Sealed in Ink ¤ l.h. [The Bound: Book One]

Chapter Seven.

Chapter Seven.

Luke woke up startled. He glanced at his surroundings, finding himself still in the tattoo parlor. He must have dozed off on the client chair after his friend Michael had departed.

He glanced at his phone, which announced to him that it was 12:23am.

A knock echoed through the place and Luke realized that the sound was what probably woke him up in the first place. 

He stood up and walked towards the glass door. He was surprised to see Elle standing outside. He quickly reached for the lock and doorknob, opening the door for her. She rushed in, with a tear-tainted face and breathing heavily.

"Elle, why are you here? What's wrong?" Luke asks, concern slipping into his voice immediately at her broken expression.

"I was walking around for hours, not really wanting to get home and then I ended up here again," she said in-between sobs.

"Elle." Luke's voice was sad.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come back after leaving like I did before but I just... I can't do this anymore. I don't think I have much time left —" she left the statement hanging, but what had been said was enough to add more concern to Luke's heart.

"What is going on, Elle? Why are you running out of time? Are you sick?" the questions spilled out of his mouth in his rush to get them out.

Elle shook her head quickly.

"Then what?" he pushed, hoping that she would tell him.

"You won't understand," she said softly, as more tears rolled incessantly down her cheeks.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Try me," he pleaded.

"Luke," she started.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on," he interrupted.

Elle's blue eyes were stormy. Luke hated the pain in them.

"It's my mom," she finally said, "She has ischemic heart disease".

 Luke's brow furrowed, hinting as to his confusion.

"I'm not really familiar with the illness," he admitted.

Elle took a deep breath, "it means that the arteries that carry blood and oxygen to her heart are blocked, so the organ is not getting enough of these things. The disease can lead to heart failure and well..."

"Death," Luke finished for her. Elle nodded in assent.

Luke bit his lip, "I'm so sorry," he said honestly.

"Her disease is not the problem. She's doing pretty well, considering. She's taking her medication and exercising and trying to stay healthy" she explained.

"Then what's the problem?" Luke asked, confused.

"The problem is I did something. You're probably not going to believe me but you want to know so I'm going to tell you. Luke, when my mom was first diagnosed with the disease, my family was going through some economic hardships. My dad is a drunk and the little money we had he would spend on booze. We couldn't afford her medicine. We were going mad, not knowing how to get the money and she was only getting worse. We felt hopeless. But then a man came to visit us one night. He was dressed all in black, head to toe. He told us he would give us the money to pay for mother's medication. We thought it was odd that this stranger was offering us what we knew was a large sum of money and not asking anything in return. But Luke, we were desperate, mom was getting worse..."

"Oh no," Luke said under his breath.

"He made us, well, me specifically because he didn't trust dad, sign a contract. He said it was insurance. I signed it and he wrote us a check, then handed it to me. I should've read what he made me sign... I should've... but all I was thinking about was mom and wanting her to get better. I was not prepared for what came next. Never in a million years would I think that I would be in the situation that I am in. Luke what I did, when I signed that piece of paper was... I, God, this is going to sound insane to you. Luke, I..."

"You signed a deal with a demon," Luke finished for her.

"Yes! how did you know?" Elle exclaimed in shock. Luke ignored the question.

"Oh God, Elle. What have you done?" His eyes were wide with horror.

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A/N: Welp.... that happened. The paranormal stuff is finally being revealed :D

What do you guys think about the turn of events? Any theories? Opinions? 

Thank you for 4,000 reads. I love you all to bits <3

Liz x