The Black Devil

The Black Devil

By: Evan Borchert

“You don't know what you're talking about, Dave.”

“I know exactly what I'm talking about little brother. I was there when Dad told the story. You're too young to remember anyways.”

“Yeah, but I heard it too and there was more like fifty of them when he told it.”

“You're just trying to make it sound better, but I'm telling you it was only like thirty people he killed.”

“No. No. No. I'm telling you its fifty at least.”

Ralph knew the brothers well and he knew this charade could last quite a while. Dave's little brother John was seven years younger than him, but still figured he knew twice as much and always tried to prove it. They were both as stubborn as a mule and if Ralph waited for them to finish on their own they would be wrestling on the ground. Usually it wouldn't bother him, but he wanted to hear the rest of the story.

“Listen, lets just say its forty and John you let Dave finish the story. Aight?”

“Aight, but its probably going to be half wrong.”

Dave just shook his head and then leaned back in his chair, as if he was trying to figure out where he left off in his story. It had been a calm day on the Mississippi and the three of them had decided to drink a few beers out on Ralph's boat after coming home from work. It was an old pontoon boat that could go under at any moment from the looks of it, but it got them out on the water, which is all they cared about. Dave took a swig of his Budweiser and then leaned forward in his chair to pick up where he had left off.

“You see it was a different kind of place back then. They didn't have a whole lot of lawmen back then and a man with a gun could get away with a lot. Let me start from where my old man started....”

Clyde Black was the son of a whore named Rosa and a drunk named Billy, so right form the start he didn't have much of a chance. Born right outside of what is now Tulsa Oklahoma in 1837, he ran away from home when he was ten. There wasn't much in the way of school at that time and nobody cared too much about a whore's son anyway, so he wasn't missed. Clyde bounced around and stole what he needed to get by and eventually found himself laying train tracks across the mid-west.

Now in those days it wasn't unheard of for a young boy to be working hard labor and they had no qualms about putting him on the line. They paid him almost nothing, but it was enough for him to eventually buy his first revolver. Instead of spending his money on expensive food, alcohol, and clothing, he spent most of it buying bullets and practicing his shots. By the time he was eighteen he had developed deadly aim and was fast enough on the draw to keep most men a good distance from him. He had made it to Colorado laying track, but Clyde grew bored and headed towards Texas, where it was said that a man with his skills could find work.

Given his background he seemed normal to talk to him, but his manner was very cold. Women found him attractive because he was tall, about six feet three inches, and strong, but not overly muscular. Clyde had jet black hair like his mother, but facial features like his father with a chiseled square jaw and widow's peak. It was unclear what happened to him before Texas, but he didn't arrive until he was almost twenty-three. When you looked at him it always seemed he was plotting something. Texas was the key to his plan, but no one was for sure what side of the law he would find himself on. 

My father had speculated that between Colorado and Texas something had happened to him. His father had told him that the devil approached Clyde one night and they made a deal for his soul. My father thought that was a load of bull though. Whatever the case he rode into Texas and brought hell right along with him.

The first town he came to had a no gun ordinance and the Sheriff asked Clyde to hand over his pistol. He calmly pulled out his gun and leveled it at the Sheriff, cocking the hammer as he did so. Clyde didn't have any intention of giving up his gun, but the Sheriff didn't seem bothered by the gun in his face. The Sheriff remained seated behind his desk and told him he had three seconds to turn over the weapon. By the time he finished saying one both of his deputies were dead with one shot to each of their temples and Clyde had pointed the gun back in the Sheriff's direction. The deputies had been sitting quietly behind a false wall in the corner of the Sheriff's station and hadn't even made a move, but somehow Clyde had known they were there and he got them both right through the wall.

“Your telling me he shot them both in the head through a wall?”

“Yeah I said the same thing, but my Dad said thats the way his father told him it happened. My Dad and I figure there was a slot of something allowing him to see them through the wall, but he killed them dead and thats the truth.”

“So then what happened?”

“Quiet down and I will tell you….”

The Sheriff wasn't much of a man without his deputies and he told Clyde he could have anything he wanted if he would just leave town. Clyde told him that wasn't up to him, but he would give him a fair chance. He spun the barrel of his gun and then aimed back at the Sheriff. As Clyde slowly pulled the trigger the Sheriff was begging for his life. Click was he heard and Clyde smiled real big and told him it must be his lucky day.

Clyde rode off towards the next town and after he left the Sheriff gathered up a posse to go after him. He called Clyde The Black Devil and that name spread through the land. The posse rode from town to town for a month spreading the story all over upper Texas, but they never caught up with Clyde. Eventually they headed back towards town, but what they didn't realize is that the Devil had doubled back the first day and had taken over the town why they were gone.

When the Sheriff walked back into his office The Black Devil was sitting behind his desk with a new star pinned to his shirt. Clyde told him his luck had run out and shot him in the heart. A couple of guys that were hanging around outside went into the Jail to see what happened and Clyde shot them too.

The next morning the men from the posse started gathering at the hardware store after hearing what had happened why they were gone. They didn't know where the Devil was, but they figured they should go check on the Sheriff and find out what to do next. When they approached the Jail, The Black Devil stepped out on the front stoop and leaned against the rail. He pointed at the star on his shirt and explained that he was the new Sheriff. Somebody asked what happened to the old Sheriff and Clyde calmly shot the man dead and then told the crowd thats what happened to him.

This news didn't go over too well, but even though there were at least twenty of them, most were farmers or ranchers and had never fired at a man before. However, two brothers standing beside each other went for their pistols at the same time and the Devil killed them both before they had even un-holstered their weapons. Nobody moved and then Clyde shot the man who was standing next to the brothers. The men left standing asked why he did that and he told them it was to teach a lesson. If anybody drew on Clyde, he would kill that person and the person standing next to him.

After that he had effectively cowed the entire town. The Black Devil soon took over as mayor and collected high taxes that made him a rich man. The town learned to deal with him and almost forgot that he was a cold blooded killer, but Clyde wanted them to keep that fear, so every now and again he would make a point with someone passing through. Usually it would be an outlaw or gambler and he would demand a special tax for passing through just to piss them off. Then he would kill them when they refused and they always refused. He made it a point to do this in the saloon or street where everyone could see. Sometimes it was just an innocent person passing through and that bothered the townspeople the most.

Eventually he set his eyes on a woman that was passing through with her husband. She was absolutely beautiful and Clyde was determined to have her. The Devil knew that in order to get her to cooperate he would need leverage. Her husband was playing poker in the saloon when Clyde sat down to play. Clyde bought drinks until the husband was completely drunk and then took him for everything he was worth. Eventually he had no way to pay the Devil. Clyde told him he would give him a chance to go and get the money he owed him and while he was gone he would take his wife as a substitute. The wife wasn't happy, but she loved her husband and agreed to stay with Clyde until he returned.

After months went by she learned to hate Clyde. He was abusive to her and she was often seen with bruises or cuts, but she never lost hope. Then she became pregnant and was going to try and destroy the child, but Clyde found out somehow and tied her down. He made sure she was looked after until after the baby was born. Still she didn't give up hope that her husband would return. One night after drinking Clyde was beating her hard when she told him that her husband would return with the law and that Clyde would pay for what he had done. The Black Devil laughed and told her that her husband would never return because he had been dead since the first day he left town.

She vowed to get revenge on Clyde and put together a plan to kill him. For some reason she couldn't murder him though. He seemed to stop most of her attempts before they started. She tried poisoning him, but he threw the food at her and then beat her unconscious. When she held a meeting with a couple of men in the town the Devil jailed and beat them for days. There seemed to be no hope for her and she seemed to wither away. A couple of years went by and she began to realize that her son would grow to be just like his father. The woman couldn't stand that thought, so she came up with another plan to destroy The Black Devil.

Dave rocked back in his chair and began sipping his bud contently.

“Well what was the plan Dave?”

Dave and John were both smiling now.

“Thats the interesting part. No one knows what happened to her or Clyde they just disappeared one day and were never heard from again.”

“You're kidding. That was the ending? That was a horrible story.”

“Yep. My great great great grandfather Clyde was a real S.O.B.”

“Man if I was your father I might have left that story out of the family history. I hope that you didn't pass that on to Dave Jr. yet. I don't see that it could do him any good.”

John and Dave looked at each other with evil grins on their face and Ralph sensed something wasn't right.

“Of course he knows Ralph he has to.”

John did the talking now.

“Well its real simple Ralph. Our dad wanted to make sure we knew where our roots stemmed from, so that we could carry on the family tradition.”

Ralph looked over at Dave and saw that he was now pointing a gun at him.

“However, times have changed and you can't kill people as easy as you used to, so we have to be careful how we do things.”

Ralph didn't say anything and Dave started talking now.

“What you didn't think we would find out about all that money you got Ralph? Hell you're the richest man in the county and since were such good friends it seems only natural that you would leave it to us since you don't have any family. I talked to your lawyer just the other day and he told me exactly what I wanted to hear, after a couple of hundred dollar bills greased his palm. Its time for John and I to collect our inheritance a little early.”

John and Dave were laughing now and it took them a second to realize Ralph was smiling at them with an evil grin that made theirs pale in comparison.

“And just what are you smiling at huh?”

“You boys make me proud I am going to enjoy your company.”

“Oh we won't be joining you Ralph. This is a one way ticket for you only.”

“You told the story just like you should of, but you left out the part about the Black curse.”

Dave and John glanced at each other, but Dave kept his weapon pointed in Ralph's direction. John spoke with fear now.

“How the hell do you know about that. We've never told anybody about the curse.”

Ralph was laughing an evil laugh now and it sent chills up both of the brother's backs.

Dave shouted, “Tell us what you know you bastard or I will pull this trigger right now, so help me God.”

Ralph stopped laughing abruptly and fixed them both with an intense stare.

“Now there is no need to bring him into this. I will tell you what you want to know. You two know that every descendant of Clyde Black has disappeared and that its called the Black curse, but thats not really the interesting part. You see what you really want to know is what happened to Clyde and the woman that hated him.”

Another evil grin crossed Ralph's lips and John and Dave sat speechless.

“You see she would do anything to punish Clyde, but with me backing him what could she do to stop him. So she called on me and made a deal for her soul. However, Clyde was one of my favorite minions and it would take more than that for me to betray him. She sealed the deal by selling the souls of her children. Just as Eve passed her original sin to her children, they are eternally hers. Just like you boys belong to your great great great grandmother. She was a smart lady though and made me promise one condition. They had to have hearts as black as Clyde, but no one has let me down yet. You boys will make nice addition to the family.

The devil was laughing hard now and it seemed to come from somewhere deep inside him. Dave didn't waste anymore time and he unloaded the entire clip into him, but they did nothing and the Devil continued to laugh and as he did Ralph's body grew in size until he towered five feet over their heads. Ralph's visage changed until the Devil was clearly before them.

“Its time to come home to Daddy boys.”

They screamed and tried to run for their lives, but the Devil had grabbed each of them by the waist with his massive hands. The Devil opened his mouth revealing jagged and sharp teeth and an immense black void. He tore their flesh off as he swallowed them both whole and they disappeared never to be seen again.

The next day a tear rolled down Uncle Ralphie's face as he told Dave Jr. that his father and John must have gotten drunk and drowned in the river. Junior didn't care though, he was going to live with his rich Uncle Ralphie now.