The Bargain (closed)

[TheVoiceWithout]

Rain poured down from the sky in buckets; large fat drops that exploded on impact, drenching the soil, the trees, the road, everything. The street twisted and wove before them like a great black snake, shimmering in the headlights as they sped along, tree branches reaching down from the shadows like angry gnarled hands attempting to snatch them from their path and drag them off into the dark forest beyond. The grumble and roar of the engine was barely audible over the sound of the rain, and Rick had long since given up on getting anything out of the radio besides static and white noise. Wherever they were, the storm had encased them, closed them off from the outside world and thrust them wholly into this dark, deserted forest. He’d never taken this way before, but with the road construction a few miles back, he’d been forced to turn off and find an alternate way home. He had come to regret the decision since entering the forest, when the clouds had burst as though slit from end to end by an enormous knife, spilling their cold, harsh contents across the landscape.

It had been a good day up until that point, no, a wonderful day, actually. They spent the morning with a few friends, had lunch at a small café recommended for its crepes and coffee, and then spent the afternoon wandering along a well hidden trail out among the hills. Twilight came early, the sunset almost completely invisible thanks to the charcoal grey cloudbank that had rolled in, and they had set off for home, his place that night, only slightly annoyed that their outing had been cut short by the weather. The night was still young, though it could have been midnight already, judging by the encroaching darkness and the sinister look of the forest around them, and when they reached home there would be plenty of ways they could entertain each other…

Rick’s eyes darted up towards the rearview mirror, showing only their own reflection, soft hazel mixed with copper and bronze, before he adjusted the mirror in order to see behind them once more. His short, square jaw tightened in concentration as he returned his focus to the road ahead, hand tensing on the shifter as he slowed in preparation for the coming sharp curve.

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona was sat in the car with him looking out the window as they drove along, the weather outside made her shiver a little as it looked so horrible even though it was nice and warm in the car. She leant an elbow on the window as she twirled one of the curls of her ebony black hair in her fingers looking forward to getting back home.

She wasn't paying much attention to where they were, even if she was she wouldn't have had any idea where they were or how far it was til they got back anyway, her sense of direction was appalling.

Fiona sighed quietly to herself as she stared out the window watching the gloom of the forest passing by outside and felt a strong sense of sadness creep over her as she looked at it. She slowly turned to look over at Rick seeing him tense up as she was just about to ask how long it would take to get home and looked out the windscreen seeing the very sharp curve ahead.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

Time slowed as the curve approached, Rick shifting the car down a gear in anticipation, muscles tightening as the car failed to respond, wheels spinning on the slick surface of the road. Rain continued to pelt the car, sharp clicks and pings echoing loudly in his ears, heavy drops covering the windshield making it near impossible to see, even with the wiper blades moving full tilt. Though his foot pumped the breaks, nothing seemed to respond, the curve still coming on fast as the car hurtled towards the edge of the road and the large imposing oak just past.

At the last second the wheels seemed to finally find purchase, digging into the pavement and sending the car hurtling around the curve. Only then did Rick let out a large breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding, a cold sweat breaking out across his brow as he turned to look across at Fiona, reaching out and giving her hand a squeeze. “That was a little tense. Almost there, though. Just past the woods, I think there’s a turn off. From there it should be much smoother.” Letting out a sigh of relief, Rick turned back to face the road ahead, which seemed to finally have straightened out. Even more disheartening than the rain, though, was the fact that it seemed to stretch on ahead of them forever with no end in sight. The shadows slowly began to encroach from without, the branches hanging lower and lower across the roadway, despite the best efforts of the headlights to clear the way ahead.

“Home soon, and maybe we’ll finally get warm. It’s certainly gotten cold out this evening…” Sneaking a brief glance away from the road, he turned to Fiona once more, giving her hand another squeeze. “Fiona, I--“ Suddenly something seemed to dart across the road ahead, something large and blacker than night that blotted out everything before them. Rick slammed on the breaks, tires squealing angrily as the car began to buck and fishtail, spinning and diving off the road and into the forest. All he could hear was a sickening crunch followed by a horrible wrenching of metal and snapping of wood.

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona looked at him squeezing his hand back gently and smiled as she said "At least once we are home we can relax and warm up." a little shaken by being so close to not making it round that corner. She barely had time to dwell on that though as they went hurtling off the road. Fiona didn't even have time to scream in fear as they hit something the car being mangled all around them.

Once all the noise had stopped she opened her eyes and tried to move she was a little stuck but could free herself if she really wriggled. She looked over to see how Rick was gently touching his shoulder "You ok Rick?" she said shakily.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

“Well, that’s interesting…” A dark figure strode through the trees, reaching up with a large, clawed hand to brush a low hanging branch out of his way. The mangled wreck that was once a car lay resting against another tree, perhaps fifteen feet from the road. The roof had caved, glass was strewn across the ground, shards of metal everywhere. “Very interesting, indeed.”

He watched a young woman struggle within, stepping closer still as she wriggled free and called to the man in the other seat who lay motionless and equally as mangled as the car. “Oh dear. This simply won’t do.” Reaching down, he took hold of the door frame and peered inside, watching her struggle. With a sharp screech the remnants of the door pulled free of the rest of the wreckage, tossing it casually aside as a child would a scrap of wrapping paper concealing a new present. Reaching in, a long, deep gravely chuckle escaped his lips as he grabbed hold of the girl and pulled her free, setting her gently down and looking her over. A large smile curled across his face, his eyes burning like twin embers within the otherwise black, featureless darkness that passed for his body. “Well now, pet, it seems you’ve gone and gotten yourself into a bit of trouble, hmmm?”

Looking past her, towards the car again, he gave a soft chuckle. “I’m afraid your friend there didn’t make it.” Clicking his tongue and shaking his head slowly, a large curling horn brushed a nearby branch, snapping it and sending it to the ground with a clatter. “Such a shame… He had so much left to accomplish in life. His work, his friends, you…” He leered at her, eyes scanning slowly up and down her body, a greedy smile crossing his lips. “Whatever shall you do now?”

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona stared at this creature that had pulled her from the wreckage, she was still shaking and when he spoke to her about Rick like that she looked over at him lying there in the wreckage and tears began to roll down her cheeks as she stuttered "N..n.n.o he has to be ok!" and made her way back over trying to climb through the wreckage to him.

She couldn't imagine her life without him in it, fiona thought she was hallucinating seeing this creature as it was just not possible that it existed. But as she touched Ricks arm she realized it was true, he hadn't been as lucky as her.

Fiona was in absolute hysterical tears "Please no......I can't live without you!!!!" and grabbed hold of Rick tightly in her arms.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

The figure clicked his tongue, shaking his head softly as he watched the young woman struggle into the wreckage of the car and clutch desperately at the still figure strapped tightly down within. Her cries echoed through the wood around them and drew a slowly curling smile of pleasure and greed across his face, teeth glinting brightly despite the lack of light. Rain continued to fall with a patter upon the leaves above them, to splatter with a great pelting racket upon the road, and burst tonally upon the twisted heap of metal that was once a car. “Alas, pet, it simply isn’t to be, I’m afraid. ‘Out out brief candle,’ as the saying goes…” Stepping closer, the darkness around him seemed to swirl and congeal into form, the moonlight poking through branches staining him a dark crimson where it touched him.

He listened to her sobs and cries echo within the car, relishing the sound as one would the smell of freshly cut grass after a rain, the laughter of a child or the smell of freshly baked bread. He would have gladly stood listening as long as they’d held out, but knowing that would accomplish little, he cleared his throat and drew her attention. “Now, now, don’t let yourself get too carried away. Come out from there so we might speak properly.” Taking a step back, cloaking himself once more in the gloom of the forest’s shadows, he waited patiently for her fit of grief and loss to pass, awaiting her eventual exit from the wreckage as well. “He is gone, to a better place no doubt, and there is nothing in this world that might bring him back… Well. Aside from me, of course, heheheee…” He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips at the end, though his eyes still burned coolly down into the wreckage, the only sign of his delight in his voice.

“But that path, of course, would not appeal to one such as you. Surely you loved him, and he you, but I highly doubt to much that you loved deeply enough to bring him back, to pay the price that would restore him to this world…” He could hear movement within the car, and raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, stepping aside so that when she crawled back out they wouldn’t collide. He also stepped more fully into the moonlight, allowing it to spill across his darkened form, changing the black to blood-red in patches, the dusky grey to a deep crimson, as his eyes continued to burn fervently with need and want.

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona was barely listening to the figure until she heard him mention he could bring her Rick back. She hadn't even heard him mention that he doubted she would be willing to pay the price required or that there even was one. She crawled from the wreckage and hurriedly yelled at him "Well do it then! If you can bring him back do it don't just say you can!" her eyes watery from her tears still.

She didn't care what happened she just wanted him back, she loved him so much and she did not want to lose him.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

The pain and anguish in her eyes sent a shiver of pleasure up his spine as he looked down upon her, watching the tears well up in her eyes as a grin slid across his face. He could taste her desperation as it filled the air between them, and it was sweet upon his tongue as honey and wine. “Now now, patience, my pet. It is not as simple as all that, as surely you must know. A life cannot be restored by a snap of the fingers or a few quickly whispered words. Were it so, surely you people would have already figured out the way of it and my services would no longer be required.” Another chuckle rang through the air between them as he reached down and stroked a long, clawed finger across her cheek, crooking it under her chin and drawing her gaze up to his.

“Before you rage too heartily at me, know that it can in fact be done, but the price is steep and the bargain, once made, cannot be broken. It shall be your life for his, though you shall remain living, of course. I am not a monster such as that to take you bodily from him. You will, however, belong to me.” Gazing down into her eyes, the fire flared up in his, and he grinned wider still. The determination in her eyes was plain, as was her resolve, but still he was bound by the rules to explain in full before an agreement could be struck and finalized.

“You shall be bound to me, beck and call, as it were, though the rest of your time shall be your own. If you so understand, and choose to continue, give me your hand and we shall see about restoring your precious love to you…” A harsh wind had begun to whip through the trees, lashing branch against trunk and sending leaves plunging through the air to mingle with the rain. He had never liked the rain, though the cold of it didn’t bother him. It was the relentlessness of it that annoyed him, rather; the way it continued on and on endlessly upon its own whim with little regard for those upon whom it fell. He would have much rather preferred to have been someplace warm and dry, and he would make sure the next time they met it would be as such, for he was sure at that point that they would see each other again.

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona stared at him listening to what he said thinking that the deal didn't seem too bad, what harm could come of it compared to having her beloved Rick back. She shivered from the rain and cold surrounding her and held out her hand to this creature. "Please return my Rick to me. I will abide by the required rules just please bring him back. I can't live without him!" she said hurriedly not thinking about the implications of what she was agreeing to would be.

All Fiona wanted was to have him back and for them to be home warm safe and sound though how they would get home with the car all mangled when they were in the middle of this forest was beyond her, Rick would know he was good at directions and general survival type things. He was always the one looking after her.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

He couldn’t help but chuckle as she held out her hand and beseeched him to return her precious man to life. Mortals were always the same, never thinking things through, never truly comprehending what it was they were signing away, but she would understand soon enough… The thought sent a shiver of mixed excitement and pleasure through him and his clawed fingers slowly closed about her hand, drawing it up towards his face as he planted a small, warm kiss upon the back of it before letting it drop and gazing into her eyes. “Very well, poppet, as you wish. He shall be returned to you, and you both shall be delivered safely from this place… But know this! You are now mine, from this moment, now and forever. When I come for you, and I shall, you are to do my bidding and mine alone until the day I release you…” Assuming that ever comes… He didn’t add the last verbally, as it didn’t need stating.

Gazing down into her eyes, he grinned, eyes glowing brighter and brighter as he held her there, the atmosphere around them beginning to warm, slowly at first, but growing hotter and brighter by the moment until rain began to sizzle on his bare skin, steam rising and wafting away through the darkness on the night breeze.

*******​

Rick pulled into his accustomed parking space, shut off the car’s headlights and killed the idle, turning to Fiona and giving her a warm smile. “Home again!” he called happily, leaning in and giving her a warm kiss before sliding out of the car. It shut with a satisfying clank and he proceeded around to open her door for her as he did every time, reaching in to take her hand. “Brrr… Cold tonight! What say we get inside and find some way of helping warm each other up?” Leaning in, he raised his eyebrows suggestively, gave her a big grin and a bite on the neck before pulling her from the car and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Sound like a good end to the day?”

He slowly made his way up towards the front door, arm still coiled tightly around her as he fed the key into the lock and they proceeded inside. “Hard to believe that rain earlier. It just kinda came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Still, we made it home safe and sound, so I suppose there’s no real harm in it. Bit of an odd drive through the forest though, I wasn’t really expecting that detour. Still…” Turning to favor her with a warm smile, he clutched her tight with both hands, leaning in and kissing her neck softly, “I’m glad I had you with me. Don’t know what I would have done without you. Today simply wouldn’t have been the same, it goes without saying, but that drive home would have been a killer!” He let out a short, sharp laugh, hugging her tight. “Now, how about we get out of these cold clothes and head off to bed where it’s nice and warm, hmm?”

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona felt a little dazed as they were suddenly in the car as if nothing had happened pulling up home. She squeezed his hand tightly sighing in relief and so happy she had him back but he seemed utterly clueless as to what had happened, she didn't want to ruin his excitement but found it hard to just ignore what she knew had just occurred.

Fiona wrapped her arms tight around him and kissed him hard on the lips after saying "I couldn't live without you Rick." and nodded clinging tightly to him trying to use her unease about what had happened as just that the drive home had been so edgy she needed to be close to him hoping he wouldn't think it wierd.

 

[TheVoiceWithout]

Rick clung tightly to Fiona as they made their way through the home, a little confused at how she seemed to keep hold of him, almost constantly, but happy for the affection just the same. An odd thought crept into his head, a déjà vu of sorts… He remembered this strange turn off and detour during their drive home, which wouldn’t normally have been there. Then there was the rain, which had seemed much harder and colder than it should have been, even for the time of year. It wasn’t until he began trying to recall their drive through the forest, though, that it happened. Rick remembered something big and black, or was it red? There had been this horrible feeling of being thrown end over end, like one of those old carnival rides, and searing pain, too. But then, he couldn’t remember where or when it might have happened, as the entire drive had been mostly smooth, only one little slip in the forest due to the wet roads. He shrugged and passed it off as nothing, moving into the bedroom with Fiona to change into something a bit warmer and more comfortable.

His head had begun to hurt somewhere a little while back, and the dull throb in his temples was starting to make him a little woozy. Still, it wasn’t until they’d been home for an hour perhaps that it grew worse, and by then they were already settled in and the ‘dual memories’ had begun to fade. Pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, he gave Fiona his warmest smile and a kiss before looking towards the bed and saying, “I think I might head off to bed. I’ve got this weird headache that just won’t leave. I guess it was just all the excitement today. Gotta crash sooner or later, I suppose. How are you doing, though?” Rick was still a little concerned, as she’d seemed to be on edge since the drive through the woods, but he knew she would tell him if something were bothering her so passed it off as his own reading too much into things. “You feel like comin’ to bed, too? It’s still a little early, so I don’t blame you at all if you feel like stayin’ up.” He gave her a hug and squeezed her tight, pushing the pain of the headache from his mind.

 

[sexygoth87]

Fiona was concerned when he mentioned a headache and said "I'm ok, I'll join you how bad is the headache darling?" and gently ran her hand over his forehead massaging it gently for him concerned he may be suffering effects from the crash even though he had been spared. Maybe she had been hoping too much that he wouldn't be in pain from the crash even so. She was doing her best to hide her unease about everything that had happened in the woods not wanting to worry him with it unless she had to.

Fiona hugged him tight and suggested a nice relaxing warm bath to relax his muscles first thinking it may help.