Sold My Soul

Brian was late. That should have been my first clue that something wasn’t quite right. Then again, not a whole lot was “right” these days.

I think our first mistake was moving here, to California. Huntington Beach to be exact, one of the most expensive places to live in America. Too bad we didn’t know that until six months after we’d moved in.

It got worse when Brian lost his job at the school, teaching a guitar class. There’s nothing quite like a recession to drive people to desperate measures. So, instead of finishing school to become a nurse, I now work as a receptionist at a little yoga studio, and Brian...well, I’m not quite sure what it is he does these days. Whenever I ask, he brushes me off and spends a good chunk of what little money we do have to keep the alcohol cabinet full. I learned pretty quickly to turn a blind eye when he comes home and washes blood off his hands, and throws yet another set of clothes into the trash.

Tonight, I knew something was different. He was never home later than midnight, and it was now a quarter passed two. I was sitting on the couch in our little apartment, mindlessly flipping through the thirty seven channels that cable TV provided us.

“Just wait, Babes.” he had said when we first moved in here. “Soon enough we’ll be living it up in a four story mansion, throwing wild parties with all the famous friends we’ll make.”

Yeah, right.

We had made friends, albeit no famous ones, but I didn’t really care about that. They were the kind of friends you could really count on, which I suppose was the one blessing we had since showing up in Huntington. God knows not much else has gone our way.

I knew most people in my position would have given up awhile ago, but then again I guess I’m not most people. Somehow, I kept hoping that eventually we’d get a break and things could go back to how they used to be, the two of us against the world, rather than most of the time just barely being able to tolerate one another.

A loud knock on the door startled me from my thoughts. Wondering why Brian would bother to knock when I knew he had his keys, I opened the door without checking to see who it was. Mistake number one of the night.

“Hey there, Princess.” a bald man, who appeared to be in his mid thirties, grinned at me, showing an unpleasant set of yellowing teeth. He was dressed all in black, as were the two men behind him, though they had ski masks on as well. A little warning went off in my head, reminding me of all the crime shows I had watched. If they show you their face, you’re going to die.

Regardless of this, it wasn’t any of these three men who gained my immediate attention. It was the fourth member of their party, whom the bald guy was “helping” to stand, with a knife held up to his neck. His hands appeared to be tied behind his back, his mouth was gagged, and a trail of blood ran down his face from a nasty gash in his forehead.

Of course, it just had to be Brian.

“Ain’t ya gonna let us in? Yer man’s lookin’ a little worse fer wear, here.” Baldie grinned, pressing the blade into Brian’s neck a little further, causing a thin trail of blood to run.

One of the other men held up a gun up. “And don’t try any funny business, either. Just go sit down on the couch.”

Feeling like I had to be in some sort of horrible dream, I did as I was told. Baldie roughly threw Brian down beside me while the other two went about pulling the phone cords out of the walls and disconnecting the computer in the corner of the living room.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, pulling the gag from out of Brian’s mouth. Baldie didn’t seem to mind, he was temporarily distracted with Family Guy on the TV.

“Whatever they say, don’t believe them. Don’t listen to them.” he said quietly, but with a sense of urgency I had never heard from him before. With a little shock of panic, I realized he looked scared. No, fucking terrified. That was something I wasn’t used to either, and I didn’t like it at all.

“Don’t worry...” I said, knowing exactly how stupid of a thing that was to say. I pressed a hand against the wound on his head, which was still bleeding. “This looks pretty bad.” I stood up to get a cloth from the kitchen. Mistake number two.

“Ash, don’t -” he was too late with his warning though. How was I supposed to know it was a bad idea? I had never been held hostage before.

“And what the hell do you think you’re doing?” one of the masked men growled, stepping forward and blocking my path.

I wanted to shrink into the floor. “I was just, I mean, Brian’s head...I thought -”

“You thought wrong.” he backhanded me hard across the face, and I immediately tasted blood. “Sit. Down.”

Dazed, I returned to my seat beside Brian. “You okay, Babes?” he asked worriedly.

“She’s gonna be a whole lot less fine in a minute.” Baldie seemed to have decided it was time to get the show on the road. He turned back to us, and the two masked men joined him. “So, Princess, know why yer in this little dilemma?”

I glanced at Brian nervously, who was now staring intently at the floor, before answering. “Um...no?”

“Well, in that case, I guess it’s only fair fer ya to know before we continue.” he gestured to the man on his right. “Care to explain?”

“Mr. Haner here has made some rather...shady career choices in the last few months. Good intentions, from what we could see, only wanted to make sure ends meet for his sweetheart here, and yet...when it came to it, when it really mattered, he wasn’t able to pull it off. He caused us a world of trouble tonight. Again, unintentional I’m sure, but nevertheless, without repercussions, who’s to take us seriously?” he pulled out his gun again.

“I’m not sure I understand...” I said timidly, ready to wake up from this nightmare at any moment now. “Who are you people?”

“It’s of no concern to you, my dear. I’m truly sorry it had to come to this.” he aimed his gun at Brian, who had yet to look up.

“No, don’t!” I yelled, standing up. Mistake number three.

A gunshot echoed loudly through the apartment.