Midnight Playground

Chapter 3

The sunlight glittered down through the trees in vast rays, seeping elegantly between the gaps in the leaves. The grass swayed in the direction of the light refreshing breeze that licked the sweat from her neck. Cassie leant back against the bark of the old willow tree in the garden, her cheeks flushed with colour. Despite lounging in the cooling shade, she couldn't escape the fiery kisses of the midday sun that continued to suck her dry of energy. She rested her head back, the fringe of her hair tickling gently against her forehead, the wind flicking it to the side. Even with her eyes closed, the light seemed almost blinding to her and her eyelids scrunched up in an effort to avoid it. It was days like this she would miss, she thought to herself, tapping her fingers on the book that she had laid down by the side of her. At first she had attempted to read it but soon enough the heat had gotten to her and that idea had died quickly in her mind.  

She shuffled herself awkwardly, feeling the stiff ridges of the tree bark stab into her side. She hated feeling like this. She felt sticky to the touch and every move that she made felt increasingly heavy and frustrating. She pulled on the collar of her shirt, half expecting a thin veil of steam to float in front of her face. Thankfully, it didn't but that didn't lessen the uncomfortable feeling either. Her clothes felt soggy and damp against her skin that was changing into a paler shade of grey by the minute. She fluttered her eyes open and steadied her gaze on the front door of the house. She longed to go back inside. The heat was too much for her to handle and she wasn't really in the mood to be outside.  

"That's some face you have there." A voice rumbled from beside her, pulling her attention towards him. It was Luther, sitting just a little ways from her in usual reading pose. "You're annoying me." He muttered, his eyes never leaving the words of the page. She smiled awkwardly and reverted to look back at the house, glancing behind the demon Kayne who was in the midst of showing off his football skills to the other clients as they cooed and cheered over him. As always, he was so popular with them. For a while, she watched them play, almost enviously. They all acted so carefree, even whilst knowing the future. She admired their optimism and ability to get on with life. Perhaps if the demons had been cruel and cold, then surely their spirits too, would have been dampened. But the demons were not malicious. They were gentle on the surface and maybe caring underneath. She hated the fact that she couldn't hate them. She could detest their existence as demons but she couldn't seem to despise them. It sucked but she figured that she would eventually be able to get over it, when the time was right. Once her wish was fulfilled, she would thank them - it was common courtesy and they didn't deserve to be treated with disrespect.

Her mind was weighed down today by many conflicting emotions. On the one hand, she was relieved about what she had heard last night and on the other, it was...unbelievable. She had lived in the house with them for so long already, that even whilst knowing what was going to happen, her mind couldn't process the possibility that it was ending. She hadn't been able to sleep much that night. Her mind was crumbling with thoughts of what was to come and the friend that she would never be able to meet again, without being able to tell him why. He had been a comfort to her over the last two years, and she had hoped that she had been the same to him since his life at home had been fairly rough and rocky before he had moved into the university dorms. He would probably hate her if she left him without saying goodbye...She shook her head to shake off her current trail of negativity. She still had 3 months left! Enough time to wrap things up with him and wrestle against her resolve to fight her fate. Her heart jostled around in her chest, unsure of how to feel. It was hard to admit that she was actually feeling quite scared of the impending time to come, more so the act than the result. She had heard the blood-curdling cries of many other girls that came before her, the ones that never returned after the contract was complete. It had been the different sort of screams to the ones that she normally heard echo through the house at night. She had spent many nights curled up under her bed, out of sight. If the seemingly kind hearted and gentle Luther and Kayne could inflict such agony upon others, she shuddered at the thought of what her own cold and distant contractor could do. It was doubtful that this would end mercifully.