My Soul to Keep

Prologue: Deal with the Devil

*** I AM CURRENTLY MAKING SOME CHANGES TO THE PLOT/DEVELOPMENT OF THIS STORY SO PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS JUST A ROUGH DRAFT***

The cool wind sent shivers down my spine and the rain pelting against my skin. The bridge was swaying and I could hear my heartbeat thumping a million beats per second but I didn't care. I didn't care. I don't care. The pavement below me was so far away, yet so, so close.

Could I really do this? Could I really leave behind this world? Of course I could. This world has already left me behind, so why shouldn't I do the same? I take one step forward and a gust of wind almost makes me lose my balance. Come on, Miles, I thought to myself. Don't be weak. With sweaty palms and a lump in my throat, I leaped off of the edge and closed my eyes tightly.

I hit the ground and following the impact is a wildfire coursing through my body. It starts at the nape of my neck and spreads until it hits my toes. It only lasts a short period of time until everything goes numb. I surely have broken bones, but I can no longer feel them. Am I dying? Surely I must be. I had thought that the jump would take me instantly, that it would be easy and quick. Yet here I lay, on the edge of unconsciousness, wishing that this would be over.

Regret.
After laying on the chilled pavement for what seems like centuries but couldn't have been more than twenty minutes, all I can feel is myself slowly going under - but never quite making it there - and regret. Oh, what I would give for another chance. Living out the rest of my life in the Hell that it was sounds so much more tempting than the Hell that I am currently experiencing.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
I can hear footsteps coming towards me but I cannot move my head to see who is coming. Maybe it's somebody that can help me I think to myself. The footsteps are slow and antagonizing, each step at least three seconds apart. I start to get an uneasy feeling, wondering if this isn't someone coming to help me, but rather to rob me or just finish me off themselves. I can see someone approaching in my peripheral vision but it's so dark outside that I can't see anything but a mere shadow of a person. Finally, they are hovering over me, and my blood runs cold.

He has black piercing eyes that look through me as if they're staring hungrily at my soul. His blood-red skin and teeth that look like thirty-two little knives lining his grinning mouth make me want to close my eyes and wish that this was all a horrible, bizarre dream.

"Hello, Miles," he says, never faltering his grin. "I'd like to make a deal."