The pact

Chapter 9

It's still not dawn, and Lucy shivers and pulls the thin jacket closer around her. The park lies deserted and has done so the whole night. She's not sure where in the city she is, she never saw where she was running as she fled from Gullvi's house.

The air is still, and she's doing her best to not let her tired mind linger on what happened last night. Whatever it was, it was real, that much she knows. Even now, when her eyes are closed, she can see hands reaching out for her. Black hands that claw from the darkness. She shakes her head, trying to dispel the vision.

She doesn't want to think about it. And not about Milady, either. She doesn't know who she is, but she's not the person she's said she was. Just like the job she said they would do wasn't real either. It was something else, and Gullvi must have been part of it. Her mind is too tired to stray any deeper. She just knows she wants to leave it as far behind as possible.

Something rustles behind her, and she quickly turns, but it's only a rat finding its way through the dry leaves. She goes back to staring at the dark ground. She should cry, but the tiredness and the numbness from the night stop it, and she's left huddling on the bench. What shall she do now? She can't go back home, even though she wants to. She can't explain what has happened, won't be able to tell her parents about this. But she doesn't know what else. None of the movies she's watched have ended like this.

She sits there until the first rays of sunlight find their way over the grass. She's just about to pick up her backpack and leave for town when she hears,

"There you are."

She turns. Milady is coming towards her, and Lucy grabs her backpack and runs.

"Wait!"

She hears Milady's footsteps quickening behind her, and soon she has caught up with her, and she grabs her arm.

"Wait, Lucy..."

Panting, Milady leans forward, resting her hands on her knees.

"Are... you okay? I didn't see you leaving."

"Leave me alone!"

Lucy pulls away and takes off.

"No, wait! Lucy!"

Milady runs after her, and Lucy's all weak from the night, and she stumbles and falls, grazing her knee. She still lies on the ground as Milady comes up to her.

"Lucy, wait.. Please."

"Leave me alone."

She's too tired to get up.

"Lucy, I'm sorry.."

"We were friends!"

She takes a handful of dirt and throws it at Milady but misses. She backs away anyway.

"Lucy, I'm sorry. Please, come with me. You're not safe here. These things will come after you. "

"No, we were friends! You don't do that to friends!"

And then the tiredness and the shock and the evening catch up with her, and she starts to cry.

"We were friends! What did you do to me? Who are you?"

The rest of her speech becomes a blur as she sobs on the ground.

"Lucy, please. Come with me, I'll explain. But you can't stay here."

"Leave me alone."

Milady sighs.

"I... just needed someone. And you were there."