1000 souls: part 2

I slam the car door and the sound echoes through the quiet neighborhood. I can hear my footsteps louder than usual, in perfect time with my heartbeat. The metal of the doorknob chills my hand. I decide it’s best to give him the first soul now. I summon him. He arrives in with a resounding whoosh and the sound of crackling flames. I can feel the heat rising off him from a few feet away. 

“What do you want? Needing help so soon?” he asked, annoyed. I held the locket out to him. A look of shock crosses his face, quickly replaced with disappointment. “It seems you have this handled then. Is this all?” 

“For the first day our contract is in play, yes. Take it and go. I’ll have more soon.” I said, urging him to take it. I felt sick.  

“I’ll see you again soon.” He said looking down at me. He took the locket from my hand and disappeared. After the smoke fades, I leave the room. I grab the mop bucket from under the kitchen sink along with the bleach. I know this won’t clean the blood, but it’ll get rid of the clothes. I turn the shower on and step in with my clothes still on. I can’t leave too much blood on the floor, and I’ll have to clean this up already. I peel the sticky, wet clothes off my body and drop them into the bucket of bleach. I turn the hot water all the way up and scrub at my skin till it burns. I dig my nails into my scalp and try to scrub away the images of what I’ve done. Did he deserve to die? Even if he was a horrible person, did he deserve what I did to him? I scrub harder to get the thoughts out of my head. It's too late now anyways. I rinse myself off and that’s when I feel the tears come. I have to kill nine hundred ninety-nine more people. I’m not sure I can do it. But I have to. For Mara. Mara. I can go see Mara! I hurry and turn off the water, finally feeling the heat on my skin. I leave the bucket of clothes to soak and run to my room to get dressed.  

I put on the shirt she bought for me and a pair of jeans. I light the candle on our dresser, its half melted already from so much use. The inscriptions we carved in it begin glowing and then candle goes out in a puff of smoke leaving me staring at the devil.  

“Why are you here?” He looks tired. He sits opposite me at a circular table in an empty room. The chair I’m sitting on is cold and hard, its rigid back digging into mine.  

“I’m here to see Mara. I want to check on her.” I said with as much conviction as I could muster. He sighed.  

“Follow me then.” He pushed out his chair with a screeching sound that echoed across the room. A door that I could swear wasn’t there before opened ahead of us. It led down a dark hall. I could hear something dripping not too far off. Cries of agony followed us down the hallway, raising the hair on my neck. After what seemed like an eternity of walking down the dark, humid hall I saw a dim light near the end. I couldn’t tell how far away it was, but it got brighter the closer we walked. Then the devil stopped. I was so focused on reaching the end of the hall I hadn’t noticed and walked into him.  

“Here.” he said. He turned toward the wall and I saw there was a door. I saw that the whole hall had doors lining its sides.  

“Was that there?” I looked at him. 

“Do you want to see your wife or not?” I nodded. I reached for the doorknob but pulled my hand away. It was hot. Hot as hellfire. “You should be more careful.” He said, opening it for me. I muttered a thank you and waited for it to open enough for me to get inside. He stood holding it open and let me into the room. It was beautifully decorated. It reminded me of the room she’d shown me when I first visited her childhood home. There was an open wardrobe full of dresses and shoes and nice clothes, all of which looked practically untouched. She was still in the same clothes she’d left in and looked as if she hadn’t slept at all. The room looked so staged and unlived in. She sat at a vanity table, also perfectly arranged, painted a beautiful cream color with gold accents. She sat there staring at herself in the mirror, unmoving. 

“Mara?” I walked over to her. She turned and smiled up at me from her seat.  

“I’ve been waiting for you. I was hoping you’d come soon. I have to tell you something.” She stood then looked and stared coldly at the door. “Leave us.” She says to him. I hear him shut the door. She waits till we hear the footsteps growing quieter to start talking.  

“What did you want to tell-” I’m cut off by her jumping up and hugging me. I squeeze back and then hold her away from me and look over her. It’s only been a short while, but I need to take her all in.  

“I’m okay Malachai. I’m not hurt.” She reassures me, just wanting me to hold her again. I give in and pull her towards me. I stroke her hair. It feels tangled, like she hasn’t been brushing it.  

“Just- tell me what you need to tell me Mara.” I said, not yet ready to let her go.  

“You don’t have to do this you know.” She pulled her head away and looked at me.  

“Is that it?” She nodded. 

“You don’t need to do this for me Malachai. I’m fine here. Look at how he keeps me.” She gestured to the room.  

“Mara he only did this because I asked for you to be kept well in the contract. If I don’t keep it up... I don’t know what’ll happen to you.” Her face dropped. “That’s not to mention that- I've already killed someone Mara.” She pulled away completely at that.  

“Malachai-” 

“Mara please. Please understand that I did it for you. Besides the contract only asks for souls of the evil. He was a rapist, a pedophile Mara.” I couldn’t tell what she was thinking now.  

“Who was it?” She whispered. 

“Mark.” Her face seemed to relax a bit and she sighed. “He had a new wife and little girl too. I had to protect that little girl. If it makes you feel better, think of it that way.” I said. She nodded and sat back down.  

“So how many more? How long do I have to stay here?”  

“Nine hundred ninety-nine more. I’m not sure how long it’ll take me.” She turned away from me. “I wish I could be here with you Mara. I can’t do this alone.”  

“I wish I could have you here with me. It’s so lonely. He leaves me in here all day and night with nothing to do. Nobody to talk to.” She turned back to me, her eyes full of tears barely holding back from spilling out. “I miss you so much. Especially when I have to lay alone in that huge bed. I’ve barely been able to sleep.” She stands and wraps her arms around me.  

“I miss you too.” I whisper. She starts kissing my neck, making me sigh. She trails down my neck and towards my chest, unbuttoning my shirt and leaving a kiss in each new space. Before she gets halfway down, I pull her face to mine and kiss her. She continues unbuttoning my shirt without breaking the kiss, her hands travel further down and unbutton my jeans. I pull her shirt up and over her head kissing her again as soon as I’m able. I pick her up, her legs wrapping around my waist. But just as we get to the bed she stops.  

“I think someone’s watching.” She stands up and walks over to the vanity table. Without warning she picks up the stool in front of it and slams it into the mirror.  

“Smart girl.” we hear. “Not right, but smart. I don’t need to be looking at you to see you.” The voice seems to be coming from everywhere. Mara stands among the broken glass, breathing heavily. She turns and walks back to the bed and sits down. She drops her head into her hands and laughs. She looks up at me, tears streaking her tired face, and laughs. 

“I thought I was finally going to be able to relax. I finally see my husband and I can’t even have a moment alone with him!” 

“But Mara, you are alone.” He snickers. “You’re just being watched.” She sighs angrily. She reaches down and picks her shirt up. She huffs and puts it back on, then bends over and grabs mine as well. She doesn’t hand it to me but sits with it in her lap, the tears running down her cheeks and landing on it.  

“I want to go home, Malachai. Please hurry so I can go home.” She whispered and looked up at me. She looked so young. Just like when we first met. I’d found her sitting at the edge of the playground crying. Have you seen my toy? She pulled out a picture of herself holding a teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck. I offered to help her look. We met up every time we were at the park but after a week of looking it never turned up. That day I asked mama to take me to the store and with all the money I had saved up to buy a new bike, not nearly enough yet, I bought her an identical teddy bear and tied the pink ribbon on it myself. I brought it with me the next day and said I’d found it for her. Her eyes lit up and she took it. Before she left the park that day, she gave me a kiss on the cheek. Since then, we were inseparable. But now I had to leave her to bring her home.  

“I will Mara. I promise. But for now, I have to go.” I stood and looked down at her. She grabbed my hand and held it tight to her chest. Her eyes met mine and they were filled with tears. “I love you, Mara.” 

“I love you too.”