Anderson reached into his duffle bag once more and pulled out an old rolled up tattered scroll. He smiled wryly to himself as he looked at the scroll in his hands. Thinking to himself what a terrible idea it was, he tossed it to the trapped Suit and watched as it floated a few inches from him. With a snap from Suit, the scroll burst into bluish black flames and was reduced to nothing. Not even ashes.
The scroll was a contract scroll and a high quality one at that. If the poles had done its work and held down whatever demon that showed up, Anderson had intended to use that scroll to forcibly enter a master-slave contract, with said demon, him being the master of course. The contract would have been a battle with his soul as his wager and the demon’s freedom and his/hers. When he won, the demon would forcibly have to reveal his true name in order to sign the contract. That was how the demon would be bound for all eternity to the holder of the contract. But now…
“Great! Now that’s done let me explain the rules of the new game. You are going to tell me a story. All you have to do is survive the story. Simple right?” Of course, it was not as simple. Anderson knew very well that anything concerning a demon would not be as simple. What was worse, this particular demon was very different. So, who knew what twisted game of story telling the demon had in mind? Anderson nodded warily at the demon’s enquiry. Whatever was coming he knew very well the odds would be against him as such he had his guard up. It was funny; He was rather feeling like the trapped one.
Anderson stood there as various thoughts run through his head. Frowning slightly, he asked “What do you get if I lose?” He felt at this point he no longer had control. Suit may be trapped, but he felt he no longer had control. If he wanted back control, then he would have to leave. Leave and completely forget such a place ever existed, but he knew very well that he could not. For her, he could not.
Anderson had come with his soul as the wager, but Suit could change the terms like he did the rules. He needed to cover and confirm every detail before he let himself get trapped in something much worse than he could get himself out off.
“Why focus so much on you losing, you make it sound like you are determined to lose.” Suit smiled lightly. His golden and red eyes glowing lightly, as if he was enjoying every minute of the situation. Anderson kept silent as he kept staring at the demon that was doing a poor job at trying to change the subject. Seeing that Anderson just stared at his while maintaining his silence, Suit rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and pointed at Anderson. “You.”
‘Me? My soul, of course. In the end no matter how powerful he may be, he is still a demon that feasts on souls.’. Thinking to this point Anderson nodded. He heard Suit chuckle out loud. He looked over to see Suit’s smile slightly wider than before with his hands still behind his back.
“Alright. If I win, the same bargain remains?” Anderson was not going to change his goal even if the rules of the game had changed. Suit nodded in response. Thinking for a bit Anderson continued “How do I know you will keep your end on the deal?” There was no way he was expecting Suit to keep his word he was dealing with this monster by word of mouth.
Suit sighed exaggeratedly at the question. “Oh, dear me. After all we’ve been through. Where’s the trust?” Suit spoke with a hurt expression as he stared at Anderson. Seeing Anderson not reacting in any way, Suit dropped decided to drop the act. “Fine, you’re really no fun at all.” Rolling his eyes, Suit opened his palm and in a burst of blueish black flames an old parchment appeared floating about an inch above his palm. “We rewrite this contract”
Anderson’s eyes went wide a bit. Didn’t the crazy demon destroy the contract? How come he still has it? Letting his thoughts roam a bit he felt he needed to be even more careful with this demon.
He was brought out of thoughts when he heard Suit begin to chant an incantation. He watched the old scroll glow a bit as Suit reworked the contract anew. “In accordance to our agreement, if I @#$%%^ lose then I become the slave of Anderson J. Mayer. My life, my demonhood, my whole self will be at his absolute mercy and his to command, as long as Anderson J. Mayer is able to survive one story. If for some reason he refuses to continue, is in no condition to continue, or dies, then he would have considered to have failed, then I get…him.” Pausing and smiling slightly wider he once again pointed to Anderson. The tattered scroll unfurled and the terms of the simple contract became visible and comprehensible to Anderson. “You see, I even added the specifics of the game to our new contract. Hurts that you don’t trust me.” Suit pouted childishly at Anderson, and continued, “Do we have a deal, Mr. Anderson?” He let out the friendliest of smiles, making Anderson very uncomfortable.
Anderson stared back and forth between Suit and the scroll. His mind was racing. The contract sounded simple enough. Straightforward, but he did not understand. ‘What did he mean by survive the stories? Did he not say I was going to tell a story? What does survive the story mean?’ Question after question popped up into his head. He could not help himself. He had no idea exactly what it meant, but one thing was for certain; He would not move forward if he did nothing but constantly question the situation
The conditions of the contract were simple enough. As long as he had the strength, the stories would continue until either one could no longer continue. Considering Suit was a supernatural being, he would obviously never get tired. That left him. It had suddenly turned into a game of attrition. For him, at least. ‘That means as long as I don’t break down from tiredness, I should be okay. Thankfully I brought enough supplies, rations and a tent to last me a while.’ Anderson thought and unconsciously patted his bag.Next, after the setting was provided, he would tell his stories, but he needed to survive. That part was difficult to understand. Did it mean he would be stopped from telling the story? Would he be hunted down? He tried hard to not think about the guns in his duffle bag so as to not give them away. He had to be ready for anything. The story was considered to be over when closure and or justice had been met by all involving chara
After who knew how long, Anderson finally woke up. He was face down in his vomit on the floor. Standing with some difficulty, he felt the same uncomfortable feeling of restriction. He looked around only to be greeted by the same white walls and white straight jacket. He blinked his eyes numerous times as if trying to get out of the illusion he was under, but he knew this was no illusion.Anderson gradually stood up from the floor, using the help of the bed and his chin. “Calm down Anderson. Calm down.” He comforted himself with deep breaths. No matter what, panicking would not help him now. Although he tried to reassure himself that, he could still feel his body trembling. There was no helping it. After all, one minute he was standing at a hot dirty crossroad, facing the demon with the gold eyes, the next minute he was here.Had everything been a dream? He had questions, but him being in his current situation would not provide him with any answers. He began
Anderson felt he sat in the same position for hours at most. He knew it couldn’t have reached a day, considering no one had walked in to bring him any food or water. Well, either that or they deliberately refused to feed him.“Have you finally calmed down, Mr. Anderson?” The woman spoke to Anderson with her British accent. The superiority in her tone was as evident as the frown on her face as she looked down at Anderson on the bed. Anderson slowly who looked up at her before slowly nodding at her. The frown disappeared from her face, replaced with a pleased smile. “Good. And can I trust you to not make any more trouble, Mr. Anderson?” She asked once more, waiting for her answer.‘What trouble?’ Anderson questioned in his head. He was feeling aggrieved, but did not dare show it, let alone speak it. He nodded once more at the woman, who nodded to herself, pleased. She looked behind her and signaled. Right then, one of the men tha
‘Soft hands’ Anderson looked down at the hand that had grabbed his wrist. Even he did not know why he felt that. He traced the hand along to the person it was connected to. Anderson was finally calm enough to have a proper look at the person that was dragging him. The dark head was a petite looking young woman who he believed might not have passed the thirty-age mark. She had a round and pretty face with slight bags under her eyes. The only way he found that out despite her dragging him, was because she occasionally glanced back in worry at him.After who knew how long, they arrived at what looked like a laundry. It was a room filled with about seven machines on each side of the room with four tables in the middle. There was a bald man folding a few sheets at one of the tables. The moment Anderson was dragged into the room, he saw the young lady with the dark hair nod to the bald man. Anderson saw him nod back before walking to the door. The bald man looked out di
The woman nodded pleased to herself. She slowly walked to her seat and sat down in front of Anderson and Anita. She smiled slightly at them and started to flip through the pages in the file in her hands. The room was silent except for the page flipping sounds that were echoing throughout the empty room. Anderson used the opportunity to properly observe the woman. She had on a blue blouse and a black knee length skirt. Over her attire was her white coat that had the edges touching the ground and a few pens at her left pocket. After having a good look at her, he finally saw something he had missed earlier. A name tag. ‘Xavier?’ That was what the tag read.“Okay.” Xavier closed her file and smiled at the two in front of her. That was, until she turned to look at Anderson. Her smile turned into a frow when she looked at Anderson. “We were making so much progress, Mr. Anderson. Your little theatrics cost us so much of your progress.” Xavier shoo
“I…killed her?” He whispered to himself and stared wide eyed at his hands. Anita who was by the side was gritting her teeth. She looked like she was in pain, although she looked like she was trying to not make it show, quite terribly at that. Xavier who stood by in front of Anderson, waved her hand towards the back. The two large men behind her had been inching closer ever since Anderson lost his cool. Xavier seeing Anderson make no more moved waved them off. They walked back to the door and stood on guard, hoping, praying that Anderson would make a stupid move.Anderson had been quietly staring at his hands, as if he was still having trouble believing what they had said he had done. Xavier walked closer to him, cautiously, and placed her hand on his shoulder. “That is why we are here, Anderson. To be honest, I took your case because I too have lost someone. I too, know how it feels to lose someone you care so deeply a…” Xavier spoke like
“Sure, why not. Just give me a minute.” Anita nodded her head and walked out of the room. Anderson pretending to arrange the folded clothes he wore the previous day, but picked up a shiv. Kind courtesy, his toothbrush. He had sharpened his toothbrush against the wall during his back. He realized he was more vulnerable than he realized. It seemed like the longer he stayed, the spookier the place seemed to him.During his bath he realized, once again that he saw no one. It may have been because he may have woken up late, but it was still weird to him. From the moment he walked out his door to the bathroom and back, he did not see a single person. In fact, during his entire conscious time in the facility, he had only seen a handful of people. For a facility that was designed to help people, that, no matter how anyone looked at it, was scary.Anderson put his shiv inside his sweat pockets and walked out the room where Anita was leaning against the wall waiting
Anderson felt he needed to walk over there and tell give the Daniel fellow a piece of his mind. Or at least, a piece of his shiv. However, there was something much more important to do. He turned to the other fellow that pinned him against the wall remaining by his side. Currently, he was staring at Anderson in amusement, like how a person would watch baboons going at it in a zoo, tilting his head left and right as if to get a better look at Anderson.“What?” Unable to take it any longer, Anderson questioned with a frown on his face. The way he was staring at him was making him not only feel annoyed for some reason, it was just uncomfortable. The scruffy set of short brown hair and beard, his gold tooth in the canine, and more importantly the look in his eyes. He had a devious looking set of eyes. Like someone who couldn’t wait to turn on you and strike. Like a viper.“You don’t remember me?” The question was starting to annoy