Chapter 3. The Contract with the Devil

Did the man just say what Anna thought he said?! She did not know whether to be amused or pissed at him.

“Excuse me?” she asked him, feeling anger at the edge of her fingertips. This was not the time to test her.

“I know your mom was involved in a car accident a few hours ago…and she died,” the man explained smoothly as he placed his hands in his pockets. A soft smile sat on his lips as he stared at her.

‘For someone who knew that information, he sure did not look sorry about it,’ Anna thought to herself.

“I can bring her back,” the man continued, earning a scoff from her.

She exhaled shakily and wagged her head slowly with a sad smile on her lips. A heaviness that she could not explain sat in her heart, and she did not even have the energy or time for this foolishness right now.

“Because you’re the devil?” Anna folded her arms on her chest as she mocked him.

“Yes,” he replied to her smoothly and with confidence.

“The devil?” she scoffed the words out. “Come on. The devil does not wear skinny jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a plaid shirt,” she tried to entertain his bullshit.

“Well, the devil dresses how he likes,” the man replied, revealing his perfect pearly white teeth while smiling. “All your pain, your sadness, can be wiped away in a blink of an eye. You can have your dad heading back with your mom in minutes if you would just let me help you,” he added.

Memories of her mom cooking her famous spaghetti flashed in her mind, causing a heavy knot to form in her throat.

Her eyes began to burn as they demanded to release tears while she tried her best not to allow them to. “That’s enough. Bye,” she said to him in a clipped tone as she tried to close the door.

“You are missing out on a once-in-a-life opportunity.” He stopped her from closing the door with his hand once again.

A rage suddenly filled Anna, and she pushed the door wide open, preparing to lash out at the guy or something worse, but then he touched her hand.

His mere touch…felt like everything. All the sadness and grief in Anna’s heart suddenly disappeared, and she inhaled sharply before letting out a shaky exhale.

A euphoria that she could not explain filled her mind, and the only way she could describe it was when a person took dr*gs and was high as shit. She felt no negative emotions, and for those few seconds, she felt so much peace and joy.

She felt like her soul was being fed with food that was not of this world.

Anna lifted her attention from the man’s hand on hers, and that was when she caught a glimpse of something that caused her jaw to drop.

Holy shit!

His face… his fucking face!

She could see two horns on his head, and his entire face was disfigured in such a way that was beyond description. His eyes were like deep pits of darkness, and the voidness was incredible.

Two giant wings were attached to his back, but they resembled that of a bat.

Anna should have been afraid, she should have been fucking terrified, but all she felt was bliss. It was like fear was not within her reach, and all she could do was marvel at the man’s appearance.

He truly was the devil!

He released her hand, and a flood of emotions rushed back into her heavily. Immense sadness and grief suddenly filled her again, and fear gripped her heart that the man was the devil.

A tear escaped her eye, and she did not attempt to wipe it away. Her chest burned, and her breathing was labored.

All those hideous emotions that were taken from her in those beautiful seconds had now returned, and she felt so overwhelmed.

The man’s face was now back to normal, and he looked just like the way he did before he touched her hand. There were no wings or anything attached to his back.

It just felt like she had seen a very vivid vision.

“What did you do to me?” Anna asked him as she continued to stare at him.

“Do you now believe me?”

The devil, the lord of hell, was standing right in front of her! She never believed in this stuff. They seemed fictional, but what she had just seen and felt took the breath right out of her lungs.

“I…” Anna struggled for the right words to say, but she could not seem to.

“I told you, I am here to help you. Your mother died in a gruesome car accident, one that was caused by her. She was trying to call you and took her eyes off the road for a few seconds. When she finally paid attention, she was speeding toward a car that stopped at a red light,” the devil explained.

She wanted to ask how he knew all this, but again, how could he not? He was the freaking king of hell!

“She tried to avoid the car by switching lanes, and that was when a huge truck smashed into her car,” he continued.

“You said that you could bring her back, right?” Anna sniffled as she asked in desperation.

The man seemed pleased by her reaction. “Yep,” he popped the p.

“And what do you want in return, my soul?” she asked him seriously, and he laughed as if she just told a hilarious joke.

“Do you want me to help you?” he asked after his laughter had died down.

“Yes,” Anna replied to him confidently.

She knew that her mom died because of her. She was driving over to her school to pick her up so they could go shopping for her birthday. She wouldn’t have been involved in an accident if she was not in the equation.

She would have been at work.

This is all Anna’s fault, and she had to make it right. And if that meant making a deal with the devil, then that was what she would fucking do.

The attractive man reached into the back pocket of his skinny jeans and pulled out something. It was a folded paper.

He handed it to Anna, and she tentatively took it from his hand while trying her best not to touch him again. She may have enjoyed that state of elation she was in when he touched her at first, but she did not enjoy seeing his true appearance.

She knew that she would certainly be having nightmares for the next couple of nights.

“What’s this?” she asked him as she opened the folded paper and examined it. It was completely blank except for a straight line drawn at the front.

“A contract,” the man smiled. “All you need to do is to sign your name on that line, and poof, you get your mom back,” he told her.

“A contract has to have certain things to be valid. For example, both parties involved in the transaction should be getting something in return,” Anna showed off her knowledge of this.

She was so glad that she paid attention to Mrs. Bridge’s class last semester.

“Smart girl,” the devil replied to her as he ran his hand through his perfect blonde hair.

He was so good-looking, and Anna had a feeling that he knew so.

“Okay, fair point. You get to have your mom back, and then you owe me three favors,” he told her firmly.

“Okay,” she replied.

He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you want to ask me what those favors would be like?” he asked her.

“No,” she wagged her head. She wanted this to be over with, she wanted her mom back now.

“Mmm,” the devil mumbled, and then took a stylish pen out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Anna took the pen and signed her name on the line drawn on the empty white paper. As soon as she placed the last letter of her name, a sharp, burning pain stung her wrist, and she winced, but it dulled off as quickly as it came.

She looked at her wrist, where she had felt the pain, and she saw a symbol that seemed foreign to this world. She had not seen anything like it before.

“That’s my signature,” the man pointed out.

She continued to stare at the symbol. It now looked like a tattoo.

“Anna Hall, it was nice doing business with you. Have a great day,” the attractive man said when she handed the paper back to him. He placed it in his back pocket and began to walk away.

“Wait! How about my mom?” she asked him loudly, but he did not respond.

The landline suddenly began to ring, and she hesitated to go back into the house as she continued to stare at the man who had just shown her that he was the devil.

The landline continued to cry, and she finally walked back into the house and closed the door.

She headed toward the source of the ringing, which was coming from the kitchen. When she reached the landline, she picked up the colorless phone and placed it on her ear.

“Anna!” Anna’s dad said her name emotionally. “Anna, it’s your mom!” he was crying, but it did not seem like he was sad. “Oh, I… Oh my god,” he muttered without making sense.

“Dad, what is it?!” Anna asked him as anxiety and fear filled her thoughts.

“Anna, she’s alive!” he said to her as he cried.

Holy shit, it worked! The devil stuck to his word and held his end of their deal!

“Can I talk to her?” Anna’s voice broke, and she laughed happily.

“Not right now, honey. They had to transfer her from the morgue to one of the rooms in the hospital. Her room is swamped with doctors, and they cannot comprehend how this is possible!”

“It’s a miracle!” he exclaimed joyously, and Anna chuckled in disbelief. “I have to go. They want me in the room now. Let Kevin know what’s going on. I will give you two a call in an hour or two,” he added and then ended the call.

She held onto the colorless phone for a few seconds as she tried to take in what was happening.

“Ouch,” Anna groaned as the burning pain stung her wrist once again. This time, when she looked at the symbol, it began to glow with a golden light, and she watched it in awe.

“Hey,” Kevin startled her as he walked into the kitchen.

Anna hid her wrist behind her back.

Kevin was shirtless and wearing only sweatpants. His hair was messy, and his eyes were weary. “Who were you on the phone with?” he asked as he grabbed an empty glass from one of the many cabinets.

“It was Dad,” Anna replied to him excitedly, but he did not look at her. He simply walked toward the faucet and filled the empty glass with water.

“Did he tell you when we can go see Mom?”

The sadness in his voice broke Anna’s heart, and this reassured her that she had made the right call by making that deal.

“Mom’s alive,” she said to him, and he finally looked at her.

A glimmer of hope sparkled in his eyes, and he placed the glass of water down on the marble countertop. “What?” he asked so he could make sure he had heard her right.

“Mom is alive!” Anna said to him happily, but her wrist had started to burn again. She tried to ignore the pain, but it grew stronger until she let out a scream and fell to the floor.