The Devil's Deal

Moonlight shone through the clearing, enlightening the graveyard in an eerie, ethereal glow. Sweeps of gelid breeze caressed my bare shoulder and I shivered, wrapping my arms tighter around myself. The sound of birds flying and interacting broke through the ominous silence and steadied the beating of my heart, which was racing like searching for a murderous fugitive. The arms of the dead wrapped their hands around me, trickling over my skin like the brush of a spider and chilling me to the bone.

“Why am I doing this again?” I asked the night, somehow knowing that he was there.

A chuckle sounded out around me, echoing in my ears like a frantic siren. “Because if you don’t I’ll let your brother die.” My heart clenched at his words and I shivered, suddenly realizing how much power he held in his morbid, somewhat slender fingers. With a click of the fingers he could reach into my livelihood and tear my sanity away, and it made me wonder whether I would end up insane after all of this anyway.

He played with death like it was a toy; he pulled its strings like a puppet and he owned it like a prideful master. He didn’t seem to realize that death was what made life possible; it was a way for things to end and restart just as everything had been intended. Death could be a beautiful sanctity in which people sought refuge or it could be a merciless monster that stole you away with greedy hands. To him it was a game, and I was his pawn. He could lead me wherever he liked and I would always be at his mercy. In the end he would win, as of course, he was the only player.

I blinked rapidly, awakening myself to reality. “Where’s his grave?” I asked steely, my voice clipped with suspended anxiety. I was angry at myself for obediently doing his will, and I was more than disgusted with my willingness to disturb a dead resting place. And of a priest, no less. Surely if there was a God he would damn me to Hell before this bastard could make me do a thing.

I was a mess.

He chuckled, still not appearing in the blackness of the night. “Now where would be the fun in telling you that?”

I sighed, rolling my eyes though he couldn’t see me. “You’re a demon, you’re not supposed to have fun,” I retorted dryly, shivering slightly as a frigid breeze brushed over my arms.

He snorted, appearing to my left with a seedy grin on his lips. “That’s not true, I find a lot of things fun,” he replied lowly, his green eyes flashing with their usual malice and amusement.

“I don’t think I want to know what they are.”

His eyes gleamed in the darkness. “I don’t think you want to know either, but I’ll let you know that dealing with disobedient mortals is not on the list.” At my blank stare he grinned, his pearly-white teeth glinting in the ghostly moonlight. “Get to work, human.”

A deep huff of air left my lips as I forced myself to stay focused, my clouded eyes searching dully through the eclipse of darkness. Licking my cracked lips, I picked up the shovel that sat by my side and heaved it over my shoulder, walking blindly through the graveyard. Years of working on a farm back at my old house had given me the strength to carry almost anything, which I was thankful for as I balanced the shovel on top of my shoulder.

I stopped, a sigh leaving my lips. I could feel his eyes following me, laughter sitting at the tip of his tongue and ready to reach out and consume me. A priest. Where would a priest be?

Gushes of wind brushed against my back and I pushed an errant strand of hair behind my ear, shivering in the frigid breeze. My eyes trailed across the graveyard, stopping when they settled on a gravestone that appeared to be almost four times the size of the others surrounding it. It consisted of a giant, grey stone that had been carved into a cross, and vines embedded with scarlet roses curled around the edges. It was hauntingly beautiful, which was why it stood out to me among the rows of small headstones.

It almost looked like a leader among a mass of followers, the beauty of it somewhat frightening for the death that it symbolized. Without thinking I found myself walking towards it, my blue eyes encapsulated by the glowing stone. The moonlight almost seemed to fall directly onto its face, and as I drew closer I realized why.

Father Howard McKay, 1928-2011.
Beloved Priest and heard voice of His Almighty.
May he rest on God’s arms as we praise his love and glory for as long as we may live.

The words were carved in beautiful, cursive script, and as I read over the engraving again I felt my heart stop in my chest. That was the one. He was the one that I was supposed to dig up.

A deep, guttural laugh ate at my flesh. “I won’t do it,” I whispered, tears brimming in the corners of my eyes. Standing by the tombstone I felt closer to God than I had ever felt, and although I wasn’t an avid believer I knew that defiling this grave would be to defile all that was left of my spiritual sanctity. An empowerment tore its way through my flesh, building up inside me like a growing tower and causing my head to fall backwards so that I was looking towards the night sky.

I fell to my knees at what I saw, a choked cry leaving my lips as I stared at the sky in terrified awe. “Angels,” I whispered, my chest tightening as I felt his presence beside me. I heard his snarl, and it snapped me out of the trance I had been swept up into at the sight of the creatures flying in the night sky.

“They won’t see you,” he explained, as though that had been my worry. “And if they do, by the time they reach the earth we’ll be long gone.” I continued to stare at the winged creatures that flew above me, glowing like shooting stars in the night and capturing me in their serenity. I was in disbelief of their existence, and though the proof of absurdity stood beside me I was awed by their presence.

“Hurry up, Mortal,” he snarled, his hot breath brushing against my neck. “Or have you forgotten what exactly is at stake?”

My eyes clenched shut as a tear dribbled down my cheek, my hands clenching in fists as I pictured my baby brother with an anguished mind. What could I do? It was between his life and my spirituality; it was between Heaven and Hell. I had the power in my hands and all it did was fill me up with disgust and terror. But as much as I tried to run from it, I knew what my decision would be.

After all, God had turned his back on me the moment that he had threatened to steal my brother’s life.

Wiping the tear away, I lowered the shovel to my side and turned towards the grave. “I’m sorry,” I whispered into the night, somehow hoping that it would save my soul. And then I dug the shovel into the ground and all hope was lost along with his sanity, his laughter surrounding me like a nightmare.

It seemed as though hours had passed when the shovel finally hit something hard. I knew it was the casket before I even looked down, and I knew that below it lay something that I would never dream of seeking.

Lowering myself onto my knees, I brushed the dirt and mud away until a dark, wooden lid was all that was left. With a rapidly-beating heart, I looked behind me, to find that he was standing so far away that I could barely see him in the glowing light. “Open it,” he shouted across the yard, his emerald eyes gleaming so brightly that I was astounded by their flawless beauty.

Tearing my eyes away, I took a staggered breath in through my mouth as my mind became eclipsed by thoughts. Could I do this? Could I defile the grave of a priest? Noah flashed into my mind.

Hell was worth it to see him alive.

My fingers brushed over the rotted wood, and I pressed against the side of the casket, trying to find the opening. I felt a graze of metal and I curled my fingers around it, pulling it backwards with a tightened chest and opening the casket with it.

Bile filled my throat at the sight of the decayed, muddy remains of the priest. Flesh had been eaten away at almost every part, and the only section that now remained intact were his eyes, which stared out at me with wise, bleary orbs of brown. A shiver raced down my spine as a putrid smell filled my nostrils, and I flinched back as water brimmed at the corners of my eyes.

“Get the necklace.”

My eyes swept lower, somehow feeling the body’s eyes following my every move. Freezing in awe, my heart rate quickened as I caught sight of the necklace that hung just above his ribs, and my fingers reached out to touch it. It was made of black, marble stone that caught the light of the moon, and beads of gold hung from the front, trailing down until they reached a giant, black cross.

My fingers swept across the cross, and my eyes widened when I saw cursive writing that had been engraved into the back. Permissum diabolus exuro. What did it mean?

“Unclasp it and bring it to me!”

I flinched at his cold tone, dropping the cross in fright. Breathing in deeply, I picked the necklace up with trembling fingers, hesitating slightly as I reached to unclasp it. Once I was done I backed away from the casket, my whole body shaking as I avoided the priest’s lifeless eyes. I reached down to close the top when his voice sounded out around me in monstrous amusement. “Leave it open.”

Blinking back tears, I nodded my head, forcing myself back onto my feet and towards where he stood. I was meters away when he appeared beside me, a triumphant, awed smile on his lips as he looked down at the necklace. His eyes were sparkling with conquest as I glanced back at him, dropping the necklace into his open palm over with tremulous fingers. “What is it?” I breathed, my stomach clenching at his close proximity.

A mirthful smile formed on his lips, sucking the air from my lungs. “It’s a necklace that was made especially to keep demons and other hell-bound creatures away from the wearer. There’s only one of its kind, and dear old Father McKay had it all along.”

“How come you can touch it then?”

Laughter exploded from his lips. “Because you, my dear mortal, unclasped it for me.”