The Deal

by David Gallie

  Lisa licked her lips. She looked like she had more to say and I figured that she was trying to think of something, anything, to stop me. It was then that I decided it had to be done with or without her express permission.

  The air filled with a loud rip as I tore the parchment in two and let the pieces fall to the floor. As soon as they touched the granite we both watched as the paper pieces erupted into flame and vanished.

  I looked up at Lisa and had just enough time to tell her that I loved her before a strange black cloud began to form around her body. The cloud soon turned into a swirling mass which engulfed her. A few seconds later and I was alone in the dingy little room again.

  Or at least I thought I was.

  ‘So it has begun,’ said Pertilius as he re-appeared nearby.

  ‘Yeah,’ was all I could think to say as I had just watched my wife disappear from one godforsaken place to another.

  ‘Before I inform his lordship, would you like me to take you back to the Earthly plane. You may get some time before he comes to confront you,’ said the big monk.

  In my head, I realized that Pertilius was offering me the chance to fight in my own surroundings. In a place that I knew and understood, whereas if I stayed in hell then Satan would have the upper hand.

  I agreed by nodding my head. I needed time to prepare for what was to come.

  When I re-appeared back in my apartment, I found myself standing in the living room, glancing aimlessly at the drab furniture. It all held even less appeal to me now than it had done when I initially agreed to rent the small living space.

  I had no idea how long it would take before Satan paid me a visit. I suspected that even as I stood there, Pertilius the monk would be delivering the good news. I looked down at the ring on my finger, once it had been a bullet and I had it melted down to its current form.

  It would grant me the power to hit back, but I wasn’t sure if that would be strong enough to knock Satan on his ass. Feeling my lungs twinge I searched the bedroom for my pack of cigarettes and found them on the bedside cabinet.

  I stood there, enjoying the intoxicating smoke rush into my lungs as I looked at the picture of my wife and the seven smiling kids she was charged with looking after. I felt my heart sink as I thought of the place she was now. It wasn’t torturous like hell, but it was hardly heaven either.

  Exhaling a cloud of grey smoke I looked down at the ring on my finger. It had gone back to its dull and natural color. There was no magical glow to alert me to the presence of a supernatural being.

  In the back of my mind, I suspected that the dark lord had ways of getting to people like me without raising alarm bells. I wouldn’t have expected anything less, and sure enough, as I turned to face the doorway I saw him standing there.

  There was a wicked looking smile on his face as he stood there in his famous white suit. I could see the glint in his eyes that stated I was about to get my ass handed to me.

  ‘Loving those tattoos Samuel,’ He said, unmoving from the doorway.

  ‘Thanks,’ was all I could muster.

  ‘So,’ he said with a loud sigh, ‘a little birdy tells me that you managed to sneak into the great library. That same little birdy also told me that you managed to steal Lisa’s contract from the library. And finally, the little bird tells me that you destroyed that contract.’

  I was expecting flames of pure rage to erupt from his nostrils, but as he spoke he sounded perfectly calm and in control of his temper, which was actually quite disconcerting in its own way.

  ‘I couldn't do anything while my wife was in hell,’ I said.

  Satan nodded his head as if he somehow understood my quandary. There was almost a hint of sympathy on his face as he glanced around the small room and noticing nothing of great importance.

  ‘Oh, I understand the position you were in Samuel. It’s a shame that you didn’t heed my warning, though. I mean you hadn’t laid eyes on her for over five years so there really shouldn’t have been any need for you to help her out,’ he said, lighting his own cigarette.

  ‘When you love someone as deeply as I loved her, you can’t just ignore them,’ I said, and I could feel something strange begin to happen inside me.

  All the fear and other emotions that had coursed through my body that day were transforming into hatred for the man, or god if you so choose, standing in the doorway of my bedroom.

  The feeling grew so powerful that I could feel my body heat up rapidly like someone had just poured boiling water over me, except I wasn’t being burned by the heat.

  ‘Her heart was never yours to have Samuel. It has belonged to me since the day of her conception and it will always belong to me as long as I still exist, which brings me to another point. That little birdy I spoke about earlier also seems to think that you are stupid enough to try and take the throne from me. Is that true Samuel?’ I could see the viciousness returning to his face as he prodded me for an answer.

  ‘All I ever wanted was for Lisa to be freed from hell. If you had done that for me then we wouldn’t be in this position.’

  I could feel my body growing warmer and warmer. The tattoos etched into my skin were starting to become painful and a part of me wished I could pull them off and kick them away.

  ‘So it is true. Let me explain something to you. If by some miracle you are able to defeat me, which we both know is never going to happen, you will never be able to take the throne because there is another heir. My son,’ the spite was back in his voice now.

  He was right. It had never entered my mind that I would have to not only deal with him but also his son who Lisa had been a mother to for all his life. I couldn’t grasp why there had to be so many damn rules and regulations to hell. I would have thought the place was operated on a whim of its owner and not something as honourable as succession.

  ‘And you’re forgetting something to,’ I spat back, suddenly realising that I had some powerful ammunition.

  ‘Oh really, pray tell what nugget of information I may have overlooked,’ he goaded, puffing on his cigarette.

  ‘Some point soon your brother, you know the big guy that runs heaven, is going to notice that you have a soul in hell who does not belong there. As my history lesson with your monks reminds me, didn’t that almost cause a war between you two the last time you forgot to keep a record of your souls?’ I felt triumphant, even though I knew it would be short-lived.

  The smile on Satan’s face fell harder than old drunk trying to stagger home. My body was now feeling like a living inferno, the pain from the tattoos was gone and in its place, I could feel a deep throbbing as if they were trying to etch themselves deeper into my soul as well as my skin.

  ‘Well played, you fucking little runt!’ he spat and flicked his cigarette across the room.

  I braced myself for the fight that was about to come next. Satan, eyes burning with fury, charged towards me. I let my body loosen up just enough to take a swing at his gut.

  There was a strange hissing sound as my fist connected with his rock hard stomach and I watched as he flew across the room, smashing through the wall which divided it from the sitting room, and crashing hard onto the coffee table.

  ‘I should have known better than to make a deal with you, your just a rat,’ he spat, clambering to his feet.

  I ran towards him as he got to his feet, hoping to land another punch before he could get himself together but I was too slow. My teeth rattled together as his fist connected with the underside of my jaw and it was my turn to go flying.

  Right out of the window.

  I looked at the shards of glass floating past, in a dazed and confused way, as I hurtled towards the street below. This had to be one of the quickest fights I had ever lost.

  It was my turn to let out the strange hissing sound as the air got knocked out of my lungs. I could hear men and women screaming as I hit the yellow taxi cab with enough force to crush it and its driver.

  Amazingly I was still alive, and after a few seconds, still breath
ing. My body felt strong instead of smashed. I could feel my muscles transform and become harder as if they were being pumped full of iron.

  Pushing myself up, I was just in time to watch Satan land on the pavement a few feet away from me. His landing was much more elegant than mine and didn’t so much as leave a crack on the sidewalk.

  ‘You think you have the power to beat me?!’ He screamed, running over to me and grabbing me by the head of the hair.

  I tried to hold on to his wrist as he swung me around and then let me go. I was flying again and this time, there was a louder crash as I went through the front window of a local convenience store.

  The fat guy behind the till muttered something in a foreign language at me as he ran to get help.

  Still dazed, I was able to push myself back up and onto my feet just in time for Satan to join me. This time, I gave him no quarter.

  Grabbing him by the collar of his suit jacket I dragged him over to the solid counter next to the till and slammed his face down on it as hard as I possibly could.

  I did that four more times, blood splattering everywhere before I let him slide to the floor. He looked up at me with bleary eyes, his nose was a broken ruin and at least three of his front teeth had gone AWOL.

  ‘I could have given you everything you desired,’ he said, wiping the blood away from his mouth.

  ‘No you couldn’t,’ I said, preparing for my next attack, ‘I asked you to let Lisa go, and you refused.’

  Taking a short run towards him I lashed out with my right foot which connected hard with his jaw. He was flying again, smashing through the counter, the fridges containing soft drinks and finally the wall as if they were made of paper.

  Dusting myself down I stepped outside and made my way round the corner to the spot where Satan should have landed. Other than a wrecked car with terrified looking female driver, there was no sign of him.

  ‘You didn’t think you were going to kill me that easily did you?’

  I spun around to face Satan. He was wiping a fresh flow of blood from his wounded face. Wounds that I knew wouldn’t take long to heal. The problem was I had no idea how to kill him. I had been treating the fight just like any other. Human versus human.

  But that wasn’t the case. He was a God in his own right and I was, well, I was just me and I wasn’t entirely sure just how much power I had. The problem was, the fight was on now, and I had to stick with it until I found something that would put an end to him.

  ‘You’re going to die one way or another,’ I said, realizing just how unconvincing I sounded.

  ‘Really, let’s see how strong you really are.’

  I watched as he clenched his fists and his eyes rolled back in their sockets to reveal nothing but white. The ground began to tremble and then shake violently before the tarmac ruptured all around us.

  Between the cracks, I could see the flames of hell licking up as if they were expecting a fresh soul to be delivered. Turning my attention back to Satan I noticed that he was growing in size. His skin was turning the famous crimson red that we all associated with him. His suit ripped as his frame grew larger and bulkier.

  The finishing touch before his eyes rolled back round to face me, was the massive black horns which grew on either side of his head. This was the Satan that I had grown to know. This was his real form and I had to admit that it was terrifying.

  I could feel myself become frozen as he eventually stopped growing. He was standing at least five foot taller than me which meant his overall height was something like eleven feet tall.

  How the hell could I fight with him now?

  ‘You have more power than him Samuel,’ came a voice, more like a whisper. I recognized it instantly as belonging to Pertilius but glancing around I couldn’t see him.

  Then without warning my body began to grow too. I could feel muscle and bone stretch and form into their new and bigger sizes. My skin changed to that same crimson red except for the golden tattoos now looked like parts of a suit of body armour.

  It took only a few painful seconds before I was standing at the same height as Satan and feeling twice as pissed off as he probably was.

  ‘Oh, so you do have some power after all,’ he said, his voice sounding much deeper.

  The time for talking was over for me. I just wanted to end him, and that was all I wanted to do. I charged at him, my own horns pointing at his chest.

  I felt certain he would step out of the way before I hit him, but instead, I could hear his booming voice let out a scream as my horns pierced his chest.

  His screams changed as he muttered something in Latin and by the time I was able to pull my horns free, I noticed that the city was rapidly disappearing and we were heading back to hell.

  When the world came back into focus again, I noticed that we were inside a massive, cathedral-like building. Located at the far end of the room, at the end of the long red carpet, stood a throne made of every human bone possible.

  ‘If you want to kill me you’ll have to spill my blood on that alter,’ said Satan, pointing to the stone alter near the doors to the building.

  ‘So be it,’ I said, charging at him again.

  I was hoping for a repeat of my previous goring but this time, he was quick enough to step out of the way, and I could feel him kick me.

  I landed amongst the ancient wooden pews with a loud crash. Satan charged after me, picking up the pews like they were nothing and throwing them against the walls where they would shatter into pieces.

  He launched himself into the air, and I watched as he descended upon me, but at the last second, I brought both feet up and lashed out. They connected with his wounded chest and sent him hurtling in the direction of the alter.

  Knowing that time was of the essence, I quickly got to my feet and ran after him as he crashed to the floor, just a foot or two away from the large lump of stone.

  I grabbed the demon lord by the throat and used every ounce of strength I could muster to drag him over to the alter where I slammed his head down hard on the stone tablet. I noticed there was a sacred symbol carved into the stone.

  Realizing that his blood may need to fill that symbol I started slamming his face into the stone slab in rapid succession until his blood filled the crevice.

  Smoke started to emanate from every part of his body as the alter drew his power away. I clenched my fist around his throat even tighter so he could make no sound and I held him there, his body convulsing violently.

  I watched as his skin returned to a mottled grey color. His horns disappearing soon after that. Then his body went limp. I could hear something bubbling and when I turned to look at the alter, I could see that it was his blood which had been trapped within the sacred symbol.

  Fascinated, I watched as the blood started to glow and transform from its crimson liquid state into solid gold. Soon after that, and much to my surprise, the alter crumbled to the floor like ashes, leaving the golden symbol balanced on its pedestal.

  ‘Well done your grace,’ said a familiar voice. I turned to see Pertilius enter the building through the main door for a change. ‘He is dead now, you can let him go.’

  I looked down at Satan’s limp body, almost confused that I was still holding on to him. I let my grip slacken and watched as his body hit the floor and immediately turned to ashes.

  My attention was drawn back to the golden symbol. Something inside me told me that I needed it. To complete the process I needed that symbol.

  Cautiously, I reached out and grabbed it. In that instant, a sharp bolt of power coursed through my body making me growl in agony. It lasted only a few seconds, and when I could eventually move my neck to look down, I noticed I was holding nothing but a pile of ashes in my hand.

  ‘It’s good to have you back my lord,’ said Pertilius, bowing to me.

  I glanced towards the throne, knowing that I still had a couple of things left to take care of before I dared to sit on it.

  ‘Bring the boy to the church.’

 
I stood inside the church where Satan had first brought me to make the deal. I lingered near the alter, back in my human form, the form that was starting to feel unreal. I decided to wear a white suit for the occasion. I don’t know why, but it just felt appropriate in some strange way.

  I watched as Pertilius led the way, followed by the young boy who was flanked at the rear by more of the brother’s. I watched the boy’s face, looking for something that would tell me he was scared or frightened in some way.

  What I saw in his eyes was nothing. There was no love, no hatred, just an emptiness that was going to make what I was about to do next all the easier on me.

  ‘Do you know why I have brought you here child?’ I asked once the monk’s stepped away from him.

  The boy looked up at me with those lifeless eyes. There was nothing there, either in his features or his facial expression that told me there was a heart beating in his chest.

  ‘To take my soul back,’ he said bluntly.

  I nodded and motioned towards the alter. The time for conversation was gone and instead, I simply wanted to get the ritual over with so I could move on to something more important.

  There was no resistance from the child as he walked to the alter and lay down on top of the blood-stained stone. A part of me was glad, but the other part wondered how he could be so forthcoming knowing that his life was about to be taken from him.

  I moved so I was standing by the boy’s side and placed my hands on his chest. The monk’s, including Pertilius, surrounded us and started chanting in their ancient language. Under the palms of my hands, I could feel the child’s heart slow with each second until it eventually stopped.

  I looked down at his lifeless face and watched as his mouth dropped open. Something black and shapeless began to escape from the cavity. The monk’s chants filled the air, seemingly growing louder, as it wrapped itself around my body before soaking into my skin.