Chapter 40 - The Price of Reincarnation?

The walk back to Rory's dorm was quiet and once again no matter what Tiffany said, Rory wouldn't respond.

Tiffany felt unsettled, definitely since she had the feeling that she was in the wrong, but looking at Rory's distracted face, she decided not to bother her anymore.

The entire energy coming off of Rory felt weird to Tiffany. It felt like she was walking next to a black hole that drained the world of color.

The old Rory she remembered felt similar to this but the intensity was on a different level.

If Tiffany's hands weren't occupied carrying boxes she would be biting her already destroyed fingernails from nervousness. Did what she say at the post office cause such an uncaring person this amount of depression?

The thought filled her with an enormous amount of guilt for some reason.

Stress grew like a wildfire in Tiffany's mind.

The person was a demon anyway why should she feel guilty?!

The walk continued to be silent; however as time went on Tiffany's lips got thinner and thinner.

Finally the decision of leaving Rory alone was abandoned and once again the girl filled the air with a series of apologies that fell of deaf ears.

By the time they reached Rory's dorm, Tiffany was thoroughly exhausted from talking.

Therefore, after Tiffany set down the boxes she was carrying she left without speaking another word to Rory.

The entire dorm room seemed to descend into darkness after the door closed. But, Rory didn't bother to turn on any of the lights. Her grey eyes were abnormally dark as she stared at an envelope in her hands.

Without showing much emotion her fingers traced the writing on the envelope. The white envelope paper felt scratchy in her hands as she felt the deep imprint of the pen writing in the paper.

The writing was elegant to the point that it looked like it was printed from a computer, but that isn't what caught Rory's eyes.

It was in fact, the name that seemed to burn a hole through her mind.

[From: Victoria Hill]

[To: Rory Hynes]

She could say without a doubt the hand writing wasn't Victoria Hill's.

Rory let out a thin smile. Nothing in the world came free not even things that should be impossible. It looks like her price was finally going to arrive.

Her mind flickered with thoughts of what they could want and all of them were dark. After all, in the past people would try to blackmail her for money or for supplies from her company. But in her new body she had zero jurisdiction over those kind of things.

Therefore, there was only once thing she could offer. Her mind.

But, would someone with the abilities to create life really need her level of intelligence?

The envelope wasn't bulky at all so it wasn't likely that it was an explosive. In fact whatever was in it could only be a letter at most.

"F*ck it." Rory cursed quietly before opening the letter. She already accepted the life, it was only fair that she at least saw the offer.

Rory's hands calmly unfolded the letter only to find out that the white piece of paper was eerily empty. Her brown eyebrows crinkled up.

It couldn't be possible that the person brought her back from the dead to just prank her?

Maybe she needed to hold the paper over fire?

Rory moved to walk toward her room, but paused. Her heart beat started to race and a sense of overwhelming panic filled her mind.

What is happening?

Grabbing her wrist didn't stop a snake like object from wrapping around her left wrist. It seemed whatever it was, was thin enough to slip underneath the tight hold she had on her hand.

F*ck, F*ckity, Fuck!

Rory rushed toward the kitchen while ripping off her school jacket. She then quickly unbuttoned the top of her dress shirt's sleeve to reveal a thin clear thing wrapping around her wrist.

The object currently trapping her hand was 2D like, yet was at least an inch in width. From the surface it looked like see through baking paper with mother board designs on it.

It was moving, so she hypothesized, that it should be some sort of technology from the designs.

Without thinking anymore Rory placed her wrist in the sink and turned on the faucet. She was hoping water would cause a malfunction.

Unfortunately, even as the cold water drenched her wrist the object kept getting tighter and tighter. Rory gazed at the thing encasing her left wrist for a moment before flicking on the sink garbage disposal and placing her hand with the letter and the envelope inside of it.

She was careful to not reach so deep that her entire hand was shredded, but the whirling blades made quick work of the envelope and paper.

The thing moving on her wrist still didn't stop, yet on the bright side if she passes out, she at least got rid of the paper saying her previous name on it.

Her pale skin turned into a bluish color as the blood circulation was cut off.

Rory bit her lips in pain until the metallic taste of bitter blood filled her mouth.

She reached out with an unsteady hand to grab a large butcher knife from the kitchen drawer. Then she limply leaned against the sink and slid to the floor.

The sound of rough breathing echoed in the kitchen.

The feeling of not being able to escape made her instinctually fly into a panic, so she tried to calm herself down.

It was the first time she was baffled without even an inkling of understanding about what was happening.

She had to think.

Now more than ever.