  yes  , I love her. Even without being able to see it, your soul has an essence… —she pursed her lips and left the sentence unfinished, as if he couldn't find the words.

My eyes almost bulged out of my sockets.

WHAT MY SOUL WHAT?!

"Y-without...  seeing her ? " I tried to ask about that  "essence"  she was talking about, but I couldn't continue.

My legs felt weaker.

“You see, Amy,” she said softly again, but even so, her tone didn't soothe me, “I didn't call you ' creature ' for nothing. It's not just the fact that I can't exert my control over your mind or enter it. My nature allows me  to see  the soul of any human being, but not yours. It's like you don't have

My breathing became irregular and agitated.

"Then why do you want it?" Uneasiness seeped into my tone of voice.

—We are capable of perceiving the essence that souls emanate. And that's the only reason I'm sure you have one… That, and the fact that you're not dead, of course. And believe me, the scent your soul gives off is so…” His words trailed off as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A somewhat sinister look came over her expression, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

I squeezed the rosary so tightly in my hand that it started to hurt, but I didn't care. A fraction of my brain began to come up with a plan to try and use against him.

When her eyes opened, they seemed to have darkened a couple of shades, and that only made me uneasy. Her new countenance was neither stern nor angry, rather it seemed…  wistful . His impassive face and at the same time avid reminded me of the same one that predators have about to jump on their prey.

"But I'm curious too, and if I took your soul, I'd never know what the hell sets you apart from the rest of the human ilk." That couldn't have made me feel any better. He seemed to realize that she was terrified and shook his head, as if he had answered a question I didn't ask. Amy, I told you at the beginning: I don't want to hurt you.

"H-how do I know you won't?"

"Let's make a pact." You can be sure I won't break it. I shook my head, and she insisted: "That way you'll feel calmer."

He took a step forward and I raised the rosary in his direction.

"Don't come near me," I ordered, buoyed by courage and fear.

"Put that down, you know you won't hurt me." The same thing will happen with holy water, remember?

I clenched my jaw, desperately searching my head for something to say.

"But I bet it must hurt."

He pursed his lips and glared at me. However, he didn't seem scared by the object he was pointing at him, rather he looked annoyed, but as if he was trying to contain his fury.

He squeezed his eyelids together as he breathed in slowly. She backed up the step she had taken when she breathed her breath and opened her eyes. In that small act, she seemed to have somewhat appeased the anger radiating from her face.

"Come on, Amy," he said with a half smile, "let's try to run the party in peace." You can't fight me.

I swallowed hard, appreciating how fear was gaining ground on me.