1 Who Are You

"It's not what it looks like. I swear to you Orion. I wouldn't betray you. I've followed every rule, you know that. This was just for gain." Orin stood there looking at the floor for a moment, to his left unmoving was a body. Orion was in shape and had dark hair. His aqua eyes appeared annoyed and almost depressed right before they started to go empty. Did he really care? No, this was how it always went. This was the never ending cycle, and he was never going to be anything more than a slave. Just trapped and cursed for eternity to serve others.

"Of course you would fail and betray me." His head came up, his shoulders ridged. "I am a thing to you. A means to an end and nothing more." It was clear it was what he truly believed.

"Not true, he was nothing. I care about you, you are what matters. I swear it." The woman jerked when he suddenly lashed out and gripped her throat. Did she really think he had any fucking sympathy in him for her? She meant as little to him, as he did to her. How dare she think to try and get to him emotionally. She gasped and tried to pry his fingers from her neck to no avail. He met her light brown eyes with very little in his own.

"You don't and I have no need to hear what you say anymore. We both knew where this would end, you read the contract. You broke the rules." She smacked at him trying to get him to let her go and there was panic there. He had her throat tight enough that she couldn't speak.

"I never really believed you and I never really hoped it would end in any other way. My disappointment is really nothing, Just like him, just like you." His grip tightened "This doesn't pain me much. I hope you know that. You're just another number on the page." Orion then snapped her neck and just stood there for a moment before stepping around her to the table that was there. He really didn't look like it bothered him at all that he'd just killed two people.

He stood in a rather fancy upscale apartment for the current time. Filled with frivolous things he cared nothing for. At one time he had but he learned long ago objects would never fill the void in one's heart and soul. He did however stop at the table and looked down at the black leather book there. A deep hate in his heart for it.

A contract, his contract of servitude to any that read it and signed. Kind of like a genie and a lamp, but the dark kind. He'd been bound to this long ago, well kind of betrayed was the real reason. Very long ago in a different time and place he'd become this slave he was now. Sometimes when you weren't looking for something, you found what you were looking for. Or worse in his case. A life lived in sin and selfishness was never rewarded, only punished. He felt his skin prickle and knew he wasn't alone. Though he did not have much time left out in the world with his current master dead and no other waiting. Still he felt the arrival of another, and he wished she'd stop coming.

"Just leave me on the shelf to rot. It's what I want." He looked up and another woman was standing across the table from him. Her eyes solid black and she paid no mind to the dead bodies. She clearly didn't care that he killed them either. She'd have done it herself if she could have.

"I can't do that. You know I can't." She moved as if to come around to him and he moved away from her.

"Then you are just like them and my misery is your fault. All of it, I don't want to live anymore. Just let me be lost." With that he seemed to turn to smoke which condensed into the leather bound book with a dragon burned on the front.

The woman picked it up and looked at the two dead bodies curling a lip. She practically hugged the book to her as she turned and snapped her fingers. The place immediately went up in flames. Anger was on her face even as it looked like she cried. How could she give up on her last living flesh and blood? His words angered her, nearly as much as the fact she could do nothing for him. The contract was binding, and even as a goddess she could not change it.

"I won't give up even if you have. But I will give you respite, my son." She caressed the book and then disappeared into the black void that appeared before her. She would give him the time, but watch for the next that would summon him front he pages. If only they knew his chance might just be coming, the real question was how did you take it when you just didn't care anymore?

-Present Day-

"You have to be kidding me." Kora said at the seven more boxes that were brought in and stacked with the other massive piles. There was so much in here. A hoarder had died and now all of their stuff was being piled in the back room. How was she supposed to deal with all of this on her own?

"Nope. Family signed it all over and Curtis wants it sorted for resale. Good luck." She felt like pulling out her hair. She was not getting paid enough. Why didn't one of those college kids get back here and help?

As the man left she sat down amongst all the boxes and stacks. She hung her head and let out a breath. God her life was boring and dull. She felt like she was going nowhere at the moment. Rubbing her forehead she grabbed another box and started sorting through all the shit. Another hand would be nice. Where was Curtis? Oh yeah, on another vacation with Barbie of the week. Kora pulled the first box to her to sort.

"This person had strange taste." She said going through box ten. A lot of occult items and she was wondering if they devil worshiped or something. Which made her laugh. These types of books were novel and great around Halloween. She pulled out a couple Oujia boards, and raised an eyebrow. Figuring they were a special item for the fall and would need to be stored put them in a different pile.

"Kora." She looked up at Matt who peeked in. "I'm grabbing lunch, want something?"

"Nah, thanks. Brown bagged it today." Matt gave a thumbs up. He had a longer brown hair style and a hippy vibe with his baggy clothes and chill attitude. Peace and love kind of guy. She ran a hand through her very loose copper curls. She went back into the box for the last items figuring if she got this done then she could have lunch and start back up. The last items were two books and a metal bowl. Honestly they didn't look to be worth much.

She set the metal bowl aside and looked at the books. It was the second one that caught her attention. A very odd look to it. Like leather but felt smooth like scales. A dragon was on the front burned into the cover. There was no title, so she opened it. Flipped a couple pages to look for one and where it should go.

"Interesting." She said aloud because it was. very odd indeed. There was something about this book. The cover felt warm but the pagers were ice cold. She noted pages of names. All written in red brown ink, the last one was signed, Amanda Trevnou 1935. She flipped back to the front and there were a few lines that looked Latin. As she sounded it out in her head, the words shifted to English and shocked her. Was the book something of optical illusions?

Come forward as I need

Your master shall I be

Given heart or given soul

One or the other may you own

The warning I will hear

Knowing you can take what I hold dear

For the service you preform

I swear to give my blood and life for the power you bestow

"Well that doesn't rhyme well at all if that was what they were going for." She said with a laugh stopping her reading aloud. Just mentally read the rest rather than out loud on the first page. Sounded like heavy stuff, she wasn't one for doing dark things to get what you wanted. With a laugh she flipped the pages again. She gave a slight hiss of pain as there was a tightness in her head and then a few drops of blood came from her nose landing on the page.

"Crap." She said setting the book down and hurrying to the bathroom. However when she got there it had stopped. The blood no longer flowing. She immediately noticed she could see her breath and it was really cold in here. Slightly confused she went back to the room she'd been working in and checked the thermostat. It said seventy and it was summer. She figured the odd shift in temp was probably what gave her the bloody nose. She tossed the tissue, not needing it anymore.

Not feeling the cold now she moved back over and sat down. Frowning she looked for the odd book and spotting it, she moved toward the box it was on. With a heavy sigh she picked it up and turned to put it in the store pile. Someone spoke as she did so startling her.

"What do you require?" Kora screamed at the unexpected man standing there. She also jumped back tumbling over several boxes and hitting the floor. He reached as if to steady her or something, but she scooted back.

"Jesus, what is wrong with you?" She demanded standing up. "Where did you come from, and why are you back here?" Because that was impressive, he'd made no sound. He raised an eyebrow and she noticed his aqua colored gaze seemed a bit flat. He was on the taller side and had dark brown hair. His clothes were simple, black pants and white shirt.

"You summoned me. What is your first task?" He asked her dryly. Clearly he wasn't looking forward to anything. Second who spoke like that? So formal.

"Uh how about you get out of here. This is a private area. Employees only." She pointed to the door there and he looked at it and then back at her. He kind of looked like he was unsure of what she was asking.

"You want me to stand in the hall?" Was he a simpleton? No she didn't want him in the hall.

"No, I want you to get out of this room and go about your way before I have to get others involved. Seriously, you can't be back here. How did you even get in here?" Because she'd been blocking the entrance out from where he was. He must have come in while she was in the bathroom, but the door was normally locked to the back area. Matt must have left it unlocked when he left. That was all she couldn't think of for him to have gotten in here.

"If you weren't ready for a task you should have waited to summon me. I can't go back now, not unless you are dead." She took a couple steps back. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She had a lunatic in here with her didn't she? If she gave a shout she wasn't sure that anyone up front would hear her right away.

"Look guy, I don't know who you are but if you don't get out of here I'm going to call the cops." He wasn't someone she'd have pegged as crazy meeting them on the street. He was good looking, clean shaven and spoke well, but that last line told her crazy train. He just stood there for a moment and then looked down at the book she was holding. He had an odd look about him like he was puzzling something out.

"You read the book." He pointed to it. She raised it up looking at the book with odd confusion.

"Uh, I opened it to see what it was about. I'm sorting through this stuff. It's my job and there wasn't a title. Look if you want it, take it and be on your way. She held it out to him and he stared at it for a moment.

"If only it were that simple." He seemed to wish to take it, but he didn't. "Do you not know what you've done?" He asked carefully. Was he talking to her like she was two bricks short of a load? Who was this guy?

"Seriously get out of here!" She snapped at him pointing harshly. They both looked toward the door as Matt stopped in the doorway. He had a half-eaten sandwich in his hand and a soda in the other. He clearly was coming back from where he went for lunch.

"Hey Kora, what are you shouting about?" He glanced about the room and she pointed to the man standing there.

"Him! He just came back here and won't leave even though I asked him too." She said to Matt who looked back into the room.

"Where am I going to go? I'm here to serve you." The man said dryly.

"Oh my god, you are creeping me out." She answered to the unknown man and looked back at Matt. "Can you call the cops?" She asked Matt who looked confused.

"Well, yeah, but what am I calling for? I'm not sure who you are talking about. I don't see a guy in here with you." Matt kind of gave a laugh.

"Oh shit, did you eat some of the brownies Lents left for me? I mean he said he put more than the normal in them but…"

"No I didn't eat your brownies Matt!" She said and he stopped. Well that definitely said the stoner Matt was. She gestured, to the tall handsome stranger who seemed off his rocker.

"How do you not see this guy standing here? Six foot, dark hair bluish green eyes." She kind of waved toward him and the man stood there staring at Matt. Just staring at him, and not in the nicest way, but it wasn't malicious. More like he wanted him to go.

"He can't see me." The man said and she let out a very frustrated sound, of course he could see him. He was as solid to her as the boxes around him.

"Oh, uh are you sure you are feeling okay Kora? Cuz I'm definitely on the up and up right now and no one is in here with you. Maybe you are putting in too many hours. You should go home." She was looking at Matt dumbfounded and turned back to the man. When she did so he wasn't standing there and her jaw just about dropped to the floor. She glanced about and then back at the door, where Matt was standing biting into his sandwich.

"Hey I get it, happens to me sometimes. Freaks the shit out of me. If you cut out I'll cover for ya. It's cool, you've done it for me." She just stood there for a second staring at the spot the man had been. He had been talking to her, he was real, he'd been right there. No way, no fucking way she just hallucinated that.

"He… that's crazy." She put a hand to her forehead and Matt gave a shrug walking back down the hall and she stepped forward to where the man had been. Was it her or was Matt high? She turned around to go back to the hall but he was standing right there. She nearly went backward again, but he caught her arm steadying her.

"What the hell?" She said and immediately went around several boxes to avoid him. She practically ran to the hall and went down it but he followed her. She turned moving backward.

"I am warning you, stop. I will call the cops."

"And tell them what? An invisible man is following you? You will look a fool." He told her. She reached the door and opened it into the main resale shop area and he followed after her.

"I said stop." She said sternly and pointed at him. He couldn't be invisible, that wasn't possible.

"Is that an order?" He asked stoically as he did stop right where he was. She didn't respond, the door shut and she was quick to go up to the counter where several younger student employees were.

"Hey Kora." One said to her and she pointed behind her because he was moving toward her again. He didn't look in a hurry but she pointed at him.

"Do you see that guy there?" She asked, because Matt had to be crazy. If they said no this day went from zero to sixty in no time flat. Megan with dark brown hair glanced where she pointed.

"The old guy looking at the pants? Yeah, he's a weird one."

"No the taller guy with the dark hair, aqua eyes. In shape, kind of looks like he hits the gym a bit more than normal?" The others immediately looked trying to find this guy. Clear feminine hormones kicking in with their age.

"Um no, where'd he go? Sounds hot." She looked behind her and he stopped right there just staring down at her. She felt her face pale, this was the most random and terrifying thing to have happened to her. How did no one see him? Hear him?

"You don't see him?" She asked not looking at him, and not gesturing. She felt her heart sink in her chest.

"Uh, if a tall dark handsome man came in here we would notice." Kora stood there for a moment looking at the counter. However she could feel him behind her standing there. A couple of them were still looking like they might see him. She stood there for a minute.

"Oh, um never mind. You know what, I'm going to go early. I'm not feeling well at all." She turned around and went back toward the back area. She ignored the man standing there. No way, no way no one else could see or hear him. Is this what it was like to have a mental break? She never had anything like this, didn't have a history of it in her family. She took a few breaths and kept her gaze down at the floor. He did not make a noise, but she knew he was there behind her.

"Your behavior makes no sense. Why would you read from the book and summon me if you have no use at the moment for me?" She kept walking ignoring his deep voice. If she ignored it then he wasn't there right? She went into the employee break room, punched out and grabbed her items. She would have tried to walk through him, but clearly to her he was solid and there was heat to him. She just kept her head down. She went around him walking fast to the back and out the side door to her car.

"I'm not crazy, this doesn't just happen to people." She was now wondering what if he was a ghost? She hadn't really believed, but you know they dealt with a lot of personal objects. Maybe some of them were haunted. She got to her car, and opened the door. Maybe she should go back and get the book and take it somewhere. She'd set it down on the staff table. She got in her car and her eyes went wide. Sitting right on the dash was the book, she just sat there for a moment and closed her eyes taking a few breaths.

"You can't ignore me. I am right here." He did sound a little irritated. She wasn't sure if she felt terrified or what that he was sitting in her passenger seat. That Kora didn't hear a door open.

"I've lost my mind, I've lost my mind." She said hysterically to herself and slammed her door.

"You're being ridiculous. You haven't lost your mind. What is wrong with you, this is not how it normally goes." She pulled out her phone, still ignoring him. Kora looked up the first psychologist or therapist close by and then started the car. This was insane.