My first reaction to the devil was jealousy, pure unabashed jealousy. I wanted with all my heart to be as suave him. People would worship me if I were a fraction of what he was. He appeared when I was staring at the vast dark void below my feet. I knew somewhere far below was cold concrete and an escape. They weren’t going to catch me, not alive anyways. I could hear the sirens now. It was a pleasing thought; to know that after how much hell they had put me through trying to catch me, in the end all they would have to show for their efforts was going to be a pile of gore and spatter on the sidewalk. The thought, however, died quickly because a cool, raspy voice that betrayed many years of smoking called out, “Now why would you go and do a stupid thing like that son.” I turned with a start seeking for where the sound came from, and out from the shadow of some pipes stepped the devil.
I had never seen this man before in my life but in an instant I knew without a doubt who and what he was. He had a lean, fair face that wore a harsh expression, and an enviable pencil moustache. His appearance was one of impeccable presentation and class, every tuxedo in the world would now look like paltry rags in comparison to this man’s garments. I could not determine his age, for his tall slender body looked old and young all at once. He brandished in black gloved hands a walking stick made of a substance that seemed to be solid smoke but was a darker black than I ever could have imagined. I stared at the dark object until I realized what seemed a hundred feet down into its smoky core there were flames licking their way upward, as if desperately trying to escape out into the world. However, the most striking thing about the devil was his eyes. Eyes so fierce cobalt blue that it hurt to look at them, yet I could not break my gaze.
He was walking casually toward me, saying, “Now why don’t you take a step off that ledge. It is rather windy tonight don’t you think?” I desperately wanted to jump but my legs betrayed me and stepped down towards the beautiful, deadly man. I watched him approach with the humbled look a child has on his face when he has been caught sneaking candy, I started to say something but my mouth fumbled and made garbled gibberish instead. “Damnit!” was all that I could think. The devil stopped feet away from me and laughed, “Yes. I could. But that would just be too easy.” I was startled by his laugh and the notion that he was reading my mind or could read my face with so much ease, “What do you want?” That was a dumb question I realized at once. “Oh just your soul, eternal damnation, endless torture blah blah blah.” was his casual but not unexpected reply. “Well if it’s my soul you want, isn’t it a little stupid of you to stop me from jumping off the ledge?” I snapped. This won me a deep laugh on his part “Ahh nick! That is why I have always liked you! You get right to the point of the matter, no bullshit. But I suppose that from where you’re standing it is rather stupid of me to ask you to not jump. The answer to your question, however, is simple.” He stood there staring at me until I couldn’t take it anymore, “Well?” I asked. Amusement was growing on his face as he replied with an air of reverence, “The game.” A shiver went up and down my spine. Instincts told me to be wary, “What is the game?” I asked in a voice heavy with caution. “The game is what I live for!” he shouted with merriment. “It is the essence of my being! My one passion! It defines me and I define it. Without the game I am nothing and without me the game cannot exist. There are only two players of any importance, and I am not sorry to disappoint, but you are not one of them.” Realization slowly crept in, “You are talking about your battle with God.” I exclaimed
“You humans are so quick to define things.” He said with mild annoyance. “Yes I suppose it is a battle, but not in the sense that you humans battle and make war. It is a battle of cunning, a bit like a game of poker and you humans are the chips. Except in this game the chips are the ones who are being bluffed. Old Jeff and I have been at the game for a long time.” At once he sensed or saw my confusion “Humanity has many names for God, but those who are acquainted with him personally know he goes by Jeff.” He explained. A moment of boldness took me and I blurted out, “Well what can I do for you then, Lucifer.” He gazed up now obviously angered, “No I suppose he doesn’t know any better.” He growled to someone or something that I could see. “Lucifer is a name that humans gave me and I detest it. My name is Steven. You may call me Steve.” he said with an eloquent bow. It was hard to grasp that the devil himself went by so common a name, it humanised him. Yet even after learning his true name I was terrified, mustering all the courage I had in me I asked, “Well, Steve, what does this game have to do with me.” The devil pulled a cigarette case out of his breast pocket, offering one to me and pulling one out for himself. He stuck it in his mouth without lighting it but as soon as the cigarette touched his lips a flame burst into life at the tip and lit it, he inhaled. The devil exhaled after some time and the smoke rose about his head, wispy curls obscuring my vision of him here and there. “Here let me get that for you”, Steve said. Suddenly my own cigarette lit and I went to inhale deeply. The smoke was thick and bittersweet; it filled my lungs. I could feel my nerves calming almost instantly. Slowly I exhaled, a deal calmer than I was before. Steve turned and said,“Walk with me Nick.” This slightly amused me “Where? In case you haven’t noticed we are on top of a buildi...” my reply was cut short for in a flash of smoke and heat we were gone from the ledge and standing in a vast landscape of ash and fire. Looming over us was a black mountain, molten rock and thick smoke spewing from its peak, rivers of flames and magma cascading down its face like so many tears. “Such lovely weather for a stroll” the devil said as he started walking in the direction of a cluster of dead trees, their skeletal branches extended towards the ash choked sky as if pleading for rain that would never come in this dead place. The devils feet left smouldering footmarks in the ash as he walked.
Steve never once looked to see if I was not following, nor did he make any signs of stopping so I had no choice but to pursue. My feet sent up puffs of ash that lazily settled back to the ground as I jogged after the devil. Every here and there fire shot out from pools of magma in the ash choked ground to suggest that the whole forsaken plain was volcanic. When I had finally reached him and slowed my pace to his, he began his tale. “Long ago, before your people or even the universe your species exists in. Jeff and I were the grand architects of everything. We were the force that shaped all the things that your people know of and more. Together we wrote worlds, galaxies, universes, dimensions into the realm of existence. Together we painted life and death. There was only one law greater than ours, that law was balance. Everything must be balanced, even Jeff and I. He could not exist without me, nor I without him. Our powers negated each other’s. He would create life and I would create death to fulfill the balance. Just as if I created dark, so too would he create light. It was only in our differences that we could hope to satisfy balance, and it was our absolute differences that achieved us perfection. Ironically it was balance that gave us unlimited power and at the same enslaved ourselves to each other, for if he created something I had no choice but to create the thing to oppose it. Balance was the true creator of everything; Jeff and I were merely tools. But there came a time when we defied the one rule that governed us. I suppose it was my fault for I first created hell, Jeff had no choice but to create heaven. Heaven and hell were our crowning achievements and yet our worst creations. They freed us from our slavery to each other, but clipped our wings at the same time. Our final creation killed balance.”
I walked and listened, dumbfounded by the devils tale. “But I don’t understand how the creation of heaven and hell can kill something that was a concept.” I blurted out. Steve’s blue eyes gave me a pitying look, “You naive human. Balance was no concept. It was the single most important aspect of existence. Before, if something was created that did not fulfill balance, it would eventually destroy itself. When we created heaven and hell, we integrated within them the ability to defy the laws of balance. I will simplify it for you Nick. Before heaven and hell, if a human died his body would return to the earth and his essence, or soul as some of you humans like to call it, would return to the balance of existence. Keeping the scales even, so to speak. But heaven and hell took from balance the ability to spread essence in a way that it saw fit. Heaven would claim the essence from one who lived his life in a way pleasing to Jeff, and hell, the essence from one who lived their life pleasing to me. As heaven and hell grew, balance died, leaving Jeff and I with only a fraction of our original powers. Everything we tried to create would destroy itself. Soon everything else in existence started to decay and crumble without balance. Galaxies imploded, universes ripped themselves apart, and dimensions collided violently. Our final creation and the death of balance gave birth to chaos. Chaos is now the lawless law in the realm of existence and it is slowly obliterating everything.”
Panic took me when I comprehended what Steve was telling me. “But without balance how long do we have?!” I exclaimed, almost dropping my cigarette. The devil took a puff of his and responded exhaling as he spoke, “Jeff and I realized what was happening and tried our best to stop it. Yet with our remaining power we could not fully replicate the perfection of balance, but we did enough to slow the destruction of everything in existence. That is why we created the game. The growth of heaven and hell is what fuels chaos, and the game existed to keep the growth of each in check. At first Jeff and I understood the importance of the game and collected essence at a mutual rate, making sure that one did not grow at a rate faster than the other. In this way balance was mimicked and chaos was held at bay. However, over the countless millennia Jeff and I had both forgotten the real purpose of the game and it turned into a quarrel of whose realm collected more essence. We established religions and cults throughout all of the sentient, essence bearing life forms in existence to cause heaven and hell to grow in leaps and bounds. Our quarrel soon turned into a bet, whoever reached a certain amount of essence first was the winner. We agreed on an amount so vast that your human mind would not be able to comprehend its size. Unfortunately, despite the size of the amount we settled on, that meant we gave a finite boundary to the realms of heaven and hell. Whichever reaches the allocated amount of essence first wins, and the game is over. But so too is the slowing of chaos. When the game is over, everything in existence will be annihilated by chaos. And I have almost won.”
What Steve said caught me like a blow to the stomach, the cigarette dropping from my mouth extinguishing itself in the ash. My legs gave way and I sat down hard letting a whimper escape my mouth. The devil was standing looking down on me as I stared up with teary eyes. “Everything?” I asked, struggling to speak. He nodded, smoke dancing around his head from the nearly finished cigarette. He gazed far off in the distance as if he could see something other than ash and death. Rage leapt up and replaced the feeling of loss within me, “What is the point? Huh? Tell me what the point is then! Tell me what the fucking point is!” I yelled at the devil, tears streaming down my face. “If we are all heading towards obliteration why even try!?” Then the devil looked at me and did the last thing I ever would expect of him. He smiled and held out his hand, when I grabbed it he pulled me up onto my feet. Then he gripped both my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes saying, “The point, Nick, is living. Living and enjoying every second you have. That is why I came to you in what would be your final seconds. If I had not intervened you would be in hell, I would have won, and then we would all be destroyed. The game is all I have to live for now, there is nothing I enjoy as much as the game and the manipulation of the chips. I intend to make the game last as long as possible, even if it means giving a few chips a second chance. Now keep walking with me, we are almost there.” The devil and I continued our walk until we reached the dead forest. Flowing through the forest was a river of oil; in the dark ooze were the bloated corpses of things I had never seen before. The one nearest to me had a body like an elephant, five giraffe like legs and a head not unlike a crocodile. As we got nearer I saw there were black maggots feasting on its eyes, the whole place stunk of decay. We stopped at the river’s edge, Steve flicked the butt of his cigarette into the river and raised his cane. A black ship covered in hundreds of blinking red eyes surfaced from below the oil, the devil climbed in. “Care to join me?” he said gesturing to a seat made of rotting cupped hands. Reluctantly I climbed in and smoothly the boat took off down the river of filth.
The river exited the dead forest and continued down the choked landscape of fire and death, the boat made not a sound as the current pulled us towards our destination. Ahead lay the vast mountain; tremors shook the earth as the mountain let its rage show in the form of a giant plume of ash and fire that ruptured forth from within. The whole land was now bathed in angry red light as the volcanic cloud blotted out the sun. Coils of purple lightning angrily buzzed around the plume, the eruption was turning the sky into a tempestuous storm. Ash fell from the heavens like snow, and the river of oil could no longer be seen. It was now a seething ribbon of dark grey, barely discernable from the rest of the bleak landscape. “Chaos is waking.” The devil said. The hair back of my neck stood up and my stomach twisted. “So I was going to hell but you are giving me a second chance because if you gather one more soul you win?” I asked Steve. He looked at me and said, “Yes, but you presume too much. I am not giving you your soul back for free. It is not in my nature to do that. You have to win it back yourself.” This scared and angered me, “What if I lose? What if I don’t reclaim my soul? What if I go to hell as you say?” Steve once again looked off into the distance and smiled sadly, “Then I win, and we all lose. The game will have run its course.” The boat stopped after a bend near a massive cave in the side of the furious mountain. Steven stepped out and gestured for me to do the same. Terror took me, “I...I...I can’t do this Steve.” The boat began sinking back into the dark depths from where it came. The devil’s gaze pierced me as he spoke, “You don’t have a choice.”
Deep into the black cavern we went, until it was unbearably hot and the darkness was replaced by the hot light emitting from a river of magma far down in a chasm. Finally we came to a vast smooth wall, coated with horrible runes and glyphs carved into the rock of the mountain itself. A terrible mouth opened in the centre of the wall when we approached, a giant eyeball sat balanced on the tip of the mouths tongue. It spoke in a terrible dialect I could not understand, the devil responded likewise. Then the mouth swallowed the eye and opened wider and wider until it was large enough for three men to walk through side by side, hot dry air rushed out of the mouth as it expanded and for a second I thought I could hear countless screams coming from far below. “Maybe it’s just the mountain rumbling.” I thought unconvinced. Steve gestured for me to walk through, I wanted to run but where was there to go? Mustering as much courage as I could, I stepped through and the devil followed.
Black. Pitch black. It was as dark as the devils cane when the mouth shut. I had the sensation of falling but no wind rushed past my face, there was no sound in this place. I tried to speak, I could feel my vocal chords moving to produce sound but even still the silence was absolute. Panic gripped me and I screamed a long, silent, terrified scream. I thrashed and flayed to escape this place devoid of light, sound, or wind. But massive unseen hands grabbed me and pulled me down further into the void. Suddenly I could sense I was in a chair, I tried in vain to stand but the unseen hands were keeping me fast in place. Abruptly a green flame burst into life in front of me, washing the room in its sickly light. My heart leapt into my mouth as the flame revealed the horrors within. I was seated in the middle of the room; a vast iron table fully encircled me. Around the table sat a dozen decayed corpses, some slumped over and others half fallen out of their chairs. But the most horrible thing in the room was a giant cracked mirror. It extended up and disappeared in the black void above me from which I fell. The fire was between the mirror and I so I could clearly see my reflection. Yet it was not my reflection that terrified me so; it was the scenes within the mirror. Every wrongdoing I had ever done, and all the pain I caused rippled across the mirrors dark surface. A cold dry voice hissed, “Let usss begin the trial.” Shuffling and scraping filled the room. I realized with dread that the corpses were moving; all had a bony finger pointing at me and were staring with eyeless hollows. Then their heads slowly turned to the mirror as one. Voices and whispers turned into terrible shouts and screams, “This one isss guilty.” “He ssshall burn!” “Many wrongsss hasss he done.” “We will feassst on his flesssh!” The shouts rang in my ears as tears streamed down my face. I realized that I too was screaming. “I am sorry! I never meant it! Please! Have mercy!” I yelled while weeping uncontrollably. “Look unto the mirror child of filth and sssee the pain you have causssed.” Something grabbed my head and turned it towards the mirror. The screams of all those I had hurt in my lifetime filled the room as countless faces warped with pain shimmered across the mirrors surface. It was too much, I shut my eyes from the horrors I had committed. “Gaze upon thossse you have wronged!” the voices screamed. Searing pain lashed across my face as the green flame licked my eyelids off. My eyeballs now had no protection from the mirror and the images it showed. It seemed to go on for a lifetime, as more and more scenes of pain assaulted me. “Stop...stop” I whimpered, “I am sorry. Please, I am sorry.” I wept. Tears mixed with blood from the scorched flesh around my eyes and fell down my face. Silence took place of the screams that once filled the chamber, and the mirror was dark once again.“Sssearch his esssence.” The voices whispered after a pause. All I could hear was the sound of my own heart thumping frantically in my chest, and the soft patter of my blood and tears striking the floor. “He isss worthy of the tessst.” The voices finally whispered. Slowly the room faded out of existence and the pain from my eyes receded. I felt the grip of whatever entity was holding me in the chair dissolve. Trembling I lifted my hands to my face and felt my eyelids whole again. Someone grasped my shoulders gently; Steve’s voice softly entered my ears “Come with me.”
The dark was suddenly replaced by brilliant light. I was blinded, and blinked as stars filled my vision. Slowly my eyes adjusted and I realized that the brightness came from a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling by a wire. The bulb lit a small hazy room with a painting of a beautiful woman that appeared to be older than the earth itself hanging on the wall. In the middle of the room sat a green felt table boarded with mahogany. Three chairs sat at the table, and two were empty. One of the empty chairs was hewn from black marble with red veins and the other from immaculate white. But the third chair was iron, with terrible images carved upon its surface. However, none of the images were as terrible as the beast that sat in the chair. It had the body of a bear, arms and legs of a great ape, the head of a horse and giant eyes like a fly’s. The beast’s throat was in a perpetual state of being slit as if by some invisible dagger. Black maggots poured from the wound screaming in a thousand different tongues as they fell, dissolving into smoke before touching the table’s surface. I could not take this hell any more; my mind was broken from the things I had witnessed. I could feel the tentacles of insanity feeling for a crack in my mind, for a way through. The devil pushed me forward and into the white chair, “We are almost done.” He whispered. The beast was shuffling a deck of cards. Steve seated himself in the black chair; twenty poker chips carved from solid rubies appeared before the devil and I. I looked up and another lit cigarette was in Steve’s mouth, he reached down into his pile and threw a chip into the centre of the table I followed suit. Looking at me he flicked the cigarette away and said, “Do not presume that I will let you win or even go easy on you. As I told you before Nick, it is not in my nature to just give you your soul back. You must legitimately earn it back yourself.” Sweat formed on my brow and my heart raced. Steve turned to the beast, “Deal.” He ordered.
The beast dealt us each two cards; the devil glanced at his and threw two more chips into the pile. I had in my hand the seven of spades and seven of diamonds, “This is a good start” I thought. I threw down three chips. Steve’s eyes narrowed and scrutinized me; cold sweat dripped down my neck. Finally he grabbed another chip and threw it down. The beast’s heavy gargled breathing and the periodical screams of falling maggots were the only sounds to be heard as it burned one and placed three cards face up on the table with its massive hairy hands. There were the three of spades, the queen of clubs, and the five of hearts. Steve reached into his pile and threw another chip down, I matched him. A card was burned and another flipped; now the six of spades sat in the row. Once again we both added a chip to the pot. The beast dealt again and now the seven of hearts sat on the green felt. A spike of adrenalin rushed through my body “Three of a kind!” I thought joyfully. I glanced at the devil as he casually put in another chip, this time I raised him three. Once again I felt his piercing eyes study me, and then he too added to the pot. The beast suddenly spoke, his deep voice gargling in his bloody throat as black blood dripped from his mouth, “Flip your cards.” I triumphantly threw my hand down and looked at the devils hand. “The fool had only a pair of three’s!” I thought to myself. Steve’s face might have been carved from stone; his expression was emotionless and betrayed nothing. If he was concerned that he had just lost half his chips in the first round he certainly did not show it. I gathered the chips and added them to my pile, feeling smug that I was beating the devil at his own game. We both proceeded to ante and the beast dealt our cards. This time I acquired a nine of diamonds and a king of spades. The bet was mine and I decided to play it safe by only betting one chip, which the devil matched. The two of hearts, the queen of hearts, and the ten of clubs were placed on the table. “This is starting to look interesting.” I thought excitedly while licking my lips. We both gave up another chip to see the fourth card. Luck was with me in this game for the next card to be turned was a jack of clubs, “This round is mine!” I thought with glee. I threw down two chips and the devil matched. The final card to be flipped was a four of hearts, with an air of ignorance I threw down three chips. The devil raised me two and went all in.
“Is the devil a fool to go all in on the second round? Could he not see my obvious glee? Is he bluffing?” my mind raced. I watched the devils stone face, seeking for a tell and finding none. If he was bluffing he was doing a damn fine job. “He is trying to scare me off, he needs this pot and he knows I have a good hand.” I decided. I matched him and threw down my cards defiantly, watching his face the entire time. Still his face betrayed nothing, and then his hand caught my eye. I was staring at five hearts on the table, a chill went through me and I felt my eyes bulge. He wasn’t bluffing; he had taken my straight with a flush and just as easily tied the game up! “Damn his fucking stone face!” my furious mind screamed while insanity grew restless outside the walls of my mind. I watched in dismay while the devil gathered up the pot. I chose to fold in the next round after the turn; I only had 14 chips left. More screams filled the room as maggots poured from the beast’s throat again. “Damn those fucking maggots and their fucking screams!” my mind shouted as the tentacles of insanity found a crack; I shifted uncomfortably in my stone chair. The next round I played cautiously with a two pair, yet lost to the devils higher two pair. The beast announced the devil the winner, blood spewed from his mouth as he spoke. “Damn that fucking monster and his fucking throat!” I could feel the tentacles break through the crack they had discovered. Now I only had nine chips left. Panic griped me. I was losing; the devil was testing me in the first round I realized. “You fool!” My mind screamed at me, “What made you think you could beat the devil?!” I had no choice but to continue.
The devil and I both anteed up, and the beast with his gory throat and thrice damned screaming maggots dealt us our cards. Hope rose up in the form of a pair of kings, I bet one chip and the devil matched. The beast placed down the six of clubs, the ten of clubs and the three of hearts, we each bet one chip. The six of hearts now lay on the felt. My mind furiously fought the tentacles back, “Come on!” Again we each placed a single chip. The final card was the king of spades. “There! Full house!” my mind screamed as I entered a state of ecstasy, the tentacles were thrust out of the crack in the wall. “All in!” I shouted with exaltation. My heart was hammering in my chest; I had never felt so alive! All my chips were on the table but it did not matter, I won this round. I beat back insanity; I could win against the devil. I watched with greed as the devil matched my bet, his face still stone. The beast spoke with his gargling deep voice, “Lay down your cards.” I violently threw my cards onto the table and shouted, “Full house! Kings and sixes!” I was exuberant and laughed deep and long. I stopped laughing when I realized the devil and the beast were looking at me. Slowly my gaze fell to the cards the devil had set on the table. My blood froze. Four sixes stared back at me. The room we sat in rumbled and started tearing apart. The single bulb hanging on a wire burst into flames. The cracks in the walls revealed whole universes being consumed by fire and chaos. The beast let out a gargled scream as his wound widened and his head tore itself from his body, spraying smoking blood, maggots everywhere. The wall violently ruptured as the tentacles of insanity stabbed and butchered my mind. A sad smile broke the devils stone face.
