Gwen Carter felt sad. She stared out the window at her dear friend Ian, who was decaying. His face was now a skull, with dark holes for eyes. She peered in closer and saw that brown liquid seeped from Ian's eyeholes. She knew these were his deathly tears. He turned from her gaze, as if to hide his death distress from her. She watched as he disappeared into the darkness, alone and shambolic.
She lay on her bed and curled into a tight fetal position. She missed Harry's presence. She yearned for the safety of his sanity in the insane institution – which was no place for her sound state of mind.
Sleep eluded Gwen. Every time she felt herself drift off, she was jolted back to full wakefulness by the invasive screams of a disturbed mind.
She gave up trying to sleep. Instead, she sat up and began to think – 'there had to be away to reverse Harry's deal with the dark side?' If there was, Gwen was determined to find it.
###
At home, Harry lay in bed, unable to sleep. The enormity of what he'd done hit him hard, and he was in a kind of delayed shock.
He gave up on sleep. He sat up and thought – 'there has to be a way of reversing this deal?' He willed the morning to come. He longed to visit Gwen, because he knew she'd have some idea of how he could reverse his dodgy decision made in foolish haste.
###
The breakfast alarm jolted Gwen awake. She was groggy and disorientated, having only had a few hours sleep.
In the communal bathroom she splashed freezing cold water on her face in an effort to shock herself to full alertness. It kind of worked; as she felt vaguely human as she made her way to the breakfast room.
"Gwen, come and join us!" Shouted Beth, who was sitting with her friend Tina.
Gwen spooned some cereal into a bowl, grabbed a carton of milk and ambled over to the two girls, who were both hand hugging hot cups of water with a single slice of lemon.
Beth was cheerful and chatty, while Tina was quiet and morose. As Gwen poured milk over her cereal, she wondered why the girls were in a Mental Institute; yet she didn't feel close enough to ask them such a personal question, not yet.
However, when Beth picked up the milk carton and asked with abject horror, "Gwen, do you know that this is full fat milk?" Gwen had an inkling of what their problem might be.
Gwen, with her mouthful of milky cereal nodded her yes. And when both girls watched her devour the milk infused grainy granola, with looks of disgust on their faces; Gwen guessed what their problem was. But she made a conscience decision not to mention it, since she didn't want to trigger any other disorders that they may be suffering from.
Gwen noted the relief on their faces when she finally finished the cereal. They both breathed a sigh; and Beth asked, "Is your friend coming to see you today?"
Gwen shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."
Beth looked bewildered, "How can you not know? He must have said when he was next coming to see you, like friends do," she said.
Gwen reflected back a few hours, she recalled how Harry had left with the man. She was upset, he didn't even say goodbye. In fact, Gwen wasn't sure if Harry would ever come back to visit her. And that thought upset her.
###
Harry jumped in the shower and braved an icy blast in order to shock his system and give him some much-needed energy.
He grabbed a banana from the fruit basket and a breakfast bar from the bread bin. Then he left his house, en-route to the young person's Mental Health Institute.
###
He arrived just in time for the after breakfast visiting hour. The plump lady checked him in, "Can I have a private word with you, Harry?" She asked.
"Course you can, is there a problem?" He answered, suddenly concerned.
She smiled warmly, "Let's just say, we try to pre-empt any problems, before they might arise," she said, taking him into a side room.
"Take a seat," she said. Harry's worry grew, he wondered if they'd discovered that he'd snuck into Gwen's room the night before. But her warm smile reassured him, "I'll cut to the chase Harry; you're a very good looking lad." She placed her hands on the plastic tabletop and leaned in a little closer, "And we have vulnerable young girls in here; we've heard a few already mentioning your name in 'fancying' terms." Her face grew serious, "I need to ask you to try and not engage too much with any of the girls other than Gwen; we don't want any of them getting attached." Her face lightened again, "Do you understand?" She asked.
Harry smiled, "Yes, I do," he said, feeling quite flattered, actually.
###
When Gwen saw Harry walk into the visiting area, her fatigue fell away and she found a thumping energy, "Harry!" She beamed. Her presence had the same effect on Harry, he felt happy and suddenly shiny, "Hi Gwen!" He glowed.
They slammed together with a magnetic force.
Beth noticed the prolong in their hug and felt a rising anger. As far as she was concerned, she'd been lied too, and that was out of order.
She approached them both, still entwined in a tight embrace, "Excuse me Gwen, but I thought you didn't fancy him," she said. Gwen looked over Harry's shoulder and caught Beth's angry eye, "You're practically devouring him, like he's food," she observed.
Harry immediately knew who it was, and he remembered the plump lady's advice. He removed himself from Gwen and turned to Beth, "I love seeing my cousin; and we've got family stuff to talk about," he lied.
The lie worked, Beth softened, "You're cousins, that explains a lot." She smiled, "Hey Harry, don't forget that game of pool you promised me," she said. Harry nodded, "Yep, later, after I've chatted with my cuz," he said. Beth's big eyes beamed, "Well, I'll leave you relatives alone to relate; catch you later Harry," she said.
Harry returned a wide-eyed smile, "Yep, catch you later Beth," he said, suddenly forgetting the plump lady's advice.
###
Gwen and Harry talked non-stop. The topic of conversation was how Harry could get out of his soul-selling-deal.
After 45 minutes of constant brainstorming they had drawn a blank. Harry was defeatist, "I'll have to go with it, live with my mistake and its consequences," he conceded.
Gwen was defiant, "No Harry, there has to be a way out of this!" She looked at the clock, "We've got fifteen minutes of visiting time to think of something," she said, optimistically.
Harry's head slumped, he felt defeated and despondent. He knew he'd never be free to love Gwen – that was the deal.
Gwen run her hand through his hair, "Don't give up on lasting love, Harry," she said.
That's when the man came bounding into the visiting room; with less than ten minutes of visiting time left.
He was full of professional ebullience, "Harry, Gwen, we need to talk." He glanced at the clock as he sat down in front of them both, "But we've only got five minutes."
Gwen cut to it, "Can Harry get out of the deal?"
"Yes." He answered.
"How?" Asked Harry.
The man glanced behind him, then back to Gwen and Harry. He lowered his voice and smiled at Harry, "By becoming a Slicer, like me," he said.
Gwen sat up, "So if Harry slices some one's throat, his deal will be reversed?" She asked.
"Correct!" Said the man. He looked back over his shoulder and stared at Beth and Tina, playing pool. Then he turned his focus back to Harry, "There's some kids in here who've been net-surfing some weird shit."
The man turned around again, just as Beth potted a winning ball. With Beth's triumphant cheer ringing in their ears, the man drew his hand across his throat, "And she wants fame," he said.
He patted Harry's knee, "Your second audition's coming up in two days, if you want out of the deal – think about becoming a slicer," he said, with a nefarious wink, and a nod towards Beth...
