I Sold My Soul for Chocolate

Chapter 11

I stopped staring at him, my heartbeat quickening with each moment that passed. Why was he here? He seemed pissed.

“Hey, guys, it’s getting kinda crowded in here. Let’s move over to my room, okay? Just bring your cups,” I said, getting up and nearly stumbling from how hard my legs were shaking.

“Yeah, sure. You’ll love Kay’s room, Jeff!” Liney said excitedly. She was completely occupied with Jeff, who in turn was forced to look at her, so neither really looked around as Liney led them towards the stairs.

“I’m going to talk to Zehna for a minute, you guys go on!” I called out. Liney gave me a thumbs up before the two of them disappeared up the stairs.

I walked straight over to Raum, ignoring the terror which his stare caused me.

“Why are you here?” I asked, rather aggressively. What gave him the right to intrude on my personal space?

“Don’t make a scene. Sit down,” he ordered, and I found myself obeying. I sat down opposite of him and held his gaze.

“So?” I urged, and Raum put his menu down, sighing.

“Did you pass the exam?” He asked.

“Of course. Did you?”

“Good.” He glanced somewhere behind me and then looked back at me. “I did too. Zehna is coming, let me talk.”

“Ah, Lord Raum, what a pleasant surprise!” Zehna said, and I couldn’t hold back my surprise as I turned around to look at her with wide eyes. Lord Raum? Zehna’s eyes met mine, and she mimicked my confused look.

“Zehna. I assume you know why I’m here,” he said coldly.

“Yes, of course. I see you’ve met Kay?” She glanced from me to him.

“I have, at the entrance exam of the Academy. I must commend you, you’ve taught her well,” he said, and I nearly choked on my saliva. Zehna shot him a weak smile.

“Yes, of course. Thank you. Let’s go aside to talk-“

Raum raised a hand, shutting Zehna up instantly.

“We’ll talk right here. Take a seat, Zehna.”

Zehna obeyed without a word. I was getting increasingly concerned. Why was he ordering her around? Why was she listening? How was I still alive, if he was such an authority?

Zehna turned towards me. “Go to your room, Kay.”

“No,” I said, my heart clenching in fear. “What the hell is going on here, Zehna? You know this demon?”

Zehna sent me a stern warning look. “Kay, we will talk later. This is serious business.”

“Oh, she can stay,” Raum said casually, and I turned to see that there was a s******c grin on his face. I had a feeling I was about to discover something horrible.

“But-“

“She stays, Zehna.”

Silence fell upon us as Raum waited for Zehna to meet his gaze. I kept switching my gaze from one of them to the other, utterly confused.

“I have upheld my end of the bargain, witch. You’re late on your payment.”

Bargain? She made a deal with Raum? Did she sell her soul?

“I can’t do it,” Zehna said shakily. Raum sneered.

“Are you aware of what will happen if you fail to meet your end of the deal?” He said sharply, and I flinched from the harshness of his voice. Zehna was looking at the ground.

“Don’t tell her, please,” Zehna said softly.

“Look at me when you speak,” Raum said coldly, and Zehna lifted her gaze. I felt dizzy when I saw that there were tears running down her face.

“What’s going on? Zehna?” I said hopelessly. Zehna looked at me and shook her head.

“It’s okay, cupcake. Everything’s fine.”

“No, it’s not! So tell me, what’s going on? What deal did you make with him?”

Zehna looked back at the floor, so my eyes searched for Raum’s. He was smiling again.

“Tell me!” I said sharply. Raum’s grin widened.

“How curious. I would’ve expected you to inform your offspring of the deal, Zehna. How very irresponsible of you,” he said.

“Stop playing games,” I threatened, feeling rage go through my head. What had made Zehna so upset? Why was Raum so smug? There was something wrong. Threatening me was one thing - I could deal with it. But threatening my family or friends was a whole other problem.

“It is not a coincidence that Zehna was the one to find you, Kay.” He shifted in his seat and leaned towards me menacingly. I didn’t flinch. “She’s always wanted a child. Everyone she contacted was unable to provide her with one. I declined her offer, as well... until I found you. Werewolves were devouring your aunt nearby, your mother had long ago overdosed and your father was incognito. I saw that nobody would miss you, so I went back to Zehna and told her where to find you. And in return...”

“In return,” continued Zehna, swishing her gaze towards me, “you’d have to pledge your loyalty to the kingdom of demons and serve Hell until the end of your days.”

I stood up, my heart hammering inside my chest as chaos swished through my head.

“What? But why me? You can’t make a deal in my name!”

“Well, typically, that would be impossible,” Raum said, grinning, before removing his glove to reveal the star which represented our pact. “But since I have your soul, such a deal was possible.”

“That makes no sense! If you own my soul, you could’ve just ordered me to pledge my loyalty, like you’re ordering me to help you with your stupid rebels!” I snapped. Raum sneered.

“Watch your tone, human!” He slammed his fist on the table, making me flinch. “That would’ve insured your loyalty until your soul was saved. This way, you will be loyal until you die, because I will kill Zehna and claim her soul if you disobey. Quite a sweet deal, don’t you think?”

I sneered right back at him. “Why me? As you keep saying, I’m just a human! What good will I do?”

“Oh, Kay,” he said, leaning back into his chair with a grin. “You’d be surprised at how beneficial having a human servant can be.”

“If I’m so beneficial, then I can be sure that you won’t kill me, so I can do whatever I want, right?” I urged angrily, feeling my common sense panic.

“Go ahead, give it a try. Finding a new contact can be quite a hassle, but I’d rather do that than bother with a disobedient one. We’ve already come this far, so it would be in my best interest to keep you alive. I can, however, make you suffer without killing you and force you into obedience.” I opened my mouth to say something dumb again, but Zehna reached over and squeezed my wrist tightly.

“Kay, enough!” Zehna whispered to me harshly. I looked over at her and my heart sank. She was shaking from fear.

“You knew,” I said simply, referring to the fact that Raum owned my soul. She gave me a sad nod. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to burden you,” she replied. I snorted.

“Well, I’m burdened now! I had this all figured out, I just had to do this one thing and I’d be free. But now I’ll have to work for him until I die?”

“You’re making a big deal out of this, human,” Raum interrupted. “You’re overestimating our usefulness. I might call on your services once or twice within your lifetime, in times of crisis.”

His words made the anxiety clenching my chest dissipate. That wasn’t so bad, actually.

“Do you cover insurance? Is my salary without tax?”

Nobody laughed at my joke, so I decided to shut up.

“Well, let’s get on with it. How do I sweat loyalty?” I said, breaking the silence. Zehna snapped her gaze towards me, clutching my wrist again.

“Kay... I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. You gave me a nice childhood, Zehna. I’m glad you’re the one who found me. And the price isn’t so bad, right?” I looked over at Raum and nodded. “Let’s just finish this.”

I had no idea where my sudden courage and calm came from, but I wasn’t complaining. I had been under so much stress that this conclusion actually made me relieved. And knowing I was worth something made me fear Raum a bit less, knowing that he wouldn’t kill me just for shits and giggles.

“You will swear loyalty to me, and therefore to the realm of demons. I will be your direct superior, however. By doing this, you are automatically ranked higher than any regular demon, so, really, you’re getting quite a lot in return.” Raum got up from his seat, and so did Zehna, so I followed suit. “Let’s get away from this crowd.”

Without another word, Raum bounded off towards the stairs. Where my friends were. The friends that I’d rather not know that Raum was here.

“Hey, don’t go there!” I whispered after him, but he was already halfway up the stairs. I broke into a sprint and managed to catch his attention. I could hear Jeff and Liney talking from my room. I caught the words ‘elixir’ and ‘drink’. “My friends are there. They can’t know you’re here, it’s too suspicious.”

“Then make them leave. We need peace, space, and a mirror.” He said coldly. I sighed.

“Right.” I opened walked the rest of the way up the stairs and opened the first door to the left, which led to the bathroom. “Come hide in here.”

Raum obeyed, and as soon as he closed the door behind him, I went to the end of the hallway and turned into my room. However, what I saw made me close my mouth instantly and stop dead in my tracks.

Liney was kissing Jeff.

I waited until they broke apart before resuming my approach, deciding to pretend that I saw nothing. Liney would have to explain herself... later.

“Hey, guys!” I said cheerfully. They grinned at me, both of them with flushed cheeks, before Liney continued to speak again, as if they hadn’t just kissed and I wasn’t there. Jeff seemed mesmerized by the way she was describing the magic.

“Woah! I really want to see that!” He said, looking at her like a lost puppy looking at its owner.

“I’ll show you!” Liney looked at me. “You coming?”

“I’d love to, but I can’t. I have to help Zehna at the cafe, I was just about to tell you that. It’s getting hectic and the coffee machine just broke. I have to cover to Zehna while she fixes it. I might meet you later, though,” I said, glad that they were going to leave on their own accord and that I didn’t have to force them. In fact, after what I’d seen, I was fairly sure they’d rather go without me. Liney was insane. I felt a bit bad for Jeff - Liney had a tendency to rush things and get bored quickly.

“Ah.” I saw Liney’s smile falter, but she returned it momentarily. “It’s fine. Just join us later, okay? I’ll text Argal, too. We can go out tonight, with Jeff. We only have a week before the Academy, anyways!”