Morning came of that day, neither of us got a single second of rest. Claire ended getting up around 9 in the morning and walked towards my bed to sit on the edge of it.
"Do you think we'll get arrested for assaulting him, Faust?"
"No. But, I think we'll get interviewed, if they do suspect us. Who knows what to come."
In hindsight, I shouldn't have been worried, he was just a victim of living in the slums, the police didn't care for his injuries at all, must've believed it was an act of self-defense or gang warfare.
"Hey Claire, what about your father, isn't he going to be concerned about that black eye and where you've been."
Her eyes widened as she quickly went to check her phone, as she gave the biggest sigh of relief.
"My father had to leave in the middle of the night for a family emergency, he told me there was enough food to keep me fed for the next few days."
We both had a collective relaxation as I got up of the bed and began to tiredly get a bowl of cereal. I began to pour the flakes and grab a jug of milk as Claire watched quietly. As I began eating Claire went to help herself as I sat on a stool next to the kitchen island, she soon did the same.
"Hey Faust, this may be a little selfish for me, but I have a promise to ask."
"What is it, Claire?"
"It's been about a month since we met, and this may be too much to ask, but..."
She paused for a moment as I continued to eat.
"Two things. I want last night to be a secret that only you and I will know unless the police come. If that happens we tell them exactly what occurred. Second thing, a bond."
"What type of bond are you talking about Claire?"
"A bond that we will never separate, we will stick together and always protect one another, no matter the circumstances. We escaped death once, and if it ever comes to that again, we'll do it together."
"Claire... you're asking for a death pact?"
She gave a teary-eyed nod, I don't blame her though. I felt that a pact such as this may give us the security to recover faster and to be less traumatic of an event. She extended her hand forward, shaking a bit from unease. I looked her in the eyes as I lightly grabbed her hand and shook it. While this occurred, something paranormal happened.
A singe grazed both of our hands, as I went to pull away I saw two blue embers dancing at the center of our palms. The further we parted our hands the little flame died out. Looking at our palms again we saw a burn mark right where the singe had occurred. We both glanced at one another, slightly terrified of what had happened.
"F-Faust, wh-what was that?"
I looked at my hand as I got a sudden migraine and words were being drilled into my head.
"Cheated Death. Cheated Death. The Baron hates cheaters."
Those phrases kept being repeated as I closed my eyes shut and tried to cover my ears, the voices wouldn't stop, they were consuming my entire mind. Claire yelled to get me to snap out, as the control of the words lifted.
"Faust! Snap out of it. What happened, why are you acting strange?"
" I, I, I don't know, I keep hearing the stuff about cheating death, these voices keep drilling into my head!"
My speech became more broken, and my breathing became more frantic. Claire tried to offer some comfort through hugging and rubbing the back of my neck, slowly soothing me I became more relaxed.
After that event, we just went back to our normal lives, sworn the murder, and the blue flame to secrecy. We were both restless at the start, but we began to slowly rehabilitate, Claire after a few days went back to her home. I had learned that her father was abusive, regularly beat her, and deprive her of food at times. Because of this Claire went to stay over at my place as much as possible.
Summer went by in a swift motion as we went back to classes, I ended up with some classes with Claire as we mostly spent our days going to school and hanging out together after school whether it be going out or hanging out at my studio apartment. Eventually, she asked why I had lived on my own and how I could afford such, I told her about my father's wealth. Upon hearing about this she simply asked if she could stay at my apartment and get actual food since her father refused to feed her. I went with it, I didn't want to see her in such a horrible state.
Two things however were different in my life forever since that event. One was the schizophrenia I had gained. The constant hearing of cheating death possessed my mind whenever I tried to rest or didn't preoccupy my mind with tasks. The other thing was to always carry a knife on me. Whenever Claire and I went to school or went out, I always decided to carry a switchblade. I ended up buying one for Claire as she began to carry it as well, two people with weapons were better than one.
Senior year rolled around as we were both soon to become 18. At the turn of the decade, I decided to grow a pair of balls to confess my feelings. To be completely honest, it was a bit anti-climatic since we both practically lived with one another and spent our time with each other the most. Other than kissing on New Year's we didn't do anything too romantic or couple-like.
5 months after that point, we got ready for prom. Claire and I were both at my place as we got ready. Seth and a few other friends all helped pitch in with my help to get a limousine to ride to the school with. It was a bit corny, but I wanted to remember this point in time. We heard honking at the front of the apartment building as we both went down together elegantly. I opened the door for Claire as we entered into the vehicle.
We closed the door as we saw a hooded figure in front of us.
"Welcome Faust and Claire, I've been waiting a very long time for this meeting to take place. You can call me the Baron, I assume that you Mister, have heard my name alluded to before."
He gave a sadistic laugh under a hood that obscured his face as I looked at Claire she was perfectly calm for some reasons. I tried to open the limo's door as it opened up I saw an endless void peering out of the car, the Baron spoke as soon as I did this.
"I wouldn't recommend doing that Faust, you'll experience a very painful feeling."
The baron snapped his fingers as the door went to close itself, pushing me back in the process and jerking my arm.
"Why are we here?! What the hell is even going on?!"
I felt I had an idea of what was going on, but the frantic turn of events blurred my thought process.
"You're here to help me do a favor, you may consider it repayment, or an act of kindness to equal out our generous friendship."
Claire looked at The Baron inquisitively as she spoke up.
"Repayment for what exactly?"
The baron took a bottle of wine that was in an ice bucket right next to him on the seat as he began to pour a wine glass for himself.
"You can consider me the Man who is Death, I go by a lot of names, but the one I love the most is Baron. You are here to help prevent a wrongful calamity of a world that is not of your understanding. The reason I called you here is that you are the most optimal couple for this job."
He began to drink the wine as he gave a relieved sigh. At a snap of his fingers, the blue flame ignited on the hands we previously shook before.
"You made a bond that is unbreakable throughout the universe. This bond can only be made once after two people work together to defy death. You folks may not know this, but death is a solitary action. Everyone's death is planned to happen with the belief that no other interfere with fate, however, there are some powers that do bend the spindles of fate. On that night in the city, both of you were supposed to end up dead in that alleyway."
We both looked at him confused about what he was saying, as I spoke up.
"If we can only bend fate then why are we here now?"
"Well my boy, you all are supposed to die one day, just like all humans. But, fate is a dynamic thing, it is everchanging with every event that goes against it's current like you fight a tide in a whirlpool, you can make your dent to change the pathing of such. It may be ironic, but you rewrote your fate to meet me, and now that I have both of you under my command, you can help me with this favor."
He gave another laugh as he drank more of the wine.
"Once you exit the limousine you'll be in another world, one that might strike some familiarity, but will be very different than anything you've experienced with your eyes before. I ask you to not be close-minded while adventuring to this neo-paradise."
All the events in my life have now led up to this? Is this going to be the future for me now?
-End of Prologue-