The Deal At The Crossroads

I’m at that point in life, were you just ask “How did my life end up like this?”, but sadly I know. I know exactly how I made my fortune, how I got so damn good at the guitar and made a name for myself. I made a deal. This wasn’t an ordinary deal though, no this was something special. I went down to the crossroads. I placed objects of great value in a box and buried it; in the center. And I waited. I waited, till the air grew cold around me, and behind me. Stood a man, a man wearing a black suit, with a black tie, and a black shirt. He came from nowhere, no sound was made, nothing was there. I remember his voice so clearly, so coarse and dry like he had swallowed fire and smoke leaving his throat scared and burnt.

He asked me “Jake Jackson. JJ, what do you desire, what do you want?”. I found it hard to answer this cause I was so fixated on his eyes. There was nothing there, no soul. Nothing. His eyes were pure red, as if they were balls of magma. So this is what a demon looks like. That was all I could focus on. Till he asked me a question

“Well, I’m waiting?”. I told him. I told him what I wanted, I wanted fame, money, and to the best damn musician that this world would ever see. This gave that demonic bastard a good chuckle. But what he said next, was always in the back of mind, but it's only now that I focus on it, clinging to it like an obsessed fool.

“You want fame, money, and to be a great and famous musician. You humans, so predictable, and oh so full of greed. I love it, it's people like you that keep me in business. And keep hell full of souls, and my brothers and sisters in work. I’ll grant your heart's desires, and in exchange I get your immortal soul, at some point in time, don't know when. But I will come to collect what is mine!” If only I had asked more questions, or was just wise enough to make this deal. But I was just some stupid kid, and shook his hand not thinking of the consequences and his eyes started to glow.

I still remember hearing that demon say“Now let me see your guitar.” I handed it over and he tuned it and when he did his eyes began to glow yet again. “Enjoy”. That was the last thing he said before vanishing leaving no trace behind. How foolish I was. I got everything I ever wanted and my guitar, when I played it sounded like the voice god was coming through. But as the years went by and I grew wiser, I started to worry about when he would collect. Till I started to see demons everywhere I looked walking among people, possessing them. I also started to hear howls, claws scratching at the walls. Till I finally saw it, a hound sent from hell, with eyes of red and black fur soaked in blood. Now here I am. Hiding in my home, with the doors and windows locked. Waiting for those hellhounds to find me, because I know in my heart, my soul that they will drag me into that inferno of damnation only after they have ripped me to shreds.