~Emily's POV
Deal?" He asked again.
I had to answer. I had to say something.
Should I? Or should I not?
Tharros' red eyes sank into my mine. His gaze did something to me that I couldn't explain.
I was hurt, from the inside all the way out. I could feel my skin falling apart.
But all of that didn't matter. All that mattered was my daughter. I would rather go through the pain over and over again than to have my daughter buried.
How bad can it possibly be to agree to what Tharros wants?
Ava is all that I have.
Her father left me when I told him that I was pregnant. He didn't even bother seeing the child grow. It remained fresh in my memory like it happened a second ago. The way threw the money at me.
"Get rid of that thing. I don't want it or do you?" That's what he said.
He was looking directly into my eyes. His gaze was cold and icy. I looked depper into his eyes that evening, hoping to find a little hope. I kept staring, hoping to find a little remorse and love for our unborn child, but there was none.
All that I saw were eyes burning with anger and greed.
"How can you even be pregnant, Emily? Why are you this stupid? I didn't even enjoy a minute of sleeping with you. You're boring! Just get yourself out of here!" He yelled at me.
I would never forget. Even in my grave. His words were engraved to my heart like an inscription.
Blake was heartless. He made me feel useless. I loved him but obviously, he only used me as a way of satisfying his sexual fantasies. I slowly recovered from the pain of losing the man I foolishly spent my whole life loving, but I know I would never recover from the pain of losing my daughter.
"Uh," I gasped, dragged out of my thoughts.
The pain all over my body came back and the only thing that I could see was Tharros.
"Deal?" He asked again. This time, his voice was a lot more darker. His voice traveled all the way down to my feet.
"Deal," I agreed.
I never knew those words could bring such relief. The pain, everything was suddenly gone. The bright sky came back, the air became clear.
It felt like Tharros was never there.
It made me question if I was only hallucinating and it all never happened.
Ava.
I stood up and when I held her hand, it was warm again. I placed my head on her chest….and my daughter's heart was beating.
It was the best sound ever. It was like music to my ears.
My eyes streamed with tears.
My daughter came back. After that, I knew that it really happened. I made a deal with a demon.
*********
~Present.
~Seven years passed.
I find myself sitting on the cold tile in my daughter's room just like I did at that hospital that night, seven years ago.
I held her hands and it was as sweaty as always. Her hands and whole body shivered. Her face reddened, and her nose wouldn't stop bleeding.
I picked up the handkerchief and cleaned the blood again. At least it lasted for a second before the blood flowed out again.
I looked out the window, and the night was moonless. I looked back at my daughter and she was…..in pain. She sobbed and whimpered from her sleep.
I can't just take it anymore.
I can't keep watching my daughter, going through the same pain every night for seven years.
I was stupid to have thought that a demon had something good to offer. Tharros kept tormenting my daughter. I can't sleep for a second. I'll always wake up to the sound of my daughter whimpering and crying.
Every night feels like a nightmare.
She tries so hard not to sleep, but she ends up drifting away.
I sighed.
I looked at my daughter, and her cloth was soaked with blood from her nose. I was deep in thought that I had completely forgotten to wipe the blood off her nose.
My sleeve dropped and the moist wind touched my shoulder, inflicting on me a stinging pain. I looked at my shoulder and I immediately looked away.
I can't even look at it.
The spot where Tharros first held me turned into a wound that refused to heal. It has been seven years, and there it was, still as fresh as a newly killed calf.
I stood up and placed the towel over her nose. I walked into the bathroom and I stood in front of the mirror. I wore a glove and I had my lower lips sucked in.
Apart from watching my daughter in pain, this happens to be the worst part of my day.
I handpicked the magots that fed on my wound. I gently pulled them out and threw them into the zinc, groaning gently as the pain traveled across my body.
"This wasn't part of the deal, Tharros," I mouthed. "We didn't agree to this. You didn't tell me you're going to give me an eternity lasting wound. And neither did you say every night would be a reminder of the pain. I know I am going to die from this wound, but does it have to hurt so much?"
I heaved a sigh and took off the gloves. I washed my hands and face before covering up the wound with my dress.
I walked back into the room, and what I saw took my breath away.
Ava was on the bed like a rabid person. She moved like her bones were going to break. She screeched and groaned with blood flowing out of her mouth and nose and ears.
I stood there, startled, watching my own daughter coming apart.
She fell off the bed and she was there on the ground. She stood on her hands and legs like a lizard and her head twisted backwards with her mouth wide open.
Her eyes were completely white and I could see her bones trying to find their way out of her skin. It was the scariest thing ever.
I stepped back, shakily. My heart wrenched.
My hands were shaking and Ava crawled towards me.
"Ava!" I screamed, with my eyes shut, prepared for the worse.
Is this going to be my end?
But then…. silence.
I slowly opened my eyes, breathing shakily and my daughter was laying helplessly on the ground.
I fell to the ground and I cried. I crawled to her and held her hand.
I knew I had to run away. I had to leave. I can't continue like this.
No! I can't!