One Life for Another

Part Two

“No, but I can help you.”

Louis narrows his eyes at the gorgeous women, her smirk lighting up her entire face. He can’t seem to look away from the darkness of her eyes, especially the ring of red that seems to brighten every passing second.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Louis’ voice shakes and he isn’t sure why, but he’s intimidated by this women. The fierceness of her gaze cuts a hole through him. Maybe it’s those haunting eyes, or the sharpness of her jaw, or the fact that her smile is almost evil, but Louis has an awful feeling about this stunningly gorgeous woman.

“You don’t need any kind of help, Louis?” He’s taken aback. How does she know my name? He expresses this to her and her laugh is eerie, a loud and disturbing sound that rings through his ears long after she’s done. Her hand finds its way to his cheek and she runs her fingers along the skin, leaving a trail of fire under her fingertips. A long chill runs down Louis’ spine as he meets her eyes again. Something is definitely not right.

“Let’s not play dumb, sweetheart. I know about Harry.” Louis’ eyes widen and he swears his heart stops.

“How do you know -- ˮ

“It doesn’t matter. He needs help, right? A miracle?”

Louis stares at her, his mind going a thousand miles a minute. How does she know his name, or Harry’s? How does she know that he’s sick and that Louis has spent the entire day praying for a miracle? His head throbs behind his eyes; he’s so confused he feels like he could be sick. Nothing makes sense. Who is this mysterious woman and how does she know everything about Louis’ life? As he stares back up at her, her perfectly defined eyebrow is raised slightly, waiting for an answer.

“Look,” says Louis, “I don’t know how you know about me or Harry, or the fact that he’s sick, but I don’t think you can help. There’s no cure for him and he’s going to die unless we stumble across a miracle.” Louis’ cheeks are stained with tears as he mutters his last few words.

She smiles and takes his hand, intertwining their fingers. Louis’ shivers at the bitter cold of her fingers, and he wonders why she’s freezing. The bar is fairly warm and it’s August; there’s no reason for her hands to feel like ice. She meets his eyes and Louis gasps; her irises are completely red now, no sign of brown or black to be seen. He blinks and then it’s gone, her eyes back to their haunting black. I’m going crazy, Louis thinks. The women’s eyes couldn’t have changed color, especially that quickly… right?

“I can offer you a miracle, Louis.” He snorts at her words and rolls his eyes.

“Don’t bullshit me, lady.”

A sharp sting and the sound of skin on skin rings through Louis’ body as her hand connects with his cheek. His mouth drops open and he rounds on her, grabbing her hand in mid-air as she tries to slap him again. He meets her gaze, and her glare is disturbing, a rage behind her eyes that instantly makes Louis let her go.

“I can save your love’s life, and you choose to mock me? You’re foolish, Tomlinson.” Her words are dripping with sickly venom that turns Louis’ stomach. But she said she could save Harry’s life, and this ignites a spark in him, a fire that starts to warm the bitter cold that has been embedded in him for so long.

“How can you save Harry?” Louis’ voice gives an embarrassing crack when he says Harry’s name, but the woman’s face starts to brighten again. She places her hands on Louis’ chest, her nails racking down the fabric and pulling the cotton. When she meets his eyes again, her irises are the overpowering red again and Louis has to hold his breath to stop from screaming.

“I can cure Harry, rid him of every cancer cell in his body. But, only if we can make a deal.”

“What do you want? I’ll give you anything.” Louis clutches her hands in his, gripping her as tightly as possible. She smiles wider and the word she says takes Louis by surprise.

“You.”

“Me? I don’t understand -- ˮ

“I’ll save Harry, and I’ll even give you five years to spend with him. But when those five years are up, I want you. I want your soul in exchange for saving Harry from death.”

Louis’ brain starts to spin, confusion swimming through him. His soul? How was he supposed to give that to her? Nothing makes sense and Louis can feel a migraine starting to build behind his eyes. He looks back at her and she, once again, has her eyebrow cocked, waiting for his answer.

“What do you mean by ‘you want my soul’? How am I supposed to just give it to you?” Her laugh pierces through Louis like the sharpest knife and he feels queasy.

“Let’s just say I’ll take you somewhere special.” She looks like she could burst into cackles any second and it makes Louis snap, anger ripping through every part of his body. All he sees is red, like there’s a giant sheet draped over his eyes and he rounds on her, so close to her that he can see every perfect detail of her face.

“Harry is going to die and you’re mocking me, making up some shit about saving his life? You’re crazy! Who do you think you are?” Her smile only grows wider as he screams in her face and Louis feels like he could rip out her hair, strand by strand.

“Who else could save poor Harry’s life? Who else could cure Harry of an incurable disease?”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re God?”

Her smile is sickening as she touches his face, her nails digging in the skin of his cheek.

“You could say I’m a friend of his.”

Louis just stares at her until the thought smacks his brain, almost knocking him over. Making deals, saving Harry’s life, trading it all for his soul, the piercing red eyes… it all suddenly makes sense. His heart picks up rapid time in his chest as he stares into the face of the devil herself.

“So do we have a deal, Louis?”

He runs it over in his head a thousand times over. She could cure Harry forever and keep him alive so he can die much later, peaceful and less painful. She’ll even give him five more years with Harry to cherish every last second he has left before she takes him. He shudders when he thinks of spending forever trapped in hell without Harry, in the fiery depths he’s only ever dreamt of. But when he remembers Harry’s bright shining face smiling down at him, his hot breath on his neck when they make love, and the beautiful shade of jade of his eyes, he knows he would do anything to save Harry’s life, even selling his soul to the devil herself.

“Yes.”

She smiles at him and walks closer, placing her hands on his face and bringing him down to kiss him. The kiss is deep and heated, her tongue sliding into his mouth and tasting every inch of him before pulling away. Her irises are back to their haunting shade of black and that alone sends a shiver down the back of Louis’ neck.

“See you soon, Louis.”