Short Scary Stories

Deal with the Devil

Again, writing this in Notes, so mistakes might be here. This one toyed with my beliefs a bit, and I got all confused because of it. I'll explain at the end.
~
Never mess with the devil.
That's what Samantha's mother always told her since she could remember. She always said that the devil should never be toyed with or called because he would show and she'd suffer the consequences of her foolish actions.
Her mother had always overprotected her, even as the fifteen-year-old high schooler she was then. She always forced her to eat every single vegetable on her plate, she dropped her off at school every morning (but not without a kiss goodbye), and she was always licking her thumb and wiping away smudges off her daughter's face.
Samantha had enough of this. It was four days before Halloween, her favorite holiday, and her mother was being a bit overbearing as usual. She said that Samantha couldn't go as the devil for Halloween because it was a "sin." But that was what the holiday was all about, wasn't it?
"Mom, what teenager wants to go as a princess for Halloween?" Samantha asked as her mom pulled a sparkly blue dress over her head in the dressing room of the Halloween store.
Her mother made sure it fit fine and didn't show any curves or any sign that her child was a girl. She pushed Samantha's hair back and turned her around to face the mirror so she could see what she looked like. She was absolutely horrified. It was very itchy and scratchy and the glitter on the bottom was falling off.
"Mom, this is awful!" She said. "It itches and it's too lose! I'm going to trip! Can't I be the devil? I'll be going as a girl devil!"
"You can't go as the devil! That's an omen! He will come for you if he sees that you are supporting him!" Her mother explained as she zipped the awful dress up in the back.
"But this is just cruel! And besides, lots of kids go as the devil and they're fine!"
The two bickered back and forth as quiet as they could in the dressing room while Samantha tried tugging the costume off. She finally got it off and threw it to the ground. She then changed back into her regular clothes.
"Please, can I be the devil?" She asked once more.
"Fine, but if something happens to you, it's all on you."
Her mother huffed as they exited the small room, and she put the costume back in its bag and hung it back on the shelf with the rest. Samantha ran off to where the devil costumes were, picked one out, and told her mother that it was what she wanted to be.
"Let's just go," her mother said with a sigh of resentment and dragged her daughter to the checkout line. "Can't believe my child is supporting this! Heathen!"

The day before Halloween came very quickly, and Samantha was trying on her costume to make sure it fit perfectly and didn't have any flaws to its stunning seam work. It was perfect, all she had to do was pin the tail to the dress with a safety pin and she was good to go for Halloween.
"How could my mom say this costume is wrong? It's not like the devil is real, anyway," she muttered as she smoothed the red fabric over her torso. "The devil will never be real, he's just stupid and make believe."
She took off her costume with ease and put it back into her closet. She got into her pajamas to get ready for bed. It was at the moment when she was pulling her covers back that the room felt hot and clammy. A chill ran down her spine, and she felt as if the room was closing in on her, sucking all the air away from her.
"I'm real." There was a deep voice next to her, and she was startled.
The room grew even hotter, and there was a distinct hint of sulfur in the air. She was afraid to look back at where the voice came from. But she turned anyway in pure terror.
At first, she saw nothing but her regular bedroom walls and furniture. Then she saw it. A black mist in the corner of the room, nothing but a swirl of dark blackness. It lingered there for a few seconds before slowly spreading out, like it was trying to form something.
"You doubt me, never doubt me," it said. "I'm the devil, the one you mock."
Samantha couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. Were they deceiving her? Were they tricking her? Was she in a dream? It had to be a dream. There was no such thing as a devil. Was there?
"But you're not real!" She said.
"I'm very real."
"You're going to drag me down to Hell, aren't you?" She cried.
"Not if you make a deal with me," he said.
He was still a black mist. People were wrong. He wasn't in all red or had horns or a tail. He was just a ball of pure black and evil.
"What do you want?" She asked as the room grew to a hot temperature.
"You hate your mother. You kill her before All Hollows Eve, and you're safe. Deal?"
She had no idea what to say. If she agreed, she'd have to kill her mother and live on her own. But if she disagreed, she'd be taken down to Hell for eternity. They both sounded very consequential, but she took the deal.
"Deal."

Samantha was still shaken up after her encounter with the king of all evil himself. It was finally time for dinner, which her mom had called her for. She was still thinking about her deal. She had one day to get it over with so she could live on. But every action had a consequence, and she had to face whatever that was. Her heart pounded as she sat at the table.
"You stay here, I'm going to get the ice cream for dessert from the freezer in the garage," her mother said as she stood up and went through the door to the garage.
It slammed behind her, and Samantha though fast. She didn't want to stab her own mother or anything drastic like that, so she thought of something simple and without a trace.
Poison.
She grabbed some poison used to kill rats with and poured a few spoonfuls into her mother's bowl of soup. She stirred it and and tossed the box of poison into the cleaning cabinet.
When her mother came back without ice cream, Samantha was a bit worried. She thought maybe they were out but she'd seen some a few hours before in the freezer. There was a whole gallon full.
Her mother's hair acted as a dark curtain to hide her pale face as she sat back down in her seat across from her. She didn't look up once, and she was awfully quiet. Samantha grew uneasy as she saw her mother sit there unmoving. She hadn't even tasted the soup yet, it couldn't have made her unwell already.
"Mom?" she asked. No answer. "Mom?"
She tapped her shoulder, and her mother looked up. Samantha nearly fell from the horror she felt. Her mother's eyes were not the green ones she's had before, but they were now dark black, no white to be seen.
"She's not here." Her voice was pitched very low, and it sounded almost demonic. "You wanted her gone, so be it."
Her mother--or whatever was inside her mother--stood up and cornered Samantha. She breathed heavily and tried not to pass out.
"Never doubt the devil, for he will come! Never doubt me!"
The room started to quake around her, and she felt as if her whole world was shattering. It was true, the devil was standing before her, in the form of her mother.
"You don't belong here, you belong with me! This is not your home, I'll show you where your home is!" It shouted as hissing began to invade her ears.
He grabbed her hand and held on tight, dragging her all the way home. To Hell.
~
So this one is obviously about the devil and doubting him and religion. I am Catholic, and I was born into a Catholic family.
But I was Atheist at one point in my life. I didn't believe in God for almost a year.
For a few weeks, I've been doubting God and all that. I guess I still believe and I still wear the cross around my neck. I never take it off. Ever.
Writing this made me really think about religion. Is God real? I don't know. My brain is all confused and shit. I've been so confused since my aunt and I talked about religion and she said I have to believe in God. I don't have to do shit. I wanna be Atheist again sometimes but I'll probably just stick to being Catholic. I don't care anymore.
Any advice? Anyone? Okay...
~
Sierra 👻