“You came here boy and for what?” the man said, his dark silhouette stood against the backdrop of a sunset.

“Yes sir i came here thinkin to be mastering my own destiny” the young man returned, his southern drawl sweetly cutting the air even though he trembled, he spoke confidently.

The dark silhouette laughed softly, he stopped after what seemed an eternity.

“Ah see here boy, do you know what you asking for? I mean in the long term and not the short, dont take it lightly. I want to buy your soul.”

The young man shivered but he kept calm “I dont think i be needin my soul sir, it done me no good here and wont be no good to me after im sure of that. ” the man stopped and looked down at his guitar “i aint got no soul if i cant play this here guitar sir.”

The silhouette stepped forward two steps and suddenly two red eyes glowed out of the depths. The young man held his ground.

“You remind me boy of a young man from years past, yes sir the greatest guitar player in the delta. Yes sir i can still hear him screamin’ when he was called hime” the red eyes seemed to get larger them diminished “you want the same fate of Johnson?”

This really scared the young man, he stuttered and the the silhouette laughed harder and stronger.

“Sir, are you really the devil?” he stumbled over his words.

“Why sir!! you know how many people ask me that question, especially when they expire on this mortal coil” he tutted and left the sentence hanging in the air, he paced backwards and forwards. “But to answer your question, no im not. i know the devil and i am no where near as powerful or cruel as the chief commander. No sir i am not.”

The man shuddered “Then sir who are you?”

The silhouette ran at the man and got face to face with the boy. The hot breath of this demon was as hot as hell fire and the man was indeed terrified to his soul.

“I am not going to name myself boy, if i do we cannot do buisness. no sir indeed we cannot!”

The creature illuminated within itself and a brilliant light emitted from the figure, what the man saw was horrific. The silhouette had been human in form but since the emitting of light it had turned into a horrible creature and grown so tall. Fangs protruding from its maws like thousands of daggers and claws the size of elephants. The laugh that emitted from it was so powerful and the man fell to the floor.

Suddenly the silhouette returned to its previous shape.

“Hand me the guitar boy” the creature demanded. The boy obliged and handed over the instrument, a lovely ebony guitar with white markings on the fretboard.

“Ah this is truly a guitar worth the price of a soul” the creature laughed, he turned it over 3 times and turned the tuning pegs 6 times each whilst plucking the strings. He handed the guitar over to the man and sighed softly.

“This here boy is a tease of what you can have, mull it over somehow and come back to this here crossroads three days hence at the suns setting and let me know if you want the power.” The red eyes narrowed “Remember its the price of your soul”.

The boy looked at the guitar and played a little tune that just came naturally to him, as naturally as drinking water. He was amazed watching his hands going up and down the fret board playing rhythm and solos intertwined.

The creature smiled and the boy could see pearly white teeth glistening.

“Go show your friends. Go show the world!” the creatures otherworldly voice was beginning to show “It will last for three days and no more, come back boy and we can settle this matter.”

The creature floated back into the background of the now pitch black crossroad area, all but the red eyes and the glistening white teeth.

“Go show your friends” he repeated/

“And the world” the creature laughed loudly until the red eyes faded.

The man went on to become one of the most celebrated artists of the century and has never acknowledged the rumours that he had indeed sold his soul to the devil. Not until his untimely death at 27, the devil it seemed had come to collect the mans debt.