by M Koleosho
his head.
Morningstar smirks. “It's a shame how ignorant humans can be. No appreciation of their history. Very well, maybe my full name will help. Lucifer Morningstar…ding ding ding!!!”
Just as he pronounces his name, a cold breeze moves through the house. Rahim shudders, once again looking around to see where the effect is coming from.
“L..Lucifer…as in the devil?” stutters Rahim.
Applause emanates all over the house. Rahim jumps up, glancing around in fear. Lucifer smiles, watching his reaction with glee.
“PRECISELY!” says the devil.
Rahim stumbles backwards. Lucifer stands up.
“Shocked are you? Not to worry I won’t hurt you,” he says.
“I..If you are the devil, w…w...what are you doing up here and w...what happened to your horns?
Lucifer starts walking towards Rahim who keeps moving backwards trying to keep the distance between both of them.
“Oh stop that nonsense. I have been misrepresented completely. Do I look like an angry monster with over sized horns, spewing fire out from my nostrils?”
Rahim shakes his head.
“I mean don’t get me wrong, you wouldn’t want to see my bad side, but I like you, and I doubt it will ever come to that,” Lucifer utters to his shocked guest.
“Look man…I mean sir, I…I am sorry. I don’t think I should be here.”
“Why’s that? Because you suddenly have cold feet when I told you who I really was. Funny, that didn’t seem to be a problem before coming here,” Luther says coldly now only a few feet from Rahim. Every word he says seems to emanate from every inch of the house.
Rahim tries to move backwards, but he has backed himself to the wall. His eyes show the fear he is feeling at the moment.
“I…I…just thought you could help me, didn’t know you were the …
“Devil”, Lucifer finishes the sentence for Rahim. “Do you know what happens to you if you don’t take my offer?”
“No sir”.
Lucifer stares at him for a minute, then turns around and walks to the middle of the room. Rahim is unsure of what to do.
“Well are you coming or what?” snaps Lucifer.
Rahim cautiously walks up to the man in the middle of the room. Besides the demon king is a glowing orb that appears out of thin air.
The orb starts spinning; as it does the room is filled with moving images. Rahim is stunned. As he looks at the images he realizes they are all of him.
They show what happens to him if he refuses Lucifer’s offer. In one image he is seen packing his belongings into boxes as he is being thrown out from his foreclosed home.
In another, his cars are being reclaimed by the repo-man. There’s an image of him getting into a fight with his accountant, which leads to him being arrested.
The more the orb spins, the more unfortunate events pop up, eventually it stops with a gruesome image of Rahim standing atop a bridge, looking into the waters below and taking a jump.
Rahim gasps in shock on seeing the image. “No…no…no…that can’t be. It’s a lie man, you lying.”
“All true I dare say. I don’t have to tell you that at the rate you are bleeding money right now, it’s only a matter of time before you can’t keep up with your mortgages and other bills. You have no back up plans. Without money, you will face unimaginable hardships. The lifestyle you once took for granted is about to vanish. One thing leads to another, and as you saw in that final image, death will come sooner than you think. So I ask you Mr. Jenkins, would you rather go through that or take my offer?”
Rahim just stands there dumbfounded.
After a few moments of silence, Rahim finally speaks up. “So what happens if I take your offer? Can I see that also?”
Lucifer mulls for a moment and shrugs. “I suppose you can”.
He snaps his fingers, and once again the orb starts spinning. Images flying out of it once more. This time the images are of a more positive tone. Rahim is seen playing in the finals, leading his team to wins, looking like the Rahim of old. Endorsements and contract offers are coming at him from all direction.
He is living the lavish life, beautiful women, various assets all over the world, exotic cars and the likes. The final image is off him smiling gleefully, large Cuban cigar in hand, sitting on the deck of a yacht, watching the sunset go down.
The orb stops spinning, falls to the ground and dissipates into thin air. Lucifer turns to look at Rahim. “Well Mr. Jenkins, there you have it. Looks like a pretty good offer if you ask me, but of course the choice is all yours.”
Rahim is unsure of what to say. He stumbles backwards leaning on the wall.
“Can you give me a minute to think about this?” he asks.
Lucifer nods and walks out of the room. Rahim sinks into the nearest chair, deep in thought.
Thirty minutes later, Rahim is up, looking around the room to see if he can get Lucifer’s attention.
Unbeknownst to him, a cloud of smoke has formed behind him, taking form to turn into the demon king.
“Looking for me?” whispers Lucifer, causing Rahim to jump and turn around in fright.
“Man, you scared me. Why you gotta do that?”
“I am sorry; I need to work on my appearance. Had an old lady with heart problems die when I did that. You don’t have that problem though, I can hear your heart beating from a mile away, but I digress…you were looking for me no?”
“Yeah…yeah I was” says Rahim still trying to catch his breath. “I have an answer to your offer,” he continues.
‘Very well, what is it?” replies Lucifer.
“Before I answer, I just have one question…what’s in it for you?”
Lucifer smiles, his green eyes flashing. “I knew that was coming. All I want is your soul in return.”
“My…my soul? I don’t know about all that.”
“Trust me Rahim; it’s not as bad as they make it out to be. Once you die, your body turns to dust, your soul floats away and all that good stuff. Heaven isn’t what it’s cracked out to be, and neither is hell. Look at me, do I look like I am some fire breathing red skinned demon?” assures Lucifer, trying to persuade Rahim to see things his way.
“So what will you do with it then?” Rahim questions him, not content with the demon’s last response.
“Think of it as insurance. I give you all that good fortune, I need something in return right?” the demon calmly responds.
“I guess.” shrugs Rahim. “With all the stuff I have done, doubt I go to Heaven anyways.”
“Precisely”, chimes Lucifer excitedly. “So what do you say, do we have a deal?”
“Sure. Where do I sign?” Rahim smirks, walking up to the demon.
“Excellent, I knew you would see it my way. Your handshake is all I need”
Both men shake hands, at that very moment, a searing pain surges through Rahim’s hands engulfing his body. When Lucifer pulls away, there’s a weird insignia burned into his hands.
“Don’t worry, it will stop hurting soon. It’s just my way of binding you to the contract. ” Lucifer explains to him. “Here this is yours.”
The demon hands the green vial to Rahim and immediately turns around leaving the scene. Rahim shouts out to him. “Hey!!!! How am I supposed to use this?”
Luther responds from across the room, “Just sip it when you are home. I’d advice you not to take it before driving; it’s going to hurt a bit.”
Rahim exits the house and heads home hurriedly. That very night, he does as Lucifer says, sipping the contents of the vial. For an hour or so, he felt unbearable pain searing through his body. It was as if every bone was being re-made, blood on fire, nerves in pain.
Once the hour had passed, it was like nothing had happened to him. He felt at peace, a certain calmness that hadn’t been in his life in a good while. Rahim at that moment knew things were going to be different. That feeling of being invincible was back again. He smiled coyly, knowing the very next day when h
e went to the hospital, the doctors would proclaim him a walking miracle. In a few days he’d be back on the field, and boy was he ready to make a lot of people eat crow. The serum had worked, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth.
Just like the Demon king had promised, the next ten years of Rahim’s life would be his best. In the first two years, Rahim’s team won the super bowl on both occasions. He was voted the Most Valuable Player in the league. Once again he had re-ignited the ‘greatest running back to ever play’ discussion. Doctors and the likes marveled at his recovery. It was simply unheard of.
His body looked like it had turned back time and returned to his college years. He could play another ten years if he wanted, but after winning two super bowls, he yearned for other challenges.
So he called it quits and dabbled with the Entertainment world. Here again, he was wildly successful. It felt like he had the ‘Midas touch’. He won everywhere he went, everything he touched turned to gold. He was in high demand, from movie offers to endorsements; money was flowing in from all directions. At first it was overwhelming; he tried to put it all in perspective. He was getting a second chance at life, why not try to make the best out of it? So he tried to make good with everyone he had wronged and vice versa.
One could say he turned over a new leaf, longing to leave behind a lasting legacy, but as with all things Rahim, change was only a temporary phase.
It all started to come apart five years into the contract with the devil. That was when his dedication to being a better man started getting shaky. Things were simply going too well for him to keep much of a low profile. He started