End of the beginning and the beginning of the end

“W-why would you go that far for me…I-I don’t—I just don’t get it!”

I can’t shake off the feeling I don’t deserve her kindness. And yet I feel relived right now. With my hands I wipe away the tears that filled my eyes.

Gazing up at Elea from the bottom of her laps, I can see it clearly, her bright smile.

What’s her reason? Why is she doing this? Why is she always so nice to me, we barely know each other? My head keeps spinning with questions I can’t find answers too.

Elea smiled and said. “Because…I’m your friend dummy.”

She gently brushed her hand against my silver hair.

Lying on Elea’s lap, as she gently brushes my hair…At the time, I wanted nothing more than to stay with her like this forever.

“Just a little longer—can we…Stay like this a little longer.”

“Sure. Take as much time as you need.”

As soon as Elea said those words, she collapsed.

Her head hit the floor with a loud THUD! She fainted.

Wait, what? She’s fainted, but why? Is she okay? What’s going on, she isn’t sick is she?

“Elea!” I shouted as I got off of her.

She didn’t respond, I put my ear to her nose, It`s shallow but she’s still breathing, physically she looks fine, but something isn’t right.

I touch her hand…And I notice it, a strange sensation in the flow of magic in her body…It’s as if it’s being sucked away!

Spiritual energy, magic, mana, chi, Ki and so on, it goes by many names, but it all refers to one thing, the life force of the soul, the energy created by the soul to sustain itself. If she keeps losing magic like this Elea will...

I didn`t want to imagine what would happen to her but I knew.

“…Why is this happening to her?”

Huh!?

The moment I murmur the words, I notice a strange presence, an eeriness I’ve never seen or felt before. What is…That!? Where is it!?

There it is! Asserting its presence behind me, strongly enough to eradicate the earlier feeling of eeriness I got.

I feel it press its chest up against my back and wrap its arms around me.

Boobs.

A soft squishiness presses against my back…

It’s a girl…? There’s something familiar about them.

It squeezes me tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter, when I feel like I can barely breathe it finally speaks.

“We finally found you…We`re so happy.”

A nostalgic voice. A familiar darkness and a scent of death, I’d subconsciously longed for.

It was like I’d heard this voice a thousand times in my heart, a warm darkness`s voice.

It was able to clearly communicate what it wanted to say, I wasn’t able to understand what it meant though.

“We’ve been searching for you—for us.” It spoke.

I`m your friend dummy.” Her voice—Elea’s voice I heard it clearly in my head.

“Let go of me! How do I save her!? Tell me now!”

I broke free from its grasps and turned to face it.

It wasn’t behind me when I turned…It disappeared—no rather, my sense of direction shifted.

Turning my head back again, to meet this thing face to face, I was dumbfounded to find it sitting beside Elea, this was the first time I saw it.

It’s a Shadow! It was faceless…It had neither eyes nor a mouth; it only had a figure, its figure was nearly identical to mine like staring at my own silhouette, it wasn’t clothed or dressed in anything, it simply stood their bare before me.

“We’ve missed her—we’ve missed her—we’ve missed—we’ve missed her…” It repeated with a voice that sounded like multiple people speaking in unison, as it did its hands gravitated toward Elea’s lips, it felt them up gingerly. It stuck two of its fingers in Elea’s mouth, pulling out some saliva from the tips of its fingers…And stuck those same two fingers in my own mouth.

“We understand your love—your desires—

It was able to move past me and get to Elea, even though she was behind me. In that moment I realized that space and direction don’t operate normally in this confined space, it also occurred to me that the flow of time might be disturbed here.

Gulp!

I accidentally swallowed… Elea’s…

When I swallowed a wave of anxiety, embarrassment and disgust hit me.

Did I just—no it’s not my fault, Elea never has to know this happened she didn’t see anything no one saw anything! My face flushed red.

—your every want, and pleasure. You wish to save her then eat... Eat us whole!”

“Eat…What do you mean by—

It chimed in as if it was aware of my question before I even asked.

—We want you to eat us, leave nothing behind, from our head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, finger nails, chest, back, abdomen, hips, bottom, thighs, knees, toe nails, feet, bones, tendons, muscles, arteries, veins, heart, stomach, lungs, bowels, liver, teeth, tongue, lips, nose, ears, hair, eyes and everything in between.”

There’s no way I could stomach eating another living creature that’s crazy—I can’t.

“You can’t seriously expect me to actually eat you alive…That`s not possible.”

“Your precious treasure doesn’t have much time.”

My heart skips a beat, maybe two; just how much longer can Elea or Marine last here. This place is draining their life force itself! Abruptly I come to one conclusion I have to do whatever it says! If I don’t the first people who were kind to me since sis, will die—I just can’t let that happen…

“We want you to form a contract of the soul with us, with yourself, if you do her and everyone in our stomach will be saved... You get to be the person that saved them!

It trilled with excitement saying that, as it did, it disappeared—no it shifted its position in space, it was behind me, pressing itself against my back and wrapping its hands around me.

It brought its head to my ear and without missing a word it spoke…

“The terms of the contract are simple, first you are to eat us whole, as agreed earlier, second you will have no recollection of making this contract with us, and lastly after three years you are to throw us a banquet, to celebrate our return.”

A contract of the soul, an eternally binding contract, once formed can never be broken. It binds both parties involved, and even in death their souls remain bound to the contract.

Somehow I can tell this contract is a pitfall. It’s so obvious that it’s a pitfall...That it’s going to be the end of me, and yet…The image of Marine, Elea and I in that stupid club room…If I could see that image one more time…I’d gladly fall face first in any pitfall.

I can’t help but smile, as I say these last words, these last words that end this story and begin the end of my story.

“I Frey Azrael…Agree to the terms of the contract and bind my soul.” I said, with a beaming smile

Today is truly a great day… I get to save the two people who saved me I’m so glad…