2 Chapter 2 - The Contrac

When I got back at my apartment, which was still littered with last night's revelry, I decided to read the contract. He was sly in leaving me with the contract for he understood human emotions all too well, curiosity got the better of me. At the restaurant, I resisted the urge to read it dreading what I might find but now that I'm back home, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

At first glance, you'd think it was nothing more than a simple binding contract for services rendered, until you've read the content.

"Contract for Renewal and Rebirth

This is a contract entered into by Dante Caulfield and Mephistopheles on this date.

Mephisto's place of business is the Underworld and Dante's place of business is the Earth.

Dante hereby engages Mephisto to provide services described herein under "Scope and Manner of Services." The Provider hereby agrees to provide the Client with such services in exchange for consideration described herein under "Payment for Services Rendered."

Scope and Manner of Services

Services To Be Rendered By Provider:

1. Cure client from all the sickness afflicting him, this includes physical and mental health.

2. Erase all traces of client's existence, this includes the client's identity, the memories of the client and those of the people who have come to know him.

3. Give client a new identity and provide a life of luxury according to the client's wishes. Properties, money and whatever form of profit he wishes, he may state to the provider before the rebirth and it shall be granted after.

4. If the client so wishes, the three services stated above can be canceled under the condition that he completes the task given to him.

Payment for Services Rendered

The Client shall pay the Provider for services rendered according to the Payment Schedule which will be a year after the contract is signed, the payment shall be in the form of completion of a task that will be given to him by the Provider.

Should the Client fail to complete the task given to him by the Provider within a year, the Client's soul will be taken as payment."

Instead of signatures, there were spaces for thumbmarks, one for me and one for the Devil himself. Studying the contract made my mind uneasy. For one, the task was not specified. This meant that it could be anything and I dreaded what the Devil had in store for me. If anything, he might order me to do something that would put me in harm's way.

I decided not to dwell on the piece of paper that felt like a death trap and smoked. The cancer and the devil's offer, both of them were momentarily forgotten as I smoked the very thing that has put me in this shithole. *I'm dying anyway, what's the harm in indulging in a little stick of nicotine?.* I grabbed the half drank bottle of whisky from the kitchen and drank it straight from the bottle. As soon as I was in that place the drunk call home, a state of mind where you felt invincible and untouchable, I went to bed and slept.

My dreams were filled with visions of my past. My parents telling me for the last time that I had to get out of the house. My friends leaving me seeing as I was a lost cause. I remembered that we had a lot of fun times together back when we were in college. To them, smoking and drinking was just a thing you do to pass time by when you were with friends. To me however it was entirely a different thing, it was poison and at the same time it was a cure. A cure for my loneliness and sorrow.

I woke up to someone slapping my face. At first I thought it was just my imagination but it was him, the Devil. I immediately jumped off the sofa I was lying on and grabbed the bottle as some sort of makeshift weapon. This struck him funny for he laughed, and the sound made me want to run. I guess I could never get used to that, the sound of the Devil laughing.

"Don't flatter yourself, you'll die where you stand if I wanted." He flicked his hand and the bottle shattered. The shards didn't scatter, instead they fell to the ground. I found myself grasping nothing but thin air. "However, I'll lose a valuable client and I can't have that, so what say you fix yourself up so we can talk business?"

I was still groggy and I felt the hangover from yesterday pulsing in my head but nevertheless I went to the sink and washed my face. Then, I proceeded to brew coffee. "Hey, you want some?" I just had to ask out of sheer politeness.

"A cup will do me good." His voice sounded as if he was bored out of his mind which bugged me. *How the fuck did he get in here anyway?*

"Through your front door, you left it unlocked." That surprised me.

"You can read my thoughts?" I almost slapped myself, of course he can, he's the fucking devil.

"It's just one of the things that I can do among others." At this he picked up a grocery bag I hadn't notice earlier that he had left on the floor. He rummaged through it and took out a bar of chocolate which he unwrapped and started munching down on it. He noticed me staring. "What? I like chocolates, it's one of the few things I like about you humans."

It was absurd, the devil chomping down on a chocolate bar like a little kid with his first lollipop. It made him look like one of those kids who was using a spoon or a fork for the first time.

When the pot of coffee was ready, I laid two cups for the both of us. By the time he was done eating his chocolate, he proceeded to lick his fingers in that same childlike gesture when he was eating it. When he reached his hand for a cup, I couldn't help but protest.

"Aren't you gonna wash your hands first?"

He looked amused at my suggestion. "This coming from someone who can't even clean nor organize his room?" He gestured at the scattered clothing, unwashed dishes, empty beer cans, empty bottles of whisky, and empty packs of smokes.

I kept quiet and simply relented, putting a teaspoon of sugar on my cup. He drank his coffee black, without sugar. He reached into his grocery bag and brought out two sandwiches. He handed one to me which I took with reluctance. "I figured you wouldn't have anything other than alcohol for consumption. Don't worry, it's just a sandwich."

He started eating and I did the same. It was a tuna sandwich and it was delicious. There was no point in arguing, surely he didn't need poison to kill me.

When we were done with breakfast, he asked me about the contract. "So have you come up with a decision yet?"

"I don't know, it sounds too good to be true but I see no specifics with regards to the task that you have in store for me." Yet, my mind kept coming back to that vision of redemption that I've painted in vivid images with my imagination. I've lost count of the number of times that I've failed short of living up to my expectations until I finally came to a point where I told myself that all hope is gone. And now this opportunity comes knocking on my doorstep, or so the Devil would have me believe.

He was studying me with his dark feline eyes and I could see he was weighing my every word or was it my thoughts he was reading? "You're a wary one. However, you're not the first and you won't be the last." He poured himself another cup of what was left of the coffee, looked at me and gave me a ghoulish grin. It was creepy as fuck and I felt like running away. "Very well. Since you'll need some convincing, I'll tell you the task."

He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and brought out a picture and a CD. I recognized the photograph instantly as that of Caroline King, the most popular female recording artist in the country, and the CD was her latest album, A Trip To Forevermore. "I take it that you know her so I won't daddle. Your task is simply to make her fall in love with you."

My brain turned to mush when he said it. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Is he for real? The task sounded so random, like something he just thought of out of the blue. I tried to look for hints on his face that indicated that it was a joke but there was none. He looked dead serious.

When he didn't answer my stupid question, I poured myself a cup of coffee and drank it all in one sip. "You're actually serious about this aren't you?"

"Very. That's the only thing I would require from you. Make her fall in love with you. It doesn't matter how you do it as long as she falls for you. Once that's done, the price is paid."

At this he flicked his fingers again and the contract which was on the other side of the room flew towards us and landed on top of the table.

Again, I was dumbfounded by his words. Not only is it random, it's also unachievable. There is in no way that I'll have a chance with someone like Caroline King.

She was a prodigy, a freak of nature, an actress and a musician. She was the product of the Glamour Is Everything Agency which specializes in the training of idols and artists. They teach them everything, from singing, dancing, acting, everything that would give their artists a better edge against their competition in the entertainment industry.

I've seen some of her movies and I couldn't deny the fact that she had talent, hell, a lot of it in fact. She broke the barriers that used to separate singers from actors and actresses. With regards to her music, I really didn't pay much attention to it since it isn't to my taste since its pop. But some of the reviews I've read by chance for some of her previous albums indicated that it was well-received by critics. And to think that the Devil would ask me to make her fall in love with me.

"You're insane. There's no way I can do that, she wouldn't even bother looking at me." As far as I know, we're the exact opposite, she was successful in everything that she did while I was a failure in just about everything other than doing nothing.

The look of amusement on his face was something that I had to get use to. "That's the problem with you humans. You come up with a hundred reasons why you can't do this or that. Why make things complicated?"

"Are you actually giving me a pep talk?" I couldn't help grin in spite of what's happening. And to my surprise he was grinning too and this softened his features and showed the dimples underneath his cheeks. *Perhaps if I had your face, I'll have a chance.*

I forgot he could read my mind. "You humans are so superficial. Your concept of beauty is based on how someone looks on the outside. It has been the downfall of your kind for quite some time now."

I thought about it, what he just said was the truth but there were exceptions. "Not all humans though."

"You mean the minority? Bah, they are the wretched souls that suffer the most in this world of conformity." He smiled wistfully, I felt weird seeing him that way, as if he was remembering something that was better off forgotten. He seemed to noticed my discomfort for he gave me one of his ghoulish grins, something that I could never get used to, it creeped me out and gave me goosebumps. "Anyway, let's cut to the chase. Will you accept the task and sign the contract or will you just die in a corner like some stray dog?"

All my life I've always been impulsive, it was one of the traits that brought me to my present state, I rarely think about the consequences of my decisions until the damage is done. This time, I push it down and think which felt like something I haven't done in a long while. The task is hard, no matter how you look at it, I am a nobody and she is what everybody would call someone living the good life. I am living in a shithole apartment and she is probably holed up in a mansion somewhere or even a private island. She has her whole life ahead of her while mine is heading nowhere other than the end. The contrast of our lives in itself is a barrier. Then I remembered a conversation I had with an old friend.