From Old Scratch
“Tell me what you really want,” He said with a large shark toothed smile as Jason just blinked with a look of shock, “Come on, don't be shy now. What. Do. You. Want?”
In truth he wanted a lot of things; money, power, freedom, and above all, to quit his stupid job as an accountant.
“A million dollars!” Jason cried out, “Enough for me to enjoy my life and get out of this rat race once and for all!”
A cool grin appeared on the man's face, “And what will you give me for it?”
“I don't...”
“Don't 'I don't know' me,” His temper started to flare as his eyes filled with fire, “Every single damn one of you says that. You know what you're willing to exchange, what you can afford to lose in the name of what you want. Tell me, the first thing on your mind. And...for HIS sake, if you say 'your soul' I am going to punch you in the face.”
“My...my apartment, my collection of books, my laptop, any and all material possessions I have.”
“Ah...now we're getting to the fun part, bartering,” He breathed out a bit of smoke as he looked at the meek man before him, “Those will get you, hundred thousand. All material possessions you have total up to that, right? What will you do for the nine hundred thousand? What will you give?”
“First born?”
“We both know you won't have kids,” The man rolled his eyes, both sets of them, as he paced slightly within the chalk circle, “How about your knowledge?”
“...How much of it?” Jason was kind of counting on the knowledge of finances to help keep the money flowing after the cool million.
“Every bit of trivia you've learned, finances, photography, art history...”
“No, never,” He folded his arms as he watched the man's forked tail twitch, “I need that.”
“Damn HIM, that worked with the last one,” Stopping his pacing, he turned and looked at the mortal before him, “Your lifespan? How many years?”
“No,” Jason was stern, “How about my love life?”
“Ugh, no one wants that! Besides, it interferes with others outside the contract too much,” Giving a coy grin, he looked at the man, “Fine, quarter million for all material possessions. It will be in your account, no muss no fuss.”
Jason grinned at that prospect. He could work with a quarter million, put about half into investments as he used the rest to buy a property, and restore his lost possessions.
“I think we have a deal,” The man held out a hand, his fire red eyes giving him a look, “Don't we?”
Jason nodded as he took the devil's hand, “I think we do.”
They both shook on it and instantly Jason found himself in the middle of a forest, naked. Looking around confused, he heard laughter.
“You have that quarter million waiting,” A voice whispered to him, “But you have to start from scratch to get it.”
