Contractor: Chapter - 48

Subtlety is the basis of fear and command

“So… what are we going to your office for?” The silence that had hung in the air since Dante started to lead the way to his office had been oddly uncomfortable. I had become accustomed to a certain type of awkward silence broken by humor. This was a different, more official, nearly businesslike type of silence and I could only manage to mumble my question in the midst of it.

“Not yet.” He didn’t sound interested in answering my question, and Amy had the same confused look on her face as I did about his response. The fact that she was confused despite being in the loop made me all the more curious about Dante’s intentions.

The more I walked down the single hall of the den the smaller it seemed to feel. It wasn’t very long at all before we were at the door to Dante’s office. That he had an office at all sounded a little ridiculous, I felt as though the thought had crossed my mind previously. Waiting patiently at the door was a familiar figure in different clothing. Ryan was propped up against the wall next to the door by his shoulder like he’d been waiting there a while. He was dressed in a sharp looking black overcoat with his normal hoodie underneath. The guy must have had a serious compulsion to wear a hood. He had to have been sweating underneath it all too, because it was a little warmer than usual for some reason.

“Sir,” Ryan nodded to Dante and held the door open for him. “Ladies.” He gestured for the three of us to enter, the smile on his face was mischievous. Given his emotionless nature that he was still putting on the act told me something was up. “Baldy awaits.” He laughed as we all walked in and closed the door behind everyone. His laughter, again, was out of character and the eerie sound was almost insignificant compared to the atmosphere we had just walked in on.

The room, which felt completely unfamiliar, was intensely dark. There was more than just a lack of light, there was an actual presence of darkness, like something evil was in the room. Two blue flames flickered to life in front of me illuminating a small space around our group. Dante held a flame in each hand and held them in front of him, aggravated for some reason.

“You’re brooding, Victor.” He sighed. I thought giving you some time to cool down would be therapeutic, but it looks like I was wrong”

“I apologize, I let my mind wander whilst you gathered your employees.” The darkness cleared and a completely unfamiliar room was revealed.

The basic layout was the same. Shelves lined the walls, a massive wooden desk sat in the center with a large armchair behind it. The main difference was the cleanliness. Everything was sparkling, it gave the room a modern vibe like you would expect in a big city penthouse. The items I had seen on the desk before were also different. Atop the desk was a small oval mirror with a splinter missing from the top edge to the middle and a similar splinter from the bottom to the middle. Standing behind the desk, staring down at the mirror with a disgusted look on his face was a tall bald man. I recognized him from the day my life got screwed over and I became a slave. The day I shot a boy and gave up my freedom. This was Victor, the old Death.

“So. Why is everyone here?” Dante asked. The flames in his hands died out and I sensed a nervousness in his voice. If he didn’t know exactly what was going on, then I was seriously worried. Worried to the point where caution overruled curiosity.

“I expect you already know. You might be a good actor, but I can see right through you. I know you know who the fool that let their soul shatter to pieces is. You know exactly why I am here.”

“You want to make a deal for your soul back.” Dante nodded, he obviously understood exactly what was going on. The tone of nervousness in his voice had vanished completely. I, on the other hand was thoroughly confused. “You know I can’t give it to you yet, not until the mirror is completely repaired.”

“How are you even alive?” I mumbled. I regretted speaking instantly but Victor didn’t appear to be upset by my interruption.

“A better question would be how I never became a wraith, or some other form of tortured spirit. The answer is caution. Even without my own soul I managed to survive off of an immense amount of other souls. They burn much more quickly, and I need to gather much more than the average contractor simply to stay at a stable level. I have a large team of collectors working non-stop arranging deals and retrieving souls for me. If I ever dropped to a low enough level I would revert to a more primal state and begin to drain the souls of those around me. It is difficult and I would rather have my own soul back than continue this nonsense.”

“Again, you know I can’t do that just yet.” Dante sounded genuinely aggravated. “I don’t know if I can at all, even if I repair the mirror. It’s not in great shape.”

“Boy.” Victor frowned, revealing dingy yellow teeth gritting together. “Do not forget what I gave you. Do not think me dull. I know very well what you can and cannot do. I also know very well what will happen if we do not settle on a deal now, because when you fit that last piece with the rest he will show up and make you destroy it on the spot. I know you are not fond of me, but I hope you remembered to read the fine print. You simply will not last without me.” Dante grimaced as he walked up to the desk.

“I already wrote it out. I think you’ll find that it’s perfectly agreeable, I didn’t flower it up and I don’t intend to trick you.” Dante slid a piece of paper that hadn’t been there before across the smooth surface of the desk. “I did read that fine print, and I hope you know exactly what it means when I’m done.”

“What a big if scenario. I understand that you have a great deal of confidence, but it is misplaced.” Victor r grinned as he signed the contract.

He held it up to his face and with a flourish of his hand it burst into flame. The hungry tendrils of fire crawled through the air up to the ceiling. I froze as I looked up. When I saw that the small spider web that had been on the desk before was gone I had mistakenly thought that that was a good thing. The ceiling was covered in a thick, massive spider web with the same glow the smaller one had. It’s now rather large occupant rested in the corner, watching with eight disgusting eyes. There were several floating blue flames amidst the web, like the souls of people that had gotten caught and were long since devoured. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the source of light in the room earlier.

“I hope that wasn’t all you came for.” Dante wasn’t at all distracted by the web. His eyes were locked with Victor’s.

“No, it is not. I wanted to talk with my daughter as well, but she refused to open the door for me until I explained things to you thoroughly. Which I think I have done to a satisfactory level?”

“Not entirely.” Hope had slipped in the door behind us and only just made her presence known. “You left out the part where Owen, the man you had led him to believe was behind everything was being coerced into this ridiculous plot against us all.”

“Oh?” Dante hummed, like he already knew all of this. He may have, but I got the feeling he was acting again. It was so hard to tell with him, he didn’t have the same flaws in his expressions that Ryan did.

“You know he isn’t stupid. Owen is a careful strategist, the kind of guy that would spend days contemplating outcomes of decisions that haven’t even been made yet. No one like that would come up with, and stick to, such a silly plan. He’s outnumbered and he is significantly out matched by us, yet he persists. Initially it may have been a rash reaction, but he’s had time to think things over. The only logical reason why he would still be doing this is if he’s being threatened to by someone.” Hope explained. I wasn’t exactly on top of everything that was happening, so I wasn’t paying close attention. I vaguely remembered the name Owen, but I didn’t really care who he was.

“I’ve narrowed it down to several likely candidates.” Victor sat down behind the desk and pressed his fingertips together, his grin now genuine and frightening. “The contractor that hates me the most, Hades, is a very likely choice. He’s powerful, imposing, and a well-established contractor. It’s been a long time since we last clashed, but I doubt he’s let Mordred’s usurpation go. Another likely candidate is Patrisha.”

“Trish.” Dante nodded. His expression thoughtful. Images of the beautiful woman we had left crippled as Dante was about to die flashed through my mind.

“She, like many other contractors, hates everyone. Although from what I understand she has reason to dislike you particularly, and you wouldn’t be alone. I have come to acquire her greater distaste as well as Hope. She is manipulative, very old, and very powerful. However, she doesn’t quite fit the role. Her approach would be much more intimate and emotionally damaging than physically harmful.”

“There’s a flaw in this whole reasoning.” Amy interjected, raising her voice for the first time since entering the room. “Like you said, any contractor could have it out for you. They all would have motives, mainly to simply rid themselves of the competition.”

“That would be a problem, if every contractor knew about the mirror. However, my mirror was only ever known to a very few. The last of which is the one I am most concerned with. The Old Man has the most to lose from this mirror being pieced back together. Though his power and his knowledge exceed all others, faced with the mirror he could be… destroyed.” Victor exhaled the word, like it was both a relief to admit but terrifying to utter. “He is a dangerous enemy, if he is indeed an enemy. Simply talking to him caused Owen panic last we met, to be threatened by him would shred all his reason to ribbons. If he is the one controlling Owen I would be surprised that Owen is able to function at all with the fear of what failure might entail looming over his head. However while he has the most to lose, he has taken a very passive role in the ordeal. He has not actively sought out to fix the mirror, aid us in fixing it, nor has he hindered us from doing so. It would be most beneficial for him if we all perished and the mirror was lost and worthless forever, he cannot openly defy another contractor though lest he ruin his image as a benevolent and peaceful figure. His only safety is the shard he keeps for himself, and in that action he controls everything.” Victor sighed and looked over to Hope. “Is that a satisfactory explanation?”

“Yes, Dad. That’s fine.” Hope groaned. I’d disliked her before simply for being crazy, but I hadn’t pegged her as a brat. “Now what did you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to know how my little girl is doing.” He’d caught me off guard. I think he’d actually caught everyone off guard.

“Dad. I’m three hundred years old. The age gap between us now, compared to the rest of our lives, is pretty much meaningless. I get that I still look younger, but…” Hope sighed. “I’m doing fine. Great actually. Dante’s a real gentleman, my only complaint is that he can be reckless. Apart from one particular incident, we’ve been doing very well.”

“That is good to hear. No reward comes without risk.” Victor smiled. The genuine care in his expression made me feel like I didn’t belong in the room. “When this is over, the three or four of us should take a little vacation.” I really wanted to ask who the fourth person was but this was definitely not the time to intrude on the conversation.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” There was a look of disapproval of Dante face as he said it. His eyes were pointed at Hope but she just shrugged innocently. “Where’s Owen?”