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7. Negotiations

Song: End this L.O.V.E by Hailee Steinfeld

*~*~*~*~*~*~*


The sun was setting early in LA once we arrived at the ominous entrance of the cemetery. Brittany knew where her grave was located. After all, she attended Julia's funeral years ago. Ethan pulled out two shovels from the trunk of his car and set one on the ground.


"Whoa, dude! You just carry shovels in your car like it's normal?" Daniel commented.


Ethan looked at me then back to Daniel. "My old job required me to. I have an extra," he threw the other shovel to Daniel, "the sooner we dig, the sooner we can find that weapon."


The guys started digging and I sat down next to Julia's headstone. I reminded myself of the stories Brittany told us. Aurelio said the first item would be something used for murder. Julia killed herself, so shouldn't she know what that weapon was?


The guys finished digging up Julia's grave. "Fuck bro, this looks so sus," Ted complained. He wiped the sweat off his brow and continued digging, breathing heavily.


"Yep, just a bunch of college students digging up someone's grave," Ethan grunted.


"What do you expect to find in the casket?" Daniel asked out of breath. Brittany and I shrugged.


"I don't know, maybe something this stupid demon wants. If we're doing extra work like digging someone's grave, we're probably on the right track." I said.


The temperature dropped down even further as if warning us of our impending affliction. Brittany started prying the casket open. "Man, don't you think this is kinda disrespectful?" Daniel asked meekly.


"I think we're past disrespectful, Danny," Brittany grunted, struggling to pry open the casket. Eventually, the casket was wide open to find a decaying body inside. The stench was overwhelming and I gagged at the smell.


"Do you see anything?" I asked her. Brittany was touching around Julia's corpse with no care. She was determined to survive.


"Did demon boy give you any other hints besides the fact it was a murder weapon?" She asked agitatedly.


"I --" I began to answer before the infernal flame from the ground began to swirl below our feet. Aurelio appeared without a smirk this time. In fact, he looked bored out of his mind. He gave me a devious grin when he saw me glaring at him.


"I'm surprised all of you managed to make it before the deadline," he said with amusement. I crossed my arms, I was nervous because Aurelio isn't Daemon. He hit me. Who knows what else he would be capable of if we angered him.


"Well, we got the first shit you wanted for the scavenger hunt," Brittany said presenting the freshly dug grave. Aurelio looked over where she was pointing briefly before looking at her with a smug smile.


"Nice try, but anything around this place wouldn't count as the weapon this girl used for murder." he examined his nails. "You still have three minutes left before you die, sweetheart," he said to Brittany.


My mind started to race after my heart dropped. I sat quietly until I found out what it was. Brittany's phone could be the answer.

"Brittany, give me your phone," I told her.


"Why?" she asked.


"If my guess is right, then your phone would be the murder weapon Aurelio was talking about."


"You posted that picture of Julia, so that could've been the trigger of her death," I told them.


Ethan agreed with me. "Do you still have the same phone you used to post those pictures of her?" Ethan asked Brittany. She nodded. "I was about to get a new one this year."


I gave her phone to Aurelio. "Here's the murder weapon," I said calmly even if I wanted to tear his glossy hair apart.



He took the phone from my hand without caressing the back of my palm briefly. He chuckled. "Nice try, but this isn't the item. You. Lose." he said the last words slowly.


"You're lying!" I raised my voice. "Her phone was the murder weapon you were looking for. Julia died because she was bullied. And if you're looking for the real murder weapon it would be her hands." I pointed down at the casket. "She killed herself. She became her own murder weapon."


"Tsk tsk tsk, Celeste..." Aurelio grinned. "I thought it would be above this innocent little head of yours to blame the dead for their own death." I looked down shamefully. From the corner of my eye, he began to address my friends. "And what about all of you, hm? Celeste has been doing all the work figuring this out. What did any of you put on the table?"


"I helped Ethan dig," Daniel said sheepishly. Brittany pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned.


"You bastard..." Ethan began. "The murder weapon you wanted was Brittany."


Aurelio leaned on Julia's headstone. "Jackpot, right answer!" he congratulated Ethan. He looked at Brittany and sauntered towards her.


"Now, I will be taking my item with me and we can continue playing the game," he said. "That was a close one, all of you just made it right before the deadline."


Brittany was sobbing. "Please, I never wanted her to die. I get that it's my fault and I've never forgiven myself for what I did. But please, I don't want to die!"


My blood boiled. This couldn't be happening. My answer was correct. Aurelio is trying to have the game fall in his favor. Before I could even register what I was about to do, I slapped him. His head snapped back and he glared at me.


I just pissed off the King of the Nether Realm.


My friends looked at me as if I was crazy. I honestly regret my decisions after a few seconds of slapping Aurelio.


But mama ain't raised no bitch.


"Now we're even," I said.


His look could've burned me from where I stood. Instead, Aurelio smirked, rubbing his cheek softly. "Fair enough."


"We won this round," I said bravely. "You said an item of murder. A human being is not an item. What you're looking for is either her phone or the hands of Julia Kim."


"The rules you stated were clear, love." I mocked. It was wrong of me to throw the word "love" around like it's meaningless.


It means nothing to me now.


Aurelio's face darkened. He huffed. "Fine, I guess it's not as easy to twist the rules to my favor."


"Humans get an equal chance to win the game." Ethan declared.


"All right, all right." Aurelio said lifting his hands up in "defeat".


"I'll allow this win for the humans," he smirked.


It was dark in the cemetery except for a few lights that paved the path towards the exit. I shivered, goosebumps crawling up my skin.


"So are you gonna tell us the next clue so we can get the fuck outta here?" Daniel interjected.


Aurelio pondered for a moment. The way he looked in front of me reminded me of Daemon. The moments we spent together, the tension between us, and the kisses we've shared. I buried all these memories down, focusing on what's in front of me.


"The second one is Teddy Bear's worst sin." Aurelio grinned.


Ted gulped, he looked more scared than he was at the first game. I don't blame him. After all, we have our pasts that aren't so squeaky clean.


"Are you going to confess, or should I tell your friends your worst sin?" Aurelio asked Ted.


I looked from Ted to Aurelio.


"Don't," Ted replied. "I'll them...once you give us the second clue to this fucked up scavenger hunt."


Aurelio smiled. He turned his gaze towards me and the feelings I have for Daemon crawled up my spine. I reminded myself that the man in front of me was not Daemon and these feelings don't deserve to resurface for a man like Aurelio.


"All of you have 48 hours to find this item. Ted knows where it is, of course." Aurelio tilted his head. He stood up from Julia's headstone and paced around the freshly dug grave. "It belongs to a family member you committed a heinous act towards. Give me the clothing item you took off last." Aurelio smirked seeing Ted's discomfort.


"You see Celeste, I'm being fair aren't I? I'm giving you and your friends 48 hours to retrieve this item."


"I'll take this." he waved Brittany's phone. "Good luck," he said before disappearing into a swirl of dark smoke.


"Fuck, now I don't have a phone," Brittany complained.


"We survived this first round Britt. We have better things to worry about than a stupid phone." Ethan said.


Ethan looked at Ted and took a step towards Ted. "So what was your sin?"


I thought the worst thing Ted could've done in his life is to steal something from a store. He did have his kleptomaniac phase.


Ted remained silent. He was sweating despite the cold temperature at the cemetery. His discomfort made me uncomfortable as well.


"Guys, how about we clean up Julia's grave first, and then we can continue with the hunt?" I suggested. Ted and Ethan buried Julia Kim's casket. When they were done, they were covered in mud and dirt and sweat.


"So whose place are we crashing into?" Brittany asked.


"Ted's place is probably the best idea," Daniel said. "Dickhead demon said the next item was about Ted."


"Yeah, I think that's a great idea too." I agreed.


We all piled in Ethan's car and Ted gave Ethan directions to his parents' house. When we finally got there, Ted led us to the guest rooms and we showered before meeting in one of Ted's many living rooms.


"Ted, I know it's hard to confess especially with a sin," I told him. I took his hand. "You will still be our friend no matter what you've done. We love you, okay?" I assured him.


Ted remained skeptical.


"Out of all of us Ted, I think I probably committed the worst sin out of all of us so far," Brittany said. "So don't worry, you're annoying some-- I mean, all the time...but we'll love you unconditionally regardless." she finished.


I looked at her surprised as if Brittany just gained two heads. Ethan and Daniel were surprised too. Brittany would never say anything this nice to Ted.


Ted sighed defeatedly before confessing.


"My worst sin..." he began, his lips quivering and tears threatening to fall, "was I tried to molest my cousin when she was a baby." 


Thank you for reading! I posted this chapter early again because today and Saturday are my busy days >.<  And I changed all the covers for my stories! What do y'all think of Enraptured's new cover?

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