Chapter 4. |Hell and Heavens|

"Huh?" Was all I could say at first. I stared at his callous, unfriendly eyes and tried to discern if they were currently being truthful, staring at those things just gave me cold chills instead.

"You heard me, kid." He ran a hand through the tangled dreadlocks and sighed, almost wearily, like he was tired and exasperated all at the same time. With the cigarette stick still dangling between his black lips, he spoke. "Do me this favor and I'll free you, terminate our contract and give you your soul back."

He blew out the cigarette smoke right at my face and I coughed, inhaling the choking smell. I surveyed him through narrowed eyes, not trusting him one bit. After all, they always said, once bitten, twice shy and I didn't want to get my hopes up for nothing.

"Release my feet first," I told him, pointing down at my black boots which he had enchanted to the pavement, causing my inability to move. He rolled his eyes, like he was shocked about the fact that I wasn't excited at the prospect of getting my soul back. With a snap of his long, bony fingers, my feet became lighter and I could move once again.

I sighed heavily, releasing my short hair from it's tight ponytail and sunk to the floor to take a seat. I felt more than heard him sit next to me and involuntarily moved to create some space between us. Being with him gave me the chills, the sudden and urgent urge to retch out my tuna sandwich lunch.

"So, what do you say, kid? Deal or no deal?" He asked, staring off into the dark street and bringing out clouds of smoke through his nostrils.

I needed more time to think this through, knowing this evil man, this was probably a trick and I didn't want to be made a fool of twice.

"Where's everyone?" I wondered aloud, wanting to buy some time to think this through. "My cousin, Frankie, what did you do to him, you didn't hurt him, did you?" Not that I would mind much but explaining to my aunt, Jackie later that the devil hurt her son wasn't something I wanted to end the night with.

"They're fine, just in limbo," he replied, dryly, like that explained the whole situation and I was expected to understand him.

"So, what'd you say about the deal?" He reminded me agitatedly, and I got the feeling he needed me, like really bad for whatever dirty work he wanted to carry out. I was suddenly curious as to what he wanted and why I was so useful to him.

"What do you want me to do for you?" I voiced out my curiosity as I wrapped my arms around my legs to keep warm. He sighed, leaning down his head to face the ground and shading my view of his face with the dreadlocks.

"Let me put this as easy for you as possible, kid." He spoke softly, the smoke drifting out steadily and diffusing in a Brownian motion into the dark night's atmosphere. "To release your soul, I need another one in place. Kinda like the a life for another life principle. There has to be a replacement."

"I don't understand." I was honestly puzzled by his words and the fact that I was currently sitting with this evil man here, discussing principles was suddenly funny. I even gave a tiny snort.

"I want you to get me a soul," he deadpanned and all traces of my initial mirth disappeared faster than it came.

"Me?" Wait, what?! "You're honestly insane, are you even really here or this a dream?"

"Does this look like a dream?" He whispered and his head snapped up to glare at me, I froze and stared into his black eyes and saw fire, the kind Christians claimed burned in hell and I cowered in fear of that powerful flame. I could hear voices of numerous people wailing about the suffering, they screamed and howled about how excruciating the pains were and I felt as though I had joined the multitude of voices perishing in there. Hell was real, everlasting suffering existed and he had just shown me a glimpse at it.

And that was where I was going as long as he had my soul. I was suddenly more interested in his deal now.

The formerly chilly night had turned blazing hot and I felt warm liquid drop onto the back of my palm and realized with a jolt that I was crying, the visual he gave me was that powerful and scary. I reached up to wipe my tears, ignoring the fact that I just ruined my make-up.

"I get it, it's not a dream," I said through gritted teeth, my voice croaky. "Just stop it, please." I could still hear wails of suffering and saw fire, endless fire blazing through his eyes.

The eternal fire and wails of torment ceased at once and the night's temperature became normal. Not chilly or blazing hot, just normal breeze blowing and I felt the beads to sweat that had pooled around my body start to dry up.

"You want a soul, why come meet me? You could probably trick someone else into giving up theirs," I said, spitefully and cautioned myself to avoid being rude so as not to anger him. 

"I did you a favor that night, thanks to me your beloved mother is still running around happily, try to express some gratitude sometimes," he snapped, harshly and I cowered again before shifting further away from him. "Besides, I don't need just any soul, I need a particular one."

"Whose soul do you want?" I didn't like where this was going and I had a bad feeling about it.

He dangled the cigarette by his lips and cracked his knuckles loudly to give sickening crunches. "You know him, that new kid at your school. Blake Johnson, that's what he's called, isn't it?"

My jaw fell on the ground and I gave a quick glance, hoping to see if he was joking and was disappointed. Blake Johnson, Molly's crush aka Edgewood High's newest addition since about a month ago. The guy and I barely even talked, not that I cared but I was surprised that the devil was interested in him.

"Can I ask why you suddenly want Blake's soul?" 

"No," he snapped at me. "Just know that you don't make deals with me and go back on them, I'm about to make him realize that."

"Why can't you just, I dunno...go over to his place and steal his soul, isn't that what you do? Why involve me?"

"Silly child," he chided and for the first time tonight, he gave a bark of laughter that seemed to echo down the street. "I can't just take souls, people have to consent to it. Agreement by both parties is key."

"Like the way you tricked me into consenting."

"Exactly." He suddenly got to his feet and pulled back on the hoodie of his black sweatshirt and I found myself wondering if he ever wore anything other than black clothing. "Now I want you to listen very carefully to me, kid." His voice was low, urgent and fast now like he was fast running out of time.

I nodded, scared of making him angry.

"I'm sending you back in time, to exactly a month ago-" he had jammed his hands deep into his pockets now as he whispered furiously.

"What?! Back in time-"

"Don't interrupt me. Please." He held up a hand, then reached to remove his cigarette stick from his lips. "I'm sending you back in time, a month ago to be precise and you have exactly till Halloween night which is today to get that boy to consent to giving up his soul."

I opened my mouth to speak but was silenced by the look he gave me, the look clearly said he didn't appreciate whatever I was going to say and I shut my mouth immediately.

"I need that soul by Halloween, I don't know how you'll do it but it's important that I must have it." His eyes were trained on mine, like he was trying to get me to understand the urgency of the situation. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I replied. "But what happens if I fail?" I voiced out my fears and got to my feet to stare up at him. He was just a few inches taller than me.

"Trust me, you don't want to hear the answer to that question." With that, he threw the cigarette on the floor and stomped on it with his worn out black Nike.

The devil wears Nike.

"I'll do it, you'll return my soul, right?" I tore my eyes off the Nike and focused on his gaunt face currently wearing a crooked grin. "Deal?"

"Deal, Ruby Davies. Deal." He extended his bony hand out for a handshake which I chose to ignore. No way on earth was I touching that man.

"How can I even trust you?" The stars were returning now and the night's noises seemed to be coming back gradually and most importantly, the devil seemed to be fading bit by bit.

Like he was disappearing.

"You can't," was his only reply and then like the first time I met him, eight years ago, everything went all black.