Page 53 of Sick Bargain

Yeah, I’m covered in blood. Reeven Matterson’s blood is all over my right hand, and Krypt’s blood is everywhere else. “It’s… it’s not my blood. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, Rem. Talk to me. Vent, or whatever.”

Cain is someone whose looks don’t match his personality. He’s harsh, covered in tattoos and piercings, and comes across as dark and unapproachable. But he’s soft and sweet, cares deeply about those he loves, and isn’t ashamed of who he is at all. He blushes a lot while looking angry about it, but he’s also not afraid to ask the blunt questions. We became friends because of our love for music, and over the years, he’s one of the few people who doesn’t look at me like I’m a ticking time bomb for suicide. He’s the only person I feel safe venting to.

“I made a bargain with Vile House,” I admit, drinking half my beer in one pull.

“What?!” He smacks the kitchen table we’re sitting at. “That’s what the calling card was under your sink?”

I nod, looking at the label on my bottle. “Yep.”

“What bargain? With who? Fucking why, Remi? Jesus. I spent one night with that freak in the blue mask, and I… what the fuck?”

The freak in the blue mask… and I can’t even tell Cain who he is. Or that he’s caught his interest. “The purple one, as you saw on the card. His name is Krypt. With a K.”

“A K?” he asks. “Nevermind. That doesn’t even matter. Why the hell did you make a bargain with him?”

“Because I felt like I didn’t have any other choice!” I vent. “My life is dwindling down to the end, Cain. I can feel it. I’m losing myself, and sooner or later, I’m gonna kill myself just to make it stop. There’s shit I need to do before that happens. To protect my family and… to keep Soren alive.”

“Don’t talk like that,” he snips at me. “There’s no such thing as a suicide curse. Sometimes I think it just gets in all yourheads. Like you’re all so consumed by it that you think you’re going to succumb to it just because everyone before you has. Be different.”

“You think it’s that easy? You think I want to die? I don’t. I don’t have shit to live for anymore, especially since my house burned down, but I don’t wanna hurt my brother. I fucking know what it feels like to lose a brother, and I don’t want to put Soren through that again. No matter how much I hate him sometimes, he doesn’t deserve that.” Which is so hypocritical of me since I asked Krypt to kill me, but if Soren can live the rest of his life without the curse hanging over his head, it’ll be worth the pain of losing his last brother. The sacrifice will be worth it.

“No one does,” Cain agrees. “And this is just Moros fucking with your head. Nowhere else in the world believes in a stupid suicide curse. Moros just makes dark things seem appealing.”

“Appealing?”

“Believable,” he amends. “What got so bad that you had to go to Vile House?”

I finish my beer, and by the time the bottle hits the table, Cain puts down two more. Fine. I’m scared of what happened tonight. I killed a man and then chased Krypt away by admitting I wanted him, so yeah, I’m gonna get drunk with my best friend and blurt everything except their identities.

“I killed Reeven Matterson tonight.”

Cain’s eyes widen, but his words stay silent. I watch him process that. I mean, death and murder aren’t really uncommon here. Yet another thing Moros makes believable, but I’ve never killed anyone. Cain knows that.

“And his whole cult is in the basement of Vile House right now. Probably being murdered or tortured or toyed with. Because I put Reeven Matterson’s name on my bargain list, and Vile House is following through.” Which means I just revealed amurder to an outsider, and Krypt is probably going to maim me for it.

“Wow.” Cain leans back in his chair, shaking his head and almost laughing. “Honestly, I didn't think you had it in ya. Why the Matter Cult? Because of what they’re doing to your mom’s side?”

I nod. “I’m just sick of everything being so life or death here. Like, yeah, cults are a normal thing, and it’s hard to get out of them, but we did. Mom got us out. And now she’s suffering for it.”And microchipped and brainwashed and acting weird.“I just want that to stop. The Matter Cult doesn’t belong in Moros like the rest of them do, you know? The rest get along, and they work together to protect Moros. The Matter Cult ruins Moros and kills our people.”

“Can’t say I disagree. Death For Life Cult isn’t much better, but at least the ones they kill agree to it. Stupidly,” Cain says, leaning forward with his tattooed elbows on the table. “How’d it feel? To kill him.”

“Well, he wasn’t dead when they took him away, but there was a knife in his heart, so…” A sick grin almost graces my face, but I wipe it away. “It scared me. I got caught up in a power haze, and I don’t know if I wanna feel that again.”

Silence settles in as we both think about that. I know what it feels like now, and I know Cain is trying to imagine it. “Who else is on your list?”

“Gregory Malone.”

He clinks his bottle to mine. “Fuck, I almost… that power haze sounds kind of fun, and I almost wish you didn’t go to Vile House. You should have come to me instead. We could handle Gregory Malone,” he says, laughing. “He’s just a fucking creep.”

“Yeah, a creep who keeps evading me. I need Krypt to end him so he stops stalking me and Soren.”

“Krypt, eh? What’s he like?”

“He burned my house down…”

Cain laughs, the beer taking effect. “Yeah. Guess that answers that. Have you met the rest of them? Do you know who they are under those masks?”

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