The Faustian Love Bargain (COMPLETED)

Chapter 11

When Stella woke up, she found herself in a dark room and looking at her phone which was on a table next to her bed, she found that it was two in the morning. Her father had left a message that he had left her at Mr Smith’s house because she appeared to be sleeping soundly. She switched on the lights and was about to run out of the room when she bumped into Nick Smtih who was right outside the door. Her arms flailed and his arm grabbed her by the waist. Her mouth touched his white shirt involuntarily as her arms landed on his back in an embrace.

“I am so sorry. I am going to go home now.” She turned her face away and stared at the floor.

“You have school tomorrow. It will be better if you continued to get more sleep,” Nick replied. She realised he was breathing rather heavily and his fists were clenched tightly, as if he was in pain. 

“Go back to the room and sleep,”he repeated. 

“Are you unwell?” she asked. He did not reply and pushed her into the room. The door shut by itself and she was pressed against a wall. She saw that his neck had changed to be porcelain white, almost like he was changing into stone. His hand had turned ice cold on her neck and he was no longer breathing but staring at her with his face dangeroulsy close to hers. His face was still handsome but she thought he had turned from a person to a model. 

He flung himself backwards, slamming himself against the opposite wall. She wondered if there was a ghost that had possessed him and she fell on the grounds on her knees and prayed for help.

“Go to my room and grab the entire box of bottles. They are labelled “Stex”,” she heard Nick speak. She did as she was told and Nick inhaled bottles after bottles, before falling motionless on the ground, as if he had fallen asleep.

She could not sleep that night and she had waited for hours before he regained consciousness. She wondered if she should have called someone, but she was afraid that Nick was on drugs. Googling Stex gave no results and the bottles did not have any instructions labelled on them. There were secrets that he was hiding from her. Something seemed wrong to her, yet she could not stop herself from wanting to come closer to Nick.

When Nick awoke, she tried to be as casual as possible, hoping he would not remember that she saw him eating drugs and being possessed by a ghost. Did he worship the devil at night? She shuddered.

“You must have been shocked,” he said when she was sitting at the dining table. There was breakfast delivered at six and she was confused why he had only ordered one portion.

“Are you better?” she asked when he sat down with another glass of vodka.

“You don’t ask questions, do you?” he countered.

They looked at each other for a while before she cleared her throat and said, “I am not sure why you take drugs, but I know it’s not a good thing. You have a good future ahead so don’t ruin it.”

“You think what I took yesterday were drugs,” he said with a clear voice. 

“I’m not sure, but the effects were similar.”

“I guess they are the equivalent of drugs then.”

She paused and after being clear that he was sane, she asked, “Why do you take them?”

“The same reason why people take drugs. I dislike the pain,” he answered and then he laughed. She did not know if it was some sort of snicker or he was genuinely amused.

“Where do you feel pain at? If you feel pain, you can take painkillers,” she said slowly.

“When I see you, I feel pain,” he said and she stared at him blankly. He was mad. The drugs had not worn off and she was worried he might do something to her. She gripped her phone tightly and tried to change the topic, “There is only one set of breakfast. I’m not sure if it is also for me, or-”

“It is only for you,” he interrupted. 

“Oh, you’re going to eat-”

“I don’t eat,” he interrupted again and then finished his glass of vodka in an instant.

Stella was already shivering from head to toe. If he was not on drugs, he was definitely drunk. He poured himself another glass and drank it up again. 

She took out the cling wrap from the plate and ate nervously. It was a plate of eggs benedict with toast and pancakes with strawberries, raspberries and blueberry sauce, yet she did not enjoy her meal. She was too terrified to eat as he gulped down an entire litre of vodka in front of her.

“Your new clothes are on the couch. I asked someone at my mom’s store to deliver to me a set of casual clothes,” he said. 

She could not speak so she nodded and ate quickly, swallowing some of her food whole along the way. 

“Are you afraid that I might kill you?” 

She felt her blood run cold at these words and she prayed to God to save her. Her hands were trembling and she dropped her phone on the floor. She thought his eyes had followed the phone and were now on her every movement, intent and waiting. 

“I can sense the fear that I detest in humans,” he continued. 

She had to run yet her body was frozen with fear. Who was he? Some secret serial killer? Did money and influence cover all his misdeeds?

Then, she heard the chair move and he got up from his seat and he walked away, presumably to the kitchen. At this point, she stood up and ran to the door, but it was locked. She heard him approach and before she could scream, he grabbed her by the waist.

Stella found herself in Nick Smith’s arms. She did not know what was happening except that Nick was apologising profusely for scaring her. Her energy was drained and she let herself lean onto him.