Faust Legend

Faust Legend

Sylvia Hartley was born on the first day of spring. As she grew up, she grew long golden blond hair. Her skin was smooth, the color of cream with hints of rose petals on their cheeks. She was tall and gorgeous, with eyes the piercing color of blue ice. As she got older, she was noticed more and more for her beauty. She was probably the most beautiful girl in her town near Savannah, Georgia. Girls would dress like Sylvia would, and boys would follow her every step. She was the most popular and beautiful girl in her high school. But, even though she was incredibly lovely, her personality did not reflect that. She tormented others in her school and drove them to depression and tears. She was awful and unpleasant. Even though she was horrid, anyone not a friend of the Sylvia wanted to be one. There were five girls in the Hartley clique. Besides Sylvia, Lana, Brooke, Serena, and Arabella were also a part of the torment to the students at their high school. As a group they would drive other students to depression upon an insult. Besides being popular, Sylvia was extremely wealthy. She was the heiresses to the Hartley fortune, and her father was an important politician who could bribe his daughter through any school. She got everything she ever wanted. Although she had everything, she was constantly in the pursuit of perfection. She would sport layers of makeup, push up bras, and high heels wherever she went. Her clique contained only the prettiest girls in the school, and on occasion, a new girl would get to join. The new girl’s name was Scarlett, and like the others, she would have to pledge to get into the group. Scarlett was tall and slender, like the others, but had beautiful eyes the color of emeralds. Her hair was black, thick, and curly, and her skin was smooth and olive toned. She was gorgeous, and was instantly mesmerized by the Hartley clique. Upon speaking to them she was instantly rejected, insulted, and ignored. Sylvia began to notice Scarlett. As the days wore on, and the boys became distracted by the new beautiful girl that had come to their school, Sylvia began to get jealous. For fun, she decided to invite Scarlett to one of her infamous house parties. The girls planned to have her stay the night with them, and upon getting to know her, would decide what to do with this new girl.

The party came and went. Sex, drugs, and alcohol were always present at the Hartley bashes, and the clique found themselves drunk and worn out by the time the party was over. Scarlett, however, was sober. Scarlett had avoided the drugs and alcohol during the party, and was now sitting awkwardly in Sylvia’s bedroom with the other girls. Sylvia was not pleased, she was pretty, smart, and way too innocent. In the past, Sylvia had played pranks on the new girls who came to stay with her. Now, she was coming up with an idea to pull a prank. She spoke with each of the other girls secretly, whispering behind Scarlett’s back about the plan to scare her. Sylvia knew that Scarlett was very religious, and in order to scare her, she and the other girls decided to have a séance. They took Scarlett into the dark basement, where they had set up candles and drawn the sign of the Devil on the floor with chalk. Scarlett was trembling, and Sylvia was having a hard time not laughing at her. Sylvia motioned for her to lie on the floor in the middle of the chalk symbol. The other girls sat around her and held hands. They began chanting random sayings, and calling for name of dead people they knew. They would fake sounds in the darkness and pretend to be terrified. As the ploy continued, Scarlett continued to get more scared, cringing at the fake noises in the darkness, beginning to hyperventilate. Noticing that Scarlett was terrified, Sylvia gave the signal to the other girls. At once all of the girls circling Scarlett began writhing and screaming. Horrified, Scarlett sat up and looked frantically at all the other girls. All of the sudden Sylvia pulled out a knife she had grabbed from her kitchen and held it high above her head, still continuing her ploy of screaming and writhing and pretended to come down with it right over Scarlett. Scarlett flinched, and as the knife came towards her, her eyes seemed to roll back into her head and she passed out on the floor. Sylvia stopped the knife two inches from her body, and all the girls started laughing. As they laughed, Scarlett began to stir. She began to twitch, more and more until she was writhing between them. The girls stopped laughing, and began worriedly mumbling to each other. Sylvia watched as Scarlett’s arms curled behind her and her eyes went further back into her head. She began making choking sounds, with heavy wheezing, and then stopped breathing altogether. She slumped back to the floor, motionless, with broken blood vessels in the rolled back white of her eyes. Nothing moved until a small stream of blood trickled out from her mouth and nose.

The first one to move was Arabella. Panicking, she shot up, started to sob, and ran from the basement. Lana ran after her. Brooke and Serena stayed, just as shocked and motionless as Sylvia who was still hovering over her. Brooke crawled across the floor with a dazed expression on her face, until her back was against the wall. Serena merely stared, tears streaming down her face.

“This is all your fault, Sylvia.” Said Serena.

Sylvia tore her gaze from the Scarlett’s dead body, to glare at Serena.

“You did it too Serena! I didn’t touch her!” She screamed.

“None of us did, but you were the one who wanted to scare the living s--- out of her, Sylvia, not me!”

“You ALL had a part in this. I didn’t do anything! The b---- just fainted! And then she had a heart attack or something!”

Serena shook her head a stood up, wiping tears away from her cheek and backed towards the stairs.

“I am not going to clean up this mess, I’m outta here, and I’m never coming back. Come on Brooke, we didn’t commit this murder.”

Serena grabbed Brooke’s arm and pulled her up the stairs. The front door slammed, and her car sped away. Sylvia was left alone in the basement with the dead body of Scarlett. In a way, Sylvia was happy that she had killed her. There would be no distractions from her at school now, and she could resume life as the most beautiful girl in her town. She just had to find a way to get rid of the body.

Suddenly, looking at the chalk on her hands from the Devils mark on the floor, all of the candles blew out. She was left in complete darkness. She heard a voice.

“Ssssssyllviaaaaaahhhhhh.”

It was gruff, a man’s voice, with a slight hissing.

“Ssssssyllviaaaaahhhhh, you have killed Sssscarlett.”

“Who the f--- is in my house?! Who are you?!” She screamed, terrified.

“I am the fallen angel… The massssster of the underworld…. And I have come to help you.”

She could not see, but she was terrified at the thought that this person knew she killed Scarlett.

“Help me how?” she replied.

“If you pay the pricccccce, I will relieve your burdensssssssss.”

Overjoyed at the thought of someone getting rid of Scarlett, and taking away her problems, Sylvia replied quickly.

“What do I have to do? Anything! Please!”

“I will take your burden….. If you agree to pay the pricccceeeee.”

“I will pay it! Anything! How much do you want?!”

The voice chuckled in the darkness. Sarcastic now, and replied.

“Ssssssign the deed… and your troublessss will be gone.”

Suddenly, the candles flickered back on. The body of Scarlett was gone, and in its place was a piece of singed, weathered paper. In an ancient scrip the paper wrote:

I will take your burden if you do these tasks,

Upon them done, your crime I will mask,

Your soul is the first of things I need,

If you wish, with your name, sign this deed,

Pay the price or lose your life,

Or sign the line and relieve your strife

Signed,

The Devil

Shocked, she stared at the name written under the note. Under the signature of the devil was a line for her signature, and on the floor laid a quill. Sylvia, wanting her problem to be gone, signed the line under the Devil’s name with her own.

Since Sylvia had signed the deed, a wound had begun to appear on her forearm. At first it appeared to be just the puffy pink scar of a long healed wound. After a few days, the scar separated and became thin strips of jumbled sentences. They separated themselves out enough until the cuts created distinct tasks. Three appeared on her forearm. The first sentence had a line that cut through it and crossed it off. It was a duller red than the others, and it stated:

Give the Devil what he needs, give your soul, and sign the deed.

The second was a brighter red than the other two. It stated:

Sacrifice the life of an animal to the Devil. Slaughter it in the grave of your crime. Sacrifice the innocent to live your life, and relieve the burden that is your strife.

And Sylvia did so.

            She bought a lamb, and took it into the basement. She redrew the symbol in chalk on the floor where Scarlett had died. She slaughtered the lamb. Draining its blood, and cut out its heart, she laid the carcass on the floor and waited for the second task on her arm to form the dash that would cross it off. Her determination to rid herself of her crime was selfish. Driven by perfection and beauty, Sylvia was more corrupt and full of sin than ever before.

            Soon enough, the second task was crossed off. The color turned to the dull red of the first one and the third task grew brighter red than ever. The third task stated:

Remove your beauty, and destroy your wealth. Burn your face to maintain your pace. And upon completion of your third task, your crime will be forever masked.

            Sylvia struggled with the third task. She could not give up her golden hair, her cream skin, and blue eyes. She burned her house to the ground, hoping that it would be enough to appease the Devil. She made sure all of her money was in the basement and lost in the fire.

Sylvia Hartley thought she was safe. She waited for days for the scar to pass through the third task and cross it off. It did not. As she walked through town, now homeless, but still beautiful, she began to think someone was following her. She would notice an ugly woman walking behind her on the sidewalk, always keeping a distance. This woman was ragged with dirty clothing that looked charred and burned. Her hair was black and curly and flowed in front of her face. When Sylvia would sleep in the park, the woman would always be afar watching her. She began to get closer when Sylvia would sleep. And soon enough, she would find this hideous woman standing feet behind her as she walked. One day while walking, people stared at her. They were not longing gazes that she would get; they were disgusted angry faces of those who looked her way. She looked down at herself, and nothing was wrong. When she stopped in front a window, she was horrified. Standing behind her was the ragged woman. Glaring from behind her black curly hair were emerald eyes. Sylvia spun around. But nothing was there. From that point on she was terrified. She knew she was going mad! She was crazy and homeless and poor. To make sure that she would never see the woman again, she enrolled herself in a mental hospital to get better. The days were long and tiresome. She would find herself sitting in front of the mirror, staring at her beautiful face, and would see the ragged woman appear behind her.

One night as she sat, wishing to be rich and popular again, slandering the beautiful nurses that would try to help her, the power went out in her room, and she was trapped in the darkness. Sylvia’s heart almost beat out of her chest.

The dark gruff voice of the Devil spoke to her in the blackness.

“Ssssssssyyyyylllviiiiaaaaahhhhhh….”

“You did not complete the tassssssskssssssss…”

“I did what you asked of me!” She pleaded.

“I can sssssssee that your face is sssssssstill beautiful, though your ssssssoul issssss not.”

“Please! I--”

While she pleaded for her beauty, the face of the Devil showed itself in the darkness. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Of course, he was a fallen angel. But as he came closer towards her in the dark, he began to speak again. As he spoke he bared his long sharp teeth, and hissed his final statement.

“Pay the price or lose your life.”

The last thing Sylvia saw was the Devils bright red eyes. The bright color of scarlet.