Carry The Curse

You know what they say about deals with the Devil?  Well they’re right.  The Devil always wins.

I knew who he was.  I can’t claim ignorance or even that he conned me. 

I knew. 

I did it anyway.

Maybe I had a choice, maybe not.  In the end I couldn’t see any other way.  Lu knows everyone’s Achilles heel otherwise he wouldn’t have a single signed contract.  Mine was Delia.  Sweet, sunny Delia…my little sister.  She was standing at a crossroads as so many teens do and that sonuvbitch was about to tip the scales with my sister on the losing side.  I also knew this wasn’t about Delia…it was about me.  He wanted me either in his pocket or out of the game entirely.  I had already told him he could fuck his pocket.  So that only left getting me out of the game. 

My Granny told me long ago my ego would lead me straight to hell and she was right.  But she also said it would give the Devil a black eye if I had the guts to carry the weight. 

So I here I sit, staring at the Bullet on the table and the Gun across the room.  I can feel the curse twisting towards me, stopping just short of my skin.  Gotta have my permission first.  That’s the way Lu works.  He’ll back your ass into a corner with a knife at someone else’s throat and then smile saying, “It’s all up to you, yes or no?”

I took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful golden-haired man straight in his pale blue icy eyes.

“It’s very simple Michaela, you carry the Bullet, I carry the Gun.  I leave your family alone as long as you carry the Bullet and after you ask for the Gun, well, it won’t matter to you what I do by then.  If you drop the Bullet you will be in breach of contract and Delia, as well as any others I so choose from your bloodline are forfeit.”

I chuckled as I looked up at him. 

“Oh Lu I am looking forward to the day when you have to explain to Him why I am still walking the earth.  Because you will have to explain you know?  I won’t drop the Bullet and I won’t ask for the Gun.  He, and the entire Heavenly Host, will forgive you long before I lose my resolve.  I will carry this curse to the end of time and beyond if necessary.”

With that I grabbed the Bullet and gritted my teeth against a scream as the curse burned and twisted its way into my soul.  I fell to the floor as the convulsions started.  I have no idea how long it went on but Lu was sitting on the bed with a glass of whiskey in his hand when I came out of the seizures.  I had vomited and pissed myself and I was pretty sure every tooth in my head was loose, but I still had that damn bullet in my hand.

“Micky, Micky, Micky, let go and I can make everything right again.” 

I laid there and worked on remembering how to breathe.  Then I slowly stood up, swaying only a little.  The weight was…unbelievable.  I could feel it pulling on my organs, but worse than that, I could feel it pulling on my mind.  The ice in his glass clinked as our eyes met over the rim of the cut crystal.  He smirked.

“Heavy isn’t it?’

“Yes.”  My voice sounded like rusted chain on concrete.

“Let go.”

“No.”  I put the bullet in my pocket and staggered to the door.

“It will only get worse Micky.”

I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder, snarling, “I’m counting on it.  That way I’ll always have a new level of hatred for you to keep me going.”

I stumbled out into the hallway and down the stairs into the hot, wet New Orleans night.  I knew I had to get as far from the Gun as I could.  It would ease a bit with distance.  A bit was all I needed.