Games With A Devil (Novel Synopsis)

Prompt: Write a description/synopsis of a long story or novel you would write (this is a description, not flash fiction) using one of the titles below. These titles were taken from a list on https://www.nanowrimo.org's Adopt a Title thread, https://forums.nanowrimo.org/t/adopt-a-title/1659 where anyone is free to use the posted titles. There are probably thousands posted, so check them out along with other Adoption Society threads (Adopt a Plot, Adopt a Subplot, Adopt a Running Gag, etc.) at https://forums.nanowrimo.org/c/story-development/adoption-society/60.

Chosen Title: Games With A Devil

Written for "The Whatever Contest." "The Whatever Contest -- Closed for Now" 

Word/Line Count: 499


Games with a Devil

SYNOPSIS:

Ardent Searing is the least talented member of a family of upper-class New York charlatans. Although unsuccessful, he is favored by his Great Uncle Fahlstaff who, unlike most of the clan, is a very successful professional magician. After his great uncle is killed in a mysterious accident, Ardent, who goes by the nickname Art, is bequeathed a dilapidated townhouse near Central Park, his great uncle’s Boston Terrier, Dexter, and a strangely-marked trunk along with a warning to never open the trunk.

Ignoring his Great Uncle’s warning, Art succeeds in opening the trunk only to release an overly-affectionate little devil named Maximo. The devil claims that he granted Fahlstaff the power of magic and could do the same for Art, but only if Art permanently frees him from the trunk to which he’s magically bound. While considering the devil’s proposal, Art is visited by a cousin, Stanis Zalgada, who offers to buy the townhouse and all of its contents, which would also include the trunk. It’s more money than Art could imagine, and he initially agrees to the deal. But the suddenly vocal Dexter reveals this to be a trick by Stanis solely to get control of Maximo; Stanis had been in an occult war with Fahlstaff for decades, and if Stanis gained control of the Daemon, his plans for ruling Hell on Earth could come to pass. Art rejects Stanis, who promises retribution and reveals that he killed Fahlstaff.

Releasing the devil once again, Art finds out that Maximo was telling the truth about Fahlstaff’s magic. However, this magic needs to be won through a series of thirteen increasingly dangerous games played with the little devil; if Art wins, he would gain the power to possibly defeat Stanis. However, if Art loses, he would switch places with Maximo, becoming the next Daemon trapped by a centuries-long curse, of which Maximo was the last victim. As Stanis and his minions move in, temporarily kept at bay by the house’s magical defenses, Art begins to play the deadly games with Maximo. During the course of the games, which Dexter helps to win, Art inadvertently releases a number of minor demons that he then uses to defend the townhouse and win additional games. But the last game goes awry when Stanis suddenly arrives to intervene, and the entire house is perilously close to being swallowed by a Hellmouth. That’s when Dexter sacrifices the last bit of magic that he possesses to move the entire house to the middle of Central Park, away from the Hellmouth, and ending the game. Maximo concedes defeat to Art, who uses his newly gained powers to repel Stanis’ hoard, return the demons to Hell, and banish Stanis to parts unknown. Maximo returns to his trunk.

After these events, Art decides to continue working as a bartender while learning the extent of his newfound powers, living in the magically hidden townhouse in the middle of Central Park with a now less-than-magical Boston Terrier, and playing games with Maximo.