The Deal (13 page)

As I moved to room six, the only one with a
door, I tried peering through the small glass window, but the room
seemed to be in total darkness. I could feel my brow furrow as I
tried the handle and found that the door was locked, not jammed
shut, but actually locked with a key.

I glanced up the hallway and
into
the
darkness
of the other side of the
building. I could see and hear no one else and it certainly didn’t
look like anyone had stayed behind to keep maintaining it. So why,
was the only room in the kindergarten with a door, still locked at
all?

Now my curiosity was really
getting the better of me and after a moment’s
thought,
I
decided that I needed to know what was in that
classroom
. It
was possible they used the room as storage before closing the
building and all I was going to find was stacks of tiny chairs and
tables.

Then again there could be something else much
more valuable in there, valuable to me at least.

I raised my leg and lashed out at the door.
The air with filled with a loud crack as the hinges gave way and
the door fell backwards into the room.

As I stepped into the doorway I
could feel the gooseflesh return with a vengeance and cover me from
head to toe. I could even feel my balls shrivel up a little as I
looked into the room. The window on the door had actually been
covered with a black paint. The
classroom itself was
actually
brightly lit by the overhead fluorescents.

Soft toys of all sizes and descriptions lay
scattered around the floor as if they had been dropped in mid-play.
To my left was the teachers old pine desk complete with a tub full
of pencils a photo frame and a few sheets of blank paper ready to
be scribbled on. A chair had been pushed into the opening under the
desk and the whole room had a warmth about it that made me feel
like it was still very much in use.

The
photo frame
was the main
item that caught my interest and would surely tell me who the
teacher of the time was. However as I moved to take a closer look
at it, I began to notice little details I hadn’t spotted on my
initial glance round the room.

The soft toys
were
matted with
blood and on the floor near the
toys,
I could make out the
silhouettes of where a body had once been. A child’s body. I could
feel my terror rise as I noted that there
were
at least six such
silhouettes that I could easily pick out.

I glanced back at the photo-frame, praying
that I wouldn’t see her face, but my heart sank like a stone in my
chest when the first person my eyes fell on was Lisa. She was
standing behind the kids in a group photo. She wore that smile
which had won me over instantly and in her eye’s I could still see
that lust for life that she had always had even after five years of
being with me.

My brain reeled as I glanced back
up at the room again, and it seemed like the amount of blood shed
in the room was even more than you would see
on
a normal day
at the slaughterhouse. There was no mistake that the kids had
suffered a horrible and violent death.

I turned my attention back to the photo and I
tried to concentrate on Lisa, but it was hard to ignore those
innocent, smiling faces. Each of them at the beginning of their
lives which seemed to have ended horribly in this room, in a
kindergarten of all places. Worst of all it seemed their teacher,
my wife, was the one who had done the killing.

‘
The truth can be
devastating.’

I spun a
round
towards the
direction of the voice, heart pounding in my chest. I wasn’t sure
whether to feel relief or dread as I saw the tall monk known as
Pertilius.

‘
What are you doing here?’ I
asked, almost grateful to have his company, even if it did come
with strings attached.

‘
I often come here to make sure
there are no lost souls needing my guidance.’ His speech was slower
than I remembered, his words chosen more carefully.

‘
I’m not a lost soul. I just came
looking for answers, but I’m failing to see the illumination that
you spoke of when you reminded me of this place.’ I felt a little
bitter with the monk even though I knew fine well I would have
probably ended up coming here at some point anyway.

‘
Maybe you’re not looking closely
enough.’ He
said
studying the room, and I got a
sense that he knew there was something here that would make the
visit worthwhile.

‘
All I see is blood and death. And
that’s all I ever seem to see these days.’

Pertilius remained silent for a
few
moments
as if he was contemplating on how to point me in
the right direction without actually doing so. That way he could
always deny any responsibility should the dark lord get wind of his
presence here near me?

‘
I find it odd that there are
seven children in that photo yet I only see the outlines of six in
the room.’

Puzzled I followed his gaze to
where each blood stained outline lay in the room. I counted each
one slowly and
sure
enough,
there was exactly six, yet a
closer look at the picture clearly showed seven happy go lucky
kids.

My brain tried to process what that extra or
missing child as it may be, could mean to me and my search for the
truth about my life. I was about to tell the monk just how confused
it was making me feel when my eyes landed on the desks only
drawer.

It was still closed.

Hesitantly, I reached out and
pulled at the handle, expecting it be either stuck shut or locked
just like the door to the
classroom
. I was pleasantly
surprised when it began to slide open without any real effort on my
behalf.

Strangely
enough,
the drawer was empty, but on the
bottom of
it,
someone had crudely
drawn
a strange symbol
which looked like a bull encased in a circle. It had been done in
red and I was certain that it
something other than paint
.

Pertilius could see the bewilderment on my
face and moved close enough to look inside the drawer. When he saw
the symbol he quietly took a few steps back.

‘
That is the sign of being bound
to the devil. It’s the same symbol that is burned
onto
the scroll containing your binding agreement with him.’ He
spoke as if I should have already known all of this and I actually
felt a little dumb that I was an agent of Satan who had no real
clue about the working of the underworld.

However,
I now had more questions than
answers. Setting aside the mysterious seventh child, I found it
hard to believe that a deal with the devil was actually written
down.

‘
So, he actually has a written
contract dictating the terms of our deal?’ I had to ask and I’m
certain Pertilius must have been expecting the question.

‘
Any deal Satan makes must be
written down and sealed as a record in the Hall of Damnation. There
has only ever been one instance when he struck a deal with a knight
back in the 15
^th
century but had not taken the time to complete
and store the contract.’ Pertilius seemed like an unending source
of information, it was just a shame I had to prise it out of
him.

‘
What happened?’ I asked,
curiously.

‘
Gabriel and his brothers
descended from heaven promising to wage war on our lord until he
was
dethroned
because they believed he had tricked a good soul
into doing his work.’

‘
I’m assuming the war never
happened because he’s still hounding my ass.’ I said with a wry
smile, secretly hoping I’d get a chuckle from the big monk but it
never came.

‘
On the eve of what would have
been a devastating war, the knight in question raped and murdered a
chamber maid, which ensured he was destined for hell no matter
what. This was enough to force the angel’s to ascend back to their
heavenly domain, but from that point
onwards
our master started
keeping records of all his deals and should any record go missing
he could face the wrath of the angel’s once more.’

Silence fell on the room once again as he
allowed me time to assimilate the story he had just told me. I
glanced back down at the strange, crudely drawn symbol painted in
blood inside the drawer.

‘
Why would that sign be here
instead of on the contract?’ I felt I was starting to push the
boundaries of my friendship with the holy man from hell, but he was
really the only one I knew who was inclined to give me truthful
answers.

‘
It’s further proof to the angels
of where and when the deal was struck.’

‘
Basically,
he was covering his ass?’ I
said in my usual blunt way.

‘
You could say that, yes. Other
than the resurrection of the original sinner himself, our lords
only other great fear is Gabriel descending to his kingdom.’ It was
as the word sinner passed his lips that I suddenly remembered the
gold chain in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and handed it over
to him.

‘
I got this back for you.’ I said,
dropping the gold chain with the ornate heart into his waiting
palm.

Although I could see no face beyond his hood,
I knew if I could see one it would be wearing a thoughtful
expression.

‘
So it found its way to you after
all.’ He said eventually, still holding it in his open palm like he
did not want to touch it any longer than hr had to.

‘
Only because the boss man, our
lord as you like to call him, really wanted it.’ I
said
fighting the temptation to snatch it back from him, but I
knew that would be a truly bad idea.

‘
Yes,
he would. Do you know what it is, Samuel?’ It was
his turn to pose a question and once again I felt like a
dummy.

‘
Well
it's
obviously some
sort of sacred artefact, but beyond
that,
all I know is that
Satan was desperate to get it back. Yet,
strangely enough,
he
picked one of the fake gold chains I found along with it instead of
that.’

I watched as Pertilius rolled the heart shaped
piece of gold back and forth in his palm, not wanting to touch it
but somehow drawn to it at the same time.

‘
Our master is the successor to
the original sinner, Beelzebub. In his ascent to the
throne,
he took no time to learn of the artefacts left behind that
could harm him should they fall
into
the wrong hands. All he
knows is that he must get them back and stored away safely so that
nothing can threaten his crown. Plus, he has no reason to believe
that you would be foolish enough to try and trick him.’

I was almost certain that there was a hint of
glee in his voice, like a small child playing a prank on his
parents. I glanced back down at the photo in my hand, taking in
each of the seven smiling faces and with no clue who the missing
seventh child was.

‘
I always thought Beelzebub was
just one of many names he used which basically all pointed to the
same being.’ I said, not taking my eyes from the picture. I felt
certain there was something I was missing but it was
just too
minute of a detail for me to see right away.

‘
No, Beelzebub was the original
creator of Hell. He was the one responsible for creating the seven
levels and all the beings which ruled over them. Right now our time
is limited and the lack of
my
presence at the monastery
will be noticed soon, so I can’t give you the complete
history.’

I turned my attention back to the heart shaped
pendant in his hand. He could see my questioning gaze even if I
couldn’t see his, but I was starting to feel a bit nervy myself. I
felt certain that Satan was going to pay us a visit if we continued
hanging out with each other.

‘
So what is the big deal about the
pendant? I know the chain its self is meaningless.’

‘
It is the sinners’
heart
or Beelzebub’s heart as it’s known here in the human world.’
He held out the artefact for me to take and after past
experience,
I wasn’t expecting a pleasant sensation as I
reached out to take it.

Unlike the sharp, electric sensation I got
when I took possession of the last artefact, this one caused a nice
comforting warmth to engulf my body as the gold bubbled and melted
into the palm of my hands. I noticed the sacred symbols now
tattooed on my wrists and forehead glow brightly as the ancient
magic was absorbed into my body.

‘
What does it do?’ I asked,
enjoying the warmth probably a little more than I should
have.