Deal With The Devil

Prologue - Gone again

It was quiet.
Not a normal, everyone is still asleep quiet.
It was the kind of eerie quiet that could be associated with an incredibly empty house. The scariest part wasn't even the fact that the house had 2 stories complete with attic and basement. Or the darkness that shrouded every room in the early hours of the morning. It wasn't even the soft scratching of the pine trees on the window or the creek of the downstairs bathroom door.

It was the fact that she was uses to it.

Susan Hale simply released a heavy sighed into the cool air of her bedroom before rolling out of bed. Pulling her mess of black hair into a pony, Susan grabbed her blanket and quickly made her way down the oak stairs, barely noticing any of the creaking. She continued through the grand house before entering the large living room and making her way to the fire place. Once she had managed to get a fire going, she dragged the most padded arm chair that had been her grandfather's favourite nearer to the fire place and snuggled into her blanket as the warmth from the flames seeped into the room. The well furnished living room glowed comfortingly with a warm, golden light.

The 17 year old released another sigh. It was lower and slower than the first, almost a sigh of comfort, but still exasperated somehow. Susan didn't pay any attention to the sounds and darkness around her. She didn't even flinch when, somewhere outside, a large SNAP! rang through the door and window pane. She payed no need to the shadows of willowy branches and flitting birds. Susan had grown accustomed to it all a long time ago. She wasn't even surprised at the little envelope lying on the table with her name on it.

For as long as she could remember, Susan's parents were never really around. They were always heading out on business trips that took anything from a few days to 2 months at a time. When she was younger they would leave her with a relative (mostly her aunt Cassandra) or a nanny but as soon as she had hit 15 they decided she was old enough to stay home on her own. The maid would flit in and out of the house once or twice a week and the gardener would wander about the yard whenever he felt like it but otherwise she was alone.
Lots of people would think it was fun hanging around with aunts, uncles and cousins but Susan couldn't really remember the last time she had actually enjoyed her stay at her only aunt's house.
Her aunt, a chef, had a daughter named Brittany that was 2 years older than Susan herself was and she was their little princess. So naturally she was spoiled and Susan was in the way. The only thing Susan could honestly say she enjoyed were the times her aunt had taught her to cook.
Susan's only set of grandparents were only around when she was very little as they had passed away when she was 6. The next 9 years or so had been spent at the mercy of her bully of a cousin and the aunt that just tolerated her presence because she owed Susan's parents money for helping her set-up her restaurant. It was sad that her mother's sister cared so little but Susan had drawn the conclusion that it was normal. After all, she herself was in this overly large house alone for most of her life.

Her parents had gotten home from one trip not 2 days ago and now, in the dead of night and (as usual) without a direct word to her, they were gone again. When she was very little, Susan used to think that they were running  away from her. After all, who leaves their child alone that  often? No doubt they were already boarding a plane or ship to go somewhere else in the world. They had gone out like that so many times that the girl wouldn't have been surprised if they had already toured the entire world. Of course they always said that it was a business trip but the delays were long and the stays were short. It was also difficult to imagine them not having fun sometimes because there's no humane way that they were working every second of the days they were gone.

Susan bit her bottom lip, contemplating whether or not she actually wanted to know what they had written in that note. Deciding that she should at least open it, Susan reached for the envelope, the ink glistening gently in the light made her wander not for the first time what kind of pen her parents used to leave her letters. Even the notes and postcards were written in the same kind of calligraphic manner. Tucking herself back into the blanket, she opened the letter.

Dearest Susan

We are so very sorry for leaving suddenly in the dead of night. We hope you won't be too mad at us for not saying goodbye but a sudden work emergency came up and requires our immediate attention.
Allowance is -

Susan folded the letter back up and just settled back into her chair. Well, she had opened it. The rest of the note no doubt continued in the same fashion as all the others had.
Resisting the strong urge to throw the page into the fire, Susan pulled out the drawer in the coffee table with her foot and chucked the letter in with the rest of the letters she had received before kicking it closed again. All the letters had the same pattern: Apology, excuse, allowance, expected return, followed by reminder to do my homework before saying they love me.

Susan checked the clock hanging on the wall between the dining room and lounge before yawning. It was still only 3am and she was tired. Too comfortable to go back to her room, Susan simply pushed herself deeper into the blanket and fell off to sleep.