Chapter 1: The Soul Contract
Jake sat down at the table. He wasn’t sure what to feel about his life and what he was planning. More importantly the rewards that would ensue. He rubbed his thumbs together almost toying with them. He was shaking. He knew what he wanted though. He wrote down his items on a list and called up his friend Maika.
“Hello”
“Hey Maika? It’s Jake. I need your help with something and it's kinda out there” Maika rubbed his eye getting out of bed
“sure what do you need?”
“how soon can you come over?”.
Not too soon after the high-school student was on Jake’s porch. The two had been close friends for quite some time. Jake was 18 and Maika 16. Maika was still in school though be it a wannabe drop out while Jake was busy obtaining his GED. They normally spent time whenever they saw fit usually on mindless fun. Neither really had real world obligations. They had gotten back into contact a few months ago since Maika had cut ties with Jake do to a minor fight. This has happened 2 times prior. “Come inside” Maika rushed up the steps. Jake took out a book from his backpack, he placed it on the table and slung his bag to the ground. “What’s this?” “It’s a green witchy grimoire thing and I need your help” .
Maika blinked for a few seconds. Looking at the cover. He knew Jake was a bit peculiar yet he pondered what exactly Jake needed his help with that involved this thing. The book seemed old. It’s pages were yellow and the leather cover had stains.
“It’s a book of magic”
“I got that from the title” Maika Abend then gestured for Jake to hand the book over. Jake hesitated and then he slowly handed it to his friend. With the book in hand Maika flipped through the pages quickly skimming them. Some contained images. But mostly it covered basic magical procedures and how to go about them.
“You seemed panicked on the phone” Maika commentated under his breath
“Oh, uh sorry about that” Jake stammered. In truth he was panicked but it was not something he was ready to openly admit. He always had a tendency to work himself up into anxiety ridden madness.
“So yeah um” Jake paused.
“I want to sell my soul” Maika stopped flipping through the pages.
“You what?” his tone had changed from a groggy sleep droolish one to a stubborn almost stern questioning air. Jake sighed.
“I want to sell my soul” He took back the book from Maika with a stare and spoke
“and I want you to help me do it”. Maika at first assumed his friend was joking or rather that was what he was hoping for. But after much pondering for what him felt to be an hour, though in reality only a few seconds, realizing his friend was serious he looked up.
Maika wasn’t exactly a witch or warlock by any means. He wasn’t quite keen on magic in concept but he knew from Jake’s previous rambles that selling your soul was not something to be taken lightly. He believed in magic even if he didn’t fully understand it. One question pinched his brain.
“Why?” Jake was quick to answer almost on a que
“because there's things I want and I’m willing to give my soul to gain it”
“This is something serious Jake.”
“I know” Jake responded quieter this time.
“I know what I’m getting into. I know exactly even. I just- I need someone’s help. I don’t want to do this alone” Maika in the midst of his brain rewound Jake’s responses. Hoping to get a glimpse of clarity over his friend's sudden rational. Did Jake really know enough about magic to sell his soul? And if he did, did he really know about the challenges of doing so? Was he really willing to accept the consequences whatever they may be? Jake was known for being impulsive. Did he actually have a good grasp on what this meant?
Maika looked at Jake stone faced.
“You sure about this?” Jake held his breath. He responded.
“Yes” not breaking the contact in which their eyes met. They stood at each other silent.
“Okay” He sighed. His tone was much lighter almost shrugging.
”What?” Jake asked spooked.
“Okay I’ll help you”. In utmost honesty Maika was a fairly impulsive person as well, but he knew enough of Jake to know he wouldn’t take this big of a risk without knowing the full scope or consequences. Plus this was Jake he was thinking about here. If this was something Jake had set his mind to do then Jake was going to do it. With or without Maika’s help. He could at-least make sure his friend didn’t get killed in the process. Plus it seemed at the time like it would be something entertaining to watch.
“Cool we can start with this documentary I found online”.
“Are we really going to sell your soul through shitty youtube videos?”
“Nothing ventured nothing gained”
“true”. Maika ended up spending the night at Jake’s that day. It was easier to do research and it gave them time to think of how they were going to go about it. Maika as per the norm for their sleepovers slept on the couch while Jake took his bed.
Jake had always had incredible dreams. Never truly being himself in them. He always dreamt of the most spectacular sights and adventures. Tonight’s dream most likely do to the subjects discussed, he dreamt of a lake of fire. He was in a volcano of some sort. He was a knight. From Jake’s perspective he was controlling the actions of the knight but it was not the knights face that Jake wore. The armor was plaid in silver but stained in red. Blood was on the gloves of the suit. On the top of the volcano he saw a raging storm. Ice and creatures within the sky. The bottom towards the footing however had burnt grass and a greece filled muck. In the middle was a pit of lava. He stood at the volcano’s edge as a dragon soared above him. Kneeling Jake began to bleed from his wrist as the dragon stared at him. It began chanting in a foreign tongue and then Jake woke up.
He couldn’t always place what he had done in his dreams, but when he could it always entertained him. He never remembered dreams like this. When he did he imagined it was more like a movie with minor audience participation. Very much like a video game cut scene. Maika on the other hand never dreamt. It wasn’t a mere misunderstanding of what he dreamt or failing to remember his dreams but rather he simply did not dream at all. This Maika more than made up for in the daytime however, where he would constantly be swept away in his imaginary fantasies. He often called himself a maladaptive daydreamer.
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