Thanks to a dare gone wrong, Maggie Brumfield finds out the hard way that Heaven and Hell are real.
Prince Laudon, Lucifer's son and the current ruler of Hell, has locked Maggie into a sinister deal that grants him temporary ownership of her soul...
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MAGGIE'S POV
"Honey, you've been holed up in this room for a week. Please let me take you to see a doctor."
My mother barges into my room without knocking. I roll over in bed to make space for her to sit. Her dark brown eyes study my face as she raises a hand to my forehead to check my temperature the old-fashioned way. I mumble how I'm feeling much better today, despite not having been sick in the first place. I quickly tell her there's no need for me to see a doctor. They'll cut right through my act and I can't have that happening.
"I'm fine now. I think it was just a stomach bug." I sit up in bed and put on my best smile, hoping she'll believe me. "I promise I'm alright."
My mother sighs. "If you won't let me take you to see a doctor, at least go outside to get some sunshine and fresh air. It'll do you good."
"Yeah, sure. I'll go out later."
Although necessary, it kills me to look my mother in the eyes and lie. I want more than anything to tell her the truth about what's really been going on with me, but who's to say she'll actually believe me? Or will she end up thinking I'm crazy and seek to have me committed? I honestly wouldn't blame her if she went that route. Regardless, I can't tell her the truth.
I can't tell her about the deal that I was forced to make with Laudon in Hell, and how I now have only twenty-three days left to give him what he wants or else everyone that I know and love will die. Going outside will force me to start looking for a soul to take, and in spite of knowing what's at stake if I fail, I'm just not ready to carry out such an evil deed.
"Your friends miss you," my mother comments after hearing my phone buzz next to me. "Since you're feeling better you should stop ignoring them and let them know that you're still alive and breathing."
"I'm not ignoring them," I say. "They know I've been sick. And I miss them too, but we can't exactly hang out right now. I might be contagious or something."
"But you just said you're feeling fine."
"Mom, certain viruses can hang out in the body for days after you've fully recovered, or so says Google. You don't really want me to invite my friends over and accidentally infect them, do you?"
I panic and lie again. I have no clue if what I said is on Google or not. I had to be quick and come up with something on the spot, anything to make an excuse for why Johnny and Krista shouldn't come over. They've been blowing up my phone ever since I came back from Hell and I really wish they'd give it a rest already, for their own sake.
"Ma, you gotta stop babying her. She ain't even sick!" My brother stops at my door, rolling his eyes at me. "She's just trying to get out of looking for a job this summer."
