The Deal

1996 Words
Evangeline can hardly stand still. Her whole body is shaking with fear. If she could, she would disappear from the room entirely and never look back. But she can’t do that. Krista has pinpointed Eve’s only weakness. The young woman’s love for her Nana and the promise she made to her Papa to take care of his wife. “What sort of a deal?” Krista repeats. “Let’s see here.. Oh, I know! You come back to the cabin with me and your precious Nana can stay here with her new friends. How does that sound?” “Nana stays here? Why can’t we come together?” Eve asks, truly puzzled and trying to figure out Krista’s master plan. “The cabin just isn’t a very good place for her. Don’t you agree? You’ll be working all the time and nobody will be able to take care of her.” Krista pauses. “But if you don’t come, I will bring the old woman with me and you won’t be allowed to see her.” Alan tries to take a step forward, but Eve grabs ahold of his arm. In her mind she is begging him not to get himself hurt. “So you just want me to come and work for you or else you’ll abuse a helpless innocent old woman..” Eve states rather than questions. “You don’t have to put it that way, that hurts my feelings.” Krista sticks her bottom lip out and pretends to pout. “It’s not for long. I just want you to pay me back what you own me for taking care of you all these years.” Evangeline thinks it over for a moment. Maybe she can earn this owed money quicker than Krista expects and get out of the cabin soon. She glances behind her to Nana, sitting on the couch unaware of anything unusual taking place. Then she looks to Alan. “Can you take care of my Nana for me?” Before he can respond, she adds.. “Alan, I couldn’t trust anyone else with this. She means so much to me.” “You can’t go with her. She.. She isn’t telling you the whole truth. Who knows what will happen to you if you go with her.” Fear evident in his voice and it is completely his own, because for some reason Eve feels confident about her decision. Evangeline places her hand on Alan’s face. What a good friend he has always been to her. Yes she was ready to leave with him today, but things don’t always work out the way we expect. And when that happens you have to look at it with optimism or it will bring you down. Papa always said this was a gift she had, her own power. Even now it makes her smile to think about his words. “Thank you, Alan. For everything. I promise I’ll be back soon.” With a smile and a swift kiss on his other cheek, she steps towards Krista. “You accept the deal, girl? Then shake on it and it’s official, no contract necessary.” She demands with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. A small frail hand hesitantly raises to meet the one in front of her. Red fingernails roughly wrap around her hand and pull her in. Krista spins Eve around so the young woman’s back hits her chest. Both of them are staring at Alan. Rage evident on his face. “Don’t do anything stupid, boy! If you try to come for her, you could be killed and I’ll take the old woman and do with them both as I please.” Krista warns. “If you ever want to see your precious Eve again. Stay away from her..” Alan clenches his fists by his side as the distasteful group in front of him walks out the door. Behind him sits an innocent Nana and his mother. The look on his mother’s face and her mellow attitude tells him everything he needs to know and doesn’t want to hear. Yet, he can still imagine his mother telling him that everything happens for a reason.. *** Eve really hopes she knows what she has done. Alan and her Nana are both safe and that’s all that really matters to her. Nana is so old and frail, while Krista is cold and wicked. There is no doubt in Eve’s mind that Krista would have taken her frustration and anger out on both of them somehow. The fingers gripping around Eve’s upper arm are starting to hurt. There will definitely be a bruise there if she keeps this up all the way to the cabin. At the bottom of the gravel road Krista tosses her down onto her knees. She tells the paranormal men to go, thankfully. Then she warns Eve not to do anything that would put the old woman at risk. “Remember, her fate is up to you now..” Krista’s murmurs, her words icy cold. The walk up to the cabin is quiet. Too quiet. A bad feeling begins to settle in the pit of Evangeline’s stomach. And for good reason. As soon as the two of them pass through the cabin door, Krista unleashes her furry. Without warning, Eve’s head gets jerked backwards by her hair. She lets out a sudden cry as she is spun around. If she didn’t know any better, she would swear that Krista is a fiery demon with the look in her eyes. A look Eve only sees for a split second before a hand goes across her face. Not once, not twice, but three times. Eve probably would have fell back at the sheer force of the slaps if Krista weren’t holding tightly at her hair. Instinctively she tries to put her hands up in front of her face, which only serves to piss her assailant off. Her top half gets slammed onto the nearby table and then onto the floor. A foot kicks her in the side, causing her to roll onto her back. Eve winces in pain and then opens her eyes to see Krista flying down at her. Two hands grab tightly at her throat. Eve’s hands go around Krista’s wrists. She is trying to free herself, but it’s no use! Her throat and lungs are burning with Krista’s fiery anger as darkness begins to cover her world. Several hours later, she wakes up in the closet that she calls her room. Her throat is still on fire and she needs water. As she moves to get up, she falls onto the door. What the f**k? Eve’s hands go to her ankle in the darkness of her room and there she feels some sort of rope tied to her. Her fingers trace it to the leg of her small wooden bed. This has never happened before. Eve agreed to the deal, she would never compromise Nana’s safety. What does Krista have planned for her?! With her throat sore and still feeling the burn of that wicked woman’s grasp, she tries to fall back to sleep. In the morning she can see the light of day coming through the crack at the bottom of her door. Still tied to the bed, she reaches for the handle and finds it locked.. She bangs on the door and receives to answer. It seems like hours go by this way. Panic begins to fill her. This can’t be good. How long will she be trapped in there? And what will happen to her when she finally gets out? Eve lays quiet for a few hours, trying to remain calm and not use too much energy. Her stomach is starting to twist and rumble with hungry, but if she could just get some water.. Finally, she begins to beg for something to drink. Her voice is crackly and dry, but with these thin walls surely someone will hear her. The door unlocks, there stands the youngest of the children. Erica hands Eve a blue metal cup filled with cold water. When she drinks it all she hands the cup back to the emotionless girl and is once again left in darkness. More time passes as the light under the door begins to fade with the day. It’s nighttime again and stays dark until footsteps on the other side of the door light the lantern. The door to her room opens and there stands Krista like a dark ominous shadow looming above her. What’s that in her hand? The flash of something in the light. A knife.. She takes a step toward Eve and then slices the rope at her ankle. “Come out now.” Krista demands. “Eat what’s on the table and then go take a bath.” Eve doesn’t question her orders and does as she is told. The plain meal of buttered rice feels good in her empty stomach, but the warm bath in the washroom is somehow more comforting. Her body is submerged in the steaming water and she lays back, her mind going over everything that has happened in the last week. Beginning with the secret of her real mother. Suddenly she hears low inaudible voices outside the washroom door. Krista’s and a man that she doesn’t recognize. It’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t sound like Mr. Grogen. So that’s good, right? She thinks they might be arguing and moves to other end of the old porcelain tub to listen better. The sudden sound of Krista’s raised voice makes her jump. “Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do, you son of a b***h! I am the one that has been taking care of Eve all these years, for you! And did you ever come back to me like I thought you would? NO! Now, I am done! She is mine to do as I please!” She yells. The man in the other room mumbles something in response. “It’s too late, Deacon! The deal has been made and the contract has been signed. There is no going back now.” Krista pauses and then adds more quietly. “I would be sorry, if I thought you ever actually cared for me.” There is the sound of footsteps and then the front door to the cabin slamming. Who is Deacon? Eve has never heard of that name before, which surprises her. Whatever connection he has or had to Krista sounded intimate and personal. Why is he here and why would he care what happens to Eve anyways? More concerning she realizes, is the fact that some sort of official contract has been signed concerning her. A shiver of fear runs through her, despite the warm water of her bath. Eve finishes up in the washroom and hesitantly walks into the main room of the cabin. Krista is sitting at the table, her face covered in ominous shadows from the lantern. A half empty bottle of alcohol and two glasses are on the table in front of her. “Evangeline. Sit. Have a drink with me.” Krista says, but she doesn’t quite sound like herself. Eve does as she is told and takes the now filled glass into her hand. The contents burn her nose when it gets close to her lips, but she takes a sip anyways. It’s awful and makes her cough, strangely soothing her sore throat. “You never did anything wrong, girl. Except for being born into this shitty world. That was your father that was just here. He couldn’t help you. I can’t help you.” Her words slurring together. Eve’s father was here, in this room? But.. Why did he just leave like that and why is Krista saying all of this right now? “I sold you to a woman today. The contract has been signed. She’ll be here tomorrow morning to get you.”
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