Hoops Shorts: A HOOPS Novella Collection

ONE

HIM

They always say yes to my deals.

Always.

I’m careful who I pick, you see.

I only bring the most broken, desperate, and gullible mortals to the crossroads.

That’s not to say that I’m not fair. I am. Scrupulously so.

I offer them a deal but apply zero compulsion for them to say yes. They do that all on their own. Every single time.

…Until her.

When she got to the crossroads, she looked around, crouched low, and barked, “Where the hell am I?” Then she looked at me. “And who the fuck are you?”

Plenty have been surprised by their sudden appearance at my shadowy abode, but still, no one said no to the deal. And then there was her.

So what was I supposed to do?

Thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of crossroads deals, and so many souls collected that I was more powerful than ever—

And then some mortal says no to me? And not just no, but fuck no, I believe were her exact words?

I was a god, she a mere mortal! Who was she to say no to me and deny me her soul? She had nothing else and I offered her everything.

So, I thought, having nothing, perhaps she simply didn’t have enough to lose yet. It could happen sometimes with the young, I supposed, though none had ever surprised me like this before.

So I gave her the world.

Knowing that one day I’d be back.

And I’d make her beg me on her knees for a deal.

Oh yes, I’d make her crawl on her face in the dirt.

Because while mortals have absolute free will to say no to my deals, that doesn’t mean I don’t make them pay for it.

Or ever stop hunting them for their soul.

TWO

MASON

Sweat poured down my brow as the grand piano I sat at was engulfed in stage lights from above.

The crowd roared as I began to play the recognizable notes that intro’d our most recent hit. It was a ballad I’d written that had been lighting up radio stations and streaming platforms lately. Our band, Faust, was more popular than ever.

But sometimes all the fame and money in the world didn’t matter.

I looked over at her as I struck the keys harder, leaning into the piano.

Bishop, our lead singer, moved on the mic at center stage like he was giving it head. I sagged back on my bench, glaring up at him. It was unfair that such a goddamned asshole had been given a honeyed voice from the gods.

And I detested how good he sounded singing my lyrics.

I gave you up before calling you mine.

Oh baby, not this time.

Not this time.

I glanced towards her again, wondering if she had any clue it was me singing to her. She was oblivious, though, lost in the song as she started drumming the cymbals to make a rushing sound as Bishop looked back at her and winked.

That she saw, naturally, and grinned.

I glared at them and leaned into the keys for my next chord harder than was strictly necessary. No one noticed. The crowd was singing along to my words as the chorus broke out.

Now we’re past the point of no return.

So tuuuuuuuurn with me

and we’ll tuuuuurn in ecstasy

oh retuuuuuurn to me

I’d swear I’d never let go,

if she would only—

tuuuuuurn her eyes…

on me.

Bishop pulled back the mic for Luna’s dramatic drum solo break. I’d written that in just for her.

Luna.

The light in our darkness. The moon in our night.

The band would have imploded years ago if not for her. She didn’t know how much we all relied on her.

All our egos together? Ha. No way we would’ve made it. Bishop and me alone would have torn each other apart. And that’s not even mentioning Cash, whose ego could fill a whole building all on his own. He was positive he was God’s gift to women, to our band, to lead guitaring, and to music and humanity in general.

But Luna’s calm, mediating presence always kept us in check. Kept us in the music. Kept us on the road touring without too many mishaps. Wash, rinse, repeat. That had been our lives for the last six years.

A good life. Apart from putting up with Bishop and all his bullshit… There had been offers over the years to leave… But leaving the band meant leaving her, and that was something I just couldn’t bring myself to do.

Especially lately.

Why was I still denying myself what I wanted? What I’d swear she wanted too, by the look I sometimes caught in her eye?

So why did I still stop myself?

It was an ignorant fucking deal I had agreed to all those years ago.

Story of my life, I thought as the stage lights briefly darkened so I could move back to the electric keyboard for our last song.

Me and making stupid fucking deals I’d regret for the rest of my life. It was getting to be a bad habit. I shivered even as the lights went back up again.