Page 73 of Soul Food

“Just go,” was his response.

I did as he asked like I always would. I would be forever faithful even when confused for I loved my master. I already knew there was something strange happening to him though. Why would he let a human see him when he was about to eat her soul?

She was a good distance from where she needed to be when I found her, and the only way to get her there was to lead her without her knowing. I’d tugged at her pants and gently shoved her along the right path and she let me lead her aimlessly. She couldn’t feel me or see me but that didn’t stop her from moving exactly the way I wanted her. In truth, I thought it was easier to coax her along that day since her soul was fractured in half. Something happened in the short time we’d been away from her because the human was obviously hurting. My master wasn’t going to be happy about her soul being distasteful if he wanted to try a tasty soul such as hers.

Once I got her to the building, I pushed her into the door. It scared her, but after a couple of attempts, she went inside where Master waited. I waddled to the back where he was. He tossed a book down, and she jumped. She kept calling out to him. Foolish human. She could have walked back out, but instead she went in the direction of the fallen book where he waited. She picked it up, and her fate was sealed.

Only when she sang as she waited to die, her once beautiful soul wilting as it faced all her hardships… The soul of the proudest demon I had ever known wilted in cadence to hers. He told her he’d give her what she wanted for ten years, but now I knew what he had planned regardless of her singing. No matter how strong he was, he had his limits, and I didn’t know how he planned to give her the things she asked for. He had no powers like that, but I’d know soon enough when he found the closest business that dealt with the entertainment industry. The place was called Black Hearts, and we entered the building using a portal chip. My master simply set his last remaining book and waited for the man to touch it.

Twice in one day, he revealed himself to a human when he never had before. All because of this human soul. The older man leaned back against the desk as my master’s reaping form moved across the room. “I want this place.” He told the old man.

“What?” he stuttered. “What are you? Am I—I’m dreaming. I must be.” The old man turned around and tried reaching for something on the desk.

“I know you’re the president of this place. You own it.” He stalked around the trembling human. “Give it to me, and I won’t kill you.”

“What are you?” the old man stammered.

“That doesn’t matter.” My master shifted into his human form, and the man’s eyes widened. “Write up a contract quickly. Try calling anyone, and I’ll kill you long before they can get to you.”

“I swear I’ll stop cheating on my wife. Just don’t kill me,” the old man rambled. “Here, the business is yours. Just let me live.”

“Sire, what are you doing?” I asked, and the old man saw me and shrieked even more than when he did with my master’s reaping form. My master was purposely revealing mine and his form to scare the human in order to get whatever it was he wanted.

Crying and shaking, the old man took forever to write out a contract in which he gave the company over to my master. “Remember, I own your soul. You speak a word of this to anyone on the way out, and you’ll be dead before you exit the building.”

The old man nodded vigorously and left. I shook my head. “Sire, I do not find it wise to let that one live.”

He smirked. “I’m not. Go find his home and use one of your unique ways to kill him.” He pinned me with his dark, carmine eyes. “No funny business.”

“Yes, Sire.”

The door to the office opened and Master’s blood-red eyes receded into dull gray ones, and I stepped behind the desk so that I couldn’t be seen. A man yelled, “Who the hell are you? And why did our president walk out trembling and telling us that he was no longer the president?”

“Because he’s not. I am.”

“What the hell is going on?” he hissed.

Master sighed. “I need you to bring someone here to sing.”

“What?” the man asked.

“A singer named Ruth Thomas.”

“If you’re taking over, shouldn’t you be aware that we’ve already made plans to scout her tomorrow? We’ve already had our eyes set on the girl.”

So, even without my master’s help, Ruth was already destined for the life she wanted that meant he didn’t have to do this. But he stayed anyway.

“Go see her now.” Master ordered him.

The human man became furious. “Listen here—”

Master cut him off. “Jordan, isn’t it? How about you do everything around here and in ten years’ time, I’ll give you this company? It’s what you want, right?”

“Are you messing with me?”

“Not at all. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but for now I need this position and this place.”

He regarded Master. I could see the greedy wheels turning in the young human’s head. “How can I trust you?”

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