Barton's scheme is simple--
he doesn't want the girls's souls.
He's after a different part of them entirely.

~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3 of 3
by Bill Hart

The Codicil

"Hi there, Barton," smiled Twyla warmly as he swayed sexily towards the desk. "How do you like the new me, Barton?" Twyla calmly poured himself a drink, then tossed it down as if it were nothing more than spring water before pouring himself another. With a casual grace and minimum of excess motion, he slid back into the plush chair where he'd been so comfortably sitting earlier.

"It's a very marked and becoming improvement I must say, Ms. Higgs," replied Barton in his stuffy manner.

"I should say so." Twyla took a long swig from the glass of Scotch. "I'm young again, not old. Just look at these swell boobies I've got now." He raised himself up from the chair just high enough and long enough to wiggle his butt at the butler. "What do you think of my fine tight ass? Not too bad for pushing eighty-four," he smiled. "Don't you think I'm one really hot blonde babe now, Barton?"

"You are most certainly that, Ms. Higgs."

"Lighten up a little, Barton. You don't need to be so formal," said Twyla. "Now please... you really must call me Twyla. It means 'newly created', you know. And that's just what I am. Isn't it just the most perfect name you can think of for me now."
Barton smiled, then nodded his agreement. "As you wish, Ms. Twyla."

"Not Ms. Twyla, Barton. Just Twyla."

"What the hell is all this shit all about? And why the hell are you still here, Barton?" asked Alan. "I thought our bargain was fully concluded at the time I'd shut that yearbook and finalized Twyla's form."

"Almost, but not quite yet, Master Alan," smiled Barton, dropping his affectations. "There's still one last unfulfilled item of business left on the agenda."

"What the hell can that be?" barked Alan. "My youth was restored. Thomas came here at my invitation. He agreed to the restoration of his youth. And finally, he was transformed into my attractive and busty female companion with all of Thomas' memories intact." Alan stared at Barton. "That's all the terms I remember being in that contract I signed." Alan didn't like that sly conniving look he saw growing in Barton's eyes. In spite of all the precautions he'd taken, Alan wondered if he'd still been somehow tricked.

"I hope you're not talking about that damn soul shit of yours again. Is that what you think remains to be done? I really thought we'd conclusively settled that before I agreed to sign your damned infernal contract in the first place."

"We had," replied Barton. "The possession of your soul as well as any potential legal lien against the same has been specifically excluded ipso facto from the terms of the contract, just as we agreed upon. Although not for lack of trying on my part, your immortal soul is not a part of our bargain, Mr. Wheeler."

"You really are old Beelzebub, aren't you?" exclaimed Twyla. "Somehow I just knew it."
"At your service, Ms. Twyla." Barton bowed gracefully. "You have a most lovely name to be sure now. I shall never tire of speaking it, Ms. Twyla."

"Thank you," he replied sheepishly, even as he stared at Barton. "You lied to me!" Twyla suddenly exclaimed. "You told me earlier that you weren't the devil."

"Really, Ms. Twyla. I'm sure you're not as naive as you're pretending to be," smiled Barton. "Among other things, I'm called the Prince of Lies. And trust me - if you dare - I'm called that for very good reasons. Why should I speak the truth and risk losing business when a small lie - something my client simply wanted to hear regardless - is more than eminently sufficient to guarantee me that business?"

"What about my soul, Barton?" asked Twyla anxiously. "Did Alan save his soul by giving you mine instead?"

"You have no need to worry about that, my dear. Your soul is as safe as Alan's is," replied Barton. "It is not now nor will it ever be a part of his bargain with me."

Twyla's eyes narrowed as he gave Barton a good looking over. "You lied to me before, Barton. How do I know you're not lying to me again? You're not very trustworthy."

Barton smiled at Twyla. "You have a very suspicious mind, my dear. You're definitely a girl after my own heart," he sighed. "It's really rather simple really, young lady. The exclusion of your immortal soul results from the codicil you signed that was subsequently appended, with his prior consent of course, to Alan's original contract. It basically extended those same general protections to your soul - as well as the soul of anyone else who might sign a codicil to Alan's contract at his invitation - as it conferred on him."

"You really agreed to give Alan all of that?"

"I didn't want to, but he didn't give me better choices," said Barton calmly. "Old Arnie was an intelligent and very shrewd bargainer. In fact, he was one of the best I've ever dealt with."

"But Mr. Prince of Lies," began Twyla sarcastically, "you've never been known as someone who honors his contracts."

"I'm crushed, Ms. Twyla. I'm afraid you've cut me to the quick," replied Barton disconsolately. "My contracts are always cast in the finest available stone. Despite the despicably bad press I'm constantly getting, I've always honored my contracts to the letter," he smiled. "However, I'm sure even you must admit that it’s not really my fault if some unexpected loophole carelessly finds it way into the contract. Its those little loopholes that allow me to bend - never break - a few of those letters as I see fit remaining well within the agreed upon contractual parameters." Barton paused to let his words sink in. "You're supposed to read contracts fully before you sign them, you know."

"I read every damn line of my contract, Barton," snarled Alan. "I even went through that abominable fine print you tried sneaking into it that I had you remove before I would sign that contract. I found no loophole in it," boasted Alan.

"That's simply because you left none to be found, Alan," replied with a smile Alan found disconcerting. "That was an extremely impressive demonstration of your negotiating skills. You should know that was the very first time that I've been so cleverly out-negotiated. I believe you've earned yourself a well-deserved place in Hell's Hall of Fame."

"Then just what the hell - I hope you'll pardon the pun - is left to be done in order to conclude our business?"

"There is still the matter of Twyla's wish, of course," stated Barton rather matter of factly."

"What wish?" demanded Alan.

"I really get a wish?" Twyla sounded surprised at this bit of knowledge. "Just how did I manage to get a wish?"

"You didn't read the codicil in its entirety before signing it. Did you, my dear girl?" smiled the devil. "The terms of the codicil included granting you one wish totally free of devilish strings and complications in exchange for your willing and voluntary participation in the fulfillment of Alan's contract."

"I skimmed over it," blushed Twyla. "I don't remember seeing anything about being granted a wish. However, some of the print in it was so teensy weensy I couldn't possibly read it without my reading glasses. And not thinking I'd really need them, I'd left them at home." Twyla looked towards Alan. "You know my eyesight wasn't all that great when I was still Thomas. Those damn cataracts took their toll," she tried explaining. "But if it means anything, I can see like a hawk now."

"I never authorized any wishes be given Twyla, or anyone else for that matter."

"You didn't specifically prohibit the granting of wishes either," smiled Barton. "But as you should well remember, the terms of your contract authorized fair and appropriate compensation to any and all participants willingly engaged in its fulfillment at your behest. Said compensation was to be agreed upon in writing and signed by said participant prior to the codicil's attachment to your contract."

"What of it?" snapped Alan.

"Twyla was a willing participant seeking the fulfillment of your contract. She was invited here by you, as well as invited to become part and party to said contract," explained Barton. "As such, the terms of your contract require Twyla to receive fair and appropriate compensation for her willing services on you behalf."

"Why give her a wish?" asked Alan. "You could have given her just about anything."

"I suppose that's true," replied the devil with that impish smile of his. "However, I felt that granting her one wish was still well within the contractual boundaries of what would be considered fair and appropriate compensation as so stated and agreed upon." His impish smile widened. "If Twyla had felt otherwise, then she simply wouldn't have signed the codicil. But she did. And given that it was pre-authorized by you as codicil to your own contract, you're bound to its conditions as well."

"Fine," snarled Alan, clearly irritated with the way Barton had twisted the terms of his contract to suit him. "Grant her her damn wish and then get the hell out of here."

"The granting of Twyla's wish shall conclude our bargain, Mr. Wheeler. It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"Yeah, sure," grumbled Alan.

"I really can't believe that I'm actually about to get a wish," said Twyla dreamily. "I wonder what I should wish for. There're so many good things for which I could use a wish."

"You needn't wonder or worry about that. Ms. Twyla," replied Barton. His impish smile had taken a clearly devilish turn. "You've already made your one authorized wish, Ms. Twyla."

"I did? When did I do that, Barton?" Twyla sounded puzzled. "I really don't remember making any wishes."

"When did she make her wish?" added Alan nervously.

"Not all that long ago," replied Barton with that same infuriating smile. "However, just when she made the wish doesn't actually matter here. All that really matters is that the wish has been made after the signing of the codicil, appended to Alan's contract, and duly recorded. All that's left to be done is the physical granting of her wish."

"Oh shit," moaned Alan suddenly, as peculiar feelings began racing throughout his body.
When Twyla turned to see what was troubling Alan, he was taken by surprise at the sight of his friend. Alan's dark hair had already lengthened and thickened considerably. Much as his own hair had done earlier, Twyla watched Alan's hair flow onto and over his shoulders. When it fell across his face, Alan casually brushed it aside with apparent practiced ease.

As Twyla continued watching in awed amazement, Alan began squirming, his body being remolded away from his current masculine form. His waist very noticeably thinned. His butt seemed positively bloated. And twin mounds of unmistakably female flesh swiftly swelled on his chest.

Once the legs of his pants fused together, the newly formed skirt quickly rode up to a spot just above the middle of his thigh. Two long and slender, exquisitely sleek, feminine legs were exposed for everyone to see.

The sleeves of his shirt separated from the rest and fell to the floor, where they vanished. Not far behind the fleeing sleeves were the now equally unnecessary buttons up the front of what had become a pullover tube top. His new top clung so tightly to his only recently developed large pair of breasts that the material clearly outlined his nipples. At the same time, the new top exposed his bared slender tummy for the whole world to see.

"I'm a girl," Alan whispered in stunned amazement after one of his hands discovered his new breasts jutting out from his chest and the other had found the moist slitted mound of his radically altered crotch.

Twyla stared at the transformed former man. "You changed Alan into a girl," he said, clearly stating the obvious, while Alan just continued standing there in stunned silent shock. "Why did you do it, Barton? Why did you change Alan into a girl?"

"That was your wish, Twyla."

"I don't remember anything about wishing Alan was a girl."

"Neither do I," added Alan in a soft feminine voice totally unlike his former male voice."

"Then let me remind both of you." Barton cleared his throat. As he he started to continue, the voice coming from his throat was Twyla's, not his own. "If I only had a wish, I'd wish you could know exactly how it feels being a hot sexy babe just like me." After clearing his throat again, Barton's own voice returned. "You wished Alan could know how it felt being a hot sexy babe like you. How else could he ever find out what it’s like - since you had already confessed your inadequacy of describing those feelings to him - unless he actually became a hot sexy babe just like you?"

"That kind of makes sense, Barton." Twyla swept his blonde hair from his eyes. "But you really could have waited until after he'd fucked me," he pouted. "Alan was really going to fuck me, you know. But he can't now that you've changed him into a girl. Even worse, I'll have to go out and find another guy - some stranger most likely. And on top of everything else, I'll have to worry about my new guy liking Alan more than he likes me."

"Wow! Would you get a load of these boobs I've got now," smiled Alan. His dainty hands had first cupped and were now gently caressing his own large mammaries. "I've always liked having busty girls around, but I never knew having my own pair of boobies would feel anywhere near as good. If this it what it feels like being a girl, Twyla, I can understand why you love being one. I really like this feeling - I really love it a whole helluva lot."

Barton smiled. He really loved it when a plan came together like this. He doubted that smartass Alan even knew what had just hit him. It was always so much fun building people like him up before tearing them down again. Twyla's wish had essentially made Alan a girl just like her. Given how much Twyla loved being female and everything female about herself now, how could Alan have possibly hoped to feel any differently?

With a decidedly exaggerated feminine sway to his walk, Alan strolled over to his desk. Although he wasn't exactly sure why he was doing it, Alan picked up the newer 'El Oroso' and quickly flipped through its pages. Seemingly quite pleased, he smiled when he stopped at the page he'd been seeking and saw his picture. "I just knew it!" he exclaimed. "Even back in high school, I was one incredibly hot babe."

"And you still are, Alaina," smiled Barton, referring to the formerly named Alan with the more appropriate name that now captioned her yearbook's senior picture.

"That's a really nice name," said Twyla, hoping his best friend would enjoy being the girl she'd become as much as he did. "I like it, Alaina."

"Thank you, Twyla." He hoped she would remain his best friend, even though he'd become a girl just like her. "I rather like it myself."

"I think I should be on my way. I believe my work here is done," said Barton. "But I'll be keeping a watchful eye on the two of you for a little while. You never can tell when my contractually bound maintenance services will be required."

"Before you go, Barton, there's something that's been bothering me."

"And what might that be, Twyla dear?"

"I'm not complaining; I'm just curious," replied Twyla. "Why didn't you claim our immortal souls?" he asked the devil. "I mean you certainly had the perfect opportunity to do that once I signed that damned codicil to Alaina's contract."

"I'd been wondering about that myself," smiled Alaina. As he continued fondling his new breasts, he was thoroughly fascinated by the flood of intriguing sensations inundating in his body.
Barton smiled broadly; it was a question he'd been expecting. "I must admit I was tempted to do just that. I'm sure both of you know or could guess, that I've never really enjoyed being beaten at my own game. However, even though I'm somewhat loathe to admit it, Arnie played by my rules and still won the game fairly. Besides, my own common sense finally prevailed in the matter." Not too surprisingly, Barton saw looks of confusion exchanged between the two former men.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Twyla exchanged glances again with Alaina.

"And neither do I."

"It's not really that difficult a concept to grasp, girls," smiled Barton, his face reddening slightly as a small pair of horns sprouted painlessly from his forehead. "Why should I simply settle for just your two souls when there's so much more available? With your hot new female bodies, the two of you make exceptionally enticing temptresses. Among those who see you now, you're bound to make men stray as well as incite women to jealous, perhaps even deadly, rages. The potential return from my investment in not claiming your two souls is simply too staggering to ignore. It's only fair that you know that those bigoted hypocrites in that other place I won't mention by name don't record anywhere near as many sin points when that alleged sin is committed with or against one of the soulless."

"That was devilishly clever of you, Barton," replied Twyla.

"Yes, I know," replied the devil. "But it’s just a part of my nature." It was hard to tell if Barton was blushing or merely regaining more of his natural devilish color. "Besides, after your sexy young bodies begin aging in a short few thousand years or so, I just might be able to harvest your souls fairly and squarely. Isn't that just a horribly repulsive thought?

"You're nothing but a damn trickster."

"So I've been told a few million times, Alaina. But I certainly never tire of receiving such a flattering compliment. That should be worth a few hellish points come merit review time." Barton smiled at them. "I'm not really Beezelbub; I was lying about that earlier. I'm really his cousin Barzelton, apprentice demon 4th class."

"You really must stop lying to us, Barton."

"Perhaps. But now I really must be on my way, girls. It's been a lot of fun, but I've got scores of other clients waiting impatiently - at least I hope they're impatient - to see me." He waved to the girls. "There's one last thing. If at some later date you can think of another of your friends you'd like to add to your contract, Alaina, I'll be than willing to oblige. Just call out my name Barzelton and I'll come see you as soon as I possibly can."

There was an audible pop in the air and Barton - or Barzelton, since he now looked more like the demon he was than the gentleman's gentleman he'd been - vanished in a puff of smoke that quickly dispersed leaving behind only a faint smell of brimstone wafting about the room.

"I thought he'd never leave, Laini."

"That's just what I was thinking, Twy."

"What do you want to do tonight?" Twyla asked his best friend.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" replied Alaina to his best friend's question.

"I don't really know either. All things being equal, I really wouldn't mind going out and getting a good fucking right now - the devil knows I deserve it," sighed Twyla. "However, I'm afraid we've got some really tough decisions coming up we'll have to face more sooner than later."

"What do you mean, Twy?"

"For one thing, we no longer have the medical insurance we had as old men. And with these hot young sexy female bodies, I kind of doubt MediCare is going to believe either of us is male or anywhere near our former octogenarian status."

"I'm sure they won't," sighed Alaina. "You should have heard all those really cranky people at the Social Security office when I went in to tell them to send my checks to Alan instead of Arnie. Would you believe they actually yelled at me, Twy. It was horrible. But they really hurt my feelings when they told me they'd have me arrested for fraud if I didn't leave immediately and never come back until I was really old enough to collect Social Security." Alaina crossed his arms under his breasts. "It's not really fair, you know. I worked hard for better than sixty years and paid into their damn system the whole damn time. I wasn't trying to cheat anybody. I was only looking to receive what was rightfully mine. It shouldn't make any difference that I'm a twenty-something-year-old babe instead of some old octogenarian fart."

"Shit!" exclaimed Twyla. "That probably means I've seen the last of my pension checks. I sure don't look like Thomas Higgs anymore and nobody there would know me from Adam - better make that Eve - now. They probably wouldn't even believe I'm Thomas' next of kin anymore than they'd believe I was really Thomas. Knowing those incompetent twits running the retirement program, I doubt they'd even believe we're related even if I could somehow prove it."

"With no money coming in, we're going to have trouble keeping up the payments on this place, Twy."

"Why didn't you have Barton include this place, free and clear, in your contract, Laini?"

"I didn't think about it at the time."

"Then we're just going to have get jobs, Laini. And that could pose a few problems. As hot and sexy as we look, I'm sure no one is going to believe we know anything about anything."

"I don't think that's quite true, Twy." Alaina lightly ran his hand along his lower rib cage. "I'm convinced there's one thing everyone will think we know everything about."

"I hadn't thought about that option," replied Twyla. "It might be a fun occupation for us, but do you really think we can make enough money doing that?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," smiled Alaina. "And it certainly wouldn't hurt if we could find a little more help."

"An interesting idea, Laini. What do you think about asking Harry Miller for a little help?"

"Harry Miller?" snapped Alaina. "He's a fucking asshole. You've got to be kidding about asking him for help." He shook his head slowly. "It just wouldn't work. I know he's got tons and tons of money, which would help us out a lot if we could only get our hands on it. But he's a stingy tightwadded bastard that's pushing a hundred."

"I know all that, Laini." A broad smile quickly spread across Twyla's face. "But as long as I've known him he's always considered himself God's gift to young girls. And as you well know, we really fit rather nicely into that category now even if we did get our hot young bodies from the other side."

"But Harry Miller? There really must be a better way than asking Harry Miller," replied Alaina. "He has more wrinkles than you can find in a box of prunes. As much as I enjoy getting laid, I don't think I'd be able to stomach him touching me." He made a gagging motion with his hand. "And you know if we offered to have sex with him, he'd take us up on the offer quicker than we could spit in his eye." He wondered if Twyla could endure having Harry's withered old body touching his in any way. "If it will save this house, I suppose I can grin and bear having sex with him just once." He shuddered at the thought of sex with Harry Miller. "But I'll be constantly afraid he'll just up and die on us, Twy. We'd have hell to pay - no pun intended - if Harry were to die in one of our beds while he was fucking one or both of us."

"That's probably true." Twyla grinned at his friend. "But at his age I really doubt he can still get it up without ingesting a ton of Viagra." The girls laughed. "However, I had something else in mind for Harry," he smiled. "I was thinking we could offer to restore his youth. We could tell him that in exchange for paying off the balance due on our house, we'd let him move in here with us once his youth was returned. We could also sweeten the pot by telling him he could have all the sex he wanted after he moved in with us."

"You sly little minx," smiled Alaina. "That's a fantastic plan. I'll bet that dumb old fart will jump at the chance."

"I'm sure he will."

"Do you think he'll like becoming a young girl?"

"Probably not at first, Laini, but you know how we were right after we first became girls."

"I certainly do," smiled Alaina. "It's hard to imagine I didn't like the idea of being a girl at first." He cradled one of his breasts, before adding with a grin, "But the idea obviously grew on me."

"Besides, you know as well as I do that Harry's always been overly practical in his affairs. Just as we did, I'm sure he'll become more amenable to being a girl once he realizes that being a hot and sexy twenty-three-year-old babe is far more superior to remaining a male nearly centenarian old fart."

"Keeping in that vein, Twy, we might also want to see if Bert Johnson might be interested in regaining his long lost youth. I really think four girls living in this house might be somewhat better than just two or three."

"You might be right about that, Laini. But isn't Bert married?" asked Twyla. "Call me old-fashioned, but I'm sure his wife won't be very happy suddenly married to a young girl who could more easily be her granddaughter than her husband."

"Hadn't you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Ruth died a couple of weeks ago. Cancer, I think," replied Alaina. "The last time I saw Bert he was so depressed and despondent that I've been worrying about him constantly. I've been really afraid he'd do something stupid." He smiled mischievously a Twyla. "But I really think a major change in his life is just what he needs right about now."

"That would be a nice thing for us to do," smiled Twyla. "However, if four girls living here would be better than three, what do you say about an even dozen... at least for a start."

"Even better, Twy. With a dozen girls, we might not even need old Harry Miller's money."

"I wouldn't go that far, Laini. It's always better to have too much money than not enough."

"And we would be doing the world a big favor. After all the people Harry has fucked to get ahead, I think it's long past due that he got fucked in return."

"But you'll have to call them, Laini. Barton said their immortal souls would be protected just like ours, if they signed a codicil to your contract at your invitation."

"This should be fun, Twy. Which one should I call first?"

"It doesn't really matter," replied Twyla. Except for Harry and his overabundant supply of working capital, any of the old geezers we know are just as good as any of the others. We might even wind up with more than a dozen volunteers." Twyla paused for a moment. He seemed lost in thought. "On the other hand, I was just thinking that those phone calls could wait until sometime later tomorrow."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking," grinned Alaina.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised." Twyla grinned at his busty friend.

"I'm kind of new at this," replied Alaina. "I wonder just where we'll have to go in order to pick ourselves up a couple of handsome hunks for the night?"

"I really don't know," sighed Twyla. "I've never had any great need or desire to go out looking for guys - handsome or otherwise - before now. But I'm so hot and horny right now I'm sure I'll learn whatever I need to learn quickly enough."

"Tell me something I don't already know, girl," replied Alaina. "I know exactly what you mean about being feeling hot and horny. If I don't get a real man in me soon... I don't what I'll what do, but I know it won't be pretty."

"We could try the mall, Laini. When I was still a guy I always went looking for hot babes at the mall."

"So did I, Twy. Although there were several times I couldn't remember exactly why I went looking for them." Alaina smiled. "I don't think I'll be having that problem tonight."

"And I really doubt there'll be any hotter babes there for the guys to choose from than us."

"You got that right, Twy. Let's blow this joint and head for the mall."

"I with you, Laini. And while we're at it, let's agree right here and now that we're taking no prisoners."

"That's fine with me, Twy. You got yourself a deal. I really doubt any guy will know what hit them once we stroll into and through their lives."

Having decided where they needed to go, the two young girls headed off for the mall. They were clearly best friends, just as they'd been their entire lives.

But all those strangers they passed along the way would have been surprised if they could have somehow known that friendship spanned better than eighty years. They might have been even more surprised at finding out the two busty twenty-something babes were actually men. Of course, even though they clearly remembered their former lives as men, being or having been male, except as experiences to be drawn on when and if necessary, no longer really mattered to either of them in any way overly important.

When the girls finally reached the mall, each of them was sporting a mischievously playful smile on his pretty face.

And in a hellish unhallowed hallway, an apprentice demon fourth class smiled, even though he would frenetically deny it.

the end