Never Say Die- Introduction & Chapter 1

Saydie Mason has wandered the earth alone for over 200 years, never making close friends and trying to remain as anonymous as possible. When she invites a roommate into her home, she finds a best friend, but the two of them are keeping big secrets from on

INTRODUCTION

 

           I spend a lot of time trying to fit in, to blend into the crowd and stay fairly unnoticed. I look like any other person but I have a Charisma that I need for my job. It draws people to me when I need them to be and keeps them away when I don’t. While I can’t turn it on and off I can adjust how charismatic I am depending on the situation, but most of the time I maintain a neutral setting that allows me to be around people without affecting their natural response to those around them.

            I also have the gift of beauty which I promise you I'm not egotistical about. I still haven't decided if it's a good or bad thing though, it comes in handy a lot of the time with men. I don't even have to adjust my Charisma to get their attention, but with women...let's just say it's not exactly easy to make friends when you're prettier than every other girl you know.

            My appearance is different when I need to use my powers for work. My eyes turn crimson, my teeth become razor sharp and venomous and my hair gets kind of wild on its own like it has built in volume. (Too bad that’s the only time it happens, every girl can use a little natural volume right?) I've been told that I look pretty impressive when I need to use my extra powers but I avoid it when I can. When I'm left with no other choice, everything that attracts people to me is enhanced, and honestly there's just no escaping me.

            I have a very special job. I collect souls for a higher power, souls that have been traded for advancement in life. I don't collect all souls. Some people are truly good to their word, they pay their debt and can even move on to a better place when their time is up. There's always a few idiots who think they can break a contract with the ultimate evil.

This is where I come in.

            I collect the souls of the shadiest people you could ever meet; those consumed by greed, power, sex and of course, money. These are usually the only kind of people with the guts to make a deal with the devil, but once in a while we get those who are struck at a young age by a sudden bout of influenza or an unexplained medical mystery that only leads to death; parents who will give anything for their children or spouses willing to give their life for the one they love.

            The ones who do it out of love or desperation usually make their payment and go on to live happy and debt free lives, but even then, you'll run into one who thinks they can outsmart evil and get away with it.

That's when I get the call to take care of business.

 

My name is Saydie Mason, I’m 19 human years old and I’m a demon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

            When you've been around for a few centuries and have a few tricks up your sleeve you learn a few things about people in general. It doesn't take much to figure out what kind of person they are with just a little observation.

This is how I figure out who I can make friends with and who I should avoid.

            I like to live among humans and despite my demon nature, I am human first. It's something I've never been able to turn my back on, even if I had ever wanted to, which I haven’t. I'm very careful about who I allow to get to know me. I try to avoid situations where I have to be friendly with a lot of people at one time. It's just too hard to separate the good from the bad in a crowd.

That’s how I ended up living in the suburbs of Wharton with my Wiccan roommate Flannigan and her cat, Sunshine.

            I met Flan while I was working on a college campus one night. I was there to check on a law student who was falling behind on his payments. He was up late studying in the library and Flan was a few tables down from him. My sudden presence startled him, of course, since he couldn't have possibly seen me enter the building and come to stand in front of him faster than he could blink an eye. He looked up at me as my eyes turned red and comprehension dawned on his face.

            He began to spout excuses for why he'd fallen behind which seemed to irritate Flan who loudly told us to “Hush!” I nearly laughed out loud at this human girl and for a moment I lost my concentration, which opened her up to me and allowed her private information to be my public knowledge.

            At the risk of being exposed and because I had been so humored by Flan's demand for silence, I was feeling generous and quietly offered the young man a warning after making sure he was being honest in his excuses. He had truly stumbled on some hard times but was getting himself back together now; I could see that his word was good and that I wouldn't need to visit him again.

            I have a special gift that allows me to get a feel for people and to know if they're lying. I call it mind scanning, because it gives me a kind of biography of their life thus far, unlike mind reading which allows you to obtain another's thoughts. I try not to use it unless I actually need to know about the person, but this time it seemed that there was no stopping the flow of information coming from her head whether I wanted to know or not.

            Immediately I liked this girl dressed in bell bottomed jeans, a sweater jacket and sandals, which is what she almost always wears. I can't get her away from it no matter how many shopping trips I take her on or how many fashion tips I give her. Flan is a never changing person and I love her for that. 

            My favorite thing about Flan is that she's never too nosy, so she's never asked me how someone my age can afford the luxuries that I enjoy; like my spacious and immaculately decorated 3 bedroom house with a pool, designer clothes, or my sporty Bugatti out front. The absolute best thing about her is that she never asks what I do for work. She seems to be fairly content not knowing as long as she has a safe place to live, and it stays that way. She always pays her rent, never gives me any trouble and seems comfortable in my presence without being affected by my Charisma.

             

            When I had finished my business with him I went to approach the hippie who hushed me (an inside joke between us). The young man didn't appear to be overly comfortable with the fact that I wasn't leaving yet, but I disregarded it and turned to her with a smile on my face and shining hazel eyes.

            I knew that her name was Flannigan Michelle Emery, she was 19 years old, and had grown up in a small town outside of Wharton called Cala. She was a bit of a loner, was worried about failing her midterm and had received a notice that her rent would be raised the next month to a price that she could no longer afford; despite the fact that she lived in a dump in a bad area of town.

            Immediately I wanted to help her and got a crazy idea to offer her a room in my home. I'd never lived with another person since I'd become a demon, but something told me that this could really work out, considering what I knew of her already.

            I offered to buy her a cup of coffee as an apology for disturbing her study time, and after appraising me for a moment she decided that I was alright and accepted the offer. We ended up talking for hours while I carefully encouraged her to voice the information I needed before I could make my other offer.

By the end of the month she had made herself at home and it was like we'd always lived together.

 

 

            “Saydie have you seen Sunshine? She's been gone for a while and I'm a little worried.” Flan called from downstairs before coming up to poke her head into my room.

            “No I haven't seen her recently, sorry.” I replied, knowing good and well why Sunshine hadn't been around. Animals are much more sensitive to what I am and avoid me more than humans would, but when I have my Charisma down really low, Sunshine, can tolerate being in my presence and even curl up in my lap for a good belly rub once in a while.

            I saw the disappointment and worry on Flan’s face; it made me feel bad for her so I immediately began to work on turning it down a bit. She always seemed to be so comfortable around me no matter how much power I was putting off. It was almost as if she was immune to it. So of course I'd completely forget to tone it down around her cat. Moments after concentrating to turn my charisma down, I heard the sound of a cat sneaking up to the house, and shortly after I heard Flan’s happy exclamation to find that Sunshine had come home.

            “I found her!” she called up the stairs again and I smiled, “Okay.” I called back.

She sure did love that cat and I was the last person who would ever want to keep them apart.

            I turned back to my laptop to finish checking my e-mail. I liked to keep in touch with people I’ve met in my travels since I tend to move around a bit. Sadly, you can only stay in one place for so long when you don't age, even with the help of hair color and makeup to alter your appearance.

            If I didn't make friends and tried to avoid regular habits and schedules I could stay longer in big cities. More faces make me less recognizable, and allow me to blend better, but the loneliness wears on you after a while. I've come to accept that I have a maximum of about 10 years in any place, and then have to move on.

            Even more than humans, I try to avoid contact with other demons. They tend to bring out the worst in me and make it harder to act more human than demon, which would completely defeat the point of trying to live a normal human life.

            So far, Flan was the closest friend I'd ever made. I'd never let anyone get to know me so well and I had certainly never let anyone live with me before. I am very happy to finally be able to have the company. She's so easy to live with, but I have to constantly remind myself not to get too comfortable.

            I closed the computer and stood up to stretch, Sunshine sneaked into my room and I bent down to give her a scratch between the ears.

            “Sorry kitty I forgot.”

            She rubbed against my legs in what I took to be an acceptance of my apology before following me from the room. I wandered downstairs to find Flan curled up in her favorite chair by the fireplace reading a book. It was a good day for it since the weather looked like a storm was brewing. The rain had already started, and it was only a matter of time before the wind picked up and it got nasty outside.

            For some reason, I was suddenly restless. As nice as it would be to hang out in front of the fire with the storm raging outside, I felt like I should get out instead. So I grabbed my jacket, purse and keys and was out the door before she could look up from her book.

            I didn't know where I was going. I just let the car lead me and ended up at the light in front of Marlene's, the most popular coffee shop in town and my absolute favorite. Suddenly, a hot apple cider sounded like a great idea in this weather. I could get Flan one too; it would be the perfect touch for a stormy evening in front of the fire.

            I parked and hurried to the familiar brick building with adorable blue and white, vertical striped, cafe curtains in the windows. In my haste, I realized that I might have moved faster than was sensible, as I found myself under the awning that matched the curtains, just half a second later.

            After a quick look around, I brushed off the idea of having been seen as I approached the door, painted with Marlene's name in elegant gold script on the glass. I reached for the handle and jumped back in surprise as another hand closed over mine; I found myself looking into a pair of beautiful golden-brown eyes.

            I vaguely remembered my hand falling to my side as I took in the rest of the man standing there. He had a very solid look to him for a human but he felt normal, at least his hands did. I pushed the thought of how soft and warm his hand had been on my own to the back of my mind.

            He was a taller than me, around six feet tall, in his early 20's, with olive skin and sandy brown hair that fell playfully over his forehead. He looked like he could have played college football, but he moved with a grace rather unusual for a man, let alone a human. His lips, they were full in all the right places and I could just imagine them on mine-

            “Excuse me. I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't see you there.”

His beautiful tenor voice startled me from my momentary fantasy as he held the door open for me.

            “Thank you,” was all I could think to say.

            “My pleasure,” he responded with a grin that I imagine would have had a human woman melting there on the floor.

            I stood back from the register under the pretense of figuring out what I wanted. As I watched him get in line, after gesturing for him to go ahead of me, I indulged myself and took in his jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes. I couldn’t help wondering how he managed to make a simple ensemble so sexy.

            That, was when I realized that I needed to get a grip on myself. I'd appreciated the appearance of human men before but I felt like I was losing it with this one. I tried closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to clear my head, but all I could see was a pair of golden eyes staring back at me, so I sighed and opened them again but found the eyes were still there. It took me a second to realize that he was standing in front of me again, with a look of concern on his face.

            “I noticed that your eyes were closed and just wanted to make sure you were ok?”

            I nodded, unable to think of a single thing to say in response before mentally slapping myself.

            Get yourself together Saydie he's a human!

            I shut down all inappropriate thoughts of him and went to stand in line without another word or glance in his direction.

            When our ciders were ready I put them in a cup holder and prepared to make my way back to my car at a more human speed. Before I could step out from under the awning and into the pouring rain, I discovered an umbrella over my head. I gasped as I watched the drinks start to fall from my hands in slow motion.

            I didn't even comprehend what was happening at first. I was too worried that somehow I'd conjured the umbrella out of nowhere, in front of all the people inside. The idea of conjuring anything was shocking in itself, because I'd never conjured anything before. Then, as suddenly as it started, it was over. The drinks were being steadied by another pair of hands, and my eyes followed the arm, coming to rest on the umbrella handle tucked under that arm, freeing the person’s hands to help me.

            “Hey, are you okay?” I heard that voice ask me again, and I looked up into those golden eyes for the third time since my arrival. They were full of concern, and this time I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away. I was subconsciously aware that I was trying to extract information about him but nothing came to me. All I heard, was the beating of our hearts and the rain landing on various surfaces.

            I focused on his concerned expression and embarrassment lit up my cheeks like a beacon, as I quickly looked down at the ground before answering.

            “Yes I'm fine thank you. I don't know where my mind is. You keep startling me.”

            He managed to look sheepish, “Sorry about that, you definitely seem like your mind is somewhere else.” He grinned at me, showing his perfect white teeth. God he was beautiful! My mind began to wander again before I made a massive effort to concentrate on responding coherently to this man in front of me.

            “Are you okay to drive?” I could tell he was teasing me and managed to flash my most brilliant smile in response.

            “I'll be fine, thanks.”

            “Well at least let me walk you to your car so you don't get soaked.”

I nodded silently, impressed at his persistence and old fashioned manners. I was even more impressed when he took the drink holder from me, opened the car door, patiently waited for me to buckle my seatbelt and roll the window down before handing the drinks over and closing the door behind me.

            He didn't say a word about the car as most men tended to when they saw it. He didn't look even remotely interested. His eyes were on me and nothing else. Somewhere in the back of my head I wondered if I had unconsciously turned my Charisma on him.

            Then I stopped and thought, Why do I keep wondering if I’m doing things I've never done before?

            “My name is Rhys Davis by the way” he held his hand out to shake mine and I grasped it in a firm grip. I still wasn’t fully aware of what was happening to me. It was all like a dream in slow motion as the air around us began to crackle with electricity that even he noticed.

Our eyes locked for a moment and we smiled at each other as if we'd just come to a very agreeable understanding.

            When we finally let go I fell back to earth with a mental thud. It prompted me to get out of there as quickly as I could, but I couldn't seem to make myself move.

            “Saydie Mason.” I replied quietly. I noticed that he looked as stunned as I was about the electric feeling that had just passed between us.

            “Nice to meet you Saydie. I think I've seen you around before but haven't gotten the chance to say hello until now.”

            “Well I'm glad we got the opportunity to meet one another Mister Davis, it's rare to meet such a gentleman.”

            I could see the blush spreading across his cheeks and a small, satisfactory smile tugged my lips up at his reaction.

            “I really need to get going though. My roommate is expecting her drink to still be warm when I get home. Thanks again for your help, it was very nice to meet you.”

            He nodded, “Please just call me Rhys. Now that I've gotten to say hello will I see you again?” his eyes almost looked as if they were pleading with me to say yes. Strangely enough, I found that I actually wanted to see him again. My heart seemed to beat just a bit faster as I considered the possibility of getting to better know this man who had me so mind-numbingly tongue tied.
            “Just look for the car, it's the only one in town. I come here a lot, so I'm sure you'll see me again soon.”

            With that I put the car in reverse and took off with a smile in his direction. I looked in the rear view mirror as I drove away, and realized that he was just paying attention to what I was driving.

            The further I was away from him the more I was able to clear my head. What was wrong with me? Why did this human man effect me so much? I'd never been attracted to a man as much as I was now. I'd been so careful to separate myself enough to avoid any emotional entanglements with humans, knowing that it could only go so far before I had to leave. But this, well, this was beyond my control.

            Now I had an idea of how people felt when they were around me. I froze as a new thought came to me. What if he was a demon too? What if he was here on business and somehow didn't realize what I was if not who I was? Impossible I told myself. Demons automatically sensed each other; it was part of the package.

            There was no way another demon wouldn't be able to sense me and vice versa. What if he was trying to use me, or win me over to help him get ahead? Maybe he’d found a way to block my ability to sense him for what he was.

            Was he here to spy on me? I picked up my cell phone and could feel the razor sharp edge of my teeth against my bottom lip as my anger built. How could my boss send someone? I wasn't slacking. I was doing my job as well as I ever had. Honestly, things had even been slow so why would he need someone else to step in?

            I pulled into my driveway and slowly set my phone back down. Maybe it would be better to wait and see if I ever saw Rhys Davis again before pissing off my boss. There was no logical reason I could see for him to send someone else here.

I attempted to push all thoughts of Rhys out of my head as I hurried inside, again too fast, to give Flan her drink while it was still warm.

            I walked into the living room to see that she'd fallen asleep in the chair and dropped her book on the floor. I set her book on a nearby end table, grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her. I headed to the kitchen to pour her cider in an over sized mug, setting it on her mug warmer and turning it on low. She could drink it later.

            I went upstairs to my own room, closed the door and sat down on my bed. With my own drink in hand, I finally allowed my mind to wander freely about the stranger I'd met just minutes ago.

Reviews

[Ben]

This is a very good writing. I liked it. I think I can guess what Rhys is, now...

[Mandi]

This looks potential. Keep working on it!

[Horsey]

This is a very interesting and unique idea. I quite like it.