The man was already sitting at the flimsy table, easily overshadowing it. In fact the man seemed to be the biggest thing in the room. It was an odd sensation given how physically boundless the space felt. He took up almost all the lighted space and cast a shadow against the table.

Albert waved off the size difference between them and sat down at the table, taking a more relaxed and leaning back posture to make up for the discomfort he felt.

“So, in exchange for your soul, we are willing to offer you a number of things. There is a lot of wiggle room with the contracts I have available for you, but at their most basic they all boil down to compensation and favors. We can have the man who killed you killed. We can help you cover some debts that might be left behind for the people you care about. We can improve the reputation you leave behind. And, I believe this is the most common, we can have a message left for someone you care about.”

“That’s not exactly what I got in mind.” The man leaned down to get a more level posture with Albert. “Money’d be nice, but there’s more important stuff I need taken care of.”

“Well, we can addend financial compensation for your relatives and loved ones with other agreements.” Albert tried to sound more confident than he was about that concept. He couldn’t exactly staple two of the pages together and have them both apply… could he? “We can’t promise more than a reasonably discrete amount though.”

“Sure. But I need you to help my sister.”

Albert went over the contracts he remembered off the top of his head, but couldn’t recall exactly which one would be best for that.

“What kind of help does she need?”

“She was with me when I held up the bodega. I don’t want her to get arrested.”

Albert was fairly comfortable saying that could be covered under a material trade contract.

“That… shouldn’t be too hard.” Albert pulled the contract he had in mind out of the folder. “You’ll just have to sign…”

“And there’s one other thing.” The man sounded nervous as he interrupted. “I don’t want her getting involved or hurt by your boss.”

“Hm… I don’t know exactly how that one would work in writing. Could you be more specific?”

“Dickie and Austin. They messed with Death and they got put down. It was only a couple weeks too. Now I’m askin’ for help from you guys, and I’m already dead. So she’s probably at risk too just cus’ I’m asking you to cover for her. I can’t let you hurt her.”

“I… don’t think I can promise that on Death’s behalf.” Albert knew for a fact that Death wouldn’t be a fan of that arrangement. If it was misconstrued, it might mean he would never be able to collect her soul if that was ever something he wanted to do. Even though it was just one soul, he’d probably never agree to it. And that was if Albert cut arbitration short to go ask.

“No protection. No deal.” The man put his hand down gently on the table. It was a soft but firm gesture.

“I can… however, promise not to harm her myself.” Albert thought back to when Amy had run him through the basic contracts he had access to. That sort of deal would fall under the terms of a personal agreement. And that meant he would have to write that up himself.

“Just you?”

“I can also go out of my way to convince others not to harm her. If I hear about her from anyone else that works for Death, or Death himself, I can attempt to step in on her behalf.”

“I can agree to that. Now that I’m gone, there isn’t anyone to look after her. So, that… that sounds good enough.”

“I’ll have to write that out from scratch then.” Albert sighed and pulled the blank sheet out from the back of the folder. “This may take a moment.”

Albert pulled over the contract for material trade as well, to copy over the details of the cash transaction. Having something with the right language on it helped too for the act of removing suspicion from the man’s sister. Once he had copied everything that he could, Albert began to write new lines of the agreement for protecting the man’s sister.

I ________________ (arb) agree to not willfully harm _______________, affiliate of contractee ________ (init), under any circumstance. ________________ (arb) also agrees to intervene in event of known threat to affiliate, _________________.

Albert gave the page a quick breath to dry the ink and then turned the page around to the man. He indicated the places where the man needed to sign with his name and his sister’s name before handing over the pen and ink well. The pen looked small in his hands and his handwriting was messy, Albert could barely make it out from across the table. When the man handed the paper and pen back, Albert began to sign in his own designated spaces.

“Thank you for doing that.” The man said quietly.

“Thank you for your compliance,” Albert returned as he signed the last blank on the page.

As soon as the blank was filled, Albert found himself back in the front seat of the car. It was still parked in the same place it had been before, but now the contract materials were on his lap. Albert quickly corked the ink and returned the pen to Amy.

“I take it things went well this time?”

“Kind of. I had to write out a personal agreement contract.” Albert handed the signed document over to Amy.

“Huh…” Amy grunted as she read the page over. “That’s kind of a tall order. I suppose you want to sub-contract me to smooth things over for the police?”

“That would be nice, but I could try and do that myself.”

“No.” Amy sighed and quickly scribbled a few more lines on the bottom of the page before handing it back to Albert to sign again. “You’d make things worse.”

Albert sighed and signed again under the sub-contracting line Amy had added. She was probably right. He’d never been in a police station in his life and attempting to interfere in an investigation would probably get him arrested.

“What am I going to have to cut you in for with that?”

“Right…” Amy acted like she had almost forgotten what she’d said about personal agreement contracts. They didn’t work the same way, so she’d have to be compensated directly for any help with them. “There’s still a few thousand left in your compensation slush fund after this one. I’ll take the rest of that.”

Amy quickly penciled the amount down on the contract while Albert held it. The contract felt heavy to Albert. Even before Amy had added to it, it felt like it weighed the same as a big stack of papers instead of just one sheet.

“Two souls in three days with less than ten thousand spent isn’t half bad. It’s great actually, considering you have no idea what you’re doing.” Amy pulled the paper out of Albert’s hand and added it back into the folder. “How do you feel? Halfway measures changing?”

Albert had to think about it for a moment. He didn’t really feel sore any more. And that stretching feeling was gone. He pulled back the bandages at his hands to see if there was still scabbing and ooze, but they were perfectly fine. But there was something else too, something new. It felt like there was more to him now. Maybe it was just that he’d gotten so used to only being half alive, but it felt like there was this weight on his back and arms and legs that made it hard to move.

“I feel… heavier?”

“Huh. That’s a new one.” Amy shrugged and put the car back into drive. “We should get this settled as soon as possible then. If you’re ready, that is?”

“You mean bring the contract in to Death and renegotiate?”

“It’s not so much renegotiation, but you need to hand over that soul you just got.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t have to actively give him the first one.” Albert’s eye twitched as he spoke. He couldn’t understand why, but he tried to ignore it. “Or is this because I had to write out this contract?”

“Yeah. When you go through with contract forms written specifically with the consent of a contractor you hold the soul in escrow. This just means that, because you made a personal agreement outside the bounds of what Death outlined, you own part of the soul by default.”

“I don’t like that.” Albert grimaced, his eye twitching again.

“It is what it is. You just need to sign an agreement with Death… or Hope, I guess. They’re both contractors. She doesn’t really do the same kind of work her dad does though. Anyway, the sooner you do it the better. There can be side-effects of a mortal person holding on to a soul that isn’t theirs. It’s kind of like trying to shove a nine volt battery in a triple A socket.”

“That sounds like it would short circuit, or overload something.”

“Yeah. That’s a good way of describing it.”

Albert was not comforted by Amy’s casual description of something that sounded painful. Or at the very least, uncomfortable. Albert’s eye began twitching more rapidly as he sat is silence. Something was stuck in his eye too. It was like he’d blinked an eyelash onto his actual eyeball.

“What’s wrong with your face?”

“It’s a muscle spasm or something.” Albert shook his head. Partly to disregard the issue, but also to try and shake the muscle loose. “I think I’m just stressed.”

“Let me know if that gets worse.”

Albert nodded and started wiping his left eye to try and clear the eyelash from it. The more he rubbed the twitching eye though, the worse his vision got. After about a minute of fruitless rubbing, the color was starting to dim in his left eye and the eyelash had just spread… only it wasn’t an eyelash. It was like he was looking through a cracked glass eye.

“I think it’s getting worse.”

“What’s happening? I can’t really look without pulling over.”

“My left eye is losing some color and there’s… like… a crack in my vision.”

“Just the one eye?”

Albert’s right eye began to twitch as well. The left eye seemed to be settling, but Albert didn’t take the spread as a good sign.

“My right eye just started too.” As Albert said it, he experienced what felt like a wave of cold against his skin. After the wave of cold, he couldn’t feel the twitching as much, but he could tell it was still happening. As he poked his face, he felt a very faint press against his face rather than the forceful one he had intended. “And I think I just went numb.”

“That’s happening pretty fast.” Amy grimaced as she chanced a look over at Albert. He was on the verge of panic. “Don’t freak out, we’re almost there.”

Amy hadn’t driven that far away. Albert actually recognized the neighborhood they were in as he looked out the window, though it was getting difficult to see with the color draining from his vision and the cracks spreading across what he did see. Albert had never paid attention to the businesses there though, they were all the sort of law offices and mortgage refinancing places that popped up when a neighborhood was going bad. It was a particularly bad neighborhood, according to Albert’s mother at least.

Driving slightly faster than normal, Amy pulled into a small office building surrounded by a high chain link fence. There were bars on the windows and the sign above the door said Hook & Grim Debt Collection. As soon as Amy pulled the keys out, Albert climbed out the door. It was a little tricky to do with less sensation in his legs, but Amy came around and hefted his arm over her shoulder to help balance him. It helped, but made them look like they were in a little more dire situation than Albert felt they were. Though, he was still in a panic and desperately hoping that his condition didn’t get any worse.

When Amy pulled open the door to the office, Albert was surprised to see several people at clerical desks. He had half expected the office to be empty. Even though the display of Amy practically carrying Albert in was dramatic and unusual, the clerks hardly batted an eye.

One of the clerks, a conservatively dressed woman that could have been in her fifties, looked over to Amy and addressed her directly.

“Amy, if you’re looking for Hope, she’s in a meeting.”

“We’re looking for Mr. Hook, actually.”

“You’re in luck, he’s still in his office.”

“Thank you, Milli.” Amy gave the clerk a courteous nod and walked Albert to one of the back office doors that had the name ‘William Hook’ on it.

Albert assumed that it was some sort of clever pseudonym that he didn’t understand. And as Amy opened the door, Albert could see Death sitting in a comfortable looking chair that was positioned behind a very familiar desk.

“Albert, Amy, please, come in.” Death smiled curiously at them as they sat down across from him. “You appear to be in poor shape, Albert. Why is that?”

“I signed a personal agreement contract.”

“Is that so.” Death hummed. “But that makes two, does it not?”

“I still need to sign it over to you, but yes. This makes two. And that means our contract is done.”

“Very well then.” Death retrieved a piece of paper, similar to the ones Albert’s contract forms had been written on, from a desk drawer and began to write. “What sort of damage has been done to your body from the second soul? I am not opposed to repairing what I am able, if you are willing to let me.”

Death’s dry and emotionless voice aggravated Albert, but he was not in a position to cause a fuss. Any opportunity to undo the damage he was experiencing was more than welcome, even if it came from Death.

“My eyes are losing color and there’s cracks in my vision, like broken glass… and my body has gone numb.”

“Oh my.” Death hummed, writing down more lines of contract. “That is quite serious. How long have you been holding on to this soul for?”

“Half an hour, maybe.”Amy interjected, checking her watch.

“My, my. How quick.” Death scratched a few more lines down before turning the paper around and sliding it across the table. “Sign at the bottom and fill in you name, as well as the name of the individual whose soul you carry.”

Albert read through the contract quickly, or as quickly as he could with his vision impaired, before signing anything. Nothing seemed out of place though. It occurred to Albert, however, as he reached the line where he needed to write the man’s name down, that he had not actually looked to see what it was.

“Amy, can I see the contract? I want to make sure I spell his name right.” Albert held his hand out while Amy fished the paper out of her backpack.

Markus Hill was the name he had signed with. And the sisters name was listed as Samantha Hill. As soon as Albert had filled in Markus’ name, he pushed the contract to the side and read through Death’s new agreement again. This time filling in his own name and initials where it was required.

“May I?” Death indicated to the personal agreement contract.

“I can’t stop you.” Albert sighed, not looking up from the page he was writing on.

Death pulled the contract towards him and produced a small pair of armless round lens spectacles that sat on the bridge of his nose. Albert didn’t watch him read the paper, but he heard several small hums and mutters as Death read through it. Death put the contract down as Albert slid the transfer agreement back to Death, fully signed.

“Albert, this is quite well done. The penmanship is sloppy, of course, but by way of phrasing you have done admirably.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” Albert let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as he began to notice his vision returning to normal.

“It is certainly a compliment.” Death smiled. He appeared to be showing more genuine approval than Albert expected. It made him uncomfortable.

“So. I’m done now? I can go home and I never have to see any of you again?” Albert looked back and forth between Death and Amy.

Amy looked satisfied and gave a nod, but Death looked like he still had something to say.

“I have talked with my daughter about your case somewhat,” Death began. Albert closed his eyes and grimaced, expecting the worst. His vision hadn’t even gotten all the way back to normal and he was about to be killed all over again, he could feel it. “Calm yourself, Albert.”

“Sorry.” Albert muttered. “I didn’t exactly have the best interaction with her, so she probably hates me.”

“Far from it. As I understand it, you have quite a surplus of raw luck and talent as well as a no nonsense attitude.” Death had looked genuinely surprised to hear Albert’s version of the story, and slightly confused as he relayed what he had heard, but he continued. “My daughter does not praise others lightly, you understand.”

It was Albert’s turn to be taken aback. If what he had done had earned Hope’s praise, he didn’t want to think about what it would have taken to earn her ire.

“Moreover, my daughter also informs me that you are experiencing trouble with your academics as well. With her recommendation and with the evidence of your present success, I would like to offer you a job... of sorts.”