Aaron Vass leaned back in his chair and looked down the dark hallway in his drab office building. All he could see was a light flickering at the end of the hallway, and a janitor in blue coveralls sweeping the floor. Aaron turned and looked back at his blank computer. He then noticed that it was seven o’clock, and he needed to get home. Grabbing his wrinkled gray suit jacket, he made his way to the elevator, and went down to the ground floor.
As he walked away from the prison like building, Aaron saw someone standing on the other side of the street. Though he had never seen her before, she waved to him. She had on ratty clothes, and her fiery red hair was tangled, with leaves in it. He just walked by the girl, not giving her a second thought.
Aaron had no reason to be unhappy. He had a good job, it was rather boring, but it was still a job, which many people could not claim to have. He had a good house, it was small, but still a house and he had chosen to live there. He had money; all of it was family money, but still money. Aaron had many neighbors, most of them families, young and old, but he had never bothered to get to know any of them. His neighbors had tried in the past to get to know him, but after never going to the dinner parties or block parties, they finally got the hint, and stopped inviting him to things.
Just as he was finishing heating up his dinner in the microwave, Aaron heard a knock at the door. There hadn’t been a knock at his door for a long time, and when he opened the door he was surprised at who he saw on the other side. It was the woman, from the other side of the street, with the fiery red hair. “Hello, Aaron,” she said, looking at him like she knew him.
“What do you want?” he responded, “I don’t know you.”
“I just came here to talk, Aaron. May I come in?” she asked while making her way into the front hallway.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” Aaron said unhappily, “I don’t know you.”
“You’ve always been so unhappy, Aaron, why is that?” she asked, while making her way farther into the house. From the kitchen, the microwave can be heard going off. “I think your dinner is ready.”
“I don’t care about my dinner anymore. I just want you, a stranger, out of my house.” Aaron said as he followed the mysterious woman into his living room.
“Nice house.” She said.
“Thanks.”
“Why don’t you get a bigger one?”
“I don’t want one.”
“Well, maybe a bigger house will make you happy.”
“I’m not unhappy.”
“Yes, you are Aaron. Everyone knows you are. But I just don’t understand why you are. You have everything everyone could want. A job, a house, and money. What more do you want Aaron?” she said this all so quickly Aaron barely understood her.
“Why do you care if I’m unhappy? Who are you anyway?” Aaron said, he was getting more agitated by the minute, and didn’t like this stranger in his house, and wanted to get her out.
“Why, Aaron, I’m the devil.” She said it so matter-a-fact that he almost believed her.
“I don’t believe that you are the devil. You don’t look like the devil.” He said, his voice wavering a bit. All of a sudden the house turned cold, and the stranger whipped around, her eyes glowing red. Aaron back up, falling into the chair that was behind him, he was scared silent.
“Do you think I would lie?” She growled.
“No, no, no,” He replied in a quivering voice, “I believe you, trust me, I do.”
“Okay then.” She said, her eyes returning to green color they were before. The heat was also returning to the house, for that Aaron was grateful. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the devil was in his house. “What would you say if I said that I could make you happy?”
“How could you make me happy? You’ve already said that I have everything I need to be happy.” Aaron said.
“You do have everything you need to make you happy, but I can make that everything better. Though there are a few things that you will need to give me.”
“What will I need to give you?” He asked skeptically.
“I guess, it isn’t a few things, it is one thing specifically, your soul.”
“I need to give you my soul?” He repeated.
“Yes, your soul. You will be tied to me for eternity and have to do everything I want you to, but in return I will give you the things you need to make you happy.” She replied. He just sat there thinking. “Aaron, you’re going to have to tell me yes or no. This isn’t an offer that will always be on the table.”
“If I give you my soul, and do everything you want, you’ll give me the things I need to make me happy?” She nodded. “Well, I guess, if it would make me happy.”
“That’s a very good choice, Aaron.” As she said that, the air in the house began to whirl around, picky both Aaron and the devil up, and as this happened, Aaron got a strange feeling. He felt something leave him, and when he was set back on the ground, he felt strangely empty, and the devil was gone, with just a lock of fiery red hair remaining of the devil.
The next day, he woke up at the normal time, though he still felt that strange feeling of being empty. He got ready as usual, walked to work as usual, but when he got to work, nothing was usual. The building where he worked was gone. He didn’t see any of the people who he worked with. Aaron was confused, and he looked around. As he spun in a circle, he saw a woman with fiery, unruly red hair, but when he looked back, she was gone. Aaron felt a paper smack up against his leg. He bent down and read what it was. Your job was boring, it said, so I got rid of it and the people you worked with. Now you’ll be happy. Aaron was confused. His job was boring, but he didn’t want it gone or the people who worked there gone. There was Jennifer, the pretty blond, who always brought him coffee, and David, who would sometimes help him with his reports, even if David had reports to do himself. As Aaron walked home, the sky seemed to become grayer.
Walking up his block, Aaron saw wrecking balls in front of his house. He ran up the street, and spun around trying to figure out what was going on again. Like last time, he saw the woman, but when he turned back to see her, she was gone. Again, he felt a piece of paper hit his leg. Trembling, Aaron bent down and read what was written on the paper. Your house was small, and made you unhappy, so I’m knocking down the houses next to it, to make your house bigger. Now you’ll be happy. He never really knew his neighbors, but he didn’t want them gone. The Jeffersons lived next to him on the right, they had two kids, Ryan and Ella, who could be annoying but they could also be cute, like when they had that lemonade stand out front. Then there were the Connors, who lived next to him on the left, they had a little baby, named Ava, and a puppy named Scout, sometimes Scout did keep Aaron up at night with his insane barking, but he was cute, and so was Ava. He didn’t understand what was going on, and what mess he had gotten himself into, so he just ran, and ran, until his got to the empty lot, 3 miles away from his house.
“You can’t run from me, Aaron.” A voice from behind him said. When Aaron turned around, he saw her, and her fiery red hair. “This is what you wanted. You wanted to be happy, and I said I could make you happy. You gave me your soul, and I did everything to make you happy. I got rid of your job, and I made your house bigger. You should be happy.”
“But I’m not. I’m not happy. I want my soul back; I don’t want any of this anymore.” Aaron whined.
“Oh, I can’t do that Aaron. And now that I have your soul, I need you to do something for me. I need you to get me another soul.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Aaron was dreading the answer that was about to come. With a look from her, there was a gust of air, both she and Aaron rose into the air just like at his house the night before. As he was dropped down, Aaron was alone again, but when he looked down in a puddle that had appeared at his feet, he noticed that he had fiery red hair, with leaves in it, and red eyes.
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