Hell Born

The Beginning

In a dark, damp, musky smelling alley way in a small town in Britain, I was walking down the the misshapen pebble stone road to go home to my family. I carried a bag with bread and vegetables I traded for dairy products from our farm with the only store in town that was willing to trade.

A pandemic was spreading rapidly through Britain. No one knew how to heal it, no one even knew how to control it. The illness quickly spread from town to town, village to village, hundreds of bodies and their belongings were being burned. Rose stems were being thrown aimlessly into the streets. The smell of those mixed with decay and burning flesh filled the air.

The illness hit close to home. My father caught the sickness during the first few weeks. His skin started to rot and turn a vulgar black color. He reeked of rotting flesh. His skin had oversized tumor like bumps on his arm pits and places mother wouldn't speak of. The bumps got bigger and began to spread across his body. They would bust open and oozed with pus and bleed at the slightest touch.

He ran a fever and threw up blood. We could barely get him to eat even broth because his throat was hurting and closing slowly. He was losing blood rapidly. Little dots were all across his skin. He could barely breathe. His lungs were giving away day by day. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe.

My mother could do nothing but try to keep the fever down, and try to keep him hydrated. She sat there day by day watching her husband die. She watched him agonize in pain until after only six days his heart gave out.

On the seventeenth day of June the doctor ordered us to cremate him and his belongings. We said goodbye to our father as doctor Wenseth and I carried his body in a white blanket to a pit of fire. Inside the blanket were wilting rose petals.

He left behind my mother, brother and I. My mother and I managed the fields and she did the house work and took care of my baby brother and I hunted and took care of the traveling for trade. It was rough without him. I was only sixteen at the time. I didn't know everything I needed to know. There was so much I still needed to learn.

As I walked down the street the only thing keeping me pushing through the sharp pain of the cold from the freezing November night was the thought of my mother and baby brother at home. The bag of goods was wrapped tightly in a blanket and set in a basket.

The walk was silent. The only sound I heard was my boots sludging through the wet rocks and the quiet drips of water dripping off the tree limbs. Around this time of night everyone is snugly in their warm beds. What's left of the families bundled together in their houses staying warm. Mother always worries when I have to go on my own like this. It must be stressful. She has to send her child into the cold and on their own so they can keep the family going. I know she wishes she can go with me, but she can't leave Christopher all by himself. He was only four at the time. He couldn't take care of himself.

I was brought out of my train of thought by quiet steps behind me. My own footsteps were a loud clunk clunk. These were a quiet sound of almost heeled boots. I turned my head to look behind me. The only light there was was the dim light of the moon. But there was no one behind me. I turned around and kept walking. I began to focus on the surroundings. There were two ways I could go. One way I'd be going to the country side, across a bridge and over a few hills and I'd be home. Or the other way would be a clear straight way home.

I heard the foot steps again. I looked back again and saw nothing. I began to walk faster. But my body was so frozen it was like moving my legs with cinder blocks on them. But I pushed harder and harder. The footsteps were getting louder and gradually faster. My steps were shuffling faster and noisily. I turned around and saw a quick, black silhouette coming faster towards me. I turned around and started running. My body was aching and throbbing. My lungs and throat were burning. I looked back again, and I saw nothing. The sound stopped. I rounded around the corner to the two intersections. But when I got there I was met with a unexpected surprise.

A man in a dark gray trench coat, and pointed, buckle boots stood right in the middle of the intersection. His face was somber and almost gray. His hair was a salt and peppery gray. I stopped.
"Hello, Sir?" I asked.
"Hello young man. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" He asked. His voice was very smooth. But there was a sarcastic ring in his voice.
"Just trying to get home to my family, Sir. " I replied.
"I'm sorry to hear about your father. "
I paused. I was stunned. Not many people knew me around this part of town. I didn't recognize him from mine and my father's trips. Of course its not like word traveled fast back then.

"Can I ask how you knew my father?" I asked, looking back to see if I saw anything coming after me.
"I didn't know him at all. But I know you, Adam." The man grinned, his smile was filled with perfectly straight and sharp teeth.
"H-how?" I asked.
"Let me introduce myself." He stepped closer to me, what I saw once he stepped confused me. Was I hallucinating or was the ground a flaming orange where he was just standing?
"My name is Lucifer, and I have a deal for you. "

I stepped back slowly. I looked around quickly. Is there any way I could get around him? "Don't bother trying to run. I'll catch you. Think about your family. "

I looked at him. The closer I got I saw that his irises were black. It was as if there was nothing there.
"What do you want?" I asked, shaking.
"I have a deal-" he said again."You will never have to worry about your family struggling ever again. "

Never? I've always heard that the devil is a trickster. He will promise you great fortune for one thing, your soul. But he can misguide you. He can turn you into a monster.

"Never?" I asked.
"I know you and your family are struggling. I only want to help." He grinned.
"Why do you want to help?" I spat out.
"Because, you could be of great use to me. Your family needs the help."

He was right. We was struggling. Mother couldn't afford the taxes. The only income we had was from the farm and plus side jobs I did. But what could he do?

"What makes you think I would take your help?" I asked.
"I know how this ends. If you don't take my help, your mother and yourself will not be able to pay the taxes. You will lose your farm and everything you own. Your family will be on the streets. Think about little Christopher. "

I'm usually the type to control myself. But once he said Christopher's name I wanted to hit him right in his perfectly contoured jaw line. But what if what he's saying is true? Could I let my family go through such a thing?

"You could be of great use to me, Adam. Just sign this paper and your family is free of poverty and hunger for the rest of their lives."

"What do you want with me?" I asked.
"I want to give you an opportunity, son. I want to give you the opportunity to work for me. You will be one of the most desired things in dark magic."

The decision comes down to either my family being alive and well or alive and dying. My mother and brother deserve the best life they can have. I don't ever want my brother to have to make the sacrifices I've made.

I want my mother to have a smile on her face. When father was alive she was always smiling. She was alive and vibrant. But now, her face is always filled with grief and worry. She almost looks colorless. Its felt like a millennia since I've seen her smiling. Its felt like forever since she's been in the kitchen rolling up dough while humming one of her favorite hymns. The mother I knew at Christopher's age was a much happier person then she is now.

All I want is to have a happy family again.

"Alright." I sighed. A devious smile appeared across his face as a piece of parchment appeared in front of me.
"Give me your hand." He ordered. I hesitantly gave him my hand he touched my finger, his hands were as hot as fire. He quickly pricked my finger with some unknown point and I jerked my hand away. I watched as a drop of my blood landed on the paper.

He smiled at me, his once black eyes turned into flames. "Have a good day, son. "

I felt my vision fade, my eyes flutter, and myself fall down. I heard a evil laugh right before it went dark.