Devil Incarnates

Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil

Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil

"I made a deal with the Devil and when I die, I'm going straight to Hell."

The girl glared at Jim. Jim glared right back.

He didn't care if she was mad. He didn't care if she was upset. If she cried (thank God she hadn't) Jim wouldn't care about that either. It was policy to explain to his victims why he was kidnapping them. It also helped to convince Jim that he wasn't completely evil - he just had a lot of bad baggage.

A LOT of bad baggage. Jim made a deal with the Devil. And when he died, Jim was going straight to Hell. It was a long story. And it all started the day he was born.

Jim Hawkins lived in Illtyde. Illtyde , as legend has it, dropped from Heaven then bounced off Hell. It rolled around the sun, moon, and stars before crashing somewhere in between. The impact split the country into two parts: East Illtyde and West Illtyde.

Saints lived in the East. Sinners lived in the West.

Per legend, children are separated into saints and sinners before birth. For every saint made by an angel, a demon makes a sinner. Each child is a cocktail of genetic material extracted from the parents combined with the strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits that their creator decides to throw in.

One could think of angels and demons as chefs. Reason being, each child must be cooked with 14 ingredients. These 14 ingredients were affectionately known as the Seven Deadly Vices and the Seven Heavenly Virtues. All 14 ingredients must be added for a baby to be born, but the quantities varied from child to child.

The vices - pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth - were the favorite ingredients of demons. Therefore, a 'demon child' would be created with more vice than virtue, and the recipe would be reflected through his personality.

The virtues - chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility - were the favorite ingredients of angels. An 'angelic child' might grow up to be a saint, a philanthropist, a recycler, a heroine, a hero, or just a simple, loveable fool.

Regardless, sinner or saint, each child was endowed with a predominant virtue or vice. That is, when each child was blended with the 14 virtues and vices, one overpowered the mix. It might be pride. It might be diligence. It might be kindness. It might be lust. But whichever, the overpowering ingredient drives the actions and morality of each sinner and saint.

Jim Hawkins was a sinner. And his ingredient was Greed.

Greed was a family trait. At least, Jim suspected it was. His mother was dead and he never knew his father, but Jim's siblings were just as greedy (possibly greedier) than him. He had four siblings: three brothers, one sister.

Like all children blessed (or cursed) with Greed, Jim and his siblings were raised by the Cult of Greed. The Cult of Greed was a band of thieves - men and women devoted to material wealth. Occupations ranged from piracy, to thievery, to monopolists, to kidnapping. It was very lucrative - providing you didn't get caught.

Not getting caught was the trick to a successful career in Greed. More often than not, members of the Cult of Greed found their greedy ambitions pestered by their more virtuous personality traits. After all, everybody had all 14 virtues and vices. Sometimes those pesky virtues just had to shine through.

Which was why most of the Cult of Greed members made a deal with the Devil. The deal was simple: you sold your soul.

Seem absurd?

Well reconsider. Think again.

When one sells his soul to the Devil, he is destined to an afterlife in Hell. Suddenly, life on Earth has no reservations. No doubts. No worries. No restrictions. All boundaries are lost. When you know you are going to Hell, you do anything to make your life Heaven on Earth. You are free to lie for love, cheat for cheer, and muck for money.