The Devil’s in the Details

By Alyx Freund

You know how learning a language can feel like it’s ruining your life? Well, learning Latin did it for me. What seemed like a simple assignment caused me to summon a demon hell-bent on buying my soul. The only problem is I’m not selling. Now he wants to stick around. What could go wrong?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jan 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638291251

Alyx Freund

Alyx lives in Virginia with her sister, two dogs and occasionally her mother. When she isn’t writing, she is a fulltime cosmetology instructor. When she has free time, she enjoys baking, reading, going on adventures and going to comic book conventions. Alyx is also a fulltime nerd.

Book preview

Chapter One

Mackenzie! You better be up there studying!

Yes, Mother, I am! I shouted out my door as I turned yet another page of my Latin book. I hate that my parents forced me to study Latin, but now I am being punished for the fact that I am failing because I don’t understand it, nor do I have an interest in it.

My name is Mackenzie, but everyone I know calls me Mac. When I was born, my mother named me Mackenzie due to her Scottish heritage that she didn’t want to go unrecognized. Too bad for her, we hail from the Clan Cairns according to Nana. Mother didn’t care and now I go by Mac. My entire life has been a punishment of some form or another, from accidentally ripping clothes to just the mere fact that I was born, another accident by the way. I am constantly punished, so I live my entire life by just doing my best.

Now you see, my parents kinda hate each other. Okay, okay…they really hate each other. They were the high school sweethearts that really were never meant to see each other after high school, but Dad knocked up Mom. Nana and Grams found out and made them get married. They’ve hated each other ever since. So the two responsible people I call parents are now thrusting their dreams on me. Mom wanted to be a lawyer; Dad wanted to be a doctor. Both of which require me to take Latin apparently! They want me to be Dr. Mackenzie Franks Esq or some shit like that. What do I want to do? I want to be a travel writer. What my parents don’t know is that every single family vacation, (aka: an excuse for them to never be near each other and pretend they don’t have a daughter) we have ever taken has been the perfect opportunity for me to blog, which I have. I have almost a million people following my blog. I’ve been viral and published multiple times, and my parents have even read my stuff…under my pseudonym of course. My father has even told me, Mackenzie, if you could write like Marion Fraser, you could make a career out of writing. But you can’t, so focus on your studies and becoming a doctor. Ha! If only he knew!

I turn the page of my textbook again and realized that I haven’t eaten since lunch. I know for a fact that if I ask my mom to bring me something, she will shout at me something along the lines of I’m an independent woman and I’m not always in the kitchen …it’s true. She isn’t. In fact, most of the time, she’s too drunk to handle even a spoon. I grab my textbook and head to study in the kitchen for a while. As I go about making myself a sandwich, I’m trying to practice my pronunciation so that maybe I’ll get, at least, a C on my test this week…but it isn’t looking so great. As I top the sandwich with the last piece of bread, I finish the sentence I was trying to pronounce, then, all hell breaks loose. Quite literally! The kitchen lights start flickering and what seems to be a hole of pure fire forms on the other side of the island. I stand there, jaw currently next to my sandwich as I watch a demon emerge from this hell hole. I stand there dumbfounded as I hear my mother shout from the other room, Keep it down in there! I’m watching my shows!

Uh…hi…d’ya want a sandwich? I ask the demon towering above me.

No, I don’t want a sandwich! I am not eating carbs damn you! My mother shouts back.

Sorry Mom! I shout back. Do you want a sandwich…? I ask the demon quietly.

No, but you summoned me and now your soul shall be mine, he responds.

Ah…yeah…no can do on that one. Kinda like my soul where it is, and I didn’t mean to summon you so you can be gone now…or whatever.

What is it you said? Oh yes, no can do on that one. You summoned me and there are two ways for you to be rid of me. One, and this is the easiest way, sell me your soul. Two, die.

Three…perform an exorcism…that’s an option…

Are you fluent in Latin?

I look down at my textbook. No. That’s what got me into this damn mess. I was practicing for my Latin test and here you are.

Yes, here I am. Now, I should tell you that every soul has a contract to go with it. You can negotiate anything and everything. You want success? Have it. Want normal parents? You got it, kid! Want a lifetime supply of your favorite candy? I can get you that! Your soul is the only cost. You get a set number of years to live your life and then, you die, and I take your soul, and all is right with the world.

You take my soul…?

Yep.

What do you do with it?

What do you mean?

What do you do with the souls once you have them?

I’m not understanding the question…

Do you store them? Do you eat them? Do you torture them? Do you collect them? What do you do with the souls once you have taken them!?

Oh…well…ya know. No one has ever asked me that before…it’s…well…ah…typically…we send you to one of the seven circles of hell for all eternity…but you can negotiate, after a century and a half, to become a demon and go into—

Do you have a brochure?

What?

A brochure? Like I wanna see in writing what Hell is like and considering it’s a popular destination, I figured that maybe you guys have a brochure.

There’s no brochure. But there is—

You should get one.

One what?

A brochure. It might make people tempted to sell you souls. Like you can make it look like fat camp.

Fat…camp…?

Yeah. Fat camp looks like a lot of fun, but once you get there it’s really angry people starving themselves hoping to drop a few pounds before the end of summer.

Okay…? Look so you wanna sign or not?

Not. And technically, even if I wanted to, I raised my voice a bit, I can’t. I’m a minor and any legally binding contract that I would sign without a parent or guardian would be null and void. Isn’t that right Mom?

The demon turned around to see if Mother was behind him, but from the other room Mother shouted, How on Earth should I know? I didn’t go to law school because someone just had to be born!

Christ almighty! She has got to stop blaming me for her mistakes! The demon shuddered at the mention of Christ. Duly noted. And in any case…I’m like 16…the hell you want my soul for anyhow?

Look, you know what a quota is?

…yesh… I looked down at my feet.

Well, demons have them too. And you are correct. You’re a minor so I cannot legally take your soul with a contract. So, I got good news and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?

Uhhhhh, bad news first?

You’re stuck with me indefinitely.

Oooookay…good news?

You get to keep your soul without me nagging you for two years.

Cool…so like…can you help me with my Latin homework? ’Cause like…I need help.

The demon rolled his eyes and stalked off…with my fucking sandwich!

Bro! If you wanted a sandwich, I would have made one for you!

I said I didn’t want a sandwich you inconsiderate curr!

Did she just call me a curr…? I mumbled as I stalked off after my new pet demon.

Chapter Two

Do I get any kind of benefits out of this friendship or is this one of those toxic relationships? ’Cause I don’t need that in my life…not again. I shut my door as I entered my room and see the demon sitting on my bed. And must you always look like that? I mean, it works for the intimidation factor, but I already know I’m stuck with you until the end of time, so can you cool it with the horns and flames?

Oh, I’m sorry. Doth I offend the lady with my looks? I didn’t realize that you only wanted to deal with people who look like you!

Whoa whoa whoa! I never said that! Chill out, bro. I’m only saying that from the way you looked when I called my mom, I am assuming other people can see you, therefore you might scare, oh I don’t know, every person within a ten-foot radius of you. I figured you may want to look semi-normal, even human-like.

First and foremost, this is a business suit. You should see my true form. Second of all, humans are gross.

Says the demon who wants a human soul… I mumble under my breath.

Hey! A job is a job. We all need to please the boss. But hey, if it makes you more comfortable, I’ll go find myself a meat suit to drive for a couple years.

I’m sorry, but what? Did you just say a ‘meat suit’?

My bad…‘human body!’ The demon put into quotations. I forget how sensitive you hairless apes are! We told the boss not to let you guys speak or have free will. But here you are, messing everything up for everyone else!

Yeah, okay, so what’re you gonna do? Possess someone and steal their life?

"Well yeah, that’s typically how this works. I possess and then I leave the body no more worse for wear. It’s like renting a car…you throw a few thousand miles on it, fill it up, and turn it back in. Sometimes there may be a ding or two, kill the dude at the rental place when he asks you to pay