Contracts and a 2nd chance

i… 

where am I?

darkness for as far as I could see, absolutely nothing was here except pitch darkness. No life, no sounds, not even air could be felt here, am I dead? where the Hell am I? Can I walk here?

pondering my thoughts, I take a step forward

'woah'

it feels like I'm floating but also sinking. it feels really weird.

just as I was about to take another step forward, deeper into the dark abyss, I hear a noise coming from behind me, it sounded like the wheels of an office chair scooting closer.

Now, I know the first rule of horror movies is to never look behind you when a weird sound is made in a quiet place, but man am I curious. oh and I'm also dead now, don't really know how to feel about it, so I'll just ignore it for now.

taking the risk to look behind me, I see a humanoid figure, dressed in a black and golden tuxedo, with a plum-coloured hooded cowl upon its head, completely obscuring his face in a seemingly endless haze of darkness, sitting behind a wooden desk, with an antique desk lamp lighting up a pair of pen and paper upon its desk.

"take a seat, will you?" it spoke to me, I'm already dead what else is there to lose?

I take a seat on the wooden stool in front of its desk.

"So Ethan..."

"yes"

"you died due to exhaustion and starvation, how do you feel?"

"I… feel okay? I don't really know how to describe it, I feel like I should be in a fit of anger, throwing around a hissy fit due to dying to something so... so… preventable, but I don't or well Can't feel those emotions anymore, and I don't know why, my head feels like it's in the clouds like a field of haze has surrounded my thought process, I guess you could say that I just can't focus enough to care currently"

"So the normal side-effects for slipping into the empty side of the material world"

"Empty side?"

"Think of purgatory, but more neutral. No one has control over this plane other than Me, a guy currently stuck in a pendant, and The creature made of immaterial flesh"

"Who-"

"Don't worry about it" it lackadaisically waved its gloved hand around

"Look, Ethan, you've died to something that could've been stopped had you just shown your parents what your sister was truly like, instead of imagining yourself doing it, you could've just done it. it might've taken a while to explain, but it would've been worth the shot, even if you had failed, a seed of doubt would have been planted deep inside their psyche. Instead, you bowed your head down like the pussy you are and let her trample all over you like nothing else could be done. You are lazy, Cowardly, and utterly horrible at communication. You lack motivation, Ethan"

despite its harsh words, I see the point it was trying to make. I'm her older brother, I should've had more backbone and defended myself from her accusations instead of just following along, was I that Cowardly?

"Look, Ethan, you might be a horrible excuse of an older brother when you were still alive, but I get it. You didn't truly think things through and only let her make you go her way because she's your younger sister, I get it. Familial love, even if unconscious, is a deadly agent. So I'm here to propose a deal with you Ethan. I'll give you another shot at life, give you another jab at it. In return I want you to stay alive as long as possible for me, be my entertainment. Could you do that?"

It put one of its gloved hands over the blank page of the paper, and moments later its gloved hand began to pour out what's seemingly its own blood onto the blank paper, black and mucus-like blood began spilling everywhere before it started to slowly but surely coalesce into words.

'a contract?'

it hands me the pen that was on its table as it opens its mouth

"would you, Ethan Callahan, be my entertainment in exchange for a 2nd shot at life?"

it then pointed a clawed finger onto the bottom of the page, as if telling me to sign where it had pointed.

"I, Ethan Callahan, shall accept to be your entertainment in exchange for a 2nd shot at life"

I then wrote my signature onto the bottom of the page, as I finished writing my signature, a feeling of pulling began to be felt from my lower back, I also began to slowly hear ghastly yelling coming from somewhere around me, slowly rising in volume and proximity

"Do not heed the yelling, now good luck Ethan, I'll give you a gift if you pass my test. Other than that good luck with where you awake"

"Not to sound rude but, couldn't you just put me in a safe space?"

i could feel it's eyes stare directly at my soul

"Where would the fun in that be?"

Although I could not see its face past the haze of darkness cast onto it, I could feel a large grin slowly etching onto its face.

'Please let me be reborn in a comfy home'

Yet again I feel my vision start to fade

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I could hear faint yelling as the sound of a cracking whip rang out

"GET BACK TO WORK! I didn't buy you just so you could laze around!"

I then feel a sharp pain smash itself onto my bare back

My luck is awful