Sold My Soul

It seemed as if we had been standing there for a horribly long time, when in reality it was probably only a few seconds. I couldn’t help but stare at the scene in front of me. Brian covered in someone else’s blood, the same someone who was slumped over on the road, faceless.

The funny thing was, I didn’t feel scared anymore. I didn’t feel scared, or sick, or anything like that.

More blood pooled underneath the dead man even as I watched, and I didn’t feel anything. It was sort of like watching CSI with really, really good HD. And I’m pretty sure that’s not what I should be thinking.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if The Who started playing out of nowhere?” I heard myself saying, sounding oddly detached.

Brian gave me a very obvious “What the fuck?” look, which I suppose I deserved. He threw his gun into the backseat of the car before getting into the driver’s seat. “Run and tell them we’re gonna go. Fast, before anyone else shows up. ‘Cause if they do, we don’t wanna be here, for everyone’s sake.”

I turned and headed back towards the house, and things seemed to be put into perspective as soon as I was no longer staring at the murder scene. Brian had killed someone. My sweet, thoughtful, (if not overly) protective, all-around-amazing Brian had murdered someone, right in front of me. My surprisingly steady stride faltered a little as this sank in. And that wasn’t the first person who had died by Brian’s hand, nor would he likely be the last. Even as I was contemplating this, though, other realizations were already making themselves known.

He didn’t have a choice. He did it to save himself, he did it to save me...there was really no choice.

...right?

Did we deserve to live any more than he did? What if he was just another victim caught up in this gang, like we were? What if he had a family? My stomach lurched as a horrible vision flashed through my mind; one in which a woman with phone in hand and a couple young kids were sitting near a door worriedly. Oh God...

“Ashley? Are you alright?”

I jumped when Johnny’s voice interrupted my disturbing train of thought. I glanced over to where he was sitting at the fire with the others. The all had varying looks of concern on their faces.

“Oh, I...I’m fine. Just came to let you know we’re gonna head out.” I said quickly, forcing a smile.

“But I thought Brian had mentioned you guys don’t have an apartment until tomorrow.” Ella pointed out the very thing I was hoping no one would remember.

“Yeah, you can just crash at my place.” Jimmy offered, generous as ever.

“No...that’s alright. You see, Brian’s not feeling very well...we’ll just...stay at a hotel.” I was making this worse. So much for leaving without making a scene. “We’ll be around tomorrow, okay? Goodnight!” I spun around and walked off as quickly as I thought might pass for normal.

“What the fuck was that all about?” I heard Zacky mumble. Oh well.

Back at the car Brian waiting, fingers tapping the steering wheel impatiently. As I slid into the passenger’s side, I noticed the body was nowhere to be seen. As soon as the door was shut, Brian started driving.

“What happened to -”

“He took him.”

I didn’t need to ask who “he” was. My morbid curiosity was piqued though, as I wondered what exactly taking a soul entailed. Recalling how the demon had fixed me up, probably nothing too flashy or interesting.

“I don’t really know where we should go tonight.” he continued. “Once they find out what happened to Ian, I just...I don’t know.”

“Just pick a hotel off the highway. Probably closer to the pier and stuff.”

“You don’t think that’s a little obvious? I mean, not even having to take a couple backroads to find us?”

““The closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm.”” I quoted one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies. More out of habit than an attempt to lighten the mood. Brian just shook his head, but I continued. “Think about it. It’s prime tourist territory. If there’s one thing these people are not, it’s stupid. They won’t start anything too terrible around there.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Twenty minutes later we were in the underground parking lot of a Best Western only a couple blocks from main street and the pier. Ironically, Jimmy’s condo was just across the street. Guess we coulda stayed with him after all.

“Won’t people notice that?” I asked, pointing at the blood covering Brian’s clothes as he pulled our suitcases out of the trunk.

“You’re the only one who can see it, remember? Anyone uninvolved won’t notice anything out of the ordinary.” he shut the trunk harder than necessary before starting his way towards the elevators.

It was a little strange to be standing in the lobby of the hotel a few minutes later, seeing Brian standing at the reception desk, reserving out room, and covered in dried blood. I half expected someone to start screaming or police to come rushing in, but the attendant handed him the card keys and a tourism brochure with a cheerful smile and well wishes for the remainder of our stay.

Our room was on the first floor, and the first off the main hallway. Really, it was hardly outside of the lobby. If I took a step outside our door and looked to the right, I could see the reception desk.

After Brian had showered, we had ended up sitting on opposite sides of the bed in an awkward silence. I didn’t know what to say, now that we were here. Apparently neither did he.

“Are you okay?” he asked finally. “I hadn’t ever wanted you to be around to see...that.” he sighed and put his head in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

I had never heard him sound so broken before. Quickly crawling across the bed I sat beside him, wrapping one arm around his waist and laying my head on his shoulder. “You did what you had to.” I tried to say reassuringly, hoping with everything I had that I was actually speaking the truth.

He didn’t respond, but moved to take one of my hands, lacing our fingers together. I felt his shoulders begin to shake a moment later with silent sobs. Knowing better than to say anything then and there, I just gave his hand a tight squeeze.

After awhile we ended up under the covers with the lights out early. We used to watch a little TV before we went to sleep, usually a crime show, or something to do with the paranormal. Tonight, though, neither of those sounded very appealing.

“Do you hate me because of what I did? What I still have to do?” Brian asked quietly, his breath tickling the back of my neck.

“Of course not. I told you; you did what you had to. It’s okay.” Even as I said it, it felt like a lie. But was it? “Who was that man?” I knew I was treading on dangerous ground.

“Ian. One of the higher ups, I guess you could say.”

“Did he deserve to die?”

I thought Brian wasn’t going to answer, so I was surprised when he did. “I hope so. I don’t know who decides when someone has done enough to deserve death, but if anyone did...” he didn’t finish, and instead rolled over to face away from me. The conversation ended there.

***

Some hours later, we were woken up by screaming outside the door. Brian was up in a second, simultaneously grabbing his gun and a pair of jeans from his suitcase on the floor. I, having much slower reflexes, sat frozen in the bed and listened with growing horror as the screams were suddenly cut short. “What’s happening?” I whispered.

Brian was already unlocking the door. “Ain’t no rest for the wicked, it seems.”