Black and Blue

24 - Bargaining

Like I don't know that, dipshit, I said back in my head.

As we walked further and further, out of the humans' forest and into the demons' realm, I knew Jack had started to realize with me that I was in far more danger here than before. It was just beginning to sink in, the reality coming down hard like a blanket of stinging snow as I heard a couple jeers from either side of me. We kept walking. Jack shifted his hand on my shoulder as if to reaffirm he was there.

"Don't worry. Anyone who touches you is getting their soul punched out of their body."

"Back so soon?"

I gritted my teeth and turned my head the other way as Vickson so bravely approached us. Jack didn't bother to hide the growl prying its way up his throat, and the demon giggled without a care in the world.

"Hold on now, young man, hold on. No need for such animosity, no, I simply wanted to say hello—"

"You've said it, now go back to the hole you crawled out of—"

"Jack! I'd expected those kinds of words from your rude little pet, but you?" Vick's voice deepened and slithered through my ears, booming in my head like a certain other invasive demon I knew.

"Now that boss is out for your little Sawyer's blood—"

Something wispy hooked around my ankle and I kicked it away with such force that for a moment I was afraid I'd trip over myself. I scowled; the voice ebbed away as if in amused reaction.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," I mumbled under my breath.

"What was that?"

"I said you'll never leave me alone, will you?"

My teeth stayed clenched for a good thirty seconds, all throughout Vick's fading laughter and Jack's hushed assurances that they would, indeed, get a proper soul-punching later. Right now, we needed to focus—even if it meant neglecting Vickson the demon's astounding need to be given what-for.

We reached a corner. The corner; the one that Jack had turned and followed Chernobog's little pests into a dark, cold, lifeless hall. More lifeless than everything else here, anyway. Though I couldn't exactly see it now, I could feel its daunting presence, that same gut-wrenching feeling I got while walking down it before. Or maybe that was just my own familiar sense of fear kicking in.

Either way, I was starting to be led again.

I held my hand out behind me for Jack to take while I listened to the distant whispers growing in my mind. There were no words, at least, not that I could make out. But there were senses. Hushed, urgent little sounds that nudged me in one direction, then another, until I was walking steadily along a line on which they evened out. Every now and then my hand would start to slip, and Jack held on tightly like I would drop into the darkness if he let go for a second. Like he would lose me for good.

Of course, I knew those little whispers were just his boss. He knew I was here. He knew when and how and why, he knew everything. He was just guiding me to the lion's den to deal with me easier, and for once, I didn't care. If it got all this over with, who was I to complain?

As Jack and I entered the empty side room and came to a stop, something hissed behind us. It was akin to a cymbal swoosh, interrupted once or twice by the sound of crumbling stone. It was like the very walls were being bent, morphed, pulled shut at the seams...

"Shit."

Jack let go of my hand but didn't move otherwise. "Of course he's sealing us in," he grumbled.