Contract [PART III]

The trill of sirens sliced the cold night air, cutting into her eardrums and joining the sound of her own heartbeat as she ran towards the sight of carnage.

As she drew nearer, the crowd of people thickened. The mass of curious people shifted aimlessly as she clawed her way through.

"ISAAC!" Her voice was sore from screaming so loud. Her eyes are wild as she whipped her head around frantically, scanning the scene of carnage for her son. She ran past the crooked yellow tape, scraping her knee on the pavement as she ducked under the barricade.

She ran towards the cluster of people, the colors of their different uniforms were blinding under the lights. She doesn't even know what she was screaming anymore, incoherent sounds of grief tore out of her raw throat. She couldn't feel the pain in her vocal chords, or the sting from her bleeding knees.

She reached the medics and the policemen, her fingers clawed into a random personnel's arm to tear them away from their huddle. She had to see for herself. Even as she struggled to deny her suspicions, even as she prayed to any god that would listen, she had to see for herself. It was the only thought that held steadfast in the hurricane of her mind.

A deep chuckle registered amidst all her screaming as the tips of well polished shoes appeared in her sight. "I had a feeling that this was the case, but who would've known that the outcome was this fantastic?"

The lilting purr of a voice made her freeze in horror, but almost as soon as the cold shock of fear iced over her innards, the feeling was gone, replaced by a flaming wall of rage. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?" Her anguish manifested as a cross between a wail of grief and a scream of white hot anger.

In her enraged state, she finally found the courage to look him dead in the eyes.

White lashes fluttered innocently as he looked back. Silver pupils gleamed in mirth, their strange colorlessness flashed white, mirror-like as they caught the golden glare of car lights. For someone so utterly repulsive, he had beautiful and pure eyes. The hint of a mocking smile curled the edge of his thin lips. And in that moment she knew she should not have looked at something that she could not understand right in its eyes. Too late she realized, those eyes were not simply just similar to mirrors, they were actual mirrors. Twin mirrors that stripped bare and reflected the cruelest truths back to the beholder.

As quick as it sparked, the indignation was gone. She sank to the floor, stunned. "No," she croaked, "no no no, no, it's not - it's not like that." The sting of hot tears rolling down her wind chapped face opened a floodgate deep in the recess of her mind, and endless torrents of grief flooded through as she sobbed and repeated her mantra. The churning mix of extreme emotions made her sick. She leaned over to the side and vomited the continent of her stomach, retching over and over until she felt bile slip over her tongue and drip from her teeth.

"Oh, do shut up will you?." He backed away and held a handkerchief to an elegant nose that was currently scrunched in disgust. "I do hate this part." He commented offhandedly, as if he was speaking about the weather. "But then again, I do love that expression of utter despair. It does suit you rather well, don't you agree?" He spoke softly, yet she could still hear.

She glanced up and for the first time noticed that the rest of the world was silent. All around them, people were frozen still like a three dimensional snapshot of time. Everything, from their expressions to the position of their limbs, were perfectly still.

"He looks just like his father doesn't he?" The demon prowed to the cluster of kneeling medics and peered over their heads at the little figure surrounded by the many pairs of hands. "The eyes, the face, his preferences and even some of his little personality quirks. All of it." He turned back to her and held her gaze steadily, as if taunting her to look into his strange pupils. "Exactly. Like. His. Father." He spoke slowly, as if tasting the flavor of words before releasing them to the silent air.

She wretched her head to the side and trembled with manic energy. shook her head madly. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she clutched at her messed up hair as she neutered to herself. "No, no, no it's not true. Not true, no no no."

He shook his head slowly, snow colored curls slipped free from his hat and bounced softly. "Tsk. Let me enjoy my moment will you? It is quite a tedious job that I have over here, I do deserve some fun now and then, don't you think?"

He crouched down and peered at her psychotic state with an expression of mild interest. "Did you really believe that he and his brother shared the same blood, adulteress? You may have convinced yourself of your own fabricated truths my dear, but remember that the heavens," He pointed at the scattered stars above the scene of carnage, " sees it all. And if I may say, the expression on your husband's face when he saw your childhood friend was absolutely stunning."

He stood up to continue his little soliloquy. " 'How could my son look more like a man I've never heard about than me?'" The demon mimicked with a roll of his eyes, "'What do you mean he was at the bachelorette party? Why have I never heard this from her?' - and at this time a pretty little redhead enters the stage. Emily? I believe her name was? Your cozy little best friend, hmmm? So nice that she helped comfort your husband, and even extended her services to the boudoir" He giggled, "How thoughtful."

He circled her the way a predator paces around a wounded animal. "Of course you did not do anything wrong dearie. No no no, it was him who was the dirty little cheater between the two of you." He glanced at the bloody mess of a boy, frozen in time in his dying state. "But every single day that little child Isaac grows more like the father he never knew. He calls you mother yet all you can think of is how he is a reminder of your worst mistake. You believe yourself to be the epitome of motherhood, working hard to raise two boys under the absence of a cheating father. What a touching story." A pause as he looks at the child, not even grimacing the slightest at the ghastly sight of crushed ribs and collapsed lungs that left a hollow in the little boy's chest. "What a poor little lamb."

He frowned as he looked over at her, still sobbing and retching on the pavement. "I've told you to shut up, haven't I?" He snapped his fingers, and she clutched at her throat as the air was suddenly whisked away from her lungs. "Right, haven't got much time. Oh I do wish they'd give me more time to rest after I complete a job."

He reached into his jacket and withdrew the contract, sending the paper to her with a flick of his wrist. The sheets of paper aligned themselves in the air and settled in front of her eyes, hovering in midair, floating up and down as if buoyed by a gentle breeze.

"Right. So, as you can see, everything is as the contract states, the life of the one you hate the most, in exchange for riches, blah blah blah. Of course, the wealth cannot suddenly appear, but I presume the lawsuit would no doubt manage to wrangle quite the sum out of the company that caused this accident." He leaned closer and dropped his voice into a conspiring whisper, "I'll let you in on a secret, m'dear. The company's drivers haven't gotten the right amount of certifications, I'm afraid. You're a smart birdie, my darlin' - you know what to do right?" He wink, long white lashes fluttering shut as his eyes curved into smiling crescents. But the expression simmering in the depth of that cold gaze didn't quite match his expression of jest, so that his face seemed more like a mask of human skin stretched into a beautiful and eerie smile.

He walked over to the figure of the little boy, ignoring her silent struggle. She threw herself at his feet, clutching his legs to prevent him from moving. She shook her head and pleaded with him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for water as she tried to speak.

The frown on his face deepened, crinkling his exquisite features. The pair of thin and shapely lips curled slightly with disgust as he shook her off. He neared the dying boy and beckoned with his gloved hands, A thin wisp of silvery mist drifted from the cooling corpse and twined itself between the demon's outstretched fingers. The demon stroked the silver strands with a rare expression of genuine fondness.

"Ah, right, almost forgot to tell you darlin'. I'll come back for this little one's half brother soon." he glanced at her shocked expression. "Oh do stop that will you? His soul is already a contract, do you really think he'll get away scot-free if he benefits from the death of another?" He kicked away her fingers, when her fingernails clawed off a piece of his tailored trousers. "Even with all of the riches in the world, if there is no such cure to buy, what exactly can you purchase?" He cupped the shivering soul in his hands gently, as if afraid her frantic breaths would buffett the silver strands. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of them." He cradled the soul in his hands, cooing at the little thing as it melted into a content puddle on his gloved palm.

"See you soon, my dear" With a final mocking smile, he turned briskly and left. After making sure the puddle of mercury was safely nestled on his palm, he coiled his powerful legs and lept. Muscles shifted under his tailored suit, his lithe form sprang from the ground like a shadow tearing free from the darkness that bore him. Giant wings, the color of first snow, snapped open and sliced the deep indigo of night with sterling radiance.

A single untainted feather spiraled towards the wreck on the ground below, and a soft whisper drifted to her ears as she watched the fading figure soar into the space between the stars. The cacophonous world around her was waking up, but she still heard his quiet voice as if time was still frozen.

"One more thing darlin'. The name's Gabriel, not Satan. You're quite rude, you know."