-Wait… What?! – Lea stammered as she looked tired and puzzled at Noara. Her mind started wandering and she pictured herself in her old bedroom, with a bottle of pills on her bedside table. She quickly tried to shake the thought from her head. She didn’t do it, did she? – Am I… dead? – The words coming out of her felt heavy, as if she was making her best effort to actually say them. Noara started to look a bit contemplative.

- Well, no… Technically. I mean, you never really died out there – She started explaining, her free hand moving a bit in circles – I just brought you here – She then moved her glass to her mouth and started drinking. Lea could only stare in disbelief as that demon in front of her confessed to kidnapping her. She tried to not freak out by looking down at her cup of water and taking a small sip… which went down the wrong way and she started to cough uncontrollably for a few seconds. Noara looked at her, arching one of her eyebrows up

- What… What do you mean you brought me here? – Lea asked, almost screaming. She was trying to keep her cool, but the whole situation was overwhelming her – You kidnapped me?

- In a way… Yes. But, but, but – She held a finger up as if to stop Lea from answering back – There’s a reason for this. Wait a second, let me turn on a light – She turned around to face the other wall. A small white switch was there, hanging a bit out of the wall and revealing some green and yellow wires. She flipped it, turning on the lamp of the ceiling. The whole room was bathed in a white light that, even though it made it look clearer, it also highlighted more of the problems it had. Noara turned to look at Lea – First of all, I’m sorry I kidnapped you, but your dad owes me a ton. Like, too much to actually let it slide – She looked a bit more serious, her smile fading – Once your dad pays me what he owes, I will release you. So just please, rel… - Her sentence was cut short as Lea’s fist connected to her face. Noara could feel her cheek burning after the hit. Her cup of water fell to the ground. Lea opened her eyes wide, realizing what she did. She brought her hands to her mouth and stood up, trembling in fear.

- Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to… I was just… - She was babbling and wasn’t able to finish any sentence. She was so scared she could feel her bones shake. In her mind, twisted images of her fate after hitting this demoness started appearing. She froze in place, unable to run away. Noara turned to look at her, her hand on her red cheek. She had an angry but understanding look.

- Yeah… I deserve that – She rubbed her cheek a bit. She felt a bit of anger and flames building inside of herself, but she was able to push them down for now – I will give you that. Look, we have a while of staying together here. I’m not going to hurt you. If you want to punch me again, feel free – Noara looked at her, slightly squinting her eyes, a frown appearing on her face. Lea’s face whitened a bit – I will give you some minutes to freak out all you want and then we can start talking about how this is going to work.

Lea was ready to start freaking out inside her own head, but surprisingly it didn’t happen. The thought of her house, her father and his gang, her old so called friends. Thinking about those things and realizing that they were very far away from her didn’t spur any negative emotions. If anything, it started to calm her down. Not sufficient to forget the fact that she was taken by force, but enough to let her breath in and think clearly. She looked down at Noara, who was already picking up her game console and turning it on.

- Ok – She started, her calm voice gaining Noara’s attention again – So you had a contract with my dad, right? I know my dad uses demons. I mean, some of the people inside the gang are demons themselves. But he always pays them well. You’re telling me he didn’t pay you at all? – Noara shook her head

- Not a coin – Lea opened her eyes a bit in a surprised and confused look. She knew her father was stingy, but he would never not uphold his side of a contract. That’s just asking for trouble.

- I find that extremely hard to believe – She looked at Noara with an inquisitive look.

- Well, believe it or don’t. I don’t care – She turned the game console off and stood up to meet her at eye level – He didn’t pay what he owed. The contract said that if I didn’t get paid for my work I could take anything of his property or anyone of his blood. That includes you. I’m not planning on keeping you though. I already left a message to your dad – Noara smirked – If he wants to see you again he will have to give me the demon’s tear he promised – These last words shocked Lea and made her take a step back. A demon’s tear. She knew her dad was despicable, but she was sure he couldn’t possibly have something like that.

- That… Is that the payment he promised? That’s insane! – She said loudly, in pure disbelief. Giving a container for souls to a demon that didn’t even seem that powerful. She began questioning her father’s reasoning – What was even in your contract? What did you have to do?

- Hmmm… - Noara said contemplative – It’s quite a bit of a long story if I have to tell you about the whole contract. And I need to go buy food and stuff for the fridge – Her voice was very casual about the whole thing – If you come with me I will tell you on the way to the store what I had to do and you can get a bit of fresh air. Does that sound good? – Lea looked at her, a bit confused, but quickly nodded – Great! At least I’ll have someone to help me bring the stuff back home. And think of it this way, you can get out of this apartment and I can show you around town a bit. Maybe some fresh air will make you calm down as well – Noara grabbed her wallet, putting it in her pocket, and started walking towards the door. She opened it and waited for Lea to follow her. She sighed

- Sure – Lea said following her behind. She swallowed hard and looked outside the window. She was going to witness hell itself.