Changing a Soul

Sitting at the table and sipping his drink, Nephel leaned back in his seat and watched as the house slave came in. She was a very beautiful young thing and he could just imagine dragging his lips across her milky white skin.

Sitting across from him, his father was reading a digital newspaper when he paused to pull out a cigar.

“Maid,” he ordered, holding up the cigar and waiting as she attempted to cut the end off it with shaking hands. In her fear, her hand slipped and she snipped too much. Immediately the girl was smashed to the floor by an angry blow from his father.

Nephel watched without a word. His father had always referred to slaves as commodities and it was all he knew, hitting a slave was of no consequence.

“Stupid wench, get out of here! I will do it myself,” his father snapped, throwing his cigar at the woman before reaching for a new one.

Not commenting as she got up and hurried out of the room, Nephel got to his feet and followed the girl to the kitchen where she sat wiping away her tears.

Hiding behind a corner to watch her, he saw her take off her poorly-fitted shoes, relieving her blistered feet. She was mute and her sobs were the most noise he’d ever heard from her and he was surprised to find that they greatly unsettled him.

With a heavy sigh, he turned around then went up to his room and reached for an electronic catalogue.

Scrolling through a list, he immediately ordered a pair of proper shoes and sat on his bed before hearing a ding from the fabricator on his desk.

Having gotten up early to begin her chores, Ezina went about preparing breakfast for when the men awoke. Over the last few weeks that Nephel had been home, he’d been surprisingly helpful. It all started with a pair of shoes and after that he began to help her with her duties. She had always thought under everything that he might have a kind heart, but she knew his father watched their interactions with disapproval.

After she set out their breakfast, she slipped into her coat before she headed out onto the streets to run her required errands.

Walking the glass streets, she watched the holographic birds flying around the lamp posts and sighed, wishing that she could fly like they did, but these days slaves had jeweled imprints embedded in their foreheads that offered their handlers total control over them, so she finished her errands and returned home where Nephel was waiting for her in the kitchen. She offered him a smile, but otherwise went about her duties.

“Ezina, can I say something?” he asked softly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Looking to the handsome man, she shook her head and tiredly returned to washing the breakfast dishes. She had no time for talk and she didn’t think Nephel could possibly have anything important to say to her.

“I have to go away on a business trip, but I’ll be back next month, I want to talk to my father about buying you...” he said, wanting to free her.

With a shake of her head, Ezina smiled at Nephel and slipped past him. His words warmed her heart, but she assumed he’d forget about her quickly on his trip. Nephel was the most eligible bachelor in Noct and he knew it, he could have any woman he wanted and he often did. She didn’t believe he was truly a bad person, but it didn’t mean she trusted him.

Returning from his trip, Nephel got off the airbus in front of his father’s manor. He was excited to see Ezina, he knew she didn’t trust him, but she seemed to have a smile no matter the situation and that stuck with him.

His father greeted him at the door and he returned the greeting before looking around for Ezina. He frowned when he spotted a new slave, this one a male.

“Where is Ezina?” he asked, a nasty feeling settling in his stomach.

“I traded her back to the agency, she was too clumsy and broke her wrist last time I had to punish her,” his father said with a shake of his head.

Sucking in a breath, Nephel quickly bolted out the door. He just hoped that she was still at the agency and hadn’t been sold to someone else who might use her for more than a housekeeper.

When he reached the tall building, he nearly threw himself at the information desk and leaned through the holographic screen.

“I’m looking for a slave girl who was sent back to you some time in the last month. Her name is Ezina,” he rambled off quickly.

Startled, the secretary leaned back in his seat to get some space between him and Nephel.

“Yes, I know that one. No one was going to buy her with a broken wrist and some Soul Collectors paid top dollar for her since she was a virgin,” he explained.

Nephel cursed under his breath and quickly exited the building, catching the next airbus and requesting to be taken to the S.C.A. immediately. He was more nervous now than ever. The S.C.A was a new organization known for purchasing souls and trading them off. They only purchased what they thought was valuable and no one knew what they did with their souls.

At the S.C.A. the secretary was a smug son-of-a-bitch who seemed to enjoy Nephel’s panic as he calmly sorted through his files, eventually pulling out Ezina’s.

“Ah yes, the little Melthorpian girl. Very pretty, unfortunately she is being used by a very elite member of our organization and he is out of the country for the next month and a half. Come back then and perhaps we can arrange some other kind of deal, hmm?” he purred, devilishly.

Nephel argued with the man until he was blue in the face, but eventually he had to accept defeat and agreed to return when their client was due back.

The time dragged on, but eventually Nephel was back in front of the same smug dealer who held up an electronic form.

“We only trade souls for souls. You seem like a capable young man, very business-minded, perhaps you can be of some service to us?” he droned.

Staring at the form, Nephel cringed before nodding and signing it. He knew this was foolish, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Ezina since he’d left and he needed to see her again.

The clerk however was looking at him with a shit-eating grin as he brought forward a collar and snapped it around his neck.

“Welcome to servitude,” he laughed.

Cringing at his foolish choice, Nephel followed directions up to his new room and sat on the bed. He took a deep breath as he contemplated what he’d just done, but before long his bedroom creaked open and he stared in horror at what entered the room.

A frail creature with stringy white hair, sunken eyes, and skin hanging off bone. It didn’t look human and he stumbled back when he realized that this creature was Ezina. It was clear her last meal had been long ago.

He’d been expecting the beauty he once knew, but now was faced with a miserable wretch of a creature.

“I traded my freedom for this?” Nephel felt the anger bubbling up at what he’d done. Ezina looked like she would be lucky to live a few more days and he was stuck in a lifetime of slavery.

Ducking her head sadly at his outburst, Ezina bit her cracked lip and quietly went to sit in a corner of his room as Nephel threw a tantrum at his situation.

Six weeks into his stay with the S.C.A. and Nephel was exhausted. They wanted him to infiltrate businesses and steal secrets so they could be sold to the highest bidder. He’d screwed up the first few missions and had gotten his ass handed to him for it and he was in agony.

Ezina was surprisingly still alive, but he was still feeling bitter that she wasn’t the beauty he had been remembering and while food was provided only for him, he tried to leave scraps for her, but it didn’t seem to be even slightly returning her spirit to her body.

This morning, when he woke up, he realized that Ezina was still asleep in the corner, but today she looked peaceful. Feeling a sickness in his gut, he hurried over to her and realized she wasn’t breathing.

In a panic he began shaking her and administering C.P.R. and after several grueling minutes, she eventually sputtered awake.

“I thought I’d lost you!” he said in a panic, realizing in that moment how much she meant to him. He wrapped his arms around her and carried her to the bed.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a total ass,” he said regretfully as he tucked her in and stroked her dull hair.

She simply looked at him with her sad doe-eyes and he sighed.

“I know a way to get us both out of here. I just need you to hold on a little longer,” he pleaded, placing a kiss on her head before standing up.

“I’ll be back later,” he said as he hurried down to the task board where there was a job posting available that he had been dodging for quite some time. He grabbed it and went to the secretary's desk.

“I get this information, I want double the credits and my freedom,” he said sternly.

Eyeing the task, the secretary raised a brow and smirked.

“Very well, if you can get that information on my desk by midnight, I will grant you your freedom,” he bargained.

The mission would mean stealing from his father’s company, so while he could use his ties to get the info, once they found out what he’d done, he’d have a hefty price on his head and there would be no returning to his luxurious life.

Nephel easily entered the vault under the pretense that he was there on behalf of his father. Inside he found the little black notebook that held important information about his father’s business. It was everything the S.C.A. needed to blackmail the richest man in Noct and Nephel knew it would probably ruin his father.

Telling himself that it was his father’s fault that they were even in this mess, he tucked the book in his shirt and casually exited the vault.

Leaving the building was easy and he made it back to the S.C.A. with time to spare.

“I’ve got the notebook, now take off this collar and give me my money,” he said, holding up the item.

The secretary eyed it greedily and smirked as he unlocked a drawer, pulling out a wad of bills. “Alright, twenty thousand credits and your freedom,” he said, taking off the collar before snatching the little black book from Nephel.

With his collar off, Nephel took the cash and rushed upstairs to collect Ezina. She was weak and he knew she needed a hospital, but first they needed to escape.

Once out of the city and in the temporary safety of a small town, Nephel carried the mute girl to the hospital where they began treating her for her failing body. He knew he was an arrogant asshole who didn’t deserve Ezina, but he wanted to at least try and be a better man and he knew she could help with that, she’d always been kind to him and her heart was bigger than anyone else’s, he knew she was worth saving. He just hoped he was.

As he sat beside her, holding her hand, he smiled when she opened her eyes.

“I always knew you were good,” she whispered in an out of practice voice.