The Golden Girl

Ending The Deal

Chapter Five: Ending The Deal

The morning came with me slapping Love across her cheek. She woke with a start, flinching harshly.

"What the hell!" she yelled, doing the best to rub her sore face with her tied hands. "What was that for?"

"Time to get up. Big day, and I've been prepping for the last hour." I threw Love a piece of cloth. "Here. Clean your face off. You look disgusting."

As she did that, I went back to the necro-circle I had summoned over an hour ago. There was a small vial in the middle, filled with a black liquid. I picked it up with a sigh. "Yeah, I think it's done."

"Uh, what's that," Love asked as I got closer, holding up a small paint brush. Her eye looked scared. "Shit. Are you sacrificing me?"

"What? No, I'm going to be performing a mild possession on you." I bent down to her level, our noses lining up perfectly. "But that's an option. I haven't summoned demons like that yet."

Was I joking? Ha! No, no I'm not. But forget that for the moment. I dipped the brush into the liquid, and then painted a necro-symbol onto Love's forehead. "It took me awhile to find a suitable ghost, but once I did and trapped it within this special liquid, letting it sit, and doing a few more deathly things, I believe it should be perfect."

Once I got the symbol right, I took out a knife and cut myself. Taking not even a full drop of blood, I barely placed it in the middle of the spell. The spell glowed, then absorbed into her skin. One more word, and Love froze. "Ah, there we go."

I drew Ever Heart and removed the chains around her wrists. "Now, slap yourself."

She did, looking both surprised and confused. I smiled. "Bitch slap yourself."

That one sounded like it hurt.

"Tell me your bank account number."

"452-3345-234."

She looked absolutely mortified. This was real fun. "What's your middle name?"

"Gina."

"Alright," I said, still holding the sword tight. "I'd say the spell worked. Now remove the other chains and re-arm yourself. We got shit to do."

It took an hour to finish up here, but soon we were heading back to Hillside before the sun was even showing. Dawn had happened, so I estimated we'd have at least an hour before sunrise. We might be a little late, but hopefully that's not a problem. I'm not really on any kind of schedule.

Once the town neared, and I could smell a large group, I got in front of Love. "Now, load up your crossbow. Tie my hands loosely with this rope. You are to act as though you captured me. Show no fear. Give nothing away."

She followed my orders. Not that I liked being tied up, but whatever. You gotta do what you gotta do. We walked into the town, the early risers doing their business, stopping to only watch us go on by. The inn appeared, and I saw a crowd had gathered. Word must have gotten around about the bet. Low murmuring got even louder as we got closer.

Talimus stood there, cane tapping, his shifter bodyguard behind him. Blas was nearby, looking heart-broken.

"Ah, Love, you truly are good," Talimus said, stepping forward.

"Now," I whispered. "Do it."

Love pointed the bow from me, to Talimus, and pulled the trigger. He didn't even see it coming. The bolt went through his head and out his skull. Blood and brains flew onto bystanders.

The shifter charged, but in a flash my hands were freed and I put Ever Heart into his - uh - heart. He died quickly, and I shrugged off his body from the blade. Like pushing someone away from a hug.

"Well," I said, not looking at the shocked faces. "That went better than expected."

The horrified faces were absolutely hilarious. They looked so freaked out, like I had just insulted their mother. One man even threw up. I kicked Talimus, to make sure he was truly dead. Yep, dead as a door stop.

"What did you do!" Hugh yelled, pushing aside people to get closer. Blas followed, her features scared. He could barely look at the bodies. "You killed them."

"Yeah. I did. Wait, actually just the shifter. She killed the collector." I pointed at Love, who was staring at her bow as though what just happened wasn't real. I snapped my fingers, and the spell wore off, the possession ending. "Anyways, that was fun. And didn't take as much time as I thought."

"Damn it boy!" Love now screamed. "Now how am I supposed to get paid?"

The crowd started to leave, trying to get away as fast as possible. I turned the two bodies to ash, letting the mountain wind blow their remains into the sky. "Oh, so I'm the bad guy. You were literally hunting a girl to put in that man's collection. I've seen live collections, and they aren't pretty. So stop your fucking bitching. The world has bigger problems than the deaths of two scumbags. I could have had you put the bow to your chin you know."

She paled, staring back at her weapon. "Then why didn't you?"

"Because the deal was to bring each other back unharmed. Which I did," I said, walking back to the inn. Well, there was a slight limp. "Hey Hugh, is there a healer in this town? My leg is killing me."

Blas came beside me, and I sat down in the lounge. Hugh joined us too, but what really got me was that Love stood in the doorway, trying to be inconspicuous while getting stares from the few guests and desk workers.

Hugh spoke. "What the hell happened?"

"I possessed Love. I won the game, and was able to posses her to kill Talimus." Damn, wasn't it obvious what had happened? Hugh's wife came over with a glass of water. I sniffed it, making sure I wasn't getting poisoned or something. Never trust those who are glad your race is dead. It smelled clean, so I chugged it. "Now, about that healer."

Blas almost reached out, but pulled her hand back. "I--I don't know whether to thank you or be disgusted."

"Feel however you want to feel. I'm leaving tomorrow. Obviously I can't get even one day of relaxation, so might as well just go back to being my annoying self by getting chased out of towns and cities and districts. Seriously, I need to see a healer. I drank all my Feel Good Juice and my leg is literally burning."

"Uh, yes of course. A witch named Ema Glayds is the local healer. She lives down the hill, her sign has a blue cross on it." He looked uncomfortable, like he wanted to puke. "I'd go with you but...."

"I'll take him," said Blas. "Don't worry."

The warlock nodded, then eyed Love, who was talking to a clerk at the desk. Apparently I'm not the only one who needs rest. Blas helped me up, and we walked down to the healer, the morning sun still cool and hidden by clouds. I felt as though maybe I should have left my stuff there, but you never know when you need a sword.

"Thank you, for doing this for me," Blas said. "I'm glad the warlock is dead. His kind deserve death."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad it didn't get any messier. Usually people tend to riot sometimes when they see a murderous necromancer. Not all the time though." I laughed. "Actually, one time a conclave of fae let me enter a beauty contest, but the category was dark. So when asked what 'dark' things I've done, and answered, I was immediately kicked out. They didn't try to kill me but I just thought it was funny."

The healer's home came up, so I ended my story. Blas sorta looked sick. "Hey, I'm sorry about asking about your personal life. That was not cool."

"Meh. Don't worry about it," I said. "Nothing can be done about it now."

The door to the healers opened, and I smiled at the witch. Then the door closed in my face.

"Ugh. Well, this might be a problem."