Chapter Three

Mark looks at Glinda. He tries to read her expressions seriously, attempting to find any clue. But Glinda's face does not give away anything. Frustrated but curious, he queries "Deal, you said?"

 "Yes, a deal", Glinda nods gently, "I can give you another chance to start things over again. But, in return, I want you to do something for me".  

 

Mark is unsure if he should believe this mad woman or not. Her face looks like she is having fun by messing with him. But, keeping this aside, her offer looks quite tempting. But he doesn't let down his guard completely. 

 "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing much. Just do what you were unwilling to do previously. You will only have to follow my words,  I will guide you in everything". She quickly adds, "Don't worry! This will be helpful for you as well. Also,won't ask you to do anything illegal. This will be totally within your moral ground...hehe!!!".

Looking at her face, it doesn't seem like she is simply playing with him. But, because of this creepy woman, he is hesitating to accept her offer immediately. Who knows what kind of situation she might put him into in the future! But, excluding her unreliable personality, everything she says is too tempting for him to reject. It's not every day you get such an offer. He has also been very dissatisfied with his life for a long time. Now, this chance is like a golden ticket from heaven with which he can change his destiny. Only a fool would say no to an opportunity as such.

Looking at his face, she can ascertain what he is thinking. She smirks secretly. She is very sure that he is going to accept her offer in the end. If not now, then next time but he will accept it soon. So, she isn't too bothered by it. So she decisively stops trying to convince him too much "Why should I waste my energy unnecessarily when he is going to accept it anyway!" she muses. 

On the other hand, Mark is trying to look into all the pros and cons of the deal, and just like that he slowly falls into his thoughts and completely ignores her. Glinda also, understandingly leaves him be. She waits for him to be over soon. But when she sees that he is not going to be done any time sooner, she searches around for something with which she can entertain herself. She starts looking around the surroundings. However, for her, the time seems to be passing twice as slow as the regular speed. Finally, when she thinks that she is going to die of boredom, Mark speaks.

"I can accept your deal but you have to tell me first, what do you want me to do exactly? I never accept anything that I am not certain about."

Glinda is not bothered by his question        "Nothing much, you just have to protect those people that you failed to protect in your last life. Most importantly..." She squints her eyes meaningfully at him and says, "...don't kill yourself or get killed. You must live."

Mark feels bewildered by her odd conditions. Is it as simple as that? Or is she scamming him? Otherwise, why will it be so easy? Mark has been expecting something exorbitant but it seems like he has simply been thinking too much. But again, if he thinks rationally, he has nothing to lose in this deal. Still, why does he feel like he has been cheated somehow? Yet, unconsciously, Mark lowers his vigilance towards Glinda, a bit.

"I accept your offer"

Finally getting a positive reply from him she aggrievedly adds "You know, I knew from the beginning that you were going to accept my deal...after all, it's not something that you get every day at such a great bargain...You should have accepted it in the very beginning itself...You made me wait for so long for nothing... My poor back…it suffered too much...ow!ow!ow!... bla bla bla..." Listening to her talking gibberish nonstop, Mark almost couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. 

After pouring out all of her grievances until satisfied, she finally turns her attention to him and says "Don't worry I will take good care of you" with a satisfied yet mischievous smile playing on her lips, she says " I wish you a safe trip back then. Wait for me there. Don't miss me too much...". Mark tries to ask what she means by this but then, his body feels like it is falling into a vortex, and he blacks out. 

 

When Mark opens his eyes again, he finds himself on a bed. His head is still spinning from traveling through that vortex. Since his body is still weak from the journey he decides to lie on the bed for the time being. While he lay there, he tries to recall everything that has happened to him till now. The last thing that he remembers is the image of Glinda, passionately waving her hand at him. 

Not wanting to remember her annoying face anymore, he, for now, decides to keep her at the back of his mind. He focuses on analyzing the situation he is currently in. As far as he remembers, he should be dead. But looking at his present situation, he seems to be in a luxurious room, on a soft bed. When he feels a bit better, he slowly tries to rise from the bed so that he can examine his body properly. 

Suddenly he realizes that something is wrong with the whole situation that he is in. Only now he noticed that something hard is intimately glued to his back. His whole body stiffens.  He realizes that something strong is holding his waist tightly as well. Alarmed, he lowers his gaze a bit. There, he sees a strong arm, wrapped around his waist. Slowly, he turns his head towards his back. Surprised, he exclaims:

"Blake!"