A Deal with the Devil

Chapter 6

Months passed, and the anger which obsessed Mara for a while kept growing as she was witness of the disregard of her parents. Branwen left the manor two months after the tragedy. The girl felt abandoned, and her pain gained more and more space. She also had a lust for vengeance. Her smile had been changed by a fixed grin. From the day of her sister's funeral, she'd never ever talked to his father, and limited herself to dine with him. Her mother continued to host people as if nothing happened. Mara was the only one to bring flowers to her sister, and to think about her. At the beginning, she refused to make as if she never had a sibling, and her father was beside himself: one day, he even slapped her, red with anger, screaming. So then, she was obsessed with a strong yearning to kill the one who made the memory of her sister disappear. A night, as she communed with herself at Willow's tomb, promising to take the law into her own hands for the third time, she heard a devil voice coming from nowhere.

- Who is it? She asked, a bit scared, brandishing the candle she brought.

- It's me darling, the one people call when they are hopeless, determinate, or just evil: I'm the Devil. Answered the husky and attractive voice.

- The Devil? Are you kidding me? She laughed.

- You should trust me if you want that much to honour the memory of Willow.

- What? But how? Accepting it's true, how did you find me?

- You swore three times honey. You made a deal with the Devil.

- Three times... She repeated. And what kind of deal?

She thought she felt a hand brush her face, but nobody was there.

- Here we are! I love this moment darling, when you realise what you've lost evermore, and you beg me. But let me tell you one thing: your soul baby, cause that's what I'll take, will always be mine. Your feelings, your empathy, your fears: forget them. Instead, welcome the anger, the passion, the guilty pleasure and the power. All you ever want will be possible darling.

- My soul... take it! Without hesitation, I trust you.

A scary smile, closer to a grimace than to a smile itself, appeared in her face.

- Great! I like this state of mind girl! Offer me your hand.

Suspicious, she did what he asked, and shuddered when a thin blood-covered hand with long claws held hers. Immediately, a powerful feeling of invincibility and above all of hatred gained her. Her eyes became darker, almost black.

- Oh, one more thing: your power must be used only to fulfil your wish. You understand that if I let you use it without any limits, I'll be useless in this old world. Good luck, honey.

As the last word was said, the hand disappeared, and Mara ended up alone. The candle went out, and in the silence of the night, the diabolical laugh of the new girl resounded.