A Deal with the Devil

Some people say that there is no God or devil. They go through every day life, only believing in what they can see, never doubting for a second that their destiny is theirs to control. Then there are some who believe in a high power, whether that be God, Jehovah, Allah, or any of the hundreds of names that has been accumulated over the centuries. And some, whether it be a believer or a non-believer, in a desperate situation are willing to do anything. Most of the time, making a "deal with the devil" is just a phrase people say. But some actually want something so badly, they're actually willing to barter with their very souls. But whether they mean it or not, he'll still come for you. When you're alone, depressed, and desperate, he'll be your best friend. He'll make every dream a reality, or every nightmare come true. There's a reason they call him the father of all lies.

The room was dark, the only light was coming from the moonlight spilling through the windows. It was twelve in the morning, and Daniel Mitchell was sitting on a chair off to the side of the room. He reached over to the end table next to him and grabbed the glass of Jack Daniels gently sweating on this warm night. Usually he liked to have a small glass of wine at night after work to calm down, but recently he switched to the hard stuff. He was a sophisticated man living in a philistine's world. He appreciated the finer things in life, opera, Beethoven, Bach. He read the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Atlas Shrugged", and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". But because of his situation, he was forced to live like a lower class loser. Living in a studio apartment that was once a garage, and he forced to work in a warehouse from three in the morning to eleven in the afternoon. He was suppose to be heading to work in two hours, but in the condition he was in right now, he was going to have to call in sick. Daniel was so down tonight, he didn't think he would ever be up again. The Channel Five News aired a follow up story to the "Mitchell Family Tragedy". First they recapped the disaster that struck the Bay Area's richest and most powerful family. You see, a man name Harold Mitchell was a contractor. He had been in the business for so long, he finally started up his own company. They did small stuff at first, mostly houses and foundation work for mobile homes. Eventually they grew to building company buildings, but still small time. Mom and pop shops, and small businesses starting up. Harold was a hard worker, but he was also a smart man. He would get himself invited to parties, mingle with important people, and make big deals for himself and his company. Of course, he had to grease a few palms, but you have to spend money to make money. He started getting jobs to build skyscrapers, high-tech buildings, and hip new night clubs. And of course he would be invited to the opening of those night clubs, and shake the hands of more important and powerful people, then get even more business. Ten years after he started his company, he was living the high life. He was filthy rich, married to a beautiful woman, and had a strapping young son. Until, that is, his business partner got caught with a fourteen year old hooker in his hotel room and needed to make a deal. If they let him go and forgot his little incident, he would give them the material to bring in Harold, who was quickly becoming a powerful man. Now the police have been getting heat from the city about not cracking down on the crime, and this was just the kind of publicity they needed. The next day, Harold Mitchell was arrested at his home, and taken to jail to await trial. Bail was revoked because of Harold's influences, and he was found guilty three months later. His case was appealed, but he never made it back in to a courtroom. He was killed in prison during a riot. His family was ruined, and his wife didn't know what to do, being that she believed she could never work for a living. So she ended up over-dosing on pain medication and wine during her bath one night. Daniel was twenty-two then, and was married to a beautiful twenty year old. Without his father's money, he couldn't afford to stay in the college he attended, which was very high end. And, like his mother, afraid of living the normal working class life, Daniel's wife left him to go back with her parents. She wanted to divorce him, but he made her promise to be his wife a little longer, that he'll work everything out. She promised. Daniel has been living in his cramped, one bedroom apartment for four months now. And he hasn't seen her for one of them. And so here he sits, drinking himself into an early grave. Then he uttered that little phrase that will cost him more then he could ever realize, well at least right now.