Everything Comes With A Price

It was just a black book. Small, slightly charred on the edges but otherwise totally normal. But Katie felt herself drawn to the little black book left on the bench next to her… she turned back to her lunch. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop glancing at the book, she gathered her things into her bag, and after a moment's hesitation threw the book in too. Katie turned on her computer and scrolled though Netflix or Prime. Nothing interested her. She needed a distraction anything to keep from thinking about the huge bill that had just gone out of her account, remembering she pulled the black book out of her account. She flicked it open and saw…a name, an address, a sentence ‘I will win the lotter and a signature. She was confused the next page was the same but a different person and sentence 'My son will get better’.

On it went different names, addresses, signatures and different wants.

'I will become a world-famous writer.'

'I will win an Olympic Gold Medal',

'I pledge myself to you Oh Dark One I will commit atrocities in your name'.

Katie felt a sudden chill and closed the book. She felt uneasy and suddenly angry at herself for picking up the stupid thing. She threw it in the bin, anxiously she tried finding something to watch to chill too but after an hour she decided on an early night.

Katie opened the cupboard to get her coffee when the book fell out, she jumped back she had put it in the bin hadn’t she? She picked it up and opened it to a random name, typing the name in Facebook she wrote a little message about the book and asked if it was his. An hour later the response came; he asked her to meet him.

Fifteen minutes later Katie found herself sat on a couch holding a cup of tea opposite the man, Anthony. He hadn’t said much since she came into the house except to as her how she took her tea.

‘Are you religious?’ He asked suddenly.

‘Er no not really’ Katie shrugged.

Anthony started pacing he seemed slightly hysterical ‘I had a child. A boy. Thomas. He was…everything. The most beautiful little boy, smart, inquisitive…’ Anthony paused ‘One day he got sick, we thought it was just a flu, but he didn’t get better, we took him to the doctor. Leukaemia, treatable. But he never seemed to get better no matter what the doctors did. I found myself praying, begging God or Jesus to cure him, but he stayed sick. And every day I watched this beautiful little boy just die. Nothing worked! One day, I was sitting in the park. And this man sat next to me, he said ‘Anthony, I know about your boy and I can help him’ I thought maybe he was a specialist? And he said, ‘What would you be willing to give for Thomas’s life?’ I said I would give anything, and he said, ‘Would you give your soul?’ And I thought the man’s insane! and I almost ran away.

A few days later the doctors told us all they could do was make him comfortable. There was a little Chapel, and I was in there praying and I thought of that man and I said it out loud, I will give my soul if you make my son well, suddenly the man was there, he was holding That little black book he asked me to sign it.

And I did.

And I regret it to this day’.

Anthony stopped in front of the mantlepiece.

‘Did…did he not get better?’ Katie asked tentatively. Anthony turned to face her.

‘Oh, he survived, he got better. A miracle they called it. Thomas on walked right out of that hospital and right into the path of a truck. Died instantly.

Katie felt the air rush out of her lungs ‘He died, he got better then he died?’

Anthony nodded sinking into an armchair.

‘But you said you sold your soul for him to live?’

Anthony shook his head ‘No I sold my soul for him to get better, I never asked for him to live. That’s what he said, when I called on him, I raged at him, I said you took my soul and you killed my son and I demanded my soul back, but he gave me the book and I saw what I’d agreed to. All I asked for was for Thomas to get better, living was never guaranteed’.

Katie knew she had to leave, this poor man was grieving, ‘I am so sorry for your loss, I think I should go’.

Anthony looked up at her ‘No don’t go! You can give me back my soul’.

‘I’m sorry?’

Anthony stood up ‘You have the contract, it belongs to you, all you need to do is burn it’.

‘I don’t think that will work’.

‘’It will! I know it will, just rip out the page, burn it!’

Katie wanted to leave she didn’t feel safe ‘I really need to go; you can keep the book’.

Anthony grabbed her arm ‘How much? £5000? 10? I have the money!’

‘Let me go!’ Katie struggled against his grip.

‘Name your price all I’m asking is that you burn my contract!’

Katie stopped struggling ‘You’ll give me £10,000 to burn it?’

‘I’ll double it’ Anthony whispered.

After a moment Katie nodded, Anthony let her go and quickly moved to a desk in the corner, he found his cheque book.

‘Name?’ he asked her.

‘Katie Bishop’ Anthony scribbled out the cheque, he put it in her hand, Katie looked down, there it was, a cheque for £20,000.

‘Now, do it’ Anthony begged. Katie pulled out the book she opened to his page, Katie ripped the page out of book ‘Matches?’ she asked, Anthony grabbed a lighter from the mantlepiece. Katie flicked the flint and help to the page. They watched as the paper burned to ash. Anthony’s breath shuddered ‘Thank you’ he said whispered.

Katie sat in her living room utterly bewildered. Was it right to take Anthony’s money? Surely all that stuff about God and the Devil was nonsense. A lie he told himself to deal with the grief. Did she take advantage of him? Taking his money just to burn a piece of paper. But he seemed so desperate, it would have been cruel to turn him down, worse than cruel. At least this way he had some sort of peace.

The thought came to her in the middle of the night, there were many names in the book, so many people obviously believed what Anthony did. What if she could give them all back their souls? What if she could help everyone? And, well she wouldn’t ask for money but if they wanted to give her money it would be rude to say no…

Katie walked through the marble reception nodding at the security guard. She stepped into her private lift and checked her phone there was a text. she sighed, it was Mr Sobreck again, what was he offering now? She read the text.

'£237, it is all I can afford, please, please sell me back my soul.'

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help him, of course she did but she had other clients who were willing and able to pay a lot more. She had to prioritise, this was her job, her livelihood and, she thought as she stepped from the lift into her penthouse overlooking the Thames, what a livelihood it was.

Her phone buzzed again there had been a bank transfer from a Mr. B. Owens he had just wired over half a million pounds into her account.

The emailed followed soon after.

'Miss Bishop, Transaction is complete I trust you will finalise the contract?'. Katie pulled the little black book from her bag, it looked as it always did, no matter how many pages she ripped out and burned it never got any slimmer, she was glad, the more pages meant the more souls of people she could save and the more money she would earn.

Mr Owens had sold his soul in exchange for his wife's untimely death, a stoke during her yoga class leaving him free to marry the 25-year-old secretary he was sleeping with, without having to split his fortune with his first wife.

Katie filmed herself as she burnt his page, once she was done, she replied to the email.

'Contract finalised, see attached video’.

And poof it was sent, and she had half a million in her account. Not bad for a day’s work.

Yawning Katie decided on an early night when she heard the voice.

‘Don’t sleep yet darling’ Katie screamed and whirled around; a man was sitting in her armchair

'I’m calling the police' Katie yelled grabbing her phone, the man merely chuckled.

'Get out, I’m calling them!'

'How?' He whispered in her ear plucking the phone from her hands Katie screamed again confused, how did he move so fast?

The man smiled, he was tall and ridiculously handsome 'You have something of mine’.

Katie shook her head 'I can give you money!'

The man smiled and shook his head 'I do not need your money, but I do need it back.'

Katie started screaming the man rolled his eyes 'Enough' he snapped.

Katie blinked, she was sitting on the couch and he was sitting opposite her.

‘Katie, I want my book back’.

Katie went numb, His book, his little black book but that would mean he was…

'The Devil' she whispered.

The man smiled 'At your service’.

Katie stuttered ‘I, I only helped those people. I help people! I’m not like you!’ Katie protested.

‘You are exactly like me but instead of collecting souls you collected their money. 11 million pounds in 3 years. I’m Impressed’

‘I gave them their souls back I never asked for their money!’

‘Not at first’ the Devil smiled at her ‘But they kept offering and you kept taking, now you won’t give a soul back for less that £100,000, how many people can afford that?’

‘You can’t have the book back, I need it’ Katie panicked at the thought of not having the book.

The devil frowned disapprovingly ‘Katie you have millions in the bank’.

‘No, I need it, it’s my job I’m helping people’.

‘Cut the crap Katie’.

‘I can’t be poor again! I won’t!’

The Devil smiled ‘Well in that case I have an offer: you can keep the book in exchange for your soul’.

Katie froze, her soul. She shook her head, but the Devil carried on talking ‘Come on darling, the way you’ve exploited people and made millions from misery you’re on your way to ending up with me anyway, let’s just make it official’.

Katie couldn’t speak.

‘Or I could just take my book back’ The Devil rose from his chair and reached towards the book on the coffee table.

‘I’ll do it! Katie gasped.

The Devil smiled.

Katie grabbed the book, ‘Where do I sign?’ she asked flicking to an empty page.

The Devil reached into an inside pocket and pulled out another little black book ‘I think we’ll use a new book this time’, he filled in a page with a flourish and held it out to Katie, she glanced at her black book suddenly realising ‘You left it for me, didn’t you? You were always coming for me’.

‘Everyone has a choice darling’ The Devil handed her a pen; Katie signed her name. ‘That’s it yeah? I can still use my book?’ The Devil nodded once ‘Goodbye Katie, I’m sure I’ll see you soon’ and as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.

Katie exhaled heavily then picked up her black book, at least she still had this.

She flicked through the pages and felt her stomach plummet.

Every page was blank.