Rachael’s Deal

The dagger spun through the air, silver flashing in the candlelight. Olivia’s scream tore through the old theater, but the sound was swallowed by the chanting of the Mistress Circle.

Then, impact.

The blade struck. Ethan staggered backward, clutching his chest. Blood seeped through his shirt.

“No!” Olivia cried, breaking free from the circle and rushing to him. She dropped to her knees, her hands pressing against the wound, hot and wet under her palms.

Ethan’s eyes met hers. Pain flickered there, but also something else, something darker, sharper.

Jessica smiled from across the circle. “It is done. The vow bleeds.”

The women chanted louder. “The vow bleeds. The vow bleeds.”

But then, something strange happened. Ethan didn’t collapse. His body trembled, his breath ragged, but he was still alive.

Alive, but changing.

Among the chanting women, one stayed still. Rachel.

Rachel had always been in the background, quiet, watchful, her eyes too sad for her youth. Olivia had noticed her before, but never really seen her. Now, Rachel’s gaze locked on Jessica.

“Enough,” Rachel said.

The chanting faltered. The women turned toward her.

Jessica tilted her head. “Rachel? What are you doing?”

Rachel stepped forward, her voice shaking but strong. “You promised me freedom, Jessica. You said if I joined you, if I gave you my loyalty, you’d release me from him. From Ethan.”

Jessica’s smile widened. “And I will. Look at him. Wounded. Dying. You’re free.”

Rachel’s hands curled into fists. “No. That’s not freedom. That’s just another chain, your chain.”

The circle murmured. Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “Careful, child.”

But Rachel didn’t back down. “You want power. You want revenge. But all you’ve done is trap us in your bitterness. You say we’re betrayed women, but you’re the worst betrayer of all.”

Jessica’s lips tightened. She stepped closer to Rachel, her voice dropping low enough for Olivia to strain to hear.

Ethan has brainwashed you too,

“Don’t forget our deal,” Jessica hissed. “I kept your secret. I hid your child. Do you want me to tell them all what you did?”

Rachel flinched, pain flashing across her face.

Olivia’s heart twisted. Rachel had a child?

Jessica smiled cruelly. “So, stay quiet. Do as you’re told. Or I’ll burn you like the rest.”

Rachel’s voice broke, but not with fear. With fury.

“No more deals. No more lies.”

Before Jessica could move, Rachel grabbed one of the candles from the stage and hurled it onto the floor. Wax splattered, fire catching the old wood. The women screamed as the flames spread fast, licking up the curtains and devouring the shadows.

“Run!” Rachel shouted. “She doesn’t own us!”

Chaos erupted. The Mistress Circle scattered, their chants turning to cries. Smoke filled the theater, thick and choking.

Jessica’s face twisted with rage. “You traitor!” she screamed at Rachel. “I gave you everything!”

Rachel spat at her feet. “You gave me nothing but chains.”

Then Rachel ran toward Olivia and Ethan, grabbing Olivia’s arm. “Come on, we have to get him out!”

Olivia nodded, half dragging Ethan as he groaned, his body heavy, his blood warm against her hands. Together, the three of them stumbled toward the back door as flames consumed the theater.

Jessica’s voice echoed behind them, furious and sharp.

“You can’t escape me! The vow isn’t broken. It never breaks. It only burns!”

They burst into the cold night air, coughing, gasping. The theater roared behind them, flames rising into the sky. Sirens wailed in the distance, the city waking to the fire.

Rachel helped Olivia lower Ethan to the ground. His face was pale, his lips trembling, but his eyes…his eyes glowed faintly in the dark, an unnatural light.

“What’s happening to him?” Olivia whispered.

Rachel shook her head. “I don’t know. The dagger…it wasn’t just a blade. It was bound to the vow.”

Ethan groaned, his voice deeper than before. “Olivia…”

She held his hand tight. “I’m here. Stay with me.”

His grip was stronger than it should have been. Too strong. His nails dug into her skin until she winced.

Rachel pulled him back. “We have to move him. If Jessica finds us again, she’ll finish what she started.”

But Olivia barely heard her. She was staring at Ethan’s eyes. They weren’t just glowing, they were changing, flickering between colors, as if something inside him was fighting to get out.

As they stumbled through dark alleys, trying to put distance between themselves and the burning theater, Olivia finally turned to Rachel.

“You betrayed her,” Olivia said, breathless. “Why? Why risk everything?”

Rachel’s face was tight, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Because I know what it feels like to be used. To be trapped. Jessica promised me freedom if I helped her. But all she wanted was to use me too. I couldn’t let her win. Not with you. Not with him.”

Her voice cracked. “And because…my child deserves a world where Jessica doesn’t rule.”

Olivia squeezed her hand. “You’re braver than all of them.”

Rachel shook her head. “No. Just desperate.”

They stopped in an abandoned warehouse, hiding among broken crates and rusted iron. Olivia and Rachel worked together to tend Ethan’s wound, but as they peeled his shirt away, they froze.

The wound was healing.

Not slowly, fast. The skin was knitting together before their eyes, the blood drying away. But the flesh underneath wasn’t normal. It looked darker, tougher, almost metallic.

“Dear God,” Rachel whispered. “The dagger didn’t kill him. It marked him.”

Ethan’s breathing grew heavier. His eyes snapped open, glowing bright now, almost blinding.

“Olivia,” he rasped. “I don’t feel like myself.”

Olivia cupped his face. “You’re still you. You’re still mine.”

But even as she said it, she felt the heat of his skin, the unnatural beat of his pulse, the sharpness of his gaze.

Something had changed.

Something dangerous.

From far away, through the night wind, Olivia swore she heard laughter.

Jessica’s laughter.

It carried through the alleys, cruel and triumphant.

“She did this,” Rachel muttered. “She wanted him wounded. Wanted him changed. This is part of her plan.”

Olivia clutched Ethan tighter. “Then we’ll fight her. Whatever it takes.”

But deep down, fear gnawed at her.

Because when she looked into Ethan’s glowing eyes, she wasn’t sure if she was holding the man she loved or something else entirely.

As dawn broke, pale light spilling across the warehouse floor, Ethan stirred.

His body convulsed, his back arching. Olivia and Rachel tried to hold him down, but his strength was too much. With a roar, his eyes blazed, his wound fully sealed, his voice deep and twisted.

And then, in a voice not entirely his own, he whispered:

“The vow lives in me now.”

Olivia’s blood turned cold.

Rachel stepped back, eyes wide with terror. “He’s not just wounded. He’s becoming it.”

Olivia froze, staring at him, torn between love and fear.

What if Ethan was the vow now…

How could she ever end it?