3 - King of Trades

Her breathing becomes shallow. Despite staying still, blood kept gushing out from her stab wound. Her hand had gone frail from pressing on to stop the bleeding. Care suspected her stubbornness in the end won't help. In her trance-like state, flashes of an insignificant memory from the past resurfaced. 

Up on the hilltop, her ancestors built a pristine white mausoleum surrounded by evergreen trees. They called it Paradiso.

Who would not?

On that site: air was fresh, skies seemed closer as if within the reach of one’s hand and the elevation provided a great view below. It serves as a resting sanctuary for those blood relatives who passed on. Their pictures sit next to their graves while their memoirs are compiled on a mahogany bookshelf.

During her family's occasional visits, they skim the pages of their memoirs. Particularly, she loved looking over and over again the one her late Abuela owned. The old woman possessed a regal beauty she always envied. White as snow skin. Thick, long eyelashes. Golden, bright eyes. Natural cherry red lips. Eloquent speech and sophisticated movements. Slender body with every curve in the right places.

 How Care longed for the time she surpassed her beauty! 

However, the elderly died so was her chance. The very reason why a part of her heart was torn beyond repair. The melancholy of a broken dream haunts her the most whenever she is inside the mausoleum.

"Adelaide Aragon, a loving wife and mother." A skinny girl clad in blue sweaters spoke, catching her attention. 

She stared at her at loss for quite a while for her hair as red as maple leaves hid the features of her face. No matter how hard she thinks, she only recognizes that the child was a newfound playmate, not a friend. Strangely, she remembered being drawn to her peculiarity but neither remembered her face nor name. In short, she was like a blurred image. 

Care walked past the pair of mahogany chairs separated by a table where a vase of fresh dandelions lie. Then, she lit some candles and placed them on the candelabrum before kneeling beside the girl in front of a certain marble tombstone. 

"Here she is, my fav Abuela, Adelaide Aragon.! The one I've been telling you." She explained. 

"How about this?" the girl probed. 

Her eyes shadowed curiosity. Care followed the direction of her gaze. She found carved words in tiny sizes hardly noticeable thus she bent towards the writing.

In unison, they read it out loud: 

Thee shall seek and turn to my light 

And I shall inflame thy withered hope 

Let me hear the weep of desperation 

Then I shall come to you, Gallus. 

Winds blew harsher. The numbing cold against their skin caused them to shiver. 

"What happened here? Did someone perhaps vandalize your property?" she asked. 

Her eyes grew big out of curiosity. 

"Silly! Didn't you hear elders call him King of Trades because he would grant any person;s wish in exchange of something from that person?" Care whispered as if somebody could eavesdrop. 

Her playmate's face lit up because of a sudden realization. 

"I didn't! The lady caretaker nor the houseboy mentions his name because they warned that he is a soul eater! They say he disguises as a deity but the truth is, he's a spawn of a devil!" she murmured back. 

"But Daddy always says he is his fairy godfather!" Care opposed. 

The immediate, sharp twinge on her chest snapped her from daze. As to why her mind revisited a random memory at such a crucial moment puzzles her, too. Ridiculous, really! She must have a grandiose replay of snippets of important events of her whole life, instead.

I'm definitely losing my mind, she inwardly reckoned. Although, in her innermost private thoughts, she considered this the best option to the predicament she cannot escape. With her vision dimming each second, curtains are about to close for her. 

When situations become dire and hopeless, most people cling onto false hopes. Of course, Care is no exception. She’d put her faith in a fabricated legend meant to scare children rather than nothing. 

"He...lp m-me...Ga, gal… lus." she begged, vomiting blood in the process. 

The music stopped playing. People froze looking like mannequins somehow. Objects in motions turned at rest. Time ceased to flow yet a tall, broad-shouldered man strides casually towards her lying on the cold tiled floor. He bent one knee so smoothly, his slacks remained unwrinkled. The second he laid his gaze on the eyes of his newest wisher, he saw the burning spark of desire in her amber irises. He caressed her face probably as a display of consolation because he was certain where her fate leads which he relates to. The lady and his old self possessed the similar zealous ambition to covet for greater things. And so, he pities the dying mortal struggling to live not knowing what ahead of her is much more painful than death. 

"What a cruel path to take." He mumbled to himself. 

He took her gently to his arms and regardless of being so tender, she whimpered in pain hurt by the slightest movement. 

"Hush, sweetheart. I know your greatest yearning and I shall fulfill it through a trade." 

"M-my... soul?" 

In deep bravado, he let out a chuckle while his eyes danced in mischief. 

"Touche! If I say yes, will you give it to me?"

Her eyes told him she would give anything. However, deep inside, her soul trembled in fright. 

"Fearless, huh? But for your peace of mind, I did not devour any mortal soul and will not do that ever. People just tainted me by spreading false rumors... BUT! I do ask something with equal value to your soul! I demand you to give up your Fated, the person destined to you. Other half, soulmate, greatest love, destined companion and whatnot! Are you willing to sacrifice him?" 

Sounds bs, she thought. At the verge of dying, what value does that even possess? 

"D-deal." 

He was left dumbfounded. 

"Not even a moment of doubt?" He asserted. 

Gallus took a deep breath before contemplating how to make the ignorant fool understand what she is involving herself in. When contracting deals with humans, he usually never cared if they were being hasty, gullible or stupid because it benefited him in the end, anyway. However, for this single case, he decided to break his accustomed routine. 

"Why? All humans want love, particularly women. Don't you dream of being with a person who loves you and building a family with him? Losing your Fated is an ordeal you will never overcome. Do you really understand the consequence of your decision?" he explained, carefully maintaining eye contact. 

She accidentally averted her gaze to the glass podium reflecting the slashes across her face. A horrifying shrill reverberated beyond the function halls and enough to be mistaken coming from a wounded crow. Later she realized it was hers. Truly ironic since people described hers as the voice of a siren.

"No, no, no!" she protested in fits of hysterics, tempted to touch her face but hesitant at the same time.

She knew screaming will cause searing pain to her throat but she already lost her composure since the beginning of chaos. The horrifying sight of herself is unbearable to live or die with. She might have well plucked her eyes if she would end up as an old, broken doll. Her resolve grew stronger. 

“Hush, hush, sweetheart.” he murmured above her head, stroking her hair languidly. 

She latched on him. 

"I d-deserve mo...re." She croaked. 

Her words struck him with nostalgia. Visions of his young self kneeling on the mud materialized in front of him. His shirt stained with blood, his heart on his sleeves, tears streaming down from his eyes devoid of life…. 

“I am as old as civilization with a mind that thinks and a heart that feels! Of course, Father! Of course, I deserve more!” he yelled, filled with passion raging in his soul. 

She placed her hand atop his once more, pulling him back to present. He shook his head to erase the illusion of the guy he once was now manifesting through the young lady cradled in his arms. The feisty determination and unwavering stubbornness she possessed are definitely a pain in the ass. Whatever he says won't work to the likes of her, the same as how it never worked to him before. There is no reason to prolong the talk. 

"With the knowledge of the omniscient Almighty, we sealed this agreement. I, Gallus, and you shall fulfill each other's condition at the agreed time. Hence, failure to comply means immediate void of the pact." He then offered his hand that she accepted abruptly.

What unfolded after happened in a blink of an eye. Her body writhed in excruciating pain for a moment then she felt nothing the next second. She had no idea because the whole reception was enveloped by a blinding light. On the other hand, the mystical being departed like a speed of lightning impossible for human eyes to catch glimpses of his departure. 

"We'll meet when it's time for me to recollect what you owed." His voice lingered but he was already nowhere to be found. 

REWIND!