Aria lifts her head from the steering wheel with a groan. The ambulance is already on the move and much further away than she would like. Visions of the Devil in his bloody white suit still linger in her mind as she presses the starter button and pushes her foot down on the accelerator. Her car begins moving, but its power is almost half what it should be. As frustrating as that is, she keeps her foot down on the pedal. She knows there is only one hospital standing in Vegas.

The ambulance is already at the hospital by the time Aria is able to catch up with it. She can see that its back doors are wide open and the occupants are nowhere to be seen.

Aria parks her car near the crumbling remains of a small building next to the hospital. She thinks it may have been a guardhouse back in its glory days. Now it was more or less a pile of rubble. She’s about to get out of the car when she reaches down for her gun and finds that it isn’t there. Instead, her fingers land on something else.

Something much smaller.

In her hand is a small golden bullet that seems to emanate a strange kind of warmth and power like it’s been charged by supernatural forces. Then she remembers who must have exchanged the bullet for her gun and the sensation starts to make sense. Knowing that time is running out, Aria has no option but to take the bullet and get out of the car.

She’s going to have to go hands-on with this kill.

The hospital waiting room is empty except for a bored looking nurse who stands behind the reception desk. Her eyes are as cold and blue as The Devil’s and Aria is almost certain that it’s him in disguise when she approaches.

‘Where did they take the old man?’ Asks Aria, trying to remain calm.

‘I’m sorry but who are you?’ Asks the nurse, narrowing her eyes a little.

‘I’m his daughter,’ says Aria.

‘Oh, in that case they took him down to the ICU that way,’ the nurse points towards the hallway on the right.

Aria thanks the nurse and heads down the hallway. She’s almost at the ICU room when a huge, muscular man blocks the hallway. His face looks twisted and angry as he puts up a giant hand to stop her.

‘Sorry, no visitors allowed,’ says the giant man dressed in an assortment of rags most likely found from the wasteland.

Aria knows that there is no amount of begging or pleading that is going to get her past the giant. Instead, she curls her hand into a fist with the gold bullet nestled in her palm. She throws an uppercut that any boxer would be proud of, although given the sheer size difference it should be the equivalent of a mouse trying to punch a cat. But her hand connects with the underside of the giants jaw and without warning the huge man is sent flying into the ceiling. His legs dangle for a moment before whatever he is caught on lets go and he crumples to the floor unconscious.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Stunned, Aria forces herself to keep moving. Time is running out and she has a deal to complete. She steps over the fallen giant and pushes through the doors into the ICU room. Sentalli is sitting up in bed, his eyes closed and a blood soaked bandage around his forehead.

Slowly, Aria approaches the bed, her fist tight. She’s only a couple of steps away from being close enough to hit the old man when he suddenly opens his eyes. Black clouds of rage cross his wrinkled face and before Aria can react he grabs her by the throat.

‘You! How dare you try and kill me, you little shit,’ he growls, lifting Aria off the floor as he swings his legs out of the bed. ‘Not even the Devil himself can kill me.’

Aria gasps for air as Sentalli draws her close to his face and then pushes her away with all his strength. For a brief moment she is sent flying before she hits the wall hard enough to crack the tiles.

She clutches at her throat as she rolls on to all fours and looks up. Sentalli is on the move, pushing his way through the room doors and out into the corridor. Aria scrambles to her feet, gold bullet still gripped firmly in her hand. She stumbles after Sentalli and makes her way back out into the hallway.

She doesn’t have the time to notice that the fallen giant is no longer on the floor. Instead, she keeps moving, back the way she came. As she rounds the corner she can see Sentalli making a run for the waiting room. Realizing that she can’t make up the distance between them, Aria pulls back the hand holding the bullet and throws it as hard as she can.

The bullet flies through the air at a phenomenal speed and strikes Sentalli in the back of the head. As the bullet explodes through his forehead, the old man stumbles and crashes into the rows of mismatched chairs in the waiting room.

Breathless, Aria catches up to the fallen mobster. She watches as he takes his last breath before his body goes limp.

‘Well done Aria!’ Says the nurse.

Aria watches as the woman’s body transforms into the tall and slender vision of the Devil she had spoken with only minutes ago.

‘I got him, just like you wanted,’ says Aria. Her gaze turns to the fallen man. She still can’t understand why he was so powerful.

‘Yes you did,’ says the Devil, joining Aria with a smile on his face, ‘and I must say, I wasn’t sure you would be able to take down a demon as strong as him.’

Finally, she had her answer. The old man was a demon in disguise. This explained his sheer strength. Her awe quickly evaporates when she remembers her father languishing in hell.

‘My father, you said…’ the Devil waves his hand to cut her off.

‘I’ve moved him to a safe place like I promised. And now it's time for me and you to make a new deal,’ he says, waving his hand over the fallen demon. The body quickly turns to dust and Aria watches as that dust is carried off by the wind to an unknown destination.

‘What kind of deal?’ Aria asks.

‘Work for me. There are more rogue demons that I need back in Hell. With each one you bring back to me, I will make sure your father's stay in Hell is more like paradise,’ explains the Devil.

It’s Aria’s turn to narrow her eyes at the tall languid figure next to her. His suit is dripping blood on the hospital floor as the roses on his sleeves and pants legs continue to bleed.

‘What if I say no?’ She says.

‘Then I will make sure that both you and your father are met with the most brutal and unrelenting kind of hell that you could never imagine,’ says the Devil, his smile unwavering.

‘Then I guess it's a deal,’ says Aria with a sigh. Her body is beginning to ache from being thrown against the wall.

‘Very good. You know it’s a wise choice. I’ll be in touch,’ says the Devil and then his body explodes into greasy black smoke before collapsing in on itself.

Tired, Aria is about to leave the hospital when something on the floor catches her attention. The gold bullet lay against the leg of a chair. She scoops up the mysterious and powerful artifact and shoves it into her pocket. She has a feeling that she’s going to need it in the very near future.