Chapter 6: 6. Like Roommates

By the time I'd read through the contract a second time I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of what all the terms were. I still had questions, but they weren't about the contract as much as they were about our new arrangement in general.

"Hey Eva?" I asked as my eyes started going over the long document a third time. "How come I look like you? I noticed that in the mirror the other day, I look like your younger sister or something."

Somehow I could tell she was blushing as she admitted, "Your ideal form was a little sparse on details in some areas? So I filled in the blanks with what I was familiar with from my human guise."

"We can change that if you like?" she added. "With my magic, I could change your appearance any way you want."

"Really?" I grinned. "I'm actually ok looking like this, I mean you're beautiful so I'm kind of happy looking like your little sister. But the idea of using magic to change my appearance is pretty cool too. Could we do that later? Like can you do that any time, or once I sign the pact does that mean my form can't be changed any more?"

"Um, any time?" She sounded a little confused why I'd want that, but she offered "If you like we could add a clause to specify that."

My smile got even wider, "Oh, yes please!"

I actually saw the new paragraph appear at the bottom of the page, stating that I could ask Eva to use her magic to change my appearance as desired.

As I read it I commented, "So that leads me to another question. If what I saw was your 'human form' you obviously have other forms right? What are they? Or like, your normal form I guess? What do you look like?"

This time I could actually hear her blush as she answered in a soft embarrassed voice, "It's not important. Perhaps I'll share it with you someday."

"Ok Eva," I said as I suppressed a giggle. "Next question, what happens when we find your family? Like that's your whole thing right, that's your goal. So what happens when we find them? Will you want to move in and live with them? And how do we do that if you and me are bound together?"

This time she sounded serious, and perhaps a little sad. "I never lived with them in the past, but I did visit. I think I'd like to spend time with them, perhaps as much as a couple months? And because we are bound together, that means you would also be visiting with them. When the time comes, you and I will find a way to make it work so it's not awkward for anyone. I wouldn't be with them constantly, there would be plenty of time for you. Perhaps it would be like an extended vacation for you, I'd ensure you had comfortable accommodations."

I frowned, "What if they want to see you, but don't want me around? Like you're all demons right? Maybe they won't want some human hanging around for your demon reunion stuff?"

Eva was quiet for a few moments as she thought it over, then responded "I am confident they will be understanding of the situation. If they are not, then you and I would have to leave."

She added, "While finding my family is my goal, keeping you safe is my priority. As it says in that clause there."

The weirdest thing was I knew exactly where she was pointing, even though I couldn't actually see her. And she was right, that was one of the first things on the contract and it made it clear Eva would ensure my health and safety.

After that we were both quiet for a few moments as I looked over the document again.

"Next question," I said as my eyes stopped on another paragraph. "The stuff about you providing for me financially, how does that work? Are you just creating money out of nowhere? Or are you stealing it from people?"

"Oh I'm totally stealing it," Eva replied calmly. "Not from people though, or at least, not from people who can't afford it. Your comfortable lifestyle will be bankrolled by large faceless corporations and the obscenely wealthy men who run them."

"Really?" I asked. Not that I thought she was lying to me, but I wondered if maybe she was joking simply because of how casual she sounded about it.

She stated, "Yes Lexi, really. In the past I could conjure gold and silver coins, but it's very difficult to do. Wasteful, really. Much easier to simply teleport it out of someone else's purse. And who better to steal from than someone with so much they'll never miss it?"

I frowned, "But um, what if we got caught? I really don't want to get arrested, and I'm pretty sure those rich types are kind of vindictive about people touching their stuff. Comes with being greedy, right?"

She was smiling again as she responded, "Don't worry about that. I use magic, they cannot detect it and there's no trace for them to find. Nothing to lead them to you."

"Huh," I frowned as I thought about that for a bit. "Still, people might eventually get suspicious if I keep coming up with stacks of cash? Especially for big purchases, like cash isn't used that much these days."

Somehow I knew she was nodding her head as she replied, "I'll keep that in mind."

After that I thought for a few seconds then asked, "Next question, how'd you find me? Like if you were imprisoned someplace for three thousand years, how'd you escape and turn up right there with me when I died?"

"That bracelet on your left wrist is my prison," she replied quietly. "My essence, my being, was sealed within it by magic. Your death was like a sacrifice, my bracelet was soaked in the blood spilled in your passing. That was enough to wake me, but only for a short time."

Eva continued, "I had an hour, two at most. I needed to make a deal with someone, and seeing as you were the one to wake me and you were wearing my bracelet, I felt you were the best choice. I also knew there was something I could do to help you. So your death woke me, our agreement saved us both and bought us a week together. And finally, if you sign this pact then we'll have an entire lifetime together. The bracelet will no longer be my prison. Normally it would vanish, but I'd prefer to keep it around if you don't mind?"

I shook my head, "I don't mind at all. I think it's really pretty, plus it's what brought us together right?"

"Indeed," she replied. "So it has sentimental value, for both of us."

That made me smile and I asked, "Oh yeah? Why's it special to you? I'm assuming it's more than just the thing that brought us together."

She sounded a little wistful and sad again as she replied, "It was a gift from my lover, to celebrate the birth of our child."

"Aww," I frowned. "We'll find them Eva. I'll help you, and we won't give up. I promise."

"Thank you Lexi," she responded quietly.

I couldn't think of any other questions, so I read through the contract one last time. When I was finished I said, "All right Eva. I think I'm about ready to sign? It all looks good, and I don't have any other questions. So how do I do this?"

"I've provided a sharp writing implement," she explained. "You'll have to poke yourself in the hand or a finger, gather some blood on the tip, then you can sign."

She added, "I probably don't need to say this but use your new name, that is the true you after all. Once you've signed it, I will make my mark as well. I'm not sure if you will feel anything, but if you do it won't be uncomfortable."

I held the pen-knife in my right hand, and grimaced as I stuck it into my left thumb. It stung a bit, but it wasn't awful. And once there was a blob of blood on the tip, I turned and signed my name to the bottom of the large document.

Lexi Lund. I still thought it was a cool name.

A moment after my name was on the page another mark appeared next to it. It's like it was burned into the material by an invisible brand, or maybe a laser engraver. The mark didn't look like any kind of word or writing, it was just a messy scribble of straight lines. Actually it reminded me of one of the marks I'd seen on the back of the bracelet.

You are reading story Missed Connections at novel35.com

No sooner had the mark appeared than the whole large document vanished, along with the pen-knife. At the same time, I felt a pulse of warmth on my left wrist from the bracelet. And there was a matching sensation of warmth on my right hip.

"Huh," I frowned. "What was that?"

I stood up and undid my jeans, then pulled them down so I could have a look at my hip. To my surprise it looked like I had a tattoo. Sharp crisp black lines and glyphs marked my fair skin inside a rectangle about five centimetres tall and two centimetres across. At the bottom was that same messy scribble that I'd seen on the contract, and above that was a collection of mystical-looking glyphs or runes. And for some reason the first thing to come into my mind was it reminded me of the sort of cutie-mark you'd find on a demonic goth pony.

"Eva?" I asked. "What's up with the new ink?"

She leaned forward from where she was sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed to get a closer look at my new tattoo. She apologized as she stared at it, "Sorry Lexi. Our pact means that instead of being imprisoned within the bracelet, now I'm imprisoned within you. That represents the magic which keeps me trapped inside you."

I frowned as I thought that through, while the two of us continued staring at the tattoo on my hip. Then I let out a yelp and jumped back a half step as I looked at her.

"Eva!" I gasped. "You're here?!"

Her eyes went wide as she sat up straight and stared back at me, "You can see me?!"

For the next couple seconds the two of us just stared at each other in silent shock. I was standing with my back to the little dresser and TV. When I jumped I let go of my jeans and they slipped down into a pile around my ankles.

Meanwhile Eva was still cross-legged on the foot of the bed. She was dressed in clothes similar to that first outfit she got for me, a pair of dark leggings and a cute pink t-shirt. She was barefoot though. And her long sunny-blonde hair was hanging down loose instead of being in that braided ponytail that she had when I first saw her in the subway station.

It was actually incredibly bizarre and surreal. This millennia-old demoness looked for all the world like she was my older sister, ready for a lazy day around the house. Suddenly it felt like we were roommates or something, except we were sharing a tiny one-bed hotel room.

I finally crouched down and pulled up my jeans, then did them up as I kept my eyes on her. It was probably silly, like I was feeling self-conscious in front of the demoness I just signed a life-long pact with. But it just felt weird having her sitting there on the bed staring at me while I was half dressed.

"Are you real?" I finally asked. "Can I touch you?"

Eva sighed and shook her head, "Sadly no. I didn't realize you'd be able to see me but... Of course. Now that we're pacted, the bond between us is that much stronger."

"Wait," I frowned as my cheeks started slowly but surely turning bright red. "Have you been there all the time? Like since I first woke up in this hotel room on Monday?"

A blush started creeping over her face as well, which pretty much answered my question. She'd been there watching me while I thought I was alone. While I was getting familiar with my new body.

Eva was staring down at the carpet now as she blushed, and she replied quietly "I'm not here all the time..."

After a few moments she pushed past her embarrassment. She looked at me and said, "I'm sorry. After three millennia trapped in an inanimate object I needed to get out and stretch my legs. It's nice to have room to move around, to breathe... Ok granted I can't actually breathe but you know what I mean. I'm not... I can go back inside you, but it's cramped so I prefer not to do that except when I'm resting."

I stared at her for a few more seconds as I took that in. Then I finally grimaced, "So I guess nobody else can see you, just me? Suddenly this feels like a nineties supernatural sitcom."

"I don't know what a sitcom is, or why you'd need ninety of them," she replied with a straight face.

"Yeah that's pretty much on script," I sighed.

I finally sat back down on the bed next to her and asked, "So what do we do next?"

"You should be able to remove my bracelet now if you wish?" she suggested. "If you'd prefer not to wear it, please put it somewhere safe. It's very important to me."

Sure enough it wasn't as tight as before, and I was able to slip it off fairly easily. It wasn't so loose that I had to worry about it falling off and getting lost, but I'd definitely be taking it off for showers and probably at night when I was in bed.

For now I put it back on, since that seemed like the safest place for it. And I liked how it looked anyways.

"You said you wanted to get to some island right?" I asked. "Let's start figuring out travel plans."

"It's called Santorini," Eva replied. "And yes, that's where I'd like to go. My daughter made her home there and I'm hoping she'll still be there."

I pulled out my phone and started searching up travel options while I asked, "I don't mean to sound negative but that was three thousand years ago right? Do you think she'd stay in the same place that long?"

She moved closer so she could look over my shoulder at my phone screen while she responded, "We tend to be a little territorial, and although we occasionally tour our lands we don't tend to move our homes that much, or that far."

"That helps I guess," I replied as I found myself looking at a few options. "So flying is the fastest way to get there, and the cheapest too."

"Flying?" she asked with an excited grin. Then her smile faded, "I don't imagine that means the same for you as it did for me."

I grinned, "Sorry Eva, probably not. I'm pretty sure it's different for us nowadays than it was for you three millennia ago. But according to this it's only a six hour flight? Like we could leave in the morning and be on Santorini in the afternoon."

The look on her face said it all. She was stunned at how fast we could get there.

"That's impressive," she finally responded. "We still have the hotel room for a few more days, so we don't need to dash away immediately. I hadn't realized travel could be so quick now, I expected to spend a year covering all the lands between here and there, with some time aboard ships at the start and end of our trek."

I grinned again, "Nope. We could take the train, and a ferry ride at the end? That's like way more expensive than flying, and it'll take us two or three days. I guess we'll see more scenery that way?"

She asked, "Do you have a preference?"

"I'd rather fly," I replied with a shrug. "Three days on a train doesn't sound fun. I could book the flight through my phone, but I need a credit card first. It's probably weird for you but it's easier to do a lot of stuff by paying with a card instead of using cash."

Eva looked thoughtful, "Very well Lexi. I will procure a card for you tonight. I'll also see what I can do about your passport, I recall you said that was important as well. Then tomorrow you can make our travel arrangements? And apart from that, I suppose just enjoy the next few days here in London?"

"Sounds like a plan!" I agreed with a smile.