Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil

"I made a deal with the Devil and when I die, I'm going straight to Hell."

The girl glared at Jim. Jim glared right back.

He didn't care if she was mad. He didn't care if she was upset. If she cried (thank God she hadn't) Jim wouldn't care about that either. It was policy to explain to his victims why he was kidnapping them. It also helped to convince Jim that he wasn't completely evil - he just had a lot of bad baggage.

A LOT of bad baggage. Jim made a deal with the Devil. And when he died, Jim was going straight to Hell. It was a long story. And it all started the day he was born.

Jim Hawkins lived in Illtyde. Illtyde , as legend has it, dropped from Heaven then bounced off Hell. It rolled around the sun, moon, and stars before crashing somewhere in between. The impact split the country into two parts: East Illtyde and West Illtyde.

Saints lived in the East. Sinners lived in the West.

Per legend, children are separated into saints and sinners before birth. For every saint made by an angel, a demon makes a sinner. Each child is a cocktail of genetic material extracted from the parents combined with the strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits that their creator decides to throw in.

One could think of angels and demons as chefs. Reason being, each child must be cooked with 14 ingredients. These 14 ingredients were affectionately known as the Seven Deadly Vices and the Seven Heavenly Virtues. All 14 ingredients must be added for a baby to be born, but the quantities varied from child to child.

The vices - pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth - were the favorite ingredients of demons. Therefore, a 'demon child' would be created with more vice than virtue, and the recipe would be reflected through his personality.

The virtues - chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility - were the favorite ingredients of angels. An 'angelic child' might grow up to be a saint, a philanthropist, a recycler, a heroine, a hero, or just a simple, loveable fool.

Regardless, sinner or saint, each child was endowed with a predominant virtue or vice. That is, when each child was blended with the 14 virtues and vices, one overpowered the mix. It might be pride. It might be diligence. It might be kindness. It might be lust. But whichever, the overpowering ingredient drives the actions and morality of each sinner and saint.

Jim Hawkins was a sinner. And his ingredient was Greed.

Greed was a family trait. At least, Jim suspected it was. His mother was dead and he never knew his father, but Jim's siblings were just as greedy (possibly greedier) than him. He had four siblings: three brothers, one sister.

Like all children blessed (or cursed) with Greed, Jim and his siblings were raised by the Cult of Greed. The Cult of Greed was a band of thieves - men and women devoted to material wealth. Occupations ranged from piracy, to thievery, to monopolists, to kidnapping. It was very lucrative - providing you didn't get caught.

Not getting caught was the trick to a successful career in Greed. More often than not, members of the Cult of Greed found their greedy ambitions pestered by their more virtuous personality traits. After all, everybody had all 14 virtues and vices. Sometimes those pesky virtues just had to shine through.

Which was why most of the Cult of Greed members made a deal with the Devil. The deal was simple: you sold your soul.

Seem absurd?

Well reconsider. Think again.

When one sells his soul to the Devil, he is destined to an afterlife in Hell. Suddenly, life on Earth has no reservations. No doubts. No worries. No restrictions. All boundaries are lost. When you know you are going to Hell, you do anything to make your life Heaven on Earth. You are free to lie for love, cheat for cheer, and muck for money.

So, Jim (and his brothers) became what the sinners and saints called 'Devil Incarnates.' They sold their souls to the Devil. And when they died, they were going straight to Hell.

All for a life of Greed.

"Avarice." Jim muttered, taking the girl by the arm. "For some reason, sounds more badass. Hey!"

The girl twisted, simultaneously twisting his wrist. She tried to run, but stopped short by the ropes around her waist.

"You're tied up, Stupid." Jim advanced, rubbing the painful spot under his thumb. "You think after all this crap I'd let you escape?"

The girl paused for a murderous look. Then, skirting around Jim, she attacked the ropes.

Jim laughed.

"Yeah…" Darkly amused he leaned against the tree, watching her little white hands prod and pull. "An old peg legged pirate taught me how to tie those. They're called sailor's knots. Evil cousins of shoe laces…" Jim pointed to the blue ribbon in the girl's hair. "...and bows."

Other than deepening her scowl, the girl made no indication she'd heard. Throwing away his hand, she continued to wrench the ropes, trying to set herself free.

Jim shook his head. Night was filling the forest with indigos and violets that would turn pitch black. West Illtyde didn't believe in stars, so there wouldn't be any light to illuminate their path.

Or their footprints.

Jim shivered. He felt sick, like someone had ripped out his spine. Suspiciously he searched the shadows. There was nothing there. Nothing, at least, that he could see.

Something cracked. Wind hissed through the boughs. Darkness crept in.

Jim turned to the girl. They had to keep moving. They had to get out.

"Come on." Grasping the girl's shoulder, Jim yanked. She landed with a whump against his knees.

Jim unraveled the rope. "Captain Hook's probably sent every creep in West Illtyde after us by now. He wants you back. Bad. Although - "

Deftly, Jim zipped the rope tightly around her wrists " - can't see why. You're nothing but a pain in the - ow!"

Sharp pain shot up his legs as the girl kicked his shins. Jim jerked backwards but maintained hold of the rope.

"That hurt." he told her.

The girl glared. Angrily, she tugged the rope.

Jim shook his head. The girl had refused to speak since he'd kidnapped her. She translated her fury with similar outbursts such as these, and by being really uncoorporative.

But Jim was on a schedule. And he was sick of playing games.

Jim lifted the rope. He held it taut.

"We going to do this the hard way? Or are you going to stand up?"

She answered by planting her feet.

Jim shrugged. "Lady's choice."

Shouldering the rope, he turned and pulled.

The girl resisted. But after an almighty lurch, she flopped onto her stomach and dragged through the dirt.

Jim continued three more paces before rolling his eyes and stopping all together.

"This is ridiculous."

Winding the rope, Jim strode to the girl. And in his usual business-like manner, he stooped, seized, and slung the girl over his shoulder.

That got her mad. The girl squirmed, kicked, jabbed, punched, and wriggled like a fish. She was an indignant little thing and made very clear of her loathing, despite her persistent silence.

It was all Jim could do not to retaliate. That was unusual. Unlike Captain Hook - a man notoriously driven by Wrath - Jim rarely lost his temper. He was quickly losing it to this girl, but fear of being followed by Captain Hook kept him calm. At least, calmer.

"Again." Jim grit his teeth. "That. Hurts."

The girl gave a hmph and dug her elbow into his spine. Jim winced, wobbled, but kept trudging through the night.

The moon had shrunk into a pin-prick before the girl finally gave up. Exhausted, she sagged against Jim's neck. Unconvinced that she had completely surrendered, Jim waited until she fell asleep.

"Thank the freaking lord."

Carefully, Jim eased the girl from his shoulder and into his arms. Distributing her weight more evenly across his chest, he continued through the forest at a faster pace.

"This is so dumb." Jim mused. Ducking under nettles, he hefted the girl up a rocky slope. "At this rate, we'll both get caught - "

"THIS WAY! AVAST YE SCROGS! THEY WENT THIS WAY!"

Screaming broke the silence. The girl jumped awake as Jim's heart jumped into his throat.

"Damn it!" Jim slammed against a rock. He squeezed a hand over the girl's mouth.

"Shut up!" he hissed as torchlight launched through the trees. Twisting, he held the girl as she struggled for the approaching men. "Shut up! They're not coming to rescue you! These are the bad guys! These are - "

The wailing men burst through the darkness.

Jim swallowed. " - pirates. Captain Hook's pirates."

The girl stopped. Eyes wide, she sunk into Jim.

Jim held her close. Turning, he pressed the girl into the rock, trying to melt into their surroundings.

"Don't move." Jim whispered. He breathed slowly against the girl. Her caramel curls tickled his nose. "They're looking for you. Just don't move."

She obeyed. For once, she remained perfectly still.

And Jim knew why.

Jim had kidnapped the girl from Captain Hook. But for some reason, Captain Hook had kidnapped the girl first. When Jim found her aboard the Jolly Roger she had been crying. Sobbing. The pirates were torturing her. Not enough to kill - only enough to make her cry.

Jim curled. The girl was so slight she curled easily inside his body. As the pirates swarmed the forest like insets over a hive, Jim laid his cheek against her head.

He had no idea who the girl was. He had no idea of her name.

He had no idea why she had been kidnapped by Captain Hook.

Jim only knew two things.

First: In the world of West Illtyde, the world of sinners, the girl looked like a saint.

Second: Captain Hook would pay to get her back.

And as a child of Greed, that was exactly Jim's intent.