Chapter Three
"Finally," I grumbled. Half my time and a quarter of a year wasted. Three months of Sandy having to do whatever Shelly commanded! The mere thought of it angered me. It also filled me with guilt.
"So, you found them."
I ignored the speaker and focused on Shelly and Sandy. They were lying by the pool in bikinis. I wasn't really surprised to see Tyler with them. Shelly was enthroned in the center lounge chair with Tyler on her right and Sandy on her left. The hotel was very busy and almost every chair was occupied. All three of them were getting more than their fair share of attention from the rest of the people around the pool.
"And you were worried! Sandy looks fine. Actually, better than fine!" the presence next to me said as I did my best to continue to ignore him. "In fact, there are five men and one woman daydreaming right now about what they would like to do with her. One of them is into some really sick stuff. He wants to..."
"Why are you here?" I asked, cutting him off. I knew it was a mistake to engage in conversation with him, but it was probably equally a waste of time trying to ignore him.
"I missed you!" he grinned. I fought back a smile and rolled my eyes.
"Part of the deal is for you not to interfere," I said.
"I'm not interfering," he insisted.
"Bull!" I growled. His grin turned into a laugh.
"Two months in the hospital seems to have affected your sense of humor," he teased.
"Don't remind me!" I growled, and then rubbed my face with my hands as I remembered the last two months. "The daily sessions with the psychologist were particularly enjoyable."
"What? You look better than you have in years," he replied. I glanced at him for the first time. He was wearing a bathing suit and was drawing quite a few looks from the women near us. He didn't look exactly the same as the last time, but close enough.
"I miss Ted," I said with a sigh, surprising myself.
"Yes, I did have some fun with that persona," he said, smiling oddly. It sounded like he really meant it. "Do you remember the time we pushed Tommy Fanti into the girls locker room?"
"How could I forget? He paid us each ten bucks to do it!" I grinned despite myself. "He really had a thing for Teresa Carlyle."
"He was also one of the horniest little bastards in our class," he added with a snort and a shake of his head. "I'm surprised he didn't bring a camera with him!" We looked at each other and laughed.
"I hear he became a graphic artist," I said, once we were done.
"Yes," he said, nodding in agreement. "He and Teresa have four children with a fifth on the way."
"Any of it your doing?" I asked, sobering significantly. He shook his head.
"No," he sighed. "They were already deeply in love by the time they turned eighteen."
"But you tried," I said knowingly.
"Of course I tried," he said with a shrug. "Who would have thought that someone as horny as Tommy would pass up a chance at a succubus?"
"Good for him!" I said, smiling. I always liked Tommy. "Even you can't interfere with true love."
"I don't know," he replied offhandedly. "You claim to be in love with Sandy and you had no problem accepting Lillith's attention."
"I didn't sell my soul for Lillith! I sold if for a chance to help Sandy!" I cried, surprised by the vehemence of my reaction.
"A bit sensitive, aren't we?" he teased. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Lillith was a mistake, but I paid for it with three months of my life," I said more calmly.
"She misses you, you know," he said seriously. I snorted. Like a succubus could miss anyone! "She's available if you'd like to see her again. Now that you know her nature it shouldn't be too hard to avoid her trap."
" 'Satan, get thee behind me!'," I said with a shake of my head. He rolled his eyes.
"Not interested?" he asked, but he already knew my answer.
"As Scotty once said, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!'," I replied. We looked at each other and laughed again as we remembered the past once more. Television was a shared vice of ours. We used to stay over each other's houses and watch it until the wee hours of the morning.
"You're full of quotes today," he teased, but I didn't react. I realized that I was letting him distract me again.
"Look, Ted and I had fun, but he's gone. I've learned to accept that..." I said. He cut me off before I could continue.
"Are you sure?" Satan asked. I looked up and there was Ted. He had that same lopsided grin, and the same carefree expression that often preceded my doing something stupid. I sighed as I admitted, at least to myself that those stupid things were also some of the most fun times I had growing up.
"I'm sure," I said, but it wasn't easy.
"Shame," he replied, shifting shapes once again. I think he really meant it.
"Why are you here?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Just checking up on you," he said. "After all, your time is already half way gone and you haven't made a single wish. I'm a bit surprised."
"You!" I snapped. "Do you have any idea how hard it was not to wish myself out of that hospital? I spent two months trying to convince doctors that I was healthy enough and sane enough to be let out! I still have to visit a psychiatrist once a week."
"You should have used a wish," Satan said with a shake of his head.
"No," I sighed. "I thought about it in the beginning, but I was too weak at first. It would have cost two wishes for me to be free. The first to make myself healthy and the second to escape the hospital."
"So? That would still have left you one wish," he replied. I ignored him and turned back to Sandy and the others. They were standing to leave. "You know if you hoard your wishes too long, something may happen that stops you from using them altogether."
"You can't interfere because that part of the deal," I said, watching the three others leave the area. I started following them, the Devil stayed with me.
"I'm not talking about me," he said conversationally. "Life is short! Just because I can't cause a car to hit and kill one of you, that doesn't mean it won't happen."
"I'll take that chance," I shrugged. "Besides, I think I'll be using those wishes real soon anyway."
"Have a plan, do we?" he said with a raised eyebrow.
"I've spent a lot of time thinking about this over the last two months. I'm going to start with an honest offer," I replied, figuring there was nothing he could do to stop me.
"To Shelly?" he said in disbelief. "She doesn't have an honest bone in her body. It's a waste of time!"
"Maybe, but it's my time, so get lost. I have things to do."
"Nasty, nasty," he tsked, but then smiled and disappeared. I took a deep breath and quickly caught up to the others. I was nearly on them when Shelly noticed me.
"What do you want?" she snapped.
" 'To make you an offer you can't refuse'," I said, grinning to myself. I thought I heard someone laughing in the distance. I really did miss Ted.
