BOUND TO HIM BY FORCE

12. BOUND BY FORCE

I sat up in the chair, my hands coming to my face to wipe away the tears, wiping them dry. I pulled my hair back and tucked it behind my ears with me just blinking everything away. My body turned, the legs hanging over the seat and slipping to the edge of the seat with Brute stepping away. My feet touched the step bar before touching the tarred road.

My whole body emerged from the car, the breeze sending my hair flying and tickling my exposed skin.

All I saw were trees on more trees. We were in the middle of a deserted road, caged by nothing but forests. A good place to get killed. The forests were so dark and the trees clustered together that if you looked hard enough you saw the shadow of a ghost. My body turned, seeing the cars parked by the side of the road, waiting, waiting for me.

My feet moved, having accepted my fate, having accepted all the pain and making it a part of me. I felt so numb I did not care; I did not care anymore.

My body moved slowly, Brute behind me, knowing I was frustrating him with my slow steps, but I did not care.

I felt dead, a large part of me just gone, nothing but an empty vessel. Brute moved forward, rushing before me and leading me to the car where I knew the devil sat, waiting for me. I did not know what I was thinking, I had been thinking for so long and suddenly it was all so mute. I felt calm, but a certain calm that one feels just before taking one's life. The door was opened with Brute stepping away, it being the time.

I did not hesitate, my heart betraying me by drumming so rapidly my chest was shaking.

I stepped in, my body sliding along the seat with the smell of nothing beautiful masculinity hitting my nostrils and getting them drunk.

The door was closed, the darkness falling on the car, the person right next to me, not far away.

The seat was cold but I did not mind. I wanted to feel the cold, I wanted to feel it deep to my bone.

My head turned, falling on golden skin. I could see that there was color in him, but just a little. His skin was shining, it glowing and glistering with his face carved as if God had just spent a million years, spending all his free time on him. He was the definition of perfection, but perfection so wicked and so evil. His side profile was impressive but he turned, his eyes locking with mine and the front was a million times better.

He stared into my eyes as I stared into his.

I felt nothing, no fear, no resentment, just nothing.

I was going to sacrifice myself. I was going to die, but a death far more painful than the one I wished for. If there was a chance I could help my parents, then I would do so and bear the consequences head-on. I would take all that came with the devil’s world and bury myself in it.

No words were said, an envelope placed on my lap with him barely even blinking, eyes not shifting from mine.

The eyes, his eyes were windows into his soul. I could see it bare and clear. He was not hiding anything, not closed off. He just showered one exactly who he was and he was as dark as the word itself. I stared into his soul and it was damned, collected by the wicked witches with his heart nowhere to be seen. He was cold as a night creature.

As I looked, I realized he actually had no soul, it was just a hollow vacuum filled with darkness and hate. And he would be my future, he would be my life from then and he would be my darkness.

My eyes snapped away from the devil and fell on the envelope on my lap. My hands moved, suddenly shaking, with me unable to breathe all of a sudden. I picked up the envelope, it shaking in my hold. I uncapped the seal, my hands going in to pull out so many different papers. The marriage license was just on top. The witnesses had sighed, stamped and all that was missing was my signature. That signature would be the death of me. My eyes ran through it, two words sticking out: ‘Azrail Duran’. I could finally put a name to the face, the face that filled my dreams with the worst possible nightmares. I said it in my head, over and over again, as an image of me standing over his lifeless body filled my head. The words escaped my lips like a breath, just brushing through them and going unheard.

Now that he had a name, he seemed less of a devil and more of a demon.

A pen was held out for me, with no time to read. The pen shook in my hold, bending over with the tip of the pen touching the clear paper. I could not do it, my eyes closing, knowing there was no turning back from there. The pen moved on its own, my hand working with my name signed for.

My eyes slipped open and it was done. I could not take it back then; I could do nothing about it. I was tied down and bound to a man that would either kill me or I kill him.

The paper slipped away, a large contract under it. There were black arrows indicating the pages and places where I had to sign. I did not know what the contract was for and I knew he would not give me the time to read through it. I could be selling my body parts and I would not even know. Even if I did know, what could I do, ask for another better contract, who was I kidding?

The first page was opened, only my line of signature. The initials had already been written for me at the lower corner of the page. I signed above the signature line and moved to the next page.

There were a lot of clauses, seeing words in bold. I signed and moved on, signed and moved on until my wrist hurt as if to fall off.

The last page was sighed, the whole document closed shut along with my life.

The papers were slipped into the envelope that sat empty. I turned and held it out for him. His hand stretched out to take it along with the pen. He turned and slipped it on the tiny work desk before him, then took another envelope which he gave to me. I took it in hand, not knowing what it carried, but peeled the seal open to fish my hand in.

The first thing that came out were two black cards. The first one had my initials on them but instead of my surname, his sat right next to my name. My identity was taken, my maiden name was erased. It died with the girl that giggled at watching her parents whisper wicked things to each other, who loved running up and down the stairs. It died with the girl that found absolute pleasure in cooking with her dad, laughing and just watching him, filled with nothing but love. That name died with the girl who could have a crush on her best friend and dream about a future of them together with three beautiful children.

It was all gone.

The first card was slipped away, my eyes falling on a second one. It held a name I did not know and had never heard of but I knew it belonged to me. The cards were set aside, pulling out more cards and, they were two identity cards. They all held different photos of me, belonging to Masha Duran and Abigail Shurr. One face with two identities. He did not have to explain, I knew what it was and what it was for. I had grown up in the life of secret identities.

The cards were all slipped back into the envelope with nothing else there. My head picked up, Azrail tapping on his driver’s chair. No time was wasted with the car coming to life. He sat back in his chair and looked away to his window.

“You can get out now.”

I barely caught the words, them sending a shiver down my body. He had talked and I had a feeling his words were final in whatever that was talked about. I stared at him for one more second and I could not help but hate him. I could not help but wish he could collapse and die.

I knew he played very little in what had happened to me but I could not help but put all the blame on him. He was my devil and the devil always takes the fall for everything.

The handle was gripped and pulled with the door opened.

Light shone again, my body turning with it slipping from the chair as Brute stepped away. He was confused, with no clue about what was happening, but I could care less.

“Brute, an encrypted location of her house will be sent to you and you will transport by midnight, then retreat.” The voice came again, calm and collected, as if he was just having another normal evening.

“Yes sir, thank you for the opportunity.” Brute was basically on the edge of bowing and kissing his feet. Just watching it had my stomach turn, wanting to vomit all the food I had eaten.

I turned, ready to walk away with Brute closing the door. We walked off, the cars slipping onto the road one after the other with us staring at their backs.

Gone, but not for good.