6 Chapter 6 - Helping Hand
I don't know if it was fate or just mere coincidence but to think that Caroline King would hold a secret gig in the cafe was something I hadn't counted on but nonetheless it was a great opportunity.
Nica emphasized how lucky we were to be there as she gave everyone in there including me tickets for the gig which would be on Friday. It'll be a laid-back acoustic performance, which was a rare one. The only thing that bothered me though is how quickly they took me to their fold, I mean I expected a thorough examination or some sort of interrogation about how I got into Caroline's music. When I asked Angela about this, she laughed.
"You're talking about a different kind of fan. We love Caroline but we understand that she is not our property despite of what other fans may think. Which is why we give newcomers like you a raucous welcome, we want other people to dig Caroline's music or whatever form of art she decides to pursue and we can't do that if we act like overly-obsessed girlfriends or boyfriends." She gave me a reassuring smile before she went on. "If you come to feel the same way we do, that'll make all of us here happy but if not, no hard feelings but all we ask is respect."
My misconceptions about fandom and such just went down the drain. I didn't expect this sort of depth for a fandom.
After all the tickets have been distributed to everyone in the cafe, Nica once more went to the platform at the center. "I know that you're all excited for the gig, I sure am. Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask some of you guys for help in setting up the venue if that's okay? It's no biggie, just moving chairs and tables to make some room and adding a few decorations in the shop. Also, I know a lot of you guys here have created wonderful art pieces for Caroline so if you'd like to display them here so she could see them, I'll be willing to hang it up or whatever."
This is it, it's now or never. I raised my hand along with just about everyone.
In the end, me and two other guys were chosen. I expected a lot of curious glances my way seeing as I was the new guy but there were none. On the contrary, they all looked content. *I should really stop being so paranoid.*
Nica briefed us about when she wanted us to come, which would be on Friday, a day before the gig after the cafe is closed.
"Angela and the other employees will take care of the decor. I'll need you guys to do the heavy lifting for me. It's kinda my fault for not hiring enough male staff."
When the fan meeting was finally over, Nica went back to her office and the speakers started to play A Trip To Forevermore.
I came to the cafe around lunchtime and went home around five in the afternoon. *Can't believe it took that long.*
When I arrived, Mephisto was lying on the couch browsing through the channels on the tube.
When he saw me enter, he merely nodded and pointed to the table. "I did the liberty of preparing dinner." On the table were spicy chicken wings and a couple of burgers. There were two plates on the table, the chocolate bars laid out on the table told me which plate was mine.
I was famished so I decided to dig in but Mephisto's voice stopped me. "You know, the proper thing to do would be to invite me to dinner." He sounded annoyed.
"Well aren't you gonna come to dinner?" I asked casually.
"Good." He went to the table and we began to eat. I swear, his mood swings are worst than a girl with PMS.
When we were done with dinner, he went to the fridge and took out a bottle of Jack, he poured for the two of us. I was a bit weirded out by it.
"So how was your day? Productive I hope?" He took a drink and I had an epiphany. *They call alcohol the devil inside and here in front of me is the devil drinking the devil.*
"Very funny." I often forget that he could read my mind.
"She's doing a thank-you gig on Saturday at the fan cafe that I visited earlier." And I proceeded to tell him about Nica and the Knights of Caroline.
"So they're not that bad?" He was looking at me with his cat-like eyes glinting with dark humor. "You know, when you accepted the contract, you never bothered to ask me about the reason for the task that I've given you."
Now that I think about it, he was right. "Well, humor me. Why such a task?"
"Ever heard of the line 'God is dead'? No? Then let me enlighten you." His words chilled me, the way he said it made it sound like an impending doom.
"All throughout the centuries, mankind have always abandoned one god for another. For all intents and purposes, if a certain god did not fit the bill they were looking for, they simply look for another one, a god that they could relate to. And you see how well that turned out for them. I've watched them bathe nations in blood all in the name of their gods. Oh, the sheer number of wretched souls who thought they were doing their God's will only to find nothing in the end." He laughed cruelly and it reminded me of who and what he is. He unwrapped one of the chocolate bars on the table and took a bite. "On and on and on, the cycle continues to repeat itself, the only thing that changes are the weapons they use and the field of battle." He took another bite. "I won't bore you with a long narrative about mankind's stupidity so let's just jump forward to the present. Once again, man has found a new god, scratch that, rather gods and goddesses. Know where you can find these deities?"
It was a sick joke, but it made absolute sense in a sort of way.
"You're talking about celebrities."
He raised a glass to me in acknowledgment. "These people, celebrities to coin your term, command legions of followers, each of which look up to them, admiring them, loving their craft, and wanting to follow in their footsteps. They are the new gods to which the old ones can never compete with. For example, they are more real in every sense of the word."
He started his habit of licking what remained of the chocolate on his fingers. "The field of battle has been that piece of technology." He pointed at the television in the living room. "They all compete for your attention. Think about the number of hours a person spends in watching television his whole life." When he was done with the finger-licking, he proceeded to pour himself another shot of whisky. "That thing has shaped generations."
My head was spinning. "So what's the connection of all of this to making Caroline King fall in love with me?"
His ghoulish grin reappeared. "I want to disrupt these new gods's followers and show them that the person they look up to is flawed and nothing more than human. I want you to corrupt her with one of the most potent forces in this world. Love." When he saw the look of disbelief on my face, he laughed. "I simply want to sow discord between god and his followers. Chaos and disorder." He drank another shot of whisky and pointed at the image on the television which showed a newsclip about war in some far-away nation. "I wanna watch the world burn."
*Whenever I felt like I could live with him, he goes out to show me why and what he really is.
Nica emphasized how lucky we were to be there as she gave everyone in there including me tickets for the gig which would be on Friday. It'll be a laid-back acoustic performance, which was a rare one. The only thing that bothered me though is how quickly they took me to their fold, I mean I expected a thorough examination or some sort of interrogation about how I got into Caroline's music. When I asked Angela about this, she laughed.
"You're talking about a different kind of fan. We love Caroline but we understand that she is not our property despite of what other fans may think. Which is why we give newcomers like you a raucous welcome, we want other people to dig Caroline's music or whatever form of art she decides to pursue and we can't do that if we act like overly-obsessed girlfriends or boyfriends." She gave me a reassuring smile before she went on. "If you come to feel the same way we do, that'll make all of us here happy but if not, no hard feelings but all we ask is respect."
My misconceptions about fandom and such just went down the drain. I didn't expect this sort of depth for a fandom.
After all the tickets have been distributed to everyone in the cafe, Nica once more went to the platform at the center. "I know that you're all excited for the gig, I sure am. Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask some of you guys for help in setting up the venue if that's okay? It's no biggie, just moving chairs and tables to make some room and adding a few decorations in the shop. Also, I know a lot of you guys here have created wonderful art pieces for Caroline so if you'd like to display them here so she could see them, I'll be willing to hang it up or whatever."
This is it, it's now or never. I raised my hand along with just about everyone.
In the end, me and two other guys were chosen. I expected a lot of curious glances my way seeing as I was the new guy but there were none. On the contrary, they all looked content. *I should really stop being so paranoid.*
Nica briefed us about when she wanted us to come, which would be on Friday, a day before the gig after the cafe is closed.
"Angela and the other employees will take care of the decor. I'll need you guys to do the heavy lifting for me. It's kinda my fault for not hiring enough male staff."
When the fan meeting was finally over, Nica went back to her office and the speakers started to play A Trip To Forevermore.
I came to the cafe around lunchtime and went home around five in the afternoon. *Can't believe it took that long.*
When I arrived, Mephisto was lying on the couch browsing through the channels on the tube.
When he saw me enter, he merely nodded and pointed to the table. "I did the liberty of preparing dinner." On the table were spicy chicken wings and a couple of burgers. There were two plates on the table, the chocolate bars laid out on the table told me which plate was mine.
I was famished so I decided to dig in but Mephisto's voice stopped me. "You know, the proper thing to do would be to invite me to dinner." He sounded annoyed.
"Well aren't you gonna come to dinner?" I asked casually.
"Good." He went to the table and we began to eat. I swear, his mood swings are worst than a girl with PMS.
When we were done with dinner, he went to the fridge and took out a bottle of Jack, he poured for the two of us. I was a bit weirded out by it.
"So how was your day? Productive I hope?" He took a drink and I had an epiphany. *They call alcohol the devil inside and here in front of me is the devil drinking the devil.*
"Very funny." I often forget that he could read my mind.
"She's doing a thank-you gig on Saturday at the fan cafe that I visited earlier." And I proceeded to tell him about Nica and the Knights of Caroline.
"So they're not that bad?" He was looking at me with his cat-like eyes glinting with dark humor. "You know, when you accepted the contract, you never bothered to ask me about the reason for the task that I've given you."
Now that I think about it, he was right. "Well, humor me. Why such a task?"
"Ever heard of the line 'God is dead'? No? Then let me enlighten you." His words chilled me, the way he said it made it sound like an impending doom.
"All throughout the centuries, mankind have always abandoned one god for another. For all intents and purposes, if a certain god did not fit the bill they were looking for, they simply look for another one, a god that they could relate to. And you see how well that turned out for them. I've watched them bathe nations in blood all in the name of their gods. Oh, the sheer number of wretched souls who thought they were doing their God's will only to find nothing in the end." He laughed cruelly and it reminded me of who and what he is. He unwrapped one of the chocolate bars on the table and took a bite. "On and on and on, the cycle continues to repeat itself, the only thing that changes are the weapons they use and the field of battle." He took another bite. "I won't bore you with a long narrative about mankind's stupidity so let's just jump forward to the present. Once again, man has found a new god, scratch that, rather gods and goddesses. Know where you can find these deities?"
It was a sick joke, but it made absolute sense in a sort of way.
"You're talking about celebrities."
He raised a glass to me in acknowledgment. "These people, celebrities to coin your term, command legions of followers, each of which look up to them, admiring them, loving their craft, and wanting to follow in their footsteps. They are the new gods to which the old ones can never compete with. For example, they are more real in every sense of the word."
He started his habit of licking what remained of the chocolate on his fingers. "The field of battle has been that piece of technology." He pointed at the television in the living room. "They all compete for your attention. Think about the number of hours a person spends in watching television his whole life." When he was done with the finger-licking, he proceeded to pour himself another shot of whisky. "That thing has shaped generations."
My head was spinning. "So what's the connection of all of this to making Caroline King fall in love with me?"
His ghoulish grin reappeared. "I want to disrupt these new gods's followers and show them that the person they look up to is flawed and nothing more than human. I want you to corrupt her with one of the most potent forces in this world. Love." When he saw the look of disbelief on my face, he laughed. "I simply want to sow discord between god and his followers. Chaos and disorder." He drank another shot of whisky and pointed at the image on the television which showed a newsclip about war in some far-away nation. "I wanna watch the world burn."
*Whenever I felt like I could live with him, he goes out to show me why and what he really is.
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