“I’m serious!”

“Uh huh.”  The desk clerk looked over the computer screen, ignoring the young woman in front of him.

“I have nothing to do with any mafia family or drug dealing or money laundering scheme.  They told me they were business investors!”

“Business investors.”

“Yes.”

“And how exactly did you meet these ‘business investors’?” he lifted his eyes from the screen to his detainee.

She shook her head.  “You’d never believe me.”

“Try me.  I’ve heard everything.”  He returned to the screen, processing Jessica into the system.

She took a deep breath.  “I wished for them.”

“You wished for them.”

“Yes.”

“With what, a magic genie?”

“No.”

“Shooting star?”

“No.”

“Blowing out the candles on your birthday cake?”

“No, officer.  I sold my soul to the Devil for four wishes.”

“To the Devil.”

“Yes, officer.”

“For four wishes.”

“Yes.”

“Not three.”

“No, officer.”

He chuckled.  “Well, you win, Miss.  First time I’ve ever heard that.  I’ve heard people selling their souls all the time.  Always been three wishes though.  Guess Satan was feeling generous this time.”

“I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah, you all are.”

“I am!” she protested indignantly.

“Ok, what did he look like?” the officer turned and gave her his attention, although it was clear to see that he wished to be anywhere else right now.

“She was a little …”

“The Devil was female?”

She sighed.  “Yes.  She was a little shorter than me, Korean, black hair …”

“Korean.”

“Yes.”

“Like you.”

“I … sure, I guess so.”

“So, a little Korean woman, black hair, claimed to be the Devil …”

“She is the Devil.  Well, his daughter, at least.”

“His daughter.”

Another sigh.

“I’ll give you this, young lady,” the officer nodded, “I’ve heard a lot of stories from a whole lot of thugs.  I’ve had quite a few pretty girls too, all getting caught up in it.”

“I didn’t get ‘caught up’ in anything …”

The officer sighed and shook his head.  “Listen, lady, lemme give you some advice.”

Jessica frowned and stood upright.

“You have the right to remain silent.  If I were you, I’d use it.”  He looked passed the harangued woman.  “Book her!”

“What?” she cried in confusion.

“Alright,” a voice called from behind her.  “Let’s go, lady.”

The voice …

A hand grabbed her arm and pulled at her.

Jessica’s head spun as she stared at her assailant.

The black hair under the police hat and the uniform did nothing to hide her identity.  Not that Taeyeon was shy about hiding her identity anyway.

“That’s her!” Jessica protested as her tormentor dragged her away.  “She’s the Devil!  She’s the one!”

“Can it, lady!” Taeyeon barked as she escorted her charge through the lonely corridors, past many cells, ignoring the wolf whistles of other prisoners as she walked.

Jessica followed, giving up every ounce of energy to fight and protest.  There had to be a way out of this.  But how?  Taeyeon was the one in control.  But she wouldn’t get that last wish.  Not for a moment.  She’d find a way out of the contract if it was the last thing she did.

They reached the cell at the far end of the corridor.  Taeyeon pressed her against the outside wall and spread her legs apart, forcing her to “assume the position”.  She leaned into her as she uncuffed her wrists.

“There’s no point fighting about this, babe,” she whispered into Jessica’s ear, “so you might as well get with the programme, wish your way out of here, and move on with your sorry little life.”  She pulled the cuffs away as Jessica stood, legs apart, her back to her.  She reached over her shoulder and her cheek.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I liked you,” she continued, running her finger over her cheek and her lips.  “I do, Jessica.  I like you a lot.  If you’re looking to spend an eternity in Hell, it really wouldn’t hurt to have a friend like me looking out for you.”  She opened the cell door.  “You think real long and hard about that, babe.  When you’re ready, call me.”

A hand in the middle of Jessica’s back pushed her into the solid concrete room, with thick walls painted in the coldest shade of grey.  A single window stood a head and a half above her, and there were a steel lavatory and basin unit in the corner to her left, above which sat a small observation window.  To her right was a bed, or what would pass for a bed in a jail cell.  It was a concrete base that stuck out from the wall and was topped with a blue stiff plastic mattress and an equally stiff pillow, with two thin blankets to cover herself.

She heard the heavy steel door slam shut behind her, locking her in the cold and empty cell, leaving her to massage her wrists where the metal bracelets had restrained her. For the first time in her life, she felt alone.  Not your ordinary “being on your own” feeling, but the feeling of being entirely alone, isolated from everything and everyone.  Even in her darkest moments, she had never felt this alone.  There was always someone she could turn to.  Now, she had nobody.

She sat on the bed and laid herself down, taking the time to stare at the ceiling.  She wondered how she had got herself into this mess.  The business investors that turned out to be members of the mafia.  The rival family that had three million dollars stolen from them, for which she was being blamed for.  The agent determined to get her to star in a ographic franchise.

When had her desire to be famous and successful become so destructive?

She sighed and waited, unable to do anything except watch time pass by.  There were no books to speak of.  Not even a copy of the Bible, something surely every American jail would provide, given their love of all things Christian.  There were no patterns in the room, just solid grey paint on the walls and ceiling, with a darker shade on the concrete floor.  There were hardly any stains on the ceiling either, so her game of trying to guess what the shapes looked like was over fairly quickly.

She closed her eyes as sleep took her.  There was nothing left that she could do.

She was awoken by the sound of the door opening.  There was no way of telling how long she had slept since she had no watch on her wrist, but it was still daylight outside.

“Visitor,” a gruff male guard announced.

Jessica stood up.

“Right arm,” the guard demanded.

Obediently, she held out her arm as her wrist was cuffed to his.  She was led to the visitor’s room, unsure of who would be here to see her in this place.  Perhaps it was her legal counsel, she reasoned.  She did have the right to counsel, after all.  And she had asked for her lawyers to be contacted.  Perhaps Taeyeon had called her lawyers for her.

Taeyeon.

The real reason she was here.  Those wishes were nothing but trouble.  Any way Jessica could have come up with minimising the effects of them, Taeyeon would find a way around that to cause the most damage.

She truly was the daughter of the Devil.

If Taeyeon is here, she assured herself mentally, I’m going back to the cell.

She was escorted along the corridors to the visitor's room, expecting either her lawyers or her antagonist.

It was neither.

“Hey, stranger,” her visitor smiled, her usual bright smile lighting the room.

 “T-Tiffany?”

Her fellow American looked at her on the opposite side of the acrylic window.  “Long time, no see.”

The guard removed the cuff from Jessica’s wrist and closed the door behind them.  Jessica watched as her friend looked around the room and then back at her forlorn bandmate.  She could pass as legal counsel in the suit she was wearing, Jessica mused.  Black pencil skirt, black jacket, white blouse.  She looked like she was either going to a funeral or some power meeting somewhere.  Instead, she was sitting here, talking with someone condemned for all eternity.

“Nice digs,” Tiffany smiled, taking a seat on her side of the window.

“Please?  I’m not in the mood.”  Jessica sat down.  She took a cursory look around.  The window sat waist height and stood tall, in front of which sat a wooden ledge or table of some sort.  A chair sat in front of the table, plastic and cheap. There were speakers on either side of the window, in the corner where it met the table, so the sound could easily be heard by them.  Microphones were placed in front of each visitor as well.  Their conversations were likely being recorded.  The walls were the same shade of grey as the cell and the corridors, but there were no windows to the outside.

“Sorry,”  Tiffany smiled sheepishly.  “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Jessica sighed and slumped further into her seat.

“She really did a number on you, huh?”

She looked up at her dark-haired visitor.

“I know, Jess.  I know about Taeyeon and the contract and the wishes.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“Long story, don’t ask.”

“You?”

She shook her head.  “No,” she assured her.  “My soul is off limits to her.  Always will be.”

Jessica leaned forward and rested her arms on the ledge, cupping her face in her hands.  “What am I going to do?” she cried.  “I sold my soul to the Devil. I’m doomed.”

“You’re not.”

“I am.  I have one wish left, and that’s it.”

“Maybe, but you’re not doomed.  Besides, you can’t sell your soul.  Doesn’t belong to you in the first place.”

“Really?” Jessica lifted her head, revealing her red, puffy eyes.  “Who does it belong to?”

A nod of Tiffany’s head towards the ceiling was all she had in response.

Jessica scoffed.  “God?”

“That universal spirit that binds everything in existence.”

She shook her head.

Tiffany smiled and leaned back in her chair.  “Taeyeon’s going to do everything she can to confuse you, Jess.  She’s going to take what she can from you and leave you cheated.  That’s her jam.  That’s always been her thing.  But soon enough, you’re going to see true who you are and what you’re going to do.  You’re going to make mistakes on your way.  Everyone does.  Even me.  But if you open up your heart and your mind, you’ll get there.”

Jessica looked away and wiped her eyes.  If God was so powerful, she reasoned, why hadn’t She stopped her from making this deal?  If she asked Tiffany, she’d say it was ‘free will’ or that ‘God works in mysterious ways’.  But the Devil is bad.  Evil.  Against God’s nature.  How can something truly against God’s plan be allowed to exist?

“I’ll do what I can to get you out, Jess,” Tiffany interrupted her thoughts.  “I always thought about you when you left the group.  Never thought I’d ever see you like this.”

“I never thought I’d ever end up like this.”

Tiffany smiled sweetly.  “I’ll do what I can,” she promised.  “You just hang tight.  Play by the rules, do as you’re told.  Tae’s crafty, but she won’t show you up.  She won’t hurt you in here.  She plays by the rules, as warped as the rules are.  She wants you to sweat it out.”  She stood up and looked at her crushed friend.  “Open your heart, Jess.  Don’t let her win.”

Jessica raised her eyebrow and looked at her visitor, so sure of herself and her assertions.

“It’ll be ok.  I promise.”  Tiffany smiled, her eyes forming a partial eye-smile that she was renowned for, before she turned and walked to the door.  A quick rap on the metal and the guard who escorted Jessica from her cell opened up, allowing Tiffany to leave.

Jessica thought for the minute or two before she was taken back to her cell.  She spent the whole night thinking, looking wistfully through the window from her bed.  Food was turned down, drinks were turned down, warnings from officers that she could be put on suicide watch went past without consideration.  From the minute Tiffany left, Jessica kept herself in thought about her situation and how to get out of it.

 

Any sleep that took her was restless but sufficient.  She was woken in the morning by another male officer, much less aggressive than the one that greeted her last night.  “Time to go,” he announced.

“Go?”

“FBI said you ain’t a problem to them no more.  Come on, let’s get you out of here.  Jail ain’t no place for a face as pretty as you.”

She followed, ignoring his comments.  All she focused on was getting out of this place.  She never wanted to come back, not for as long as she lived.  The desk clerk processed her papers and gave her back her belongings, as well as the obligatory advice not to leave town, just in case.  Soon after, Jessica Jung was free to leave the station that had kept her locked away.  As she walked out of the station into the California sunshine, she looked around to get her bearings.  Breakfast was calling, especially after a day of nothing before.

She walked a few steps away from the building before noticing her car in the parking lot.  She took a deep breath before pulling her keys from her purse, opening the door and driving away.

Home.  Her bed.  Her kitchen.  Coffee.  Her wants right now were simple and few.

She pulled up to the apartment and parked the car in the under-building parking lot, heading to her apartment.  She opened the door and walked in, locking it behind her and turning into the almost empty space of the living room.

“Rough night?”

Jessica stared at the seat in front of her.  Sitting, patiently, denim covered legs draped over the arm, black and white long-sleeved shirt, was the last person she wanted to see.

“So,” Taeyeon smiled and placed her all too familiar glass of scotch on the table nearby.  “You ready to make your last wish?”

“No.”

“No?  Tick tock, Jessica, time’s running out.”

“I really don’t want another wish.”

Her eyes narrowed questioningly as she turned in her seat.  Her fingers joined together and she leaned forward into her lap.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t want it’?  You get four wishes.”

She shook her head.  “There’s nothing I want.  Not that you could give me, anyway.”

Taeyeon looked her over and stood up.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She stood firm, even though her companion’s presence scared her somewhat.  “I realised last night, after you had me locked up …”

“Strong accusation, Miss Jung,” she scowled, standing and walking towards her mark.

“I realised that wishing doesn’t work.  Things you want, they really don’t fall into your lap with magic.”

She took a few slow and deliberate steps closer.  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“If I want something, if I want success, I have to earn it.  I have to work hard, no matter how many times I fall.  Wishing for success won’t make me feel better.  So ... whilst I am grateful, I … I don’t want the wish.”

Taeyeon smiled brightly and clasped her hands to her chest, lifting her shoulders.  “Oh, Jessica,” she beamed, “that is so inspiring.”  She twirled around and almost skipped back to her chair.  “So heartwarming.  So uplifting.”

“So … it’s ok?”

She spun back and faced her, the bright smile from her face replaced with a sour grimace.  “Well no, Jessica.  It’s not ok,” she seethed.  “You signed a contract, guaranteeing you four wishes.  In exchange, I get your soul.  You got your wishes, but I don’t got your soul.  So why don’t you just get on with it and make the damn wish?”

She shook her head.  “I’m not going to do it.”

“Oh really?” she smirked, her anger growing.  “Well, before you go about getting all self-righteous and everything, I think I should tell you that I’m not some perfect bowl of strawberries and cream.  I have a darker side, much darker than you’ve ever known, and believe me when I say it’s really not pretty.  Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” she stood stronger, her voice rising with frustration, “but one way or another, your soul will be mine.”

“I won’t make it,” Jessica clenched her fists, willing her fear away.  “There’s nothing you can do that will make me.”

“I think we shall see about that,” she growled, ing her hands out by her side, her eyes changing to a solid black as flames flickered where her eyes once were.  The ground shook and fell away beneath them, revealing fire from the floors beneath.  Tall flames surrounded Jessica as the ground crumbled beneath her, the walls fell into the pit that was left.  All that supported her was a pillar of stone that looked less than solid as it was.

She looked around, terrified at the sight before her.  Far above her, she could see a tall, tall stone ceiling, almost like a cave.  Structures came from the ceiling and the stone floor around the pit, too far for her to jump across.  The only escape was down into the fiery abyss.

She felt the heat around her, almost at her skin.  She turned and looked where Taeyeon stood.  There was no ground there, and yet, there she was, floating in mid-air, reddish-black skin, large wings protruding from her back, a long, whip-like tail swishing behind her.  Atop her forehead sat two curled, pointed horns, black as midnight itself.  Her eyes, still red with anger, fire and fury, glared at her.  In her right hand, she held a black onyx trident, sharp and pointed.  The roar of the flames was almost deafening, and they grew with each breath Taeyeon made.  She was taller, twice her height, her feet descending into the pit, but her head above Jessica’s.  She grew before her very eyes.  Three times, four times, five times her natural height.  The behemoth sight getting angrier with each passing second.

“This is your last chance, you disgusting little maggot,” she growled, her demand echoing around the stone chamber.  “Make your wish, or burn in Hell now.”

Her breathing quickened at the monstrous creature Taeyeon had become.  Her fear rose and left.  There was no sense in being strong.  There was no escape.  Make a wish and be doomed later in life, or don’t and be doomed now.

She closed her eyes.  “Fine.  You win, Taeyeon.”

The flames became a little subsided as the demon listened.

Jessica took a deep breath.  “I wish …”  She paused, thinking of what she could possibly ask for that would mean anything to her.  She shook her head, defeated.  “I wish that my family have a happy life.  That my friends can live happily … that you can live happily too.”

“Ugh,” Taeyeon sighed as the stone pillar beneath her crumbled, leaving Jessica’s small, frail frame to fall to her fate.  She screamed as her body became engulfed in flames, the fire caressing her body, flicking at her skin.  She fell further and then all became white.