Free Fall

Prologue

"You know how dangerous it is to make deals with the devil, right?" The woman behind the fire purred. 

"Look lady, are you gonna help us or not?" Mr. Manfeld hissed in frustration, green eyes worried, cheeks whipped red raw from exposure to the harsh winter winds. He jumped back as the flames blew towards his face, shocked. It was midnight in Malusciana, the sky seemed to writhe with the temptation the night would bring. Every night was the same: pitch black, the back streets abandoned; forsaken. A group of desperate people huddled around a woman cast in shadow, eyes wild and frantic as they eagerly begged for her help. 

"Have patience, child." The woman rose a curious eyebrow. "As the Great's say, 'patience is a virtue'.." she muttered, almost to herself. "Funny how things work out when the roles are reversed." She gazed into the flames, eyes alight and cat-like as she caught the whispers of passion and excitement each tendril had to share with her. 

"Look, I'm desperate." A new voice chimed in. 

Stepping forward, It was clear as daylight for her to see the golden silhouette of the man to whom the voice belonged. Oblivious to the attention he'd brought upon himself, he tugged the collar of his trench coat up toward his ears, and as he did so the woman found herself drawn to his eyes. He didn't look up at her, only at his shaking hands; clasped together in hopes of steadying an almost undetectable fear or anger of some sort, his face a perfect impenetrable mask of calm. The kind of mask a man wears only in his moment of need, she thought to herself. 

"And what exactly is it that you desire of me, good sire?" The man's gaze flickered upwards as he was addressed, forcing him to lock into the inscrutable stare of the woman. Her's widened as she found herself lost in the pools that shimmered liquid gold with unshed tears- she found herself drowning in them . 

"Just like everyone here, ma'am, I desire the help that you have offered to us." His voice was crystalline, precise and efficient, he didn't dwell on any words but each swam from his mouth with so much urgency that his tone was borderline to both curt and determined. The woman propped a delicate arm on her knee, splaying long elegant fingers against her cheek as she examined him more intently. She waved her free hand for him to continue, never breaking her eyes from his. 

Stepping further forward into the circle, he spoke. "I am not here to beg you; I am here to make a negotiation. If you would find it to be necessary of course." 

A businessman, the voice uttered in her head. She was so used to people begging with no expectations of having to give back that she found this arrangement refreshing. Handsome, well mannered and motivated; the combination was a rarity that seemed to dance in dreams that persistently found themselves pushed to the very back of her mind. A small part of her was more curious to find out his reasons for being here than his attempt at compromise but she decided to have patience and see what this golden figure had to offer her.  

The man had looked down and following his gaze downward, she noticed for the first time the delicate golden chain that had webbed itself around each of his fingers, he also held something protectively encased in his large hands. His knuckles whitened further as he considered unclenching his wrench like grip on the item he wished to trade. The man knelt down toward the heavily embellished cloth the woman perched on, unfurling his fingers he gently placed it down; retreating from it as quickly as he could for fear of reconsidering.

The light hit the woman's eye with a glint at first but as she focused on it it developed into a deep, delicious glare that she couldn't help but become enveloped in. 

The woman gasped. 

Scooping up the pendant in her hand, she cupped her hands around it, looking as close as she could for any sign that this glorious thing could be a fake but it was seamless; pristine. With a look of pure wonder on her face, she tore her eyes from the small pendant to look the man straight in the face, but only for a second until she was drawn back to the delicate metal structure that lay in her palm.

"It's pure, that I can promise," The man rushed. "I can give you plenty more of it if that is what you desire. I beg of you, bless my dear friends around me with the same help you have promised to me and I will be eternally grateful. I will ensure that one day this favor is returned to the fullest extent."

"Pristolian gold." Her voice barely audible, her eyes meeting his once more, she opened her mouth only to close it again in disbelief. The man's gaze returned to his clenched fists. 

Composing herself, the woman rose from the floor. 

"Very well, good sir." Her eyes glittered in delight as she approached him, the moon stood full and proud in its dark and wondrous background; everything was coated in the milky white film it never ceased to cast over Malusciana each night. 

The woman considered once again what had brought him here- It was time.

"I must warn you sir, the powers I have to use in order to give you the help you desire are derived of dark magic and nothing more. Things can go very wrong very easily; with your own influence. Although things may not work out as you had hoped, these words will forever be the renewal of my promise to you and yours to me. I must ask of you, what are you going to do with the gift?"

A look of agony flitted across his face, momentarily throwing the cool mask askew to reveal raw irrational emotion that had undoubtedly been bottled up for many years -and then it was gone, as quickly as it arrived, without a trace.

"My friend, he has been ill for some time. His family are good people but they have no money to fund his treatment. I fear that if he leaves, I will have to follow close behind him." The reply seemed to drain him although his face didn't show it. The man risked a glance at the simple watch on his wrist. "And as I have said: my time is no longer my own." 

The woman closed her eyes, quietly chanting a set of words under her breath; voice becoming louder and louder as each member of the group turned their worried gaze toward her. The golden eyed man began to feel a thrumming in his ears, subtle but distinctive as he watched the flames dance higher and higher. As the woman's voice started to die out, so did the fire. The foreign words had been drawn to somewhere deep in his mind- placed there for safe keeping. 

As the voice grew quiet, he found himself encased in a deep kiss. This was not a kiss of love or romance, but a kiss with a purpose, with power -with a promise. 

As the kiss found its end, the woman felt a bolt of energy leave from deep within her and could sense it being drawn deep into him, sliding into place like magnetism; as it always did. From one to another- the transfer was simple. What came next however was the tricky bit.

The woman pulled away, placing her lips close to his ear; whispering so that only he could hear.

 "For the promise that you made to me." 

A bone shattering wail echoed through the air, the wind carrying the painful sound without falter to the mans ears as a trusted messenger. With that, the golden eyed man pulled the collar of his coat up to his ears once more, not raising his eyes to the rest of the group as he bid his farewell and disappeared hastily into the night. 

"There will be a price." The woman said to the remainder of the group. "It will be the fifth generation of your families sons and daughters burden to bare. If they fail to fulfill the promise made, everything that you have been granted, whether it  be the life of a loved one," the woman's distant gaze staring deep into the night, eyes blazing , "or the money needed to pay a ransom -" 

She turned her gaze to Mr. Manfeld who was nervously shifting from foot to foot. 

"- will be taken away from you, as if this deal had never existed in the first place. Your history's will be changed forever - instantly. As if you had never met me on this night at all." 

 As they shifted their gazes away from the woman, they all felt that something had changed, something that would alter each of their destinies forever.