He opened his eyes to find the girl staring intently at him, studying him. She seemed rather perplexed, understandably, a man just jumped of a bush and passed out in front of her. Jack sat up quickly.

“Who are you?” she asked, pointing a stick towards him.

She spoke with a thick, unfamiliar accent. It sounded like some bastardized shakespearean he’d heard in English class, but unlike his theater reject classmates, this one had a smooth elegance to it. He merely blinked in response, partially due to her accent and partially because he hadn’t gotten his bearings yet.

Right, I’m here.

It all came back to him, what had happened before. The aperture, her appearance, the light she hit him with…

“That light!” he yelled.

“That light?”

“Don’t play dumb. The light you shot out of that paper ya’ hit me with before I passed out! Just what the hell did you do?”

She gave him an irritated glare and stood up.

“This is not just any piece of paper, it was a scroll. A scroll of the Rite of Contract no less.”

Now Jack seemed rather perplexed.

“Contract? For what?”

“Companionship,” she answered, crossing her arms.

She was getting progressively angrier with him. He could tell.

“It hit you because you got in the way! That was meant for the skula! I was tracking it all morning!”

His face went from a plain expression to that of anger.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Perhaps you should shouldn’t blind fire with that paper of yours. Oh, by the way, threatening me with that stick of yours ain’t gonna do jack shit.”

“This is a catalyst you nimrod! And maybe you should avoid laying around in bushes!”

She menacingly jabbed the air with her so-called catalyst, then put it away. He leaned against a nearby tree.

“Whatever, water under the bridge. Now, does this mean I’m your companion or something?

“No. It doesn’t work on humans. Even the most inept at the arcane know that.”

“Is that so…”

Jack scratched the back of his neck. This was all very weird. He was amazed at the fact that he wasn’t the least bit surprised. He never expressed his emotions very well but not expressing many at a time like this seemed almost unhealthy.

His neck continued to itch rather intensely. He met the intense itch with an equally intense scratch

“Damn itch…”

She looked on in amusement as he contorted himself to scratch his neck.

“You look like quite the fool.”

He faced her.

“What? Do you not have itches from time to time?”

She opened her mouth to retaliate but stopped herself.

“That’s what I goddamn thought.”

As Jack itched, his fingers ran over something. He expected a bump, from a mosquito or the like, but this was no bump.

“Wha--?”

“What is it now?” she groaned.

“Somethin’s on my neck.”

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“Stop whining.”

“No, like, it's a pattern?”

He faced his back to her.

“Th-that should not be possible.”

Her face went pale. She moved closer to inspect his neck.

Oh god, what now. He thought

“This is a mark of contract!”

Jack whipped around to face her.

“What did you just say about that!”

His patience was wearing thin. Just one stupid thing after another.

“I know what I said!”

“Can you not, oh I don’t know, undo it?

She threw her hands up.

“NO! You think something as important as this can be reversed!”

Her knees hit the ground as she fell to her knees.

“It should only work on animals,” she whimpered. “How could I mess this up?”

He felt kind of bad, clearly this was something important to her.

“Well, perhaps I’m an animal?”

She sat up. A grin spread across her face.

“It seems you are. It is the only way this would work after all.”

That grin made Jack rather uneasy.

“Just what are you getting at?”

“You said it yourself. You are an animal.”

“That's not what I meant!”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I…”

It hadn’t occurred to him that she might use his attempt to lighten the mood as ammunition against him. Serves him right for trying to be nice.

“Now like any contracted animal you are my pet and will listen to what I, your master, says. Ample punishment for messing me up and talking out of line.”

Jack gawked in disbelief.

“You have to be kidding me.”

Livid was an understatement of his feelings at this point.

“Amazing what can happen in less than a day, huh?! Who knew a walk in the woods could transition into someone’s weird kink shit!”

His hands flailed aggressively as he ranted.

“Where the hell are we anyway!”

“Ester,” she said plainly. “Are you not from these parts?”

“I'm from New York.”

“New York?”

He ran his hands down his face.

“United States?”

“Never heard of it.”

Jack tilted his head back and moaned. That confirmed it, he really was somewhere else. Not that he doubted it at this point. When he looked back down she was walking away towards the edge of the clearing.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I completed the rite, I’m leaving, with you of course. You are bound by contract. Come on, pet.”

He wanted to send a flurry of insults her direction, but he stopped himself. It was best he followed her.

I may be her supposed pet, but this gives me a foothold here. She’ll take me to civilization where I might find some answers.

He’d made connections, even if they were poor. At the very least, it was better than surviving out in the forest. Jack ran to catch up.

* * *

They walked through the forest, the girl leading. It wasn’t long until the sky opened up above a trail. They followed it left. After walking for a time she broke the silence.

“You never did tell me your name.”

Jack perked up, he had been enthralled by all the new things to see.

“Jack”

“Jack? What an odd name.”

“Odd?”

She ignored his remark.

“I take it you have a surname?”

“Surname… oh. Its Gram.”

“Jack of family Gram”

“Jack is enough.”

She stopped abruptly and turned around.

“Well, Jack, I am sure your family can be proud that you have become the servant, or rather, pet, of someone such as myself.”

“Sure.” he responded with the most plain look he could muster.

He wasn't sure how long he could put up with this level of abuse. It had been a long time since he’d had to deal with anyone like this. They continued down the trail.

“I still don’t know your name,” said Jack.

“My name?”

“Yeah...”

“Celsia of family Seliota.”

His eyes lit up.

“Well, Celsia, I am sure your family can be proud that someone such as myself has become your pet.”

She stopped once again.

“Very funny.”

He sighed.

This is gonna suck.