Death and Stars

Chapter Four

The air seemed thicker in the pub, it was like the walls were sweating onto us the smoke and alcohol of travellers here and gone. I had the urge to hold my breath and refuse to breath in the air that had touched the tobacco stained teeth of the greasy man stood next to me. He stared at me with his one good eye and I smiled back trying to edge away as casually as I could. Chris led me away from the bar balancing packets of crisps on two jugs of beer. The glasses had begun to sweat with condensation as soon as the thick air hit them. We weaved through bikers, hunters, people who I presumed were lost, and slid into a worn booth. The leather was peeling away to reveal the matted fabric underneath and the wooden table was sticky with drink. Chris sat across from me with his elbows on the table and hands under his chin in a fist.

“So what game shall we play tonight, my love?”

Every couple has their rituals, things they always have done or things they have just started doing, our ritual was playing competitive games every time we went out. We had always done it and we would continue to do despite the hardships we faced. Silly as it may seem, it was our boat in an ever roaring see. “Tonight” I said leaning in “we play the number game. Men or women, whoever has the most numbers by the end of the night wins.”

“Cheers!” Chris bellowed before chugging down the rest of his beer and leaping up to find his prey.

I stood after him but a wash of weightlessness came over my head and my legs folded back and I fell into my seat. I stared at the ceiling through blurred eyes, I felt sick in my stomach with confusion. I forced myself out and time had slowed. I walked as the pub became silent and eeriness had risen. I watched as women became immobile. The barman smiled at a customer…endlessly, while beer was frozen mid-flow from the spout. I shouted for Chris but my voice was slower than my lips. It came out in three syllables and echoed back to me like I was at the bottom of an abyss. I was lost in time, and I was alone. I sat at a table and waited. My head was pounding, I could feel my pulsating heart in my temples, each beat as anxious as the next.

I felt them before I saw them. The cold crept around me like an old friend. But he was not welcome here. And after the cold, came the possessed. They walked tall and proud like they owned the earth they were banished from. I had seen this demon before, Andrius. He was wearing the same vessel, a 40 year old family man, with cold grey eyes to match the beast that had rendered his mind useless. Andrius came to me with his two hunch men who I did not know or care to know. He stood across from me with an emotionless face but a stance that told me business.

“Long time no see.” I said.

“No time for small talk, honey. I’ve got sinners to slay and souls to claim.” He smiled maliciously and quickly became serious once more. “Listen to me. We haven’t had the time to talk, and now we have but a short amount, so listen. A long time ago your daddy promised his soul to me, and with him topping himself…well it sort of ruined my plan.”

“…Okay” I managed to say as I shifted in my seat.

“Well, Darling I’ve come to collect.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t have your dad’s soul. It’s out of my hands, he killed himself, he detached his earthbound body from his soul himself, and Death isn’t a man you can bribe. Now, that is no good for me. So I will settle for the next best thing, and besides, we both know you’re very valuable. I’m doing you a favour.”

“A favour? You want me to agree to give you possession of my soul and it’s doing me a favour?”

“No? Okay. How about a deal? Yeah we like deals downstairs don’t we boys. Here it is: we weren’t the first and we certainly won’t be the last. You’re wanted. Your soul could be used down stairs, for purposes regarding upstairs. If you catch my drift.”