There's a lot of talk of God in this chapter. I don't want to see any mean comments about faith or beliefs. You knew what you were getting into with a story where a kid makes a deal with the devil.

Chapter 6

"What kind of deal?" Yusei asked.

"I'll make sure your foster mother makes a full recovery within a week. She'll live a long and healthy life and her orphanage will stay open." The old man answered.

Yusei looked down in thought. It seemed like a good bargain. But he didn't have anything to trade, so he probably would have to either own him a favor or steal something to pay him. The question is, What?

"What would you want from me?"

"Oh," the old man smiled. "I'll take…"

Yusei slowly opened his aching eyes. His throat was dry and his head pounded like someone was banging a drum in his brain. He looked around the room he was in. He seemed to be in a storage room. It had statues of a woman, men, lambs and other animals and a baby in a manger.

"A church, maybe?" Yusei thought.

Next to Yusei's cot was a small table with cups on it. Yusei reached over and grabbed one, saw it was filled with water and chugged it down as fast as he could. He grabbed another cup and repeated the process. Then again. And again. He had never been so thirsty in his life.

He struggled to get up and found his way into a small kitchen. It housed a small table, a counter with a sink, plenty of cabinets and a man making a sandwich with his back facing Yusei.

"I see you're awake. How do you feel?" The man asked.

"Uh… Fine, I guess. Who are you?"

The man turned around and, based on what he was wearing, must have been a church reverend. He seemed about middle aged with a slight grey color on the sides of his head. And he was… American?

"I'm Scott Walker. I own this church." He answered.

"Uh… Thanks for the water. Do you know where my Duel Runner is?"

"It's out by the shed." He answered, bring his coffee to his lips.

"Thanks." Yusei said as he made his way past Scott.

"It's back to normal now." He said as Yusei was about to leave.

"You saw?" Yusei asked.

"Yup. Wanna talk about it?"

Yusei sighed, "Might as well."

Scott led him to the table, pouring him a cup of coffee.

"Where do you want me to start?" Yusei asked.

"Wherever you want."

"Well… I grew up in The Satellite. Lot of strict rules there, one of which was not to play near the power plant for the whole island. Which I did when I was 6."

"You were young and didn't know the rules. What did Security do when they found you?" Scott asked.

Yusei cleared his throat, "They almost killed my foster mother. And hospitals in Satellite weren't as good as they are now, so there was a very high chance that she would die."

"Then what happened?" The reverend asked.

Yusei took a deep breath, "I met a man who said he would save her. I didn't see any other options so I made a deal with him. He would save my foster mom and I would owe him a favor. But he wanted something of mine to make sure I didn't forget my part of the bargain."

Scott rested his elbows on the table, "What did he take?"

Yusei looked up at him, "My soul."

Scott sat there in silence deep in thought… "What will happen if you do this favor for him?"

"He'll give me my soul back and call it even. All I have to do is bring him the 'heir to his company back' as he put it."

"And that… thing I saw last night..." Scott asked, "Would it ever hurt anyone innocent?"

"I don't think so, I made it save someone last night. I think it will only hurt bad people."

"Then God will forgive you." Scott said without hesitation.

"But… I sold my soul to the devil. Don't I go to Hell?" Yusei asked.

"You did it out of selflessness, not selfishness. God only sends a person to Hell for one reason. Do you know what that is?"

Yusei shook his head slowly.

"Dissbelief. Jesus was sent to forgive, not to judge. Now that doesn't mean you can go around hurting people knowing He'll forgive you. There's a mix of faith and morality. And all of it stems…"

Scott put his hand on Yusei's chest.

"From here. You're a good man."

Yusei smiled and nodded as he pulled his hand away.

"Now I imagine you have some searching to do. Come back tonight and I'll help in any way I can."

Yusei stood up and made his way out the door. "Thank you, Father!"