A Pact for Eternity

No Going Back Now

Finn had to steady me as I got up. My legs hadn't been used in awhile. I had been gone for longer than I thought. Finn told me it took two weeks for me to come back. It's upsetting to know you have lost that much time. Although, lost time didn't seem like it would be a problem for me anymore.

I batted Finn away when he tried to help me. My body still felt off. Almost like I had been crammed into too small of a box. Operating my legs and arms felt awkward. It was like I was a stranger in my own skin.

Finn opened the door of the room and I instantly knew why the room had looked familiar. At the top of the staircase there was a large window that looked over trees and rolling foothills. A silver light fixture hung from the high ceiling, casting a shadow on the floor below. The white plaster of the handrail spiraled down toward the bottom along with the steps. Finn and I used to slide down that handrail. It was Finn's vacation house in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Quite a far way from North Carolina.

The Lancaster's aren't exactly rich. They have a vacation house because someone in their family died. I guess not all of them are immortal. Back in North Carolina, their house is just normal. Marion is a nurse and Thomas has a guitar shop and works a few side jobs. When I was younger, I saw them as rich. Especially coming from a cramped one bedroom apartment.

I walked down the staircase with Finn behind me. This place is full of memories of the many winter breaks I spent here when I was younger. Hot chocolate till i felt like I was going to throw up, sleighing down some dangerously steep hills, reading book after book sitting by the window at the top of the stairs, and really good french toast and potato soup. It was weird to see the place without the gloom of winter surrounding it. It was also weird to think about how oblivious I was about the Lancasters for all those years.

When we got down to the bottom of the stairs I felt an awful wave of stomach cramps sweep through me. I couldn't hide this one from Finn. I grabbed the white railing and used it to lean against as I hoped the pain would stop. Tears stung at my eyes until I forced myself to blink them away. The pain lessened, but Finn had already seen me.

"You'll feel better soon. Just trust me, ok?"

I looked away and said,"Yeah, well all it's going to take is just a bit of O neg.. Right?"

He heard the snark and probably the fear I was trying to cover up. Stepping ahead, he stopped me from walking on into the dimly lit living room.

"It won't be that bad. Get it over with the first time and you won't get nervous about it ever again."

"I really don't think I am going to be able to do it." I couldn't believe what I was talking about. I was literally debating cannibalism.

"I am not letting you go insane. If I have to, I will force it down your throat.In all honesty though, you aren't going to have enough self control to even want to stop from downing pint after pint. Sorry, but you can't go back now."

I was surprised at how brutal his comeback to that was. We'd been in fights before, but this seemed much more serious. Then I realized what it was. He was afraid that I might actually not go through with it. From what I could gather, if I did go insane then I would probably have to be killed. Finn was hinting at it, but he never said it outright. He was trying to make sure I didn't actually die this time. No wonder he was so on edge.

I didn't want to argue with him. I was going to do it. Become what I never would have believed was possible. My life wasn't amazing before, but at least it didn't involve me being a literal monster. I guess that's just the cost of not wanting to die, leave your friend to mourn you, or your mother not knowing that you were dead.