End of her rope

[WP] You'd summoned the demon intending to sell your soul, so it came as a bit of a surprise when the demon refused, and offered you a soul instead.

*****

My mother always said desperation was unbecoming of a lady. Pity she sucked ass at parenting, otherwise I might have listened to her. But when you're on the edge of getting ripped out of the life of the person you love with all your heart, what else are you gonna do?

It was sophomore year at DuPont Senior High when we met. I was walking to my agriculture class, not really paying attention, when I accidentally collided with another girl trying to lug a bundle of workbooks and I fell on top of her, which was an embarrassing way to meet someone already. But once I saw how pretty she was, I got even more flustered.

Her hair was dyed electric blue and done up in a ponytail, pulling it back to give me a clear view of her vivid amber eyes. She was wearing khakis and a light brown sweater patterned with rings of cats circling it. Laying next to her head was a messenger bag with an exorbitant number of pins, stickers and buttons.

I did my best to hide my blush as I told her, "Oh my God, I am so sorry! I should've been paying attention."

"It's ok, don't worry about it," she said in response. "But could I maybe get off the floor now?"

"Oh, right, sorry!" I got up and took her by the hand to bring her up with me. "I'm Abigail, by the way."

The girl brushed off her sweater before looking at me and saying, "I'm Raini. Nice to meet you."

From that day on we were inseparable. Every instance we had the time and energy for it, we were hanging out. We got lunch at this burger joint called Zigzag's, rooted through thrift stores looking for the best and/or tackiest outfits possible, and spent hours at the botanical gardens. She was my best friend.

And then on Independence Day, we became so much more. We were sitting on a picnic blanket, waiting for the fireworks show to start, when Raini turned to me and said, "Abi, can I... can I tell you something?"

"What's up?"

Raini intertwined my hands with hers and said, "Okay, I'm just gonna rip off the band-aid here: I have... feelings for you."

It took me a few seconds before I found the energy to speak again. "Wow, that's...wow. Uh, can I have some time to like, think stuff through first?"

Raini looked like she was on the verge of tears but nodded. Thirty seconds before the fireworks were about to go off, I turned Raini's head towards me and whispered, "I didn't actually need to think about it. I just wanted to wait until the show started before kissing you."

Raini's eyes went wide in shock before pulling me into a passionate kiss as the sky lit up in a dazzling array of colors. From then on, we were girlfriends as well as best friends. And even though we still did the same stuff we always did, it was...softer, in a way. Like it was a familiar dish prepared in a way that gave it a whole new texture.

But we had to keep it under wraps at all times. There was no way my mother would have ever been alright with the fact her only child was gay. And even if I wasn't and Raini was a guy, my mom would have hated her for her unbridled love for all things supernatural, which in my mom's eyes was all the work of the Devil.

It was the spring semester of my junior year when our luck ran out. My mom was going out of town, which meant Raini and I had the whole weekend to snuggle and watch movies together. Or we would have, if the hotel hadn't cancelled the reservation and my mom came home early to the sight of me being overpowered by an assault of kisses from Raini. She threw Raini out of the house and read me the riot act for daring to be something other than her proper lady of a daughter, destined to marry some mediocre white guy and spit out babies until I died.

Throughout senior year, my mother got downright militant over my behavior; she forced the principal to put me in classes separate from Raini, started tracking my phone, and even considered moving to a place down to where I planned to go to college just to keep an eye on me. It was a living hell, one I was looking for any escape from. Towards the end of the year, I eventually found one in the form of an old book Raini once claimed was a spell book. Once I found the page on summoning demons to form a contract, I decided, 'Fuck it. I don't wanna see my mother's idea of heaven anyway.'

At the stroke of midnight after I had graduated, I recited the incantation in the book. Suddenly, the shadows cast by the moonlight converged into one spot before stretching up and up until it was a figure almost as tall as me. I swallowed my terror and said, "Hello. There's something I want, and I'm willing to trade my soul to you if it means I'll get it."

The shadow looked at me (at least I think it was looking at me), and said, "I will not take your soul. But I will give you mine."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Your soul? Why?"

The shadows melted away and returned to their original places, revealing a human figure underneath- Raini. With a slightly shaky voice, she said, "Because you practically own it already."

It took all of my effort not to drop the book. "Raini?! You're a-"

"Yeah, I'm a demon. And I promise I will tell you the whole story later, but right now I need to do this." Raini took my hands like on the night we started dating. "I took a massive risk when I told you how I felt. But there isn't a day that's gone by that I regret it. So that's why I'm going to take a leap of faith on this one too."

Raini reached into her pocket and pulled out a little velvet-covered box and opened it to reveal a silver ring with a green gem; my birthstone, peridot. "Abigail McCaffrey, will you run away with me?"

I fought back my tears of joy and excited laughter to say, "In a heartbeat, princess."

Raini started tearing up herself as she slid the ring onto my finger and pulled me into a tight hug. "Didn't need to think stuff through this time, huh?"

"You know I never needed to when it comes to you and me."

*****

THE END