His lips pressed against mine. They were softer than I thought they would be. His gritty exterior and casual coolness left me believing his lips would be cracked and cold. They were far from that. His kiss enveloped me into this dark place inside my mind. I found myself craving this happiness he spoke of. I wanted to find my true love and I would do ANYTHING to have it be mine. I knew he was still kissing me in reality but what happened in my mind was like a dream. We were standing in the middle of a dark and cold desert. The sky was not filled with stars, but with words. I had no idea of the language of origin but it looked old, unspoken or forgotten. I could hear the contract being whispered to me, through thousands of voices surrounding us. Each dialect was different, but one started to get louder than all the others. It was Dustin. He stood in front of me looking like the demon he was. His eyes were pure white, no color, no pupil. He slowly recited to me the contract of which I was so anxious to seal.
“Rhylan. From this day forward you pledge your soul to the one they call Alazander. You will be given 10 years to live, free of pain and sorrow and toil. After 10 years your demon will call upon you to return your soul to him and him alone. Do you agree to these terms set forth by Moloch?” He dictated in a slow, monotone voice.
I’m going to die anyway, I thought to myself. 10 years happy is better than 70 unhappy.
“Yes. I agree.” I said without hesitation.
That was it. We were back on the same simple street in this fancy neighborhood, kissing under the dim light of the moon. We pulled away from each other in an awkward silence. Our hands fell to our sides and we started walking back to the house.
“So are you still driving me home?” I asked quietly.
“Yes of course.” He replied.
“So how does this work? I just go about doing my own thing and everything will just happen on its own?” I asked, puzzled about my next step.
“Yes, everything will come to you. You don’t have to do a thing I promise.” He smirked.
I laid in bed that night, wondering of all the things that would come. Without even realizing, I drifted off to the most restful sleep I’ve ever had.
The light of the sun shone through my window on to my face, waking me up for the brand new day I was about to have. I ran downstairs to get my breakfast and there my dad was in the middle of the kitchen…breakfast already made. He kissed me on the head and gave me this look. I’d never seen it before, but I could tell he was sorry. Maybe it was just part of the deal, but it was enough for me. I grabbed my backpack and hurried to school, anxious of the beginning of this brand new life. I arrived at school minutes later. The energy about this day was magical and I knew something epic was about to happen. I walked into math class to a class full of curious seniors. It was like they were seeing me for the first time. I felt…sexy today, I felt a confidence that was new and radiating. Matt didn’t see me walk in. With all the heads turning towards me as I walked in he was forced to look my way. His jaw dropped when he saw me. I looked the same as I always did but there was something about my energy that erased everything he ever knew. I sat in my usual seat and survived the boring formulas and unforgiving word problems. The glares from every angle were unrelenting and I was glad when the clock turned 1. At my locker Jessica approached me, and feeling sorry for the way I acted I apologized for what I said. We hugged it out and I left to art class. Dustin was sitting in his normal seat seemingly waiting for me. He grinned his sexy grin and I took my seat. Charlie was late to class and he tried to make unobvious by slipping into his seat while everyone was up getting their supplies. While I was sorting through used canvas to paint over, Dustin came up next to me. He made sure the area was cleared and he grabbed my arm gently.
“You know Charlie right?” he asked with his smoldering eyes.
“The guy that sits next to me? Yeah I guess. We’ve gone to school together since Kindergarten. Why do you ask?” I whispered.
“He’s the one.” He declared, keeping intense eye contact with me.
“What?” I accidently said extremely loud. Of course everyone looked over at me to stick their nose in my business. Dustin thought this was funny, so he gave a small chuckle and gave everyone a look that they dared not disregard.
“Just talk to him, you have to trust me Rhylan.” He pleaded. He took his hand off my arm and casually slid back into his seat. I returned to mine, only to find that Charlie talked to me first. The only thing was, I could not get my mind off Dustin. Something about him made my skin all warm and tingly. The kiss was shared was so electric. I felt like it was so much more than a deal.
Charlie and I made plans to hang out. He seemed like a nice guy. He was cute and artistic and funny…everything I liked in a guy. I could see Dustin out of the corner of my eye watching us as we shared smiles. Then I saw him look down for a second and shake his head, like there was something lingering in his mind that he could not let go of. He got up quickly and left the room before I could even say goodbye. I guessed that was the end of it, until of course it was time to pay him.
Months went by and I didn’t see Dustin. He just disappeared. Everything in my life was going so perfectly. Charlie and I had been dating, my dad and I actually had a relationship and no one was bullying me at school. On paper everything was wonderful. It was my heart that told the truth. I didn’t feel for Charlie the same way I felt about Dustin. I just always wanted to see his smile and throw myself into his gorgeous demonic eyes. Why couldn’t there just be a way for us to be together?
I stayed late that day after school. I had so much built up tension and anxiety I just wanted to paint. The classroom was empty. I knew from experience the janitors didn’t get to this classroom until about 7, so I had plenty of time to relax and let it all get poured out onto my canvas. I chose the largest one still left in stock and poured as many color as I could onto my palette. I tied on my old smock and sat down in an old rusty folding chair. I messily threw in my ear buds and cranked up my Ipod. I closed my eyes and took a breath. This was the time to let everything go. I started to paint furiously. Gray and white filled the background as I carelessly scribbled words across the canvas. He was the only thing on my mind. I had to paint him just to see him one last time. I started to outline the shape of us. I wanted to forever capture the moment he kissed me. I felt like all my sadness and my happiness were pouring out at the same time. Happy that I was finally, well, happy… and sad because I had to let Dustin go. I finished my face and started to work on his. I carefully thought of every inch of his beautiful face, his strong jawline, his full lips-the intense look in his eyes that I could not escape. Not 20 minutes into my session two warm hands felt their way over my glasses.
“Guess who?” the voice of a guy behind me.
“Oh shit! I screamed. I turned around ready to punch someone square in the nose. I pulled my earplugs out and turned around.
“It’s just me, Charlie.” He grumbled.
“Oh Charlie. Geezus you scared the shit out of me.” What are you doing here? I hissed.
“I just wanted to see if you wanted to go have dinner. But I can see from your painting you aren’t thinking about me at all.” He snarled.
‘”No Charlie it’s just a memory, it’s just a painting of a memory.” I assured.
Then there was another voice coming from behind Charlie.
I moved my head around Charlie and my jaw dropped. Dustin was standing there, ironically looking like an angel. He literally made my heart skip a beat. Before I even had time to react he leaped toward Charlie. He grabbed him by the throat and threw him up against the wall.
“Charlie I will tell you this once and only once. Leave here now and forget you ever met Rhylan. This is your only warning.” He hissed a low hiss that would normally only come out of a wolf hunting his prey.
He let go of his grip and Charlie fell to the floor. As soon as he could get to his feet he took off running at full speed, tripping over chairs and almost falling to the ground.
“Well tha
t was fun.” He said snickered.
“What are you doing here Dustin? I thought you left. I didn’t think I would ever see you again.” I mumbled.
“I didn’t want to ever come back Rhylan, and risk seeing you with him. From the moment I made that deal I regretted it. There is something that pulls me to you. I don’t understand it. I have never felt this. I had to come back to see you one last time. When I walked in and saw your painting I knew. I knew I had to be with you. The kiss we shared was more than just a deal. It made me…feel something, and I’m not used to that. I don’t know what is and I don’t know what to do about it. Can I just try one thing?” He asked not only with his alluring voice but with his expressive yet somber eyes.
“Yeah sure I mean, you already have my soul.” I said quietly. I was unsure of what was about to happen but it was happening none the less. Everything started to become hazy. He slowly moved closer and wrapped his arm around my waist and laid his hand on my lower back. He pulled me in toward him all the while keeping my gaze. I closed my eyes and waited for it to happen. I dreamt about this for months. I saw him in my dreams. I saw his face in crowds of people on the street. This was finally it.
He put his lips on mine and a pulse ran through my body. Just like before we vanished into a desert. This time it was filled with light. He looked beautiful. His eyes were light green with a yellow tint. He didn’t look so, devilish you could say. He looked at me and laughed. He looked around us as if any second he was expecting the world to fall out from underneath us. And then he appeared. A tall, dark man with black hair and white eyes. He was terrifying yet I had no fear, I knew Dustin would protect us.
“Alazander, never in my existence have I seen this. For centuries I have had my demons make deals for love and happiness. I have watched souls be taken into hell to wander forever in the darkness. You have been my most loyal servant. Surely you must know what releases a demon from his lord. You have lived a long time Alazander and you have served me well.” He lamented.
“Moloch my lord. Never did I think this would happen. I knew as soon as the deal was made that this was the end. I could do nothing else but think of her safety and her happiness. I wanted to be the only one in her life-even if that meant killing a man. But I knew I couldn’t, because then we couldn’t be together. I have never given second thought to human life. You know my nature Moloch. But this is the end. You have to release me of my duty. I have served you for longer than anyone else. It is written in the stars that if a demon finds true love, he contract is broken and he is allowed to live as a mortal, and die as a mortal.” He asserted.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They stared at each other for a long time before Moloch took his arm and wrapped it around Dustin’s. A light came from the sky and twisted around their arms like barbed wire. The ground shook and light began to fall from the sky. Our bodies were vibrating, it felt like we were going to explode. Then their grasp loosened and Moloch was sucked into the sandy earth. Dustin turned back to my gaze and locked his lips to mine. We were back in the classroom next to the painting. No words needed to be spoken. I no longer needed a contract to find true love. My soul was his the day he kissed me.
NIGHT CACHE
By: Cheryl Casey
© Copyright 2013 by Cheryl Casey
No part of this story may be
Reproduced without permissions.
All rights reserved.
She found the green metal box hidden behind a bush, next to a wall of the crumbling cemetery. She tugged on the latch and it released with a bang, making her jump. She looked around though she knew there was no one who would see or hear in these desolate woods. The nearest building was a shell of an old farm house, burnt and leaning.
She lifted the lid and found an assortment of things, a compass, a small sewing kit, a small plastic zombie with a dog-tag tracking code attached to it. She sorted through the other things and found what she had been looking for, a small notebook and a pencil. She had brought her own pencil in case this one had been missing.
She opened the notebook and hurriedly printed her handle and the date, Aayla - February 11, 2013, under the name and date of the previous hunter. With a last, quick glance around, she placed the metal box behind the bush and returned to her jeep. Aayla was tired from driving most of the day and she was ready to return to the safety of her home where her cat, Oscar, waited for his evening meal.
The sky was darkening but there was one more geocache in the area that she wanted to find before making her way out of this murky back-country - and another one that she planned to avoid.
Locking the doors and starting the jeep, Aayla checked her handheld GPS device for the location of the next geocache. She knew it would be complete dark by the time she got there but it was the last one on her list, besides the one she would skip. She flicked the flashlight on and off, checking the batteries.
She left the moldering cemetery and let the GPS device guide her. She drove for miles along the deserted gravel road until it deteriorated to a trail and she thought she had accidentally strayed onto someone's pasture road. There were just two tire grooves in the sand with grass growing between them, a fence to the left, and lanky trees stretching over the passage to form a dark tunnel. Her GPS device still showed that she was on a marked road. She kept driving but had her doubts.
The dark tunnel finally gave way to the gravel road again. She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen the tension a bit. The sky was completely dark now with a thumbnail moon low in the West. She felt like she had made a mistake in not finding her way back to a populated area after the cemetery. She didn't like to be alone in the dark, though common sense told her there was nothing to fear if she was the only person out here.
Aayla rounded a corner of the narrow road and, as her jeep lights panned across the darkness, she was stunned to realize she had been guided to the geocache she had intended to avoid. She checked her GPS but the tiny gray map seemed confusing.
With dread, she lifted her gaze to the road. The strange things there seemed to creep up from the gravel in black and white, illuminated by the stark headlights, shadows thrown deep into the darkness beyond. Several stones outlined a tiny grave next to the road, though there was no cemetery for miles. Standing guard were several Virgin Mary statues, tilted or fallen completely, weathered and dark, old dolls in various stages of decay, and a small, chipped, cherub statue. Draped over everything were rosaries and silk flowers, faded and torn. Tokens left by disquieted visitors at the century-old grave.
The nearby geocache was called "Pains of the Wagon Train". It drew geocachers to the 1870 grave where a wagon train had passed through and a three year old girl had died on the journey. The family and other members of the wagon train had buried the little girl and soon had to move on.
Aayla checked the locks on the jeep again and imagined what it must have been like for the family to leave their little girl behind. To drive off in the wagon toward their destination and leave her body buried alone in the woods. She could picture the mother staring at nothing with empty eyes from the wagon seat.
There was no cemetery and Aayla had supposed there would be just an old grave marker near the road like the one she had seen on the way to Moran. Neither grave had ever been moved. They both remained in their original locations as part of history.
This would have been an interesting stop in the daytime with other geocachers. They would have looked over all the things that had been left. Taken the time to make out the dates on the lichen-covered stone. But alone at night in the back-country, gooseflesh slipped down her spine.
Part of her wanted to say "Forget the geocache, I'm not getting out of this jeep." But she didn't; she would have felt silly. There was nothing out here but trees and dust covered toys.
She clutched her flashlight, left the jeep running and found the cache, another green metal ammo box, across the road under a fallen fence post. The night was still and quiet as she retrieved the little lo
g book from the box, this time careful to keep the latch from banging open. She took it to the hood of the jeep to note her geocacher's handle and the date. She turned to replace the log book but was halted by a glance at the grave. The hair raised on the back of her neck. The Virgin Marys were upright and all facing her.
She felt a strong urge to drop the log book and get in her jeep. She was sure the statues had been toppled over and disheveled when she had pulled up. She wasn't certain now. She forced herself to walk back to the cache and replace the log book. Her hands trembled and she fumbled with the latch. She just wanted to be done and gone, to get back to Oscar who was surely walking from room to room in her tiny house, wondering where she was.
Aayla shoved the box back under the fence post and stood up, patting her pocket for the reassurance of her cell phone. It wasn't there. She had left it on the hood of the jeep. Panic quickened her heartbeat and shaking legs nearly betrayed her as she stumbled back across the road.
She didn't want to look at the grave again. She tried to focus on the jeep. But something had changed. She clenched her jaw and turned her eyes to the grave. The dolls were sitting up, their arms outstretched toward her, eyes wide in the glare of the headlights.
Miraculous: Tales of the Unknown Page 4
