The first thought she had when she woke up was that she loved her house. And she should. She had designed it from first shovel full of dirt to last piece of furniture placed. It was her perfect sanctuary.
She had gotten the land for a steal. The man who had owned it was desperate and she had cash on hand. The architect who helped her design it had done so for free as long as he could use it as advertising. She had allowed the interior designer to use photos for his website as well, even though she had only used him for his discount and had done all of the designing on her own. When all was said and done her custom built and designed house had cost less than anyone could have imagined.
But that was the way her life worked.
She was extremely lucky. Always. Things just worked out for her.
From the very small things, always a parking space opening just as she pulled up. To the very large things, the job she wanted was hers for the asking and with a larger salary than they had originally intended to offer.
Her friends would hate her and how easy things were for her if she weren't so generous and kind. She was always the first to help when needed. She had provided refuge in her walls for anyone who had needed it. She had donated to countless fundraisers and charitable events. She wasn't selfish at all. So it was impossible to hold a grudge at how easily things came for her.
Usually.
Or at least for any length of time.
She was content in her life.
And she really loved her house.
That's what she was thinking when the knock on the door came.
She should have been more startled. After all it was her bedroom door and she was home alone. But it wasn't the first time this had happened. It had been a long time since the last visit, probably 30 years, but it wasn't a thing you forgot.
"Is it you?" she called out when she heard the knock.
"Yeah." came the almost shy sounding reply.
"Well come on in then."
The door opened slowly and he made his way into her room. The door frame had to flex to allow his bulk and her room itself had to expand to allow him to fit. But when you were dealing with the Devil himself such tricks of space were really small potatoes.
She sat up a little straighter and fluffed the pillow behind her back before smoothing the sheets back around her. She might as well be comfortable.
He paced a little at the foot of her bed. The air around him rippling out in waves as the physical world made room for him. She knew that even the bulk she was seeing wasn't all of him, as massive as he appeared in this world in his own he would be all consuming. Like, literally, consuming everything. Which probably should have worried her more than it did but she had made peace with her arrangement at 16 and hadn't wavered since.
"Is it time?" She was surprised at how even she was able to keep her voice. She had expected at least 30 more years but you never knew when your time would end and she had always expected him to come collect personally. A time to rub it in maybe? That he had actually gotten the better end of the deal. She should have been upset. But she just couldn't muster it. She had had a good run. Her life had been comfortable. More than comfortable. What was it the kids said these days? Hashtag blessed? That's how she had felt. Even when the idea would make her laugh a little. Blessed. That was rich.
"No. Not yet. But we need to talk." His voice was deep enough that she could feel it rumble in her chest. The sensation was like sitting near the tracks when a train went by.
"About?" In all of the years since their original deal he had never stopped by just to chat. She had seen him, sure. He always wanted to make sure she knew he was around. When she signed the deed for the land her house sat on she saw him standing in the shadows. When her children graduated from high school and then from college as valedictorian and summa cum laude he had been there as well. When the shelter she helped finance through a series of almost miraculous investments broke ground he was there. She saw him often. But he never approached her or wanted to chat. He just wanted her to know he was there. That he did that. She would smile and nod his direction and that always seemed to satisfy him, he would nod back and then he would be gone.
"Look, this isn't easy for me but..." he paced again. The ripples moving out wider and wider. She found herself reaching out to disturb the outer edge. Like you would burst a smoke ring. When she touched the edge she felt the warmth of his energy. Which, again, should have worried her. But the thought of eternal burning had never scared her. She wasn't sure why. It just hadn't. She touched the ripples again. This time she looked up and saw him shiver as she did so.
"Don't do that please."
"Sorry. What were you saying?"
"I need to talk about the deal we made. It seems as though there have been some complaints."
"Complaints? From whom? The deal was between you and me and I'm fine, and you have always seemed fine."
"You haven't exactly taken advantage of your situation."
She held her hands up gesturing at her room in her perfect house. "I think I'm doing pretty well."
"You are. Pretty well. But most people when given your deal really...well...go for it. They make a killing in the stock market. They buy up a lot of real estate and charge and arm and a leg to resell it. They gather a lot of resources. You've just well...this." He gestured around the room.
"Just this? I love this house. I love this plot of land. I've loved my job. I've loved being able to provide the best things for my children. I've loved being able to help all of my friends..."
"See? There's the problem again." he interrupted her.
"What?"
"You help everyone you know. And even those you don't. You've been helpful. That's not the typical deal."
"But there was nothing in our deal that said I couldn't. It was really very open ended what I could receive and what I could do and I think I've done very well."
"You have done good."
"No, it's well. I've done well. That's the proper grammar." She couldn't let that slide, even from the Devil himself.
"No, I mean you've done good. You and I made a deal. You get whatever you desire and I get your soul and you turned around and only took what made you content and then helped other people. You've used our deal to do good. That's just not...well...it's not expected. We've never had a situation like that."
"And this is a problem?"
He sighed and paced again.
She watched the ripples, refraining from touching them. Just watching her room bend to his will. It was almost dizzying.
"It is a problem. You are causing an accounting imbalance."
She raised her eyebrows. "An accounting imbalance?"
"Yes, think of a life like a series of debits and credits. At the end you look at the tally and your eternal soul's location is decided. Good deeds on one side, selfish ones on the other. It's a running tally."
"I didn't think that applied to me anymore. I mean I signed away the rights when I was 16. No more tally marks right?"
"Not exactly. It's more that selling your soul for worldly gain is such a large negative mark that nobody has ever worked off the debt. And most people who sell off their souls go on to accumulate a lot more negative debt. It's pretty standard for people who make these sorts of deals."
He paced some more.
"But you didn't do that. Yes, your life has been easy, which is what you asked for. But you didn't turn around and keep taking. You didn't seek revenge on your step father, who was the driving force in you making the deal in the first place. You just made the original deal and left. And then made yourself comfortable, just comfortable, nothing excessive. And then started helping. Nobody has ever helped before. Or at least helped anyone other than themselves."
"So does this void our deal?"
"No. It doesn't work that way if you remember."
She did actually remember that part. The first time they had negotiated he had given her a week to decide. To really think about it. Left her with a copy of Dante's Inferno to guide her choice. He really wanted to make clear that once she signed it was a done deal. No whining about being a child. No complaining when he came for her at the end of her physical life that she hadn't gotten enough out of the deal. It was ironclad. She had taken the week, because he insisted. She had looked over Dante's Inferno and had matched it to her own bruises and daily life and decided the deal was still a good one.
"So what is the problem again?"
"The board thinks I've played favorites and let you get away with something."
"The board? I thought you ran things on your own?"
"Think of me as the CEO, but there is a committee, a group that came with me when we originally fell and they have a say in the way things run as well. It's sort of why we left in the first place, so we could have more say. Anyway, they think maybe I've turned a blind eye to you and given you some sort of pass."
"You haven't done anything. You've checked in pretty consistently, so no blind eye at all, but you haven't spoken to me in over 30 years so why would they think you had done anything?"
He looked a little embarassed at that point.
"Wait, you weren't supposed to be checking in on me were you? That wasn't part of the deal."
"It wasn't. I just....Like I said, nobody has ever done what you've done when making this sort of arrangement. And I've made this arrangement with wide variety of people over the years. They usually keep acquiring power and money and prestige, but just for themselves, maybe a little for their family or for people who could do things for them. A little grease for the wheels. But nobody, and I mean it, nobody, other than you has taken so little for themselves and given so much to others."
She laughed, "And here I've thought that I should be doing more."
"Yes, that's what the board is worried about. Which is why we are going to terminate your contract."
"What? Wait. What happened to ironclad?"
"The board thinks that because I am compromised that there is a loophole to exploit in the original signing. They don't want to take away anything you've already received, and they won't punish you by making your life harder now, but they don't want you gaining anything else."
"And for this breaking I get what?"
"Well, as I said, you get to keep everything you already have. And you get the rights to your soul back."
"And if I say no?"
He made the mistake of looking down at that point.
"I don't have to agree do I? You know I don't. They know I don't. And I already have the rights to my soul back don't I? That's really what they are mad about. I've earned my soul back. AND I've still got access to the benefits from our original deal don't I?"
"They could try to get this taken up in a higher court. And I'm not sure how that would go for you considering the original deal that was made. HE usually looks down on that sort of thing."
She shook her head. "He would look at the account ledgers right? That's what you said, it's all done on accounting. Good deeds, bad actions. How could HE argue with the facts and figures? And you don't want to do it anyway. I can tell. You're...invested. Or if not invested at least interested. I'm interesting to you."
He turned and bared his teeth at her then. Growling out loud. He should have been terrifying. But she wasn't terrified. She was impressed. It was a good show. But she knew. She knew she was fine.
She'd always been lucky. In big things and in small. Maybe not always, but for the past 30 years for sure.
She reached out and touched the edge of a ripple again. "Okay, now that that is out of your system, let's sit down and figure out a new deal that will make both of us happy. You've been very good to me over the years and I don't want you to lose you job over this. But," she touched another ripple and watched him shiver, "I also don't want you to think I'm just going to roll over on this."
He sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. He remembered how calm she had been at 16 when she had first seen him. He might have been the Devil but she had already faced evil, and he wasn't it. That should have been his first warning he was negotiating from a position of weakness but nobody had done what she had done so he had been blind. And proud.
He really was going to have to work on that pride thing one day.
(Writing Prompt: You sold your soul to the devil years ago. Today he appears to ask a favor in exchange for getting your soul back. Not exactly where this went, but it was enough to spark and idea and that is a big motherfucking WIN)
