A Demon's Bargain

I forced myself to my feet on limbs that lacked their former vigor. But it wasn’t hunger that sapped my vitality, it was misery. Never in my years had I been subjected to such an unending deluge of negativity. Being separated from my sweet enchantress only to face the scorn, vitriol, and heartache of hundreds of women was a torment. I had to remind myself, yet again, that it was for (Y/N)’s love that I had to endure. A worthy prize at whatever cost.

I drove my weary body, admittedly reluctantly, from my living room to my map room once again. Only two women remained, but the prospect of any further encounters loomed austere and threatening. Even so, I knew I had to persevere. I was almost finished with my atonement. Almost. I promised myself that if I could bear just a single encounter, I could wait until tomorrow to face Lola.

Dread balled wet and coiling in my gut as I flipped the switch. A spike rose from the United States at Gig Harbor, Washington. Strange… I knew the contract had to have been recent, but I didn’t recall having gone through Gig Harbor lately.

I brought up the information, and recognition sunk in immediately. Tammy Walsh, only nineteen years old. How could I forget? She was one of the few genuinely evil women I’d dealt with, and I certainly felt she didn’t deserve an apology of any sort. Of her own accord, she had murdered her parents, her little sister, and the family’s dog and two cats, just so that we could have the house to ourselves. She had laughed merrily about it at the time, and suggested we finger paint with the carnage. Slaughter of complete innocents had always perturbed me a little bit, but children and animals had been too much for even I. What kind of person killed cats?!? Tammy was the only woman I’d left in less than twenty-four hours in well over a century. It irritated me that Allah saw fit to have me beg forgiveness from a person of such odious character, but there was nothing I could do about it. It was to her the map was directing me, and thusly, to her I would go.

Though I could have sworn her family had lived in Kirkland, not Gig Harbor. As I continued to read, it became apparent why her locale had changed. Tammy was in close security at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Though technically on death row, I knew women were almost never actually executed for their crimes in the United States. Apparently Washington State had some sort of moratorium on capital punishment as well. It seemed Tammy had a long life ahead of her. What a waste. I wondered if, after that, she’d end up in the Pits?

Clenching my jaw, I slipped through dimensions until I found my way to the Corrections Center, surrounded by forest wreathed in cloudy night. I skimmed along until I found her cell. I had to admit to myself that it was convenient Tammy wasn’t housed in a dormitory-style unit. That would have made things exceedingly difficult. With a pop, I materialized in the middle of her plain cell.

She sat up in her bed, the very image of innocence, her honey-colored hair gleaming in the faint light as she scrutinized me. I saw the daze of mild drowsiness leave her abruptly when her pupils narrowed in recognition. Before I could say anything, she dove straight at my knees and tackled me to the floor!

I went down hard, taken completely by surprise. The air was knocked from my lungs, and before I could catch my breath, I felt her petite hands close around my throat, her nails digging sharply into my flesh.

Furious that I couldn’t just roast her alive, smoke poured from my nose, mouth, and ears, obscuring my vision as I fought to restrain my temper. Even so, it wasn’t long before I got a decent hold around her ribs. Easily enough, I plucked her off of me and threw her against the opposing wall. She hit the concrete with a satisfying smack and appeared to crumple.

I started my little speech as soon as she hit the floor, wanting to get away from the malevolent, little harpy posthaste. “Tammy, I’ve come to beg your forgiveness for using you as food and ruining-“

Without fully rising from the floor, she charged me again! That time, I had sufficient warning and I whipped her with my tail, shoving her backwards. She managed to stay upright, pausing her assault to spit on me, leaving phlegm on my shirt. “You fucking asshole! I did everything for you, everything! I killed my family for-“

In previous situations where a woman of mine had felt the need to give me an earful, I’d done the gracious thing and let her get it off her chest. This was a well-deserved exception. I lit a ball of fire in my palm and gestured threateningly at her with it. “-Silence, vile creature! Hear me out or I’ll burn the skin off of your body piece by piece!”

Tammy crossed her arms under her perky, apple-sized breasts, and took a seat on her bed, looking every part the petulant brat. Disgust filled me, but I forced the words out, “As I was saying, I’ve come to ask forgiveness for using you and ruining your chances of finding love.” I left out the observation that she would have done that just fine on her own by ending up in solitary confinement. “However, our contract has been broken. Thus, you are able to find love once again.”

With that done, completely uncaring of her response, I hopped through the void, straight to my bedroom. I shrugged my clothes off, tossing my besmirched shirt into the waste receptacle. Lethargy piercing me to my very core, I tumbled unceremoniously into bed.

Notes

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