THE MOMENT
The red-skinned demon looked down at the grave, then back up at Aaron. He gave his head a subtle shake.
"No, I don't think I can accept that...," the demon said. Aaron laughed and shrugged. "The deal was for my first born," he said. "My only child is here," he patted the gravestone. His son lived a very short life almost 20 years ago. His life had been getting worse for those 20 years as he tried to cope. Finally, after dealing with a demon he was starting to feel better. The supernatural amounts of money had had available also helped.
"I'm living up to my part of the bargain," Aaron added. "It's not my problem if you won't accept payment." The demon shook his head again.
"One moment," he said. "I need to escalate this." The demon vanished in a cloud of yellow sulfur that somehow smelled worse than when he appeared. Aaron chuckled to himself as he waited. It wasn't something he could brag to anyone about; but, he felt pleased with himself for getting one over on Satan. After several minutes, another cloud plumed into existence in the graveyard. This time the smoke was red and smelled like cinnamon candy. When the smoke cleared it wasn't the same dark-suited demon Aaron was dealing with earlier. It was a very portly, ruddy, blonde man wearing a tight white suit that made him look like a marshmallow wearing his belt too tight.
"Aaron," he smiled and extended a hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lucifer," the chubby man said. Aaron couldn't help but chuckle aloud. This mid-30s, sweaty man was not what he imagined Lucifer looking like. He never expected to meet the proprietor of Hell, but now he had, Aaron couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.
"So, my employee tells me you're trying out a loophole," Lucifer chuckled and shook his head. "I can't say I'd recommend that. In fact, my boss insists I try and talk you out of it for your own good."
"Huh?" Aaron tilted his head at Lucifer. Almost everything he said raised question in Aaron and he struggled to pick out which one to ask first.
"You have a boss?" he asked. Lucifer nodded. "Who, God?" This time, Lucifer shook his head.
"Though she is a comparable god, she's not the one you're thinking of," he said. "Ms. Sharp insists on running a fair afterlife, we're here to serve our clients," Lucifer added. "You don't want to go this route with us; even if you think you can win, Hell has some pretty clever people on our side." Aaron shook his head.
"No way, you're just trying to worm out of the deal," he said. "900 billion dollars for my first born. That was the deal, here he is," Aaron gestured down at the grave again. Lucifer shook his head.
"I need to be able to tell Ms. Sharp I made an honest effort," he said. "How about another 900 billion?" he asked. "We'll null the first contract, but I'll let you keep the money, and add another 900 on top. You sign a new contract that says your first born, starting now. And, it even comes with a free loophole if you never have kids," Lucifer said. He offered Aaron a familiar red clipboard. Aaron smiled to himself. Lucifer was obviously trying anything he could to get out of their deal, but he wasn't going to let that happen.
"I don't even need all the money I already have," Aaron said. "The deal stands. You can have my first born," he said. Lucifer sighed and shook his head.
"Are you sure? Really really sure?" he asked. "Honestly, I'm probably going to get chewed out for letting this happen; Ms. Sharp wants to give Hell a new image and this isn't going to help that at all."
"I'm sure," Aaron said.
"Okay," Lucifer shrugged. "You said, and I quote, 'What remains is yours.' is that right?" Aaron nodded.
"Yeah, sure. Bones and whatever else you can find I guess," he chuckled.
"Very well. On behalf of Ms. Sharp's Hell, I accept your firstborn and conclude our deal. Are you satisfied with this outcome?" Lucifer asked. Aaron couldn't help but chuckle and nod.
"Yeah, I'm satisfied," he grinned as they shook hands for a final time.
"Still, I feel obliged to give you a bonus," Lucifer added. He nodded to himself. "Yes, I think I'd feel less like I was taking advantage of you if I added some more money. You’ll find an extra 500 billion in your account." Aaron chuckled and shook his head.
"You bought a 900 billion dollar pile of bones," he laughed. But, the laughter died down when Lucifer shook his head.
"..and whatever else we can find," he grinned at Aaron.
"Huh?" Aaron asked. "What else is there to find?" Lucifer's eyes sparkled with amusement.
"We're an afterlife," Lucifer said. "It's our job to keep track of certain things." Aaron felt a sinking feeling in his gut and he became visibly pale.
"..what things?" he asked.
"Souls mostly," Lucifer winked at Aaron and disappeared in a plume of red, cinnamon-scented smoke. His last words made Aaron fall to his knees in despair. "Your son's soul was easy to find."