_“You promise me you won’t?” he asked me, his eyes searching mine. He held my face between his hands. I knew he was looking for any sign of doubt or lies on my face. _

_“I won’t,” I swore honestly. “I could never do something like that, trust me.”_

He had kissed me after that. I thought he had loved me, but he was just making me promise him something, when all the while he was lying to my face. I had meant what I said at the time. I had intended to stay true to my word. But when I figured out he had broken every promise he made to me, I saw it was justified for me to stop keeping mine.

I held onto my pen tightly, but not because I was nervous. I was so angry at everyone. The government had been manipulating me the entire time, using me for their benefit and walking away when the consequences came. I was tired of being played and deceived. I couldn’t remember the last time I had made my own decision.

The line shuffled forward. There was only one person left in front of me. It was an old man who wobbled toward the dark figure. A piece of parchment appeared on the table between them. The Darkness began to speak to the man, but so quietly I could not hear. I busied myself with looking around the room instead.

It was an odd sort of place that didn’t even seem real. It was dark and there was no source of light, yet you could see everything around you in a sort of washed-out gray color. It was hard to tell where the walls were and where the floor ended. I didn’t know how high the ceiling was, or if there even was one. It could’ve been a cloudy night sky for all I knew. Everything seemed to be made of a dark obsidian tile that blended together.

My focus was drawn away from the mysteries of the strange room as the man disappeared into the Darkness. I took a confident step forward, bracing myself for what was about to happen. There was a table in front of me, rising to about my stomach. It was bare, the paper having gone away along with the old man. I looked up at the swirling Darkness. Shadows appeared and disappeared, forming the shape of a rather tall figure. As it realized who I was, it let out a loud bark of laughter. I suppressed the urge to shiver. Laughing seemed wrong in such a terrible place. I turned around, glancing at all the gaunt faces wallowing in their own self-pity behind me. All waiting to sell their life away.

I faced the Darkness again as it began to twist. An ageless man stepped out, looking amused and only slightly surprised. He had dark hair and pale, pasty skin. His features were sharp enough to cut glass and he would’ve been attractive if he wasn’t so unsettling. He looked young, but his eyes foretold of the wisdom he beheld. He was tall and almost lanky, but something about him screamed danger.

“Giovanna,” he said, leaning against the table to get a closer look at me. “What a pleasant surprise to see you here.” He paused, waving his hand through the air. “Of course, I can’t say I’m too shocked. I always knew you would end up here…I just didn’t expect you quite so soon.”

Perhaps the thing that was so unsettling about him was the fact he could act so flawlessly human and normal. He’d perfected our mannerisms, our sarcasm, our phrases. He seemed so calm and almost…bored. I watched as shadows swirled around his fingers, forming figures. I realized it was him and I, ruling the world with matching crowns.

The Darkness wasn’t one to be trusted, but I didn’t trust anyone anymore. And he had yet to lie to me.

He stooped even closer, looming over me in his height and power. “Why is it that you’ve come to me so soon?” he said teasingly, “I thought I would have to wait a lot longer.”

“You know why,” I said, my voice harsh and dead from disuse. “Don’t make me say it.”

He shook his head. “No,” he conceded, curiosity obviously piqued. He cocked his head at me as if I was some interesting specimen. “But I can find out.”

I didn’t have a chance to say anything as he reached out a finger and touched my temple. It was a cold, unwelcome sensation. A sharp pain suddenly shot through my head. I knew he was sifting through my memories, looking to find what had happened. Going through them like they were simple files. I could’ve tried to stop him. I probably should’ve. But I saw no point. I was going to sell my soul to that Darkness. Why try to hide what he would find out eventually?

“Ah,” he hummed, drawing his finger away. His hand fell back to his side and a smile crept across his face. “What a funny plot twist,” he said, his eyes dancing with some form of cruel dark humor, “The hero goes against the public, _because_ of the public. Who will save them now?”

My eyes were dark and flat. I said nothing. He spoke of the truth. There was no need for me to confirm it.

“The people who tried to fix you just ended up breaking you, huh?” he asked. More rhetorical questions. I stared at him with eyes full of hatred. All I could think about was how I’d gotten so manipulated.

“Well, to be quite frank, I don’t think you’re broken,” he continued, twirling his hand in the air again. The Darkness formed a sheet of paper that appeared on the table. “In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever been more together.”

Was he right? Was I together? I couldn’t tell anymore. I was so blinded by my rage that I didn’t care about anything else but revenge. _My_ revenge. I looked at the paper on the table, clicking my pen. I didn’t read the Terms and Conditions, because it was too dark (and who actually does?). Instead, my eyes dropped to the line at the bottom, right where I was supposed to sign.

“Once you do this, you can never go back. You understand?” he reminded me, his voice taking on a more serious tone. He was just humoring me. I hadn’t been able to turn back for a long time. I had started on a road that led me down a darker and darker path. It had gotten so dark I couldn’t even see right from wrong anymore. I couldn’t tell what was good and what was bad, who the heroes were, and who the villains were. I couldn’t even see the truth from lies.

“I understand,” I said, my voice hollow. I was filled with such rage that I felt disconnected from the world.

“Before you sign, I want to hear you say it,” he said with hungry eyes, the shadows around him growing darker. They played across his skin and twirled through his fingers. “I need you to admit it. Why are you here, Giovanna?”

Anger flashed through my eyes and boiled in my heart. Why? He already knew. But perhaps he was right. Perhaps I needed to say the words out loud.

“Because they lied to me,” I said through gritted teeth, eyes rimmed with red anger, “They manipulated me and murdered my family.”

My words echoed around the chamber. My own voice sounded foreign to me. It belonged to somebody full of bitterness and vengeance.

“Ready to sign a deal with the devil?” he asked. The Darkness was deceiving, but I didn’t care. He hadn’t convinced me to be there. He had never lied to me. I was there on my own accord. It was the first time I was choosing to do something myself in a long time, without anyone breathing down my neck. I wasn’t being forced by the government. Being in front of him felt right. His presence had instilled confidence in me toward my decision.

“Sign right here,” he said in a buttery voice, his pale finger tapping the blank line.

I had no hesitation when my hand dipped to sign the paper.