Sold My Soul

I pulled my hand away. “Me?”

“It’s okay Ash.” Brian said quickly. “It’s not like anyone else knows about this, and -”

“You got me caught up in your fucking deals with the devil?!” I said, a little hysterically. “You didn’t even tell me, you didn’t even ask if I wanted to!” I realized I may sound a little out of line, but really, how was I supposed to react to something like this?

“It’s not like I had a choice! Just calm down and listen for a minute, okay?”

“You have got to be the most selfish, egotistical, self-centered bastard I have ever met! I can’t believe you would -”

“Just SHUT UP for one fucking second!” Brian yelled suddenly. Rather startled, I fell silent. “I tried to back out. Kind of hard to do that though, considering who the other party was. I won’t let anyone hurt you, and besides, no one else even knows, so they have no reason to want to hurt you. Okay?”

“Those guys at the apartment seemed to want to do me some harm.” I mumbled, turning to look out the window in an effort to keep calm. It was raining lightly now, and it was difficult to even see across the parking lot.

“It’s why I’ve been kind of...distant lately.” he admitted, and I couldn’t help but scoff. “Distant” was a bit of an understatement. “I figured that if they thought we, you know, didn’t love each other, there’d be a better chance of them leaving you alone.”

“Do you love me?” I turned back to him suddenly. “You don’t say it anymore.”

“Of course I do. Why else would I still be here?”


“Because you don’t have much of a fucking choice, do you?” I said, as another, possibly more terrifying thought crossed my mind. What if he really didn’t care anymore? “After all, now that I’m your “anchor” so you don’t fucking die, you kind of need me around to make sure your sorry ass stays safe.”

He sighed. “Ashley, come on. That’s stupid.”

“Say it then.” I continued stubbornly.

“I already said I did. Now listen to me.” always the expert at avoiding topics he didn’t want to discuss, he took my hand again. “I’ll keep you safe, okay? I promise. Not for me, but for you. And once this whole mess is behind us, we’ll figure stuff out from there. Sound fair?”

“Whatever.” I didn’t really want to know what stuff there was to figure out. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it. “So...how much time was left on your contract? And how many days are you...soulless?” it was weird to say something like that out loud, and I glanced at his chest, as if expecting there to be an empty hole or something.

He thought for a moment before replying. “I only had about two months left with them, I think. Hopefully, once that time is up they’ll just leave us alone anyway.”

I sincerely doubted that would be the case, but I didn’t comment. “And the other thing?”

That one he knew immediately. “Three hundred and twelve days.”

“And does the...guy come visit you or anything?”

“The demon? Not unless I want him to, and believe me, I don’t.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, in which it become apparent Brian wasn’t going to elaborate any further, I came up with another question. “So what now?”

“Well...I guess we could just -” a sudden, loud knock on Brian’s window cut him off, and in a second he had one hand under his seat. I could see the glint of metal in his hand. Since when had he had a gun, let alone one in my car? “Get ready to run, okay?” he whispered, before clearing his throat and unlocking the door. The person outside pulled it open, and I was about to open my own door when the voice I heard made me stop. It was immediately followed by a sense of wanting to cry out of relief.

“What’re you guys doing here? Between the car in the empty lot and the fogged up windows, I thought you might be up to some crazy stuff. Fucking around, literally. But ya know, it’s really not that “crazy”, a public place at four a.m. No one’s around! I could give you guys some tips, if you want. I know crazy.” the tall, blue-eyed man grinned at us, pulling his jacket closer around himself.

Jimmy fucking Sullivan. I didn’t know whether I should slap him for giving us a heart attack or kiss him for having no desire to murder us.

Brian slumped back against his seat, dropping the gun back out of sight. He sounded as relieved as I felt. “And what if we were “fucking around”, huh? Why would you interrupt? Not to mention, what the fuck are you doing here at this time?”

“Not interrupt, and miss a chance for a free show? Never.” he winked at me, still grinning. It’s seriously impossible to stay angry at the guy. “And I’m here because I’m hungry, duh. So let’s go eat something!”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Brian grabbed his wallet before getting out of the car. Still a little paranoid, I followed him quickly, not wanting to be out in the dark by myself. Not that Brian would leave me alone - especially now - but Jimmy was another story. He'd think something like that was hilarious.

“So why are you guys here?” Jimmy asked once we were seated a few minutes later.

“We got kicked out.” Brian said easily. “Landlord decided higher paying residents would be more of a convenience to him, even though he didn’t have any vacant apartments.”

“...is that even legal?”

Brian shrugged. “Whatever. It was pretty run-down anyways. We’re gonna start over completely, new furniture and everything. Guess we’ll just need to find another place in the next couple days, right Babes?” he elbowed me, and I jumped a little. The last few hours were catching up fast and I was already half asleep at the table.

“Oh...yeah. Yeah, sure.”

“You guys can stay with me until you do!” Jimmy said cheerfully. I have no idea how he always manages to be so happy.

Brian clearly wasn’t expecting this. “Oh...thanks Jim, but I think we’ll be okay.” I didn’t blame him for being cautious about it. The less people caught up in this fucked up situation, the better.

“But I insist! It’ll be fun. We’ll throw some wild parties, spend all our money on drugs, booze, and hookers, and then you can leave.”

“But -”

“No.” Jimmy leaned across the table and slowly placed a finger on Brian’s lips. I had to resist the urge to laugh. “Just, no. We’re going to eat our pancakes, go to my place, sleep until four, and then plan this party!” he pulled his hand back, giving Brian a serious look. “Got it?”

Even Brian couldn’t help cracking a smile. “...sure, got it. Thanks Jimmy.”