A Deal With The Devil

I climbed down carefully from the grey van that picked me up from the house. I was going to see a cartel Boss. So there are quite a lot of things that could happen today.

It's either I end up dead or I succeed in striking a good deal that will keep my father alive and give my family enough time to pay up the crazy-absurd debt they leveled against my Father. If the stars are in my favor, the money might even be forgiven.

But in all, one of these things was going to happen today and I pray my dead body won't be drawn out of the industrial looking premises. As I stood looking around, I got a nudge behind from one of the men.

"Move!" He barked at me and like a crippled roach revealed by a light from a handheld torch. I had to put both of my feet to good use.

One of the men walked in front, leading the way, while two others walked behind me.

"Stop." A baritone voice from a guard stationed at the gate yelled at us. "She's going to go in blindfolded." He read out a rehearsed instruction and pushed a blindfold to one of the men behind me.

"My apologies Reina." One of the men with a crooked smile said as he grabbed and fastened the blindfold over my eyes, pulling it across my face and ensured it behind my ears.

'My apologies Reina,' his words came back to me. Who the hell was Reina?

Blindfolded and blind in other words, two hands grabbed each arm and started leading me forward. It was a chore to get me inside the building. At one point, I couldn't help but wonder if the blindfold was necessary. Maybe when we got to where we were going, they could use it on me, but obviously not when I still had stairs to climb.

We climbed the few stairs carefully. I listened and noted when a door was pushed open and we stepped inside. Carefully, I was pushed to an empty seat and told to wait for the Boss.

First chapter done and successful, second chapter about to start.

I didn't realize when I started a silent prayer begging God to spare my life one more time. I started counting numbers to ascertain the exact amount of time It would take the Boss to come. Counting the time was something I do a lot and have become familiar with. It was something I do whenever I'm baiting a client and I wanted to know how much time it would take them to take the bait.

At three hundred and eighty five, the door to the room opened. My ears became more than active as I listened carefully to pick up even the slightest sound.

"Leave us." A voice said and I heard footsteps leaving the room until the last of them closed the door behind him.

Forty six seconds of silence passed before the voice came up again. "Yes, you wanted to speak to me."

I quickly shifted in my chair. After the call the previous night, I had spent the rest of the night imagining what the Boss would look like. But of course I would never know. But I expected him to sound way older, somewhere between fifty to seventy years. But the voice I heard sounded young, dark and refreshing.

I cleared my throat quickly. "Yes sir. I...I came on behalf of my father." I replied finding it rather easier to speak since I had a blindfold on. There was no room to gauge emotions or anything of such. Just a blind lady expressing herself.

"Yes?"

I heard it, the impatience in his voice. Carefully I pushed my seat aside, kicked my feet gently in circles to be sure I wouldn't get hurt. Then I went on my knees. This was a do or die affair. I had to go back home with something.

"Please sir. My father is sorry. He didn't mean to upset you. I promise we'll pay up every single dime he owes you sir."

"What do you want from me?"

I swallowed hard and spoke up. "Time sir."

"Time for what exactly?" He asked.

"Time to pay up sir. Two months is too small to pay back the money. I really need more time. Please....."

"And how on earth do you plan on paying back?" He started moving. I heard the subtle sound from his shoes. Calculated, calm and stylish, the sound of the soles of his shoe told me exactly how he was moving.

"The last I checked, Fairview is not such a safe place for you anymore. Neither is anywhere else. So, how do you want to pay back five hundred million dollars even in one year."

The moment of truth came. Whoever this man is, he knows a few more things about my family. Not just general knowledge. "How.....how do you know that sir?" I had to ask.

"Because I've been the one keeping you alive for the longest time. The two times I withdrew my men from you, you ended up at the hospital."

I stiffened. Okay, I stand to be corrected. I think he knows almost everything about me. "I don't understand sir."

"Ugo Chike." I heard my name being mentioned in the softest, most sensual way that tiny balls of bumps spread through my skin 'whatdahell!'

"I've been protecting you since you took up the Morello case. If you go back out there without my protection, you might end up in a bloody bag in days." He replied.

"But why," I gasped out, wondering why he would do such a thing for me.

I felt gentle fingers trace the corners of my eyes. Snap! The blindfold came off and I stumbled over when I saw the man standing before me. His voice should have given him away, but I refused to add the dots because how could he be who I'm thinking he is.

"Hollis." I could only afford a whisper.

He nodded. No smile, no introductions, no further explanation, nothing. Series of emotions surfed through me. I remained kneeling, not knowing who I was really dealing with aside from the fact that he once asked me to be his woman and I refused.

With trembling hands and a voice filled with trepidation, I pleaded with him to spare my father from the consequences of his debt. The real picture was now clearer. I won't be able to clear out that debt in two months and whatever reason he had for leveling up such debt on my father, it must have been well calculated. Even if I decide to borrow from my best friend, Daisy won't have five hundred million dollars lying around somewhere. A hundred, two or even five hundred thousand, yes. But millions, that was too much money.

"I'd do anything please. He's all I've got. My parents are all I've got." I pleaded again.

I watched his expression go from bored to uninterested then to amusement while I begged for mercy, offering anything I could in return for his forgiveness. He watched me from under his thick lashes, throwing calculating gaze my way, while in what seemed to be deep thoughts. After what seemed like a long moment of contemplation, his lips curved into a sensual smile. A smile that gave me butterflies.

Locking his gaze to mine, he pulled out an envelope from his jacket inner pocket. He dropped it on the table and finally spoke in a voice as cold as steel. He made me an offer that sent chills down my spine.....

"I have a proposal that would benefit all the parties involved." He pointed to the envelope. "Go ahead."

I almost tore the thing open as my hands searched for the contents of the envelope. I pulled it open. It was an agreement between myself and him. I shook with disappointment. What was happening. How did we go from two to a hundred in just minutes. He agreed to forgive my father's debt in full, but in return......

"I don't understand." The content of the envelope fell off my shaky hands.

Hollis pulled a playful smile. "You seem to have taken this better than I thought. So, what would it be, Ugo." He stood in front of me in the most seductive pose I've ever seen, e.v.e.r

"Stay with me for a year and I'll forgive your father's debt." He looked at me, his eyes full of unspoken words and unexpressed emotions.

"I looked down on the floor and shook my head.

"You said this would be good for everyone involved, but this won't be good for me." I almost cried at this point.

"It would be perfect for you, contrary to what you think. It would offer you protection and so much more than I can speak of yet. I'll give you time to think about this. thirty minutes is all you have." He declared and left the room.

I burst into tears. I wailed, I yelled, I sobbed, and literally drowned in my own tears. But it didn't change the fact that my time was ticking and I had to at one point put myself together and make a decision while putting all the parties involved into consideration.

I was shocked and appalled by his audacious proposal, I felt a surge of conflicting emotions. The thought of being under the control of such a man filled me with revulsion, but the desperate hope of saving my family pushed everything away.

When the door opened up later, I was much calmer and my thoughts were clearer. All I asked for was a pen and I signed at the spot that had my name and space for signature.

I knew even without being told that I've just signed a deal with the devil. But the incentives that came with signing such a deal was good enough for me.

"It's just one year and I will get back to my life."

********

There was a flash of light and distant noises. My head felt like someone was taking an ice pick and pouring heavy chipping on my skull.

I decided that death couldn’t be this painful, so I was probably not dead or this was what hell was supposed to feel like. My eyes were pried open, and a light came flashing again.

This was followed by a groan, like a bear cub. 'was that me?'

I managed to flutter my eyes open without anyone’s help. Inches away from my face, someone was holding a pen-sized flashlight. I couldn’t focus enough to see him, but I could definitely smell him. Light scent of woodberry and some chemicals I remember enduring the mixing process once I snuck into the chemistry laboratory during practicals that were meant for students offering science courses.

The ceiling was swimming. I thought I was going to vomit, and I had to let my eyelids drop to stop the spinning. Slowly, the muffled sounds became words.

"What’s your name, sweetheart." Asked the man with the flashlight. His voice was raspy, and I could smell the caffeine off his breath.

"None of your business," I managed, my voice bouncing like a rock against the walls of my skull.

"Call her a sweetheart one fuckin time and you'll see your brains on that wall." An unfamiliar voice threatened in the background.

I wanted to look up, to see who it was. But my head was on fire. The man with the pen touch grew mute immediately. I tried to get up again, but barely managed to get my head off the pillow before it fell back with a thump.

"Whoa there, swe......" he paused. "Not so fast." He finally said, looking back sharply before turning back to me. "You’ve got a pretty big bump on your head," said the man.

That would explain the blinding pain I was feeling. "You're scared of calling me sweetheart again." I chuckled, beside myself with amusement even with the awful pain, my mouth would rarely shut up.

"That's not your name, I believe." He answered, instead.

I nodded. "Can you give me a name to work with?"

"U, letter U." I answered.

"That's great Miss letter U."

'What the hell is Miss letter U'. I thought. I wanted to tell him it wasn't what I meant but I was in too much pain to argue with him on his use of words.

"She’s probably got a mild concussion," the man assessed. "Just make sure she gets plenty of rest and wake her up every few hours overnight. Give me a call if she gets any worse."

"She looks like she’s in pain. Can she take anything." The unfamiliar voice asked again.

I forced my eyes open. There was a lovely gentleman in a black jean and white Tee and he was standing at the foot of the bed. I recognized his clothes from before I found myself on this bed.

He had come into the room I was held in and I requested for a pen which he offered me and motioned that I followed him. We were way across the corridor when I lost sight of him.

Then I followed the voices echoing at the other part of the corridor which led me to a slightly open door. I saw Hollis, he was standing with his back toward me.

In a flash, he pulled the trigger of a gun and a body came crashing on the floor. When my eyes came to refocus, the man on the floor was not moving. Blood splattered the floor and three other men that were with Hollis had spun round.

They looked at me with complete surprise on their faces.

Without realizing it, I had been screaming and I was still screaming and shaking and I couldn’t stop or move any other part of my body like my legs, to run away from them. The door was now very much open from my hands pushing it in.

Hollis turned around and our eyes met again, and his face turned pale while he rubbed his forehead tirelessly. Then I blacked out. I must have fallen or fainted or something, I can't remember any other thing.

I watched the young gentleman step closer to me. He looked stressed and tired.

"Not for the next twelve hours. But I’ll leave you something for tomorrow," replied the man with a pen touch, like he was in a hurry. The doctor’s calm voice did match his appearance, he looked like he had just crawled out of a very clean and well equipped laundry home.

"Thanks, Doc." The young man furtively glanced in my direction and turned to a man who was standing behind him, in a soldier-like stance.

With a nod from the young man, the man standing behind him dug into his pocket and pulled out a wad of rolled-up bills.

Not missing a beat, the Doctor grabbed the cash and rushed out of the room without taking one more look at his patient. So much for bedside manners.

The man standing behind the gentleman followed the doctor out the door, shooting me a frosty glare on his way out.

I ran my fingers through my hair, hitting a bump at the crown of my head. "Ouch," I said in a whisper.

But the man heard me and glanced back. As soon as our eyes met, he flashed me a reassuring smile.

"I'm Maxine." I tried to read his face, but his expression was blank. "Get some rest, my brother will come see you soon, he's taking care of a few things." He told me as he too walked out, closing the door behind him.

I lay there, circling my fingers around my temples and trying hard to remember what happened. The last thing I remembered was Hollis's empty stare after I had watched him kill an innocent man in cold blood.

I tried hard to forget this. I was still alive, but everything else was a blur, including where I was and how I had gotten there. I struggled to sit up and flip my legs over the edge of the bed. My eyelids were heavy. All I wanted to do was sleep.

My feet hit the cool wooden floors. and I suddenly noticed that I didn’t have my sneakers on anymore. Slightly panicked, I looked to see if anything else was missing, or different. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find, but whatever it was, I didn’t find it.

Except for the stains on my knees, the rubber band that was missing from my hair, and the immense throbbing against my skull, everything else on my body was the way I had last left it.