Would You Bargain With Hell?

The wind chill blew through me; I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. The night sky twinkled with little specs of stars. I watched my feet, padding along the pavement just out of town. I began to get Goosebumps from the cold and I looked up. The arch of the bridge stood out of the black background. Beside me down the riverbank was an easy flowing ripple of waves.

I smiled.
I looked up again as the bridge became clearer. I saw something. I squinted my eyes, it was a
person. A person standing on the ledge of the bridge, holding on to one of the wires. I shook my head in disbelief as I saw them lean forwards.

“No! Wait!” I yelled, my feet running ahead of me. I couldn’t see in the blur I was running. I was out of breath when I touched on the iron bottom of the bridge. I looked up and he was still there. I walked over to him carefully; worried I might spook him like a wild animal. He’d be threatened and leave.

“Don’t, don’t jump alright?” I said leaning on the side rail.

“Who are you?” His voice was deep and sorrowful.

“My name is Rayder. Please don’t jump, I mean if you do now I’ll just feel like it was my fault.” I brushed my hair back.

“Why shouldn’t I, no offense. I don’t want to live anymore.”

He was still, and I couldn’t see him clearly in the moonlight. His hair appeared long and his jaw announced.

“Hold your head high; never let anyone see you weak. You are better than that. Always hold your head high even if you’re only hanging on.” I recited it like a poem, a dear thing to me.

“Who told you that?”

“Is it impossible to think maybe I came up with it myself?” I furrowed my brow, my heart thumping in my chest. I was on the edge of my seat like when watching a horror film. He was still poised to jump.

“Yeah,” he chuckled “It is.”

“My social worker.” I said ashamed. Ashamed of where I came from. “Please get down okay?”

“Why would I get down when I have nowhere to go? Why do you have a social worker?” He moved and my heart nearly fell out of my chest. He steadied himself.

“Sure you have somewhere to go. I uhm, I was abandoned when I was little. What’s your name?” I moved a little closer, and saw the moonlight shine on his blue eyes, each their own little world.

“I really don’t dear, sorry. I’m Mason Connor.”

“Well, Mason Conner, please step down, I’m cold and I’m scared and I want to go to my house.”
I could see his lips curve up in a smile and he dropped onto the bridge and walked up to me. He started stripping off his jacket. He smiled and handed his jacket over to me. I took it. “Thanks, can I walk you home?”

I slipped on his jacket, warm and thick. It smelled musty and manly.

“I wasn’t lying little lady, I really don’t have a home. Neither do you.”

“Excuse me?”

“A house is not a home. You said your house before you said your home. That’s why I came down; you came here to jump didn’t you?” He got closer; uncomfortably close I flinched a bit.

“Is this a joke? Am I being pranked?” I swallowed hard. He didn’t move. “Yeah, I wanted to jump.”

He nodded and backed away. “Let me walk you home Rayder.”

“No that’s okay, where are you staying?” My heart had slowed now
.
“Anywhere I can find. It’s late, let me walk you home.”

I looked behind me, darkness had fully set in. I nodded then realized he probably couldn’t see that. “Yes, thank you.”

He stood beside me, keeping in pace. We walked quietly at first. The sounds of the night filling the silence. As I made the turn into upstate I heard him making those thoughts in his head, about how I must be a prissy little rich girl with no real problems.

“So…tell me about yourself Rayder.” He kept in toe.

“Alright, my name is Rayder obviously and I was abandoned when I was a newborn. I lived at a downtown orphanage until I was twelve. I was adopted by a wealthy couple.” I swallowed, my palms slipped against my dress, which I hadn’t changed out of.

“Then why did you want to jump?
”
“We don’t know each other Mason maybe we shouldn’t talk like this. Where are you going to sleep tonight?”

I saw him do something, but couldn’t quite tell what it was, probably a shrug.

“Would it be wrong to ask if you’d like to stay at my house? I don’t want you sleeping on the street.” My mouth spoke before I told it to. I cursed to myself.

“I don’t really want to be a bother.”

“You won’t be. “