A Heartless Deal
Skeletal hands grip a bright red, bleeding, beating heart. A voice, sweet as sugar and cold as December, whispers something in my ear.
"Do you want this heart?"
Fear wraps itself around my soul, squeezing painfully. What were the specifics of this contract again? What was the deal? I tremble and shake like a sapling in the wind.
"Do you want this heart?"
My lips move, but no words come out. Why can't I respond? Those skeletal hands squeeze the heart, eliciting a gasp of pain. Impatient, the voice speaks a little louder.
"Do you want this heart?"
I hear the words for what they are, but for some reason they translate into white noise in my mind.
"Do you want this heart?" The voice asks again, those skeletal hands gripping and squeezing the heart so that pained gasps emerge from the darkness.
"I... I don't know." I say hesitantly, licking my lips nervously. "Wh-what happens if I say no?"
"He will go back to living a normal life and forget that any of this happened."
"A-and if I say yes?" I feared the answer I knew was coming, but yet something in me demanded I ask.
"He will love only you. He will be completely devoted to you." The heart skipped a couple of beats at those words.
"Is there something else that you aren't telling me?" I knew there was, but I wanted to hear the voice say it.
"Yes."
"What?" Fear, always there and always waiting, wrapped itself tighter around my soul.
"He will be devoid of all emotion." That voice, cold as December and sweet as sugar, couldn't have said anything worse. I knew now, remembered the specifics of the contract. His undying love for me in exchange for my soul. But could I really do this to him? To myself? Give up my soul for his heart? Could I stand to be around him after his emotions were removed?
"Do you want this heart?"
"No." I answered, now sure of what I needed to do. "Give his heart back to him. I can stand being ignored by him. Yes, I will be sad that he won't notice and love me as I love and notice him, but that is fine. I can endure it until the day we will never have to see each other again. So give his heart back to him."
"Are you certain about this?"
"Yes." As the word leaves my mouth, my vision starts to fade and a scream tears the air as the heart is put back into his chest. He will never remember any of this and he will never notice me. A single wet tear traces its way down my chin as this thought crosses my mind. But that is alright, I will just love him from afar.
"Do you want this heart?"
Fear wraps itself around my soul, squeezing painfully. What were the specifics of this contract again? What was the deal? I tremble and shake like a sapling in the wind.
"Do you want this heart?"
My lips move, but no words come out. Why can't I respond? Those skeletal hands squeeze the heart, eliciting a gasp of pain. Impatient, the voice speaks a little louder.
"Do you want this heart?"
I hear the words for what they are, but for some reason they translate into white noise in my mind.
"Do you want this heart?" The voice asks again, those skeletal hands gripping and squeezing the heart so that pained gasps emerge from the darkness.
"I... I don't know." I say hesitantly, licking my lips nervously. "Wh-what happens if I say no?"
"He will go back to living a normal life and forget that any of this happened."
"A-and if I say yes?" I feared the answer I knew was coming, but yet something in me demanded I ask.
"He will love only you. He will be completely devoted to you." The heart skipped a couple of beats at those words.
"Is there something else that you aren't telling me?" I knew there was, but I wanted to hear the voice say it.
"Yes."
"What?" Fear, always there and always waiting, wrapped itself tighter around my soul.
"He will be devoid of all emotion." That voice, cold as December and sweet as sugar, couldn't have said anything worse. I knew now, remembered the specifics of the contract. His undying love for me in exchange for my soul. But could I really do this to him? To myself? Give up my soul for his heart? Could I stand to be around him after his emotions were removed?
"Do you want this heart?"
"No." I answered, now sure of what I needed to do. "Give his heart back to him. I can stand being ignored by him. Yes, I will be sad that he won't notice and love me as I love and notice him, but that is fine. I can endure it until the day we will never have to see each other again. So give his heart back to him."
"Are you certain about this?"
"Yes." As the word leaves my mouth, my vision starts to fade and a scream tears the air as the heart is put back into his chest. He will never remember any of this and he will never notice me. A single wet tear traces its way down my chin as this thought crosses my mind. But that is alright, I will just love him from afar.
12:09 pm, Lunch Period
I see him across the crowded cafeteria, surrounded as he usually is by a gaggle of giggling girls. And of course he looks as happy as he usually does. Smiling and laughing at their jokes and generally flirting with them. But then, he looks up, at me, as if he senses my eyes on him. I gasp when his eyes find me and quickly duck my head behind a book, trying to look like I wasn't just staring dreamily at him.
Nervous and a little bit scared, I stare at the book in my hands, trying my best to focus on the words. But its no use and the words just blur into meaningless babble before my eyes. Millions of thoughts race through my mind and the noise of the busy cafeteria builds into a crescendo until finally, one voice breaks through all the noise.
"Hey, what are you reading?" The voice is soft, light, and most definitely male. Oh no! Had he come over to ask me why I'd been staring at him?! Nervous, I look up from my book, afraid I'd see his brilliant blue eyes boring into my own. But what I saw were a pair of chocolate brown irises, studying the top of my head.
"I... I..." I stutter and fumble for words, very confused as to who this man is. Why was he talking to me? He was cute with his mop of blonde hair, light skin and chocolate brown eyes. And cute boys didn't talk to girls like me. Nervous, fidgety, overly-cautious and generally antisocial. "I'm reading Clive Barker's Abarat." I murmur, averting my eyes and fidgeting nervously in my seat.
"Nice. What's it about?" He asks, sitting down beside me and leaning in close to get a look at my book. "My name's Carl by the way." He adds, glancing at me with a friendly smile and holding a hand out in offer of a hand shake.
I smile back and release one side of my book and shake his outstretched hand. "Taylor." I say softly, still nervous but slowly starting to warm up to this stranger that had just walked into my life.
"Pleasure to meet you Taylor, I hope we can be wonderful friends." His smile widens as he shakes my hand and stares into my eyes, and I blush slightly, wondering what he's thinking. "I'm new in town, maybe you can show me around sometime."
"Sure," I answer, briefly wondering what my blue-eyed crush is up to before Carl grabs my attention again. I laugh as he starts to tell me about previous schools he's gone to and things he's gotten into. As we talk and share stories, I start to think, that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I gave up that contract.
I see him across the crowded cafeteria, surrounded as he usually is by a gaggle of giggling girls. And of course he looks as happy as he usually does. Smiling and laughing at their jokes and generally flirting with them. But then, he looks up, at me, as if he senses my eyes on him. I gasp when his eyes find me and quickly duck my head behind a book, trying to look like I wasn't just staring dreamily at him.
Nervous and a little bit scared, I stare at the book in my hands, trying my best to focus on the words. But its no use and the words just blur into meaningless babble before my eyes. Millions of thoughts race through my mind and the noise of the busy cafeteria builds into a crescendo until finally, one voice breaks through all the noise.
"Hey, what are you reading?" The voice is soft, light, and most definitely male. Oh no! Had he come over to ask me why I'd been staring at him?! Nervous, I look up from my book, afraid I'd see his brilliant blue eyes boring into my own. But what I saw were a pair of chocolate brown irises, studying the top of my head.
"I... I..." I stutter and fumble for words, very confused as to who this man is. Why was he talking to me? He was cute with his mop of blonde hair, light skin and chocolate brown eyes. And cute boys didn't talk to girls like me. Nervous, fidgety, overly-cautious and generally antisocial. "I'm reading Clive Barker's Abarat." I murmur, averting my eyes and fidgeting nervously in my seat.
"Nice. What's it about?" He asks, sitting down beside me and leaning in close to get a look at my book. "My name's Carl by the way." He adds, glancing at me with a friendly smile and holding a hand out in offer of a hand shake.
I smile back and release one side of my book and shake his outstretched hand. "Taylor." I say softly, still nervous but slowly starting to warm up to this stranger that had just walked into my life.
"Pleasure to meet you Taylor, I hope we can be wonderful friends." His smile widens as he shakes my hand and stares into my eyes, and I blush slightly, wondering what he's thinking. "I'm new in town, maybe you can show me around sometime."
"Sure," I answer, briefly wondering what my blue-eyed crush is up to before Carl grabs my attention again. I laugh as he starts to tell me about previous schools he's gone to and things he's gotten into. As we talk and share stories, I start to think, that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I gave up that contract.