A Deal with the Devil

Lucy began to open her eyes, slowly at first, before they fluttered down and she lay still again.

“I saw that, you know. You can’t just pretend you’re asleep.”

“Hmpf.”

Her eyes opened properly this time, as she surveyed her situation. Tied to the bed, her arms and legs sprawled out, each attached to a different bed post. It was an awkward and intense position, that failed to preserve dignity and modesty, but was very effective at making it difficult to exert real pressure against the restraints.

“It was handy you’re as small as you are; you fit perfectly in the middle of the bed, and the length of the ropes was ideal for immobilizing you. If you’d been bigger there might have been some slack to give, and I know someone as skillful as you would know just how to exploit that to escape.”

Lucy glowered at me, as I stood at the foot of the bed, looking at her.

“You’d know exactly how skillful I am, don’t you? You used my memories to know how to tie these ropes.”

I laughed just a little.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“I’m surprised I’m not naked, spread out on this bed.”

“I’m not that big of a pervert…”

“Whose clothes even are these, anyway?”

I’d put Lucy in some sweatpants and a t-shirt, courtesy of the girlfriend of the house. They were a little big on her, but did the job of preserving her modesty.

“All the questions you could ask, and that’s what you lead with?”

Now it was her time to laugh a little.

“Hmpf, I guess you’ve got me there. So, then. Did you like what you saw in my memories? Enjoy seeing and feeling all that from my POV?”

She almost spat the words, causing me to just look to the side, before I turned back and looked her in the eyes.

“Your life has been tragic Lucy. Incredibly so. I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

“Huh…”

She seemed taken aback by my sincerity, ever so slightly stunned, before she recovered her momentum.

“Yeah, well. None of us choose where we start off from, or even most of what happens to us. The only important thing is choosing where we go in the future.”

A pause hung in the air for a moment, before she asked what was really on her mind.

“Why am I here? Alive, I mean. As myself? I couldn’t believe you took me out, you of all people. I’ve never, never been turned into a skinsuit, and I’ve completed tens of jobs like this. And then a rookie skinwalker is finally the one to turn me. I’m disgusted at myself. If it wasn’t for that explosion…”

“Yeah, yeah. I know myself it was that explosion that really let me survive. Kobrina would have killed me, and in doing so, killed Grace as well. You know that, right? Without me to restore her skinsuit, she would have never been brought back.”

Lucy seemed to think on that. It was clear she was troubled in doing so.

“Yes, well… that’s Kobrina. She doesn’t care who she has to kill, if it means ridding the world of another skinwalker…”

She tried imitating Kobrina there, in a way that made her seem like a stubborn blowhard.

“… I think she sees the lives lost along the way as inconsequential compared to the lives saved once every skinwalker in the world is dead.”

“And you don’t agree with her?”

Lucy gave me a strange look.

“No, skinwalkers should be hunted. Your kind are dangerous monsters, who wear innocents and parade around as them. It’s perverse, no matter how you look at it.”

“But…”

I let my words hang in the air, an embarrassed expression crossing across Lucy’s face.

“You already know, don’t you? Maybe that’s why you brought me back.”

“You don’t approve of Kobrina’s methods. You see her as violent, unyielding. A die-hard zealot whose conservative perspective ultimately is getting in the way of progress. Almost like an out of touch dinosaur, who’s old ways will never truly save humanity.”

Lucy sounded very quiet, as she responded.

“So, you already know it all. You’ve literally been me, so, of course you do. Why… why bring me back? What is this really about? I thought for sure once you turned me, that would be it. Not to brag, but I know I’m pretty cute. My body and reflexes are trained, I’m smart, and I’m willing to bet I have hundreds of skills the normal person on the street doesn’t. The only problem is that I’m a girl, and you’re a guy, but knowing what I know about you, that wouldn’t be a problem at all. You might even prefer it.”

“I want to make a deal.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I want to make a deal.”

Lucy just laughed, starting small and incredulous, but growing until it was out of control, and a little manic.

“Make a deal? Make a deal with me? A hunter? With Mortiferis de Infornem? Oh, that’s really rich. You know you can’t save yourself, right? Kobrina would never let it happen. She’s seen you now after all, and once she sees a skinwalker, they can only run. They all die eventually, by her hand.”

“Not with the organization. With you, Lucy. And not ‘Lucy the hunter’, either. Lucy the scientist, Lucy, the girl who sees the possibilities. The girl who wants to protect humanity, in a better way, the girl who sees the sloppy, ineffective ignorance in blind eradication.”

“I… I thought as much. You would know you could never make a real deal with Mortiferis. But I did want to hear you say it out loud. I needed to hear you say it. Fine then, let’s make a deal.”

I couldn’t resist smiling, as Lucy just began to laugh even more.

“Look at me! Look at what I’m doing! Making a deal with a skinwalker, of all things!”

“You won’t regret it, you know.”

“Of course I won’t, but that goes without saying. I mean really, what other choice do I have? If I said no, you’d just turn me into a skin again, and it’d all be over for me.”

“Oh, c’mon Lucy, think positive. It’s not like that’s the only reason. The truth is, if I thought you would only agree to a deal because your life depended on it, I would never be able to trust you. I’d know for a fact that you would betray me as soon as it became expedient to do so. No, the kind of deal I’m thinking of is one that would be better for both of us, longterm. In a strange way, we have so much more to gain from working with one another than with anyone else.”

“It’s not fair, that you know me so well now. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone who had leverage over me in quite this way. So then, what do you want?”

“To be safe from Mortiferis de Infornem.”

Lucy started laughing again.

“Never gonna happen. If you’re a skinwalker, they want you dead. I don’t think getting an exemption is really on the cards for you.”

“Fine then, let me turn the question back on you. What do you want? I mean, what do you really want? Just a few minutes ago, you made a comment about how the only thing that matters is what we do with the future. So then, what kind of future would you really desire?”

“Hmm, flipping the script on me? Fine, I’ll play along. It’s not like I can really lie to you, now is it?”

Lucy thought for a moment, even despite what she just said seemingly considering lying, before being frank with me.

“I want freedom. Real freedom. Not from Mortiferis, the organization, no. Being a part of it already gives me all kinds of benefits I’d really rather keep. No, rather I want the freedom to approach missions the way I want, to decide what happens to the skinwalkers we catch, to have free rein in my experiments. That way I might actually start discovering something interesting. My life might actually have more meaning that just being a tool of ****, an accessory of bloodshed to be used as Kobrina pleases. That’s what I really want. Satisfied now?”

“Very much so. I think I know what to do.”

Lucy looked uneasy, as she waited to hear my terms.

“Join me, Lucy. Help me take down Kobrina. Help me end this era of brutality. With both of us together, we should be able to do it. And she’d never expect you to work with me. And then once she’s defeated, I’ll take her place.”

Lucy laughed now, a deeper and more manic laugh than ever before.

“Oh. Oh my God. That is too rich. I’d begun considered something like that the more you talked, the way this conversation started to go, but I never ever expected you to actually propose it. You’re crazy Alex! Crazy! I can see why a skinwalker would turn you, if you’re going to be this interesting.”

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

“God, it’s so villainous. And so convenient. You get your perfect hiding place from Mortiferis, the last place they’d ever look. And I get a team lead who will let me have my way, actually let me gather research and make some new discoveries. No wonder you brought me back, if this was the kind of thing you were going to offer me. But, you know. There are some real problems with this. Well, not exactly problems, but concerns.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, of course. Don’t just ‘oh’ me, like I’m going to fall in line with your evil, sordid little idea without even questioning it.”

Something about the way Lucy said it made me chuckle a little softly.

“Go on.”

“If you’re going to be the new Kobrina, you’re going to have to play her role. You know that, right? Some things are optional, like the exact approach taken. That’s how both of us are on the same team with such different philosophies. The non-negotiable part, is hunting and killing skinwalkers. Can you really do that for a job? For a way of living? Hunting down your own kind?”

I grew serious, as I considered what Lucy was asking.

“Let me show you something.”

Lucy just raised her eyebrow, as I picked the remote off the bedside table and switched on the television mounted against the wall. I flicked through a few channels before I found the one I was looking for: One of the cities local news stations. A pretty reporter stood outside a burning building on a familiar street, recounting what had happened. I could see Lucy perk up even more when she recognized just what was being reported on.

“Still no word on whether this was a tragic accident, or something intentional. The community in this peaceful neighborhood along with the city at large have been reeling over the explosion that took place earlier tonight, here on Lafayette boulevard, that’s left four deceased, and dozens wounded.”

I switched off the TV, as silence fell. After a few moments, I said.

“This was the explosion that saved me. I’m sure we both know who planted it. I imagine the fact it saved me wasn’t intentional, but regardless. Four innocents were killed, and depending on the severity of those injuries, more may follow. You ask if I can ‘hunt down my own kind’, as though I’m part of some community, some species I feel natural compassion and kinship for. Lucy, I was just a normal guy a few weeks ago. I came to study at university hoping to make some friends, fall in love, get a degree. I wanted to live a normal, happy life, and enjoy the things all young people want. Instead, my life, my biology and my future, all got hi-jacked. I thought I was so lucky, getting to go on a date with my crush. Instead, I was walking into a trap.

I can’t tell you I haven’t enjoyed these powers. Getting to walk in another’s shoes, experience life as another person, especially one so different from myself, it’s intoxicating. But I’ve still struggled. I know that for me to enjoy someone’s life, they’re sacrificing their own body and identity to me, without their consent. I left Lisa, despite how much I loved being her. It was hard, you wouldn’t even know how hard. Being so smart, so popular, so beautiful, getting to be a girl… it was all so exciting. But I knew it would be wrong to stay as her, to steal the life away from a girl I genuinely care about.

I’ve been so scared of being corrupted by these powers, of becoming a monster. Becoming the kind of monster to have a huge collection, dozens of skins, all those lives removed from their families, their vocations, their futures, just to serve as fun little costumes for me. I knew it could happen, and I dreaded the thought of losing myself completely.

Before you all caught up with me, I was trying to research, to find some way to avoid fully transforming, to find some sort of cure. I don’t think one exists, but I didn’t know, and it was the hope that kept me going. This is why I wanted to make a bargain with you, not just a selfish attempt at saving my own skin. Research and experimentation, real scientific application, is the only way to really find out the secrets of this ability, of this whole situation. You, and people like you, are the best chance of that happening.”

Silence fell again, as Lucy seemed to digest everything I’d just said. Seconds slipped by unnoticed, my own emotions keeping me reflecting on my words, while the gears turned in Lucy’s head.

“I believe you.”

I just looked at her.

“No, no, really! I believe you! It makes sense.”

Now she started to laugh again, a certain incredulity in her mirth that was hard to ignore.

“It’s so stupid, so crazy. If you’d told me even a week ago I’d be in this situation, I never would have believed it. But, no. I believe you. You left Lisa’s skin. Do you have any idea how rare that is? You’ve seen my memories, so I know you do. But… it’s really rare. That was when I really started paying attention, you know? When a part of me suspected, only a little, that you might be different."

“So. We’re partners then?”

I smiled at her, waiting for her to get over her internal disbelief, as both of us made deals with our own devils.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re partners. A human and a skinwalker, both betraying their races, just a little bit. Let’s just hope the future we build together is worth it.”

I went to untie her, before Lucy stopped me with a word.

“Wait. I want to be upfront with you now. I don’t want to enter into this partnership totally just yet.”

“Oh?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You know, even if I disagree with her, and see her as a tyrant whose penchant for collateral damage borders on **** while simultaneously destroying my hope for the future… Kobrina is still my team leader. You’re asking me to betray her, and not even to kill her. You’re asking me to let you, a skinwalker, wear her, slip inside her like a meat puppet for your own enjoyment and salvation. That’s a huge deal.”

I stared in silence, waiting for why she would bring this up now.

“You’re going to have to do something for me, to prove your loyalty. Once it’s done, we really will be bonded together, as partners to the end.”

I had a feeling I’d already know what this was going to be. It was only fair, after all.

“You have to help destroy subject 56. You have to help kill the skinwalker who made you.”