The Devil Buys My Soul Ch. 09-11

My head was suddenly clear. It was as if the alcohol vanished from my system completely. I was stone cold sober and there was a woman dressed in robes in front of me. She had an earthy quality about her.

"Thank you, Mary," I sighed.

"Just a little miracle to help you get ready to see Sandy," she replied with a warm smile.

"Sandy!" I snapped. I could feel my heart beat quicken. Mary smiled.

"Surprised Michael came through?" she grinned.

"Well actually, yes," I replied honestly. Her grin turned into a laugh as I added, "I especially didn't think it would be this quick!"

"Sandy goes to Heaven tomorrow," Mary replied. "It's a lot easier for you to see her now. Take my word on it."

"How is she?" I asked nervously. Mary smiled and gestured toward the door.

"See for yourself."

I stood as Sandy entered the room. My eyes were filled with tears as she walked in. I couldn't help it. I wanted to run to her, but I wasn't sure if she was real or just a ghost of her former self. I knew her body was gone. I saw the police cart it away. I had nightmares most nights of it lying in bed next to me.

Sandy had no such reservations. She ran to me and threw her arms around me. She felt solid and so good! I reached around her and hugged her back. We stood holding each other silently for almost five minutes.

"You two don't have all night!" Mary called. "Well, actually you do, but that's only another hour or so. We have to be gone before the sun rises!"

"Vampires?" I asked glibly. I was so excited at having Sandy in my arms that I couldn't stop myself. I was feeling giddy. Sandy looked up at me in shock.

"Mary is a saint!" Sandy snapped.

"Sorry, warped sense of humor," I said with a shrug.

"I'll say!" Mary put in and burst out into that same throaty laughter. Sandy relaxed visibly.

"Sandy, did Satan treat you okay this last month?" I asked seriously.

"Yes and no," she shrugged, but she saw me frown and quickly added, "He didn't really hurt me."

"Then what did he do?" I asked nervously.

"He let me watch you," she replied carefully. I stood stunned for a moment.

"The entire month?" I finally asked, knowing the answer but holding my breath anyway. I was looking for another miracle!

"Every moment of it," she replied with a shrug. I let my breath out and groaned. This meant that Sandy watched me with Lillith the first two weeks after she died.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried.

"I know," she said with a sad smile. "Me too. You were hurting very badly. I wanted desperately to contact you and let you know everything would be okay, but I couldn't."

"Can you ever forgive me?" I asked.

"Of course! I do love you after all," she replied with a shrug. She smiled when I relaxed and added, "It wasn't all sick anyway. There were a couple of times when I wished I was in Lillith's place."

"Sandy!" I snapped in surprise.

"Only a couple of times!" she laughed, and then looking at Mary, she hinted, "Actually if we had a little more time..."

"Sorry children," Mary said apologetically. "I wish you could be together one last time, but that's against the rules."

"Oh well," Sandy said. "At least we had that one time together."

"Yes," I sighed, but couldn't help adding, "If I'd known..."

"Me too!" Sandy interjected with a laugh.

"I love you," I said, realizing I hadn't told her so since she arrived.

"I know," she smiled. "But it's still nice to hear." We hugged each other again. I looked into her eyes and kissed her.

"So, now what do I do with the rest of my life?" I asked in resignation, as we broke apart. Mary was standing. I knew they were both going to leave shortly.

"What do you want to do?" Mary asked.

"Whatever is necessary to get to Heaven and see Sandy again," I replied.

"Good answer!" she laughed and I joined her. Her laugh was contagious.

"Remember your friends," Sandy said, looking at me as if she was trying to memorize every feature. "You're at your best when you're trying to help them."

"Most men are," Mary nodded in agreement. "That why I pushed Jesus to take so many disciples!"

"You pushed Jesus?" I asked in amazement.

"He may have been God, but he was also just a man," she sighed in reply.

"You said you weren't Jesus's mother," I said in confusion.

"I'm not," she replied, but then took pity on me. "I'm Mary Magdalene."

"Jesus's wife?" I snapped in amazement.

"Bless you!" she said, placing her hand on my head. It was amazing, but I actually felt blessed. "Do you know how many people still refuse to believe that I was more than just a friend?" It was a rhetorical question, but I thought Mary might actually know the count!

"I'll be watching you," Sandy said with a grin. "Try not to do anything too stupid!"

"Hey!" I snapped. We both laughed.

"And try and forgive Shelly," Sandy added seriously. "She really isn't that bad of a person. I think her life as Tyler's succubus will actually be a good change for her."

"Are you serious?" I asked in amazement. Sandy shrugged and laughed as she started to dissipate. I grabbed her hand one last time and leaned in to kiss her. I felt a gentle brush from her lips and then she was gone. So was Mary. I stood silently for a moment.

"Oh well, time to get drunk again," I finally sighed as I reached for the bottle and poured two drinks. "Satan!"

"I thought she'd never leave!" he said as he reappeared.

"What's up between you and Mary?" I asked. Satan shrugged as he sipped his drink, but then he surprised me by answering.

"She was always a very driven woman," he said, obviously thinking back and reliving part of the past. He drank his drink and snapped, "She was almost mine until He came into the picture!"

"Oh my G..!" I began, but stopped myself. Satan wouldn't be happy if I brought His name up. I tried again, "Oh my, Mary was your first love, wasn't she?"

"I'm Satan! I don't love anyone!" he snapped in reply.

"You're a fallen angel. The capacity for love doesn't just disappear," I replied.

"You're wrong," he said sadly. "You'd be amazed at what disappears after a few thousand years alone."

I looked at the Devil carefully. I knew everything about him was a lie, but the loneliness seemed so real. He still looked like my friend Ted. Not matter what else, he was still the boy who talked me through my first breakup. He was still my first real friend.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," I replied, downing my drink. "Pour us both another."

I watched him as he took hold of the bottle and it suddenly dawned on me that our whole relationship was peculiar. Why would the Devil take the time to befriend a boy? I mean, he constantly had to be around for almost twenty years. That was only a tiny percentage of his entire life, but still, it was a lot of effort for a single soul.

There were only two real possibilities. Either I was far more important than I thought, or he was truly lonely. It wasn't just another of his lies. The first possibility was so outlandish that I didn't spend more than a moment's thought on it. It had to be the second reason.

Satan was lonely! He had millions, possibly billions of souls at his command, but he was lonely. I looked up and glanced out the window. The sky was brightening, but the sun wasn't up yet.

"I know my last wish," I said quickly.

"What?" Satan said in surprise. He was so deep in his own thoughts that it took him a moment to refocus on me.

"I said that I know what my last wish is going to be!" I snapped.

"Okay, tell me," he said.

"I wish you would truly be my friend best Ted for the rest of my life," I said.

"What? Are you crazy!" he snapped. I shrugged.

"Maybe, but I miss Ted and you miss being him!" I replied.

"I can't just drop everything and make believe I'm a mortal!" he said with a shake of his head.

"Why not? You did it for almost twenty years once," I insisted.

"It was more like five or ten years if you drop your baby years and the time you slept," he said, but he was looking at me oddly.

"Oh, I'm not stupid enough to think you'll stop being the Devil or anything," I replied. "But that doesn't mean you can't take a brief respite and be my best friend Ted."

"The scheduling issues alone..." he grumbled, but I cut him off. The sun was about to rise.

"I don't care! My third and final wish is that you truly be my friend best Ted for the rest of my life. So grant it or our deal is off," I said, and then shrugged and asked, "Unless it breaks one of your limitations?" He looked at me carefully and then shook his head.

"No, it doesn't really break any of the limitations we agreed upon," he finally said. I could see a half smile form.

"So?" I prompted.

"Granted," he said with a shrug. "I will live as a normal human being for the rest of your life. Just call me Ted from now on."

I raised one eyebrow in surprise. That was a bit more than I expected. I was only hoping to have Ted back in my life. I didn't expect Satan to agree to spending years, hopefully many years, as a human. I wondered if he intentionally misunderstood me.

It was very possible. After all, how could this wish not surpass the scope limitation he set? I was tempted to ask him, but things were the way I wanted them to be, so why rock the boat?

"How about we go to a football game next week?" I asked.

"Sounds good," Ted said, and then he smiled and added, "You might want to look for real job first. It's about time you stopped goofy off." I nodded. He was my best friend and he was saying something that only best friends could say. I was goofing off for the last six months. It was time for me to get my life back on track.

It felt good to have Ted back in my life. Sandy was gone, but she was in Heaven watching and waiting. It hurt, but at least I had my best friend to help me through the pain.

I wondered if this is what Sandy meant when she said, 'Remember your friends.' I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Probably not," I said aloud.

"What?" Ted asked.

"Nothing," I sighed as I threw my arm over his shoulder. "I think it's time we left."

"Okay," he replied. "I'll be crashing at my parents old place. Call me tomorrow."

"Sure." I smiled. I noticed that Ted had a very nice car. I expected he also made a good living at whatever job he chose. He might have agreed to become Ted, but that didn't mean he was going to live a poor man's life. He was still the Devil after all.