Devil's Plaything

The Devil's in the Details

Mira realized for the first time as she passed through the doors of her college library that she had never been in the building before. She always studied in her dorm, and never needed to check out any books. It was much smaller inside than the outside of the building would suggest and she found herself disappointed and worried there wouldn't be much for her to research here. She had decided to come to the library to research her predicament after her Google search results for "how do I get my soul back?" proved unhelpful. She even tried to consult search forums, but was advised to seek a psychiatrist instead of receiving any real help.

She was curious, but more than that, she was unprepared. She hated being unprepared.

Despite its small size, the library was more difficult to navigate than she had anticipated. She searched through the rows of books until she found a section on religion and spirituality at the bottom of a shelf. She bent down and looked over the titles of these books, but there was nothing about the devil or souls.

"Can I help you find something?" Mira jerked up, startled. An elderly woman stood to her right, surveying her with wary eyes. Mira glanced down at her nametag. It had "Susan" scrawled across the paper in blue ink and Mira realized she must be a librarian. Perhaps even the only one who worked here, by the barren looks of the place.

"Yes, actually," Mira said, trying to slow her breathing. "Do you have any books on the devil?"

"What?" the woman asked, her hand subconsciously drifting to the crucifix necklace around her neck. "What do you mean?"

"Or about souls?" Mira continued, impatient. "Like, selling souls. And getting that back." The woman narrowed her eyes. "The soul, I mean," she clarified.

The woman shook her head slowly. "I don't believe we do. Try a book store." With that, she walked away too quickly for Mira to ask what book store she could suggest. Mira sighed, frustrated. It had been two days since she had given up her soul and she hadn't heard a peep from the Devil. She was beginning to wonder if she had dreamed up the whole confrontation and should see a psychiatrist after all. She left the aisle and was planning to exit the library before she saw a girl sitting at one of the study tables reading a book titled the Devil is in the Details. She froze, feeling oddly happy to find a book with the word "devil" in the title. Of course, the only problem was that someone else was reading it.

She walked over to the table hesitantly and knocked on its faded wood surface. "Seems like a cool book," she said lamely. Dark eyes framed with thick red glasses peered over the top of the open book. Mira felt her friendly smile fade, then tried to play it off with a laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt but I've been in touch with the devil as of late and that book looked like it might give me some answers."

The girl slammed the book down on the table and Mira jumped. "Are you fucking with me?" Mira did not expect her to have a British accent and she jumped again.

"No," she said quickly. "Sorry, I...it's been a weird week."

"What did he look like?"

"What?" Mira's brow furrowed in confusion.

"The devil. What did the devil look like?"

Silence fell around them for a long moment and Mira felt her heartbeat increase, then abruptly slow down. "Beautiful," she said in a quiet exhale.

The girl's lips turned up in a wry grin. "Sit down." She gestured to the seat across from her. Mira sunk cautiously into the chair. The girl reached into a backpack near her feet and pulled out a notepad and pen. She had her red hair tied up in a bun and lip stick the same shade as her hair. She was pretty, in an intimidating way and the confidence she seem to exude naturally made Mira uncertain how to proceed. "Do you usually go around telling strangers that you've recently encountered the devil?" she asked, clicking her pen and glancing up at Mira.