Sold My Soul

The little “holiday” we had arranged to Michigan went off without a hitch, and ended all too soon. Brian had been helping his dad out at his guitar shop, and so we had even been able to make some money. Quitting my job in Huntington on such sort notice hadn’t been such a big deal when we were leaving, but now I would need to find a new one. Unsurprisingly, we had not gone to visit my parents, but that was no huge loss. Brian’s own family had been more than generous with their help and hospitality. As for Brian himself, he seemed to be back to the man I had fallen in love with four years ago. And for awhile, it was almost easy to forget that my boyfriend was working for a demon and that we were on a gang’s hit-list.

We all know that saying, though. All good things must come to an end, and soon enough we were back in California at the John Wayne Airport, waiting for our luggage.

“Matt and Val apparently planned some kind of welcome back party.” Brian said, checking his phone as I watched numerous suitcases go by on the baggage carousels. “Wanna just head straight there? We won’t be able to get keys for the new apartment until tomorrow, anyway.”

“Sure.” Our new apartment that we had picked out online was in the same building as Zack’s. I wasn’t sure if this would turn out to be a good or a bad thing.

There were a lot of people already there by the time we got to Matt and Val’s place. They had quite a nice house, complete with a pool in the backyard. It sounded like everyone was outside, so we headed around to the back.

“YOU’RE HERE!” Someone yelled from my left, and I was suddenly caught in a hug. “I’m so glad to see you!” the girl pulled away and beamed at us, before moving to hug Brian as well. He had a look of utter confusion on his face, and voiced exactly what I had been thinking. “Do we...know you?” he asked, awkwardly patting her on the back.

“Not yet!” she laughed. “But -”

She was cut off as Jimmy was quick to replace her, and he pulled both Brian and I into a hug. “Thank God you’re back.” he sighed dramatically. “I was lost without you. Now wait here!” he ran off into the house.

“Where’s he going?” Brian asked no one in particular as several others came over to greet us.

“Probably going to get Athena.” Val said, giving us both a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Who?”

“His giiiirlfriend.” Matt wiggled his eyebrows and grinned. “Johnny’s the only one without a girl these days.”

“Really?” I asked, giving him a quick hug. “But then that means -”

“It means someone actually likes me!” Zacky yelled, pulling the girl who had hugged us earlier along with him. “This is Ella!”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” I laughed a little. “It’s great you found someone to put up with you, Zack.”

He nodded with fake solemnity. “Yes, yes it is. I am blessed to have someone to have and to hold and to fuck whenever I want and to -”

“Classy as always, Zack.” Brian held back a grin before turning to greet some other people.

“Honesty is the best policy.” Ella called after Brian before turning to me. “Let’s go get drinks!”

***

By eleven thirty, a lot of people had already gone home or were passed out sleeping in various chairs around the yard. I had met Jimmy’s new girlfriend as well, who seemed a little quiet, but definitely kind.

Jimmy, Athena, Zack, Ella, Johnny, and myself were all sitting around the fire when I noticed Brian was nowhere to be seen.

Athena must have realized why I had been glancing around. “I saw him head out towards the street.” she said with her heavy Australian accent.

“Oh, thanks.” I gave her a smile before standing up. “Be right back.”

Athena stood up as well. “I need to make a phone call, so me too.” she headed inside as I made my way out to the front.

Sure enough, Brian was leaning against the hood of my car, cigarette in hand and looking intently down the street. “What’re you doing over here?” I asked, walking over.

He shrugged. “Just needed a minute, I guess.” It wasn’t hard to notice that the happiness from the last couple months had all but drained from his voice again.

“There’s nothing to worry about now, right? You said you were done with them now. The contract’s up.”

“I am. But are they done with me?” He took one last drag before flicking the end out onto the street.

“We haven’t heard anything in months. You must have taught them their lesson after all.” I tried to sound confident.

He gave a small smile, but it was forced. “Yeah. Maybe.”

We stood in silence for a few minutes, in which time Brian had lit another cigarette. “So, glad we’re back?” he asked eventually.

“Definitely.”

He just nodded a little and continued to gaze off down the street. I refrained from sighing. It seemed that the distant Brian had returned. I was just about to head back to the house when Brian suddenly perked up. “What is it?”

“That looks like my car.” he gestured down the street. A vehicle was making its way down the street, but it was hard for me to make out any details when the only light was coming from the street lights.

“I don’t think it’s your car, Brian...”

“That is so my fucking car.” he hissed, moving to open the driver’s door of my own vehicle and kneeling down. “Get over here!”

I got down beside him. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Don’t move.” He grabbed something from under the seat, and I saw a flash of metal. His gun. What the fuck...

Brian stood up and walked around to the other side of the car, gun behind his back, and I heard the other vehicle slow down. I straightened up as well to see someone in the car - it was Brian’s car - roll down the window. “So you are back in town.” a man’s voice said, and the door opened. An older man, probably in his fourties, got out of the passenger seat. Whoever was driving had kept the engine running.

“Didn’t take you long to find out, did it?” Brian asked. He had his back to me, so I saw his grip on his gun tighten.

“No, no, word travels fast.” The man straightened his suit jacket and then seemed to notice me. “Ah, she’s here too. This just makes things too simple, really. I had hoped you would -”

I’m not sure what it was this man had hoped, but I was never going to find out. And I was never going to be quite the same, either.

In that second, Brian had straightened his arm, leveled the gun to the man’s head, and pulled the trigger. A burst of blood, brain, and shattered bone showered the side of Brian’s car, and the body hit the ground before slumping over to the side. What was left of the man’s face was a mangled mess, unrecognizable after being shot at such a close distance.

I had always thought that if I were to witness such an act of violence, I would scream. I think most people have similar thoughts. Scream, cry, run, anything of the sort. But now the time was here, and I didn’t do any of those things. I just stood there silently, eyes wide, finding it hard to accept that Brian had just killed someone in front of me.

The car had peeled out as soon as the shot went off, and Brian still had his back to me, the gun held loosely at his side. He seemed to be staring down at the man whose life he had just ended, and he finally mumbled something I wasn’t able to make out.

“What?” I managed to say, shocked at how hoarse my voice sounded.

He turned around, his shirt, arms, and face all covered in a thin misting of blood. “I said, only nine more to go. And welcome home to us.”