24 Chapter 24 - Back To The Same Old Ground

"Okay, that's done." Mephisto was saying. "Now about the contract Lu, what do you want me to do with it? Seems to me that Dante is no longer subject to fulfilling it."

It was the farthest thing from my mind. The contract to make Caroline King fall in love with me, it seemed to be nothing more than a practical joke now.

"The contract stands." It was Asmodeus who answered.

Lucifer nodded in agreement. "The contract binds you to Mephisto and in turn binds you to me. Fulfill the contract or fail it, either way you end up with us. The contract is binding and cannot be broken even if you are a horseman."

"Okay, so I'll still have to make Caroline King fall in love with me if I wish for a cure? Or otherwise Mephisto will end up owning my soul?" I clarified.

"Precisely." Lucifer didn't seem to be bothered about it.

I looked at Mephisto. "I guess I'm still stuck with you."

"Well, we've got new company so everything will be different from now on." He was staring at Asmodeus with obvious dislike.

"Now that that's settled, it's time to return to the world so Dante can enjoy the ticket I gave him." said Lucifer and beckoned for me to come near him. "I'll transport you back to the world. Take note that when I bring you back, no time will have passed. Because in purgatory, time does not exist. Now, close your eyes."

I did and then I felt a rip, a sucking sound that seemed to come from within me. And when it was over I was once again standing in the same spot, bombarded by the noise that the people around me were making. I looked around the VIP spot and noticed nothing odd. The only thing missing was Michael who must've removed himself. It felt weird to be amongst the living after what just happened. No one seemed to notice me except the occasional glances from the people who weren't in the VIP area. Everything is the same except me, for that few moments which seemed to be hours in purgatory changed my perception of the world.

Concert

I didn't get a chance to recover from my encounter with angels and demons. The lights in the arena dimmed and I knew the concert was about to start. A silent melody I recognized as The Raven's Flight, started to play and the crowd promptly quieted down and then Caroline came on stage wearing a dark miniskirt that made her look fierce and drop dead gorgeous. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause including me. And I noticed that she was too damn close for comfort. And I was finally aware of the difference between a low-key acoustic set and a stage performance for thousands of people. She seemed to be radiating of beauty and her singing seemed to be on a different level, she redefined the meaning of stage presence. I just couldn't take my eyes off of her.

I tuned out the voices of the people around me and only focused on her, it was pretty easy. It seemed like her voice was already imprinted in my memory, and I was singing along like a total fanboy and then our eyes met. And this time I saw recognition, for she held my eyes as she sang and I just stood there hypnotized. Michael and Lucifer got nothing on Caroline, she seemed to hold an invisible rope tied to my chest. My heart was fluttering and I felt silly about what happened in purgatory earlier. It seemed to have happened ages ago, all I could think of is how beautiful she was and how her eyes shone.

After that song, the performers were exchanged and Night Prowlers came on stage and I could hear the raucuos cries from the audience and though this was the first time I was seeing them live, much less hear their songs, I couldn't help but bop along ot the beat not to mention that they were extremely attractive especially Ana. She was just mesmerizing, I couldn't take my eyes off of her and looking at the crowd around me, I knew that most of the male audience were taken in. It wasn't just that she was sexy and beautiful. It was the way she danced. Sure some parts were pretty suggestive but it wasn't it, there was just something that made her stood out, some sort of X-factor. She was that kind of girl, the kind that made you feel helpless that you just couldn't look away.

It was quite an experience. I didn't even notice the song was done until Ana stopped dancing. Everyone seemed to be recovering their senses when the song was finished. We were all captivated and entranced within their performance, and for those brief moments I felt the weight off the world fall off my shoulder.

Caroline

It was the last song and it was a collaboration with the girls from Night Prowlers. It was a song we've specially written for this tour and it was the first time we were performing it live.

People have already heard the teasers we've released on the internet and fans have been clamoring to hear it sang in its full version.

We were backstage and the girls were all smiling.

Flora went to me. "Did you see their faces? I swear I'll never get used to it."

"You guys were totally killing it out there." I replied.

"So were you." said Ana.

"That dance solo of yours gave a lot of the audience nosebleed." Emilia teased Ana.

"Shut up." Ana looked embarassed, it was cute.

"Alright, let's end the show with a bang shall we?" Lina beckoned to us and we went onstage for the last time. The cheers coming off from the audience was deafening. I couldn't stop smiling and so did the other girls.

Finally it was Lina who asked the crowd to be silent. "As you may know, this is our last song. It's something we've written just for this occasion and a lot of you have been asking for a live performance of the whole thing and who are we to refuse?"

She was giving them one of her charming smiles and the audience warmed up to it.

And without further ado, the opening chords for the song began.

While waiting for each other's parts, I made eye contact to a few members of the crowd, one of them being Dante. It surprised me that he was here, not to mention in the VIP section that was for exclusive winners of a raffle held by the concert promoters. When I first beheld him, I couldn't help but smile because he was singing along and when he saw that I was looking at him, he looked flustered and I couldn't help suppress a smile.

And so when I made eye contact with him once more, I saw him try to hold his ground and he was losing. He was biting his lip and seemed to be looking for a way out. Was I teasing him too much? I wondered. This would be the first time that I was inadvertenly flirting with someone, it felt so different.

When the song was done, we thanked the audience once more and bowed. The applause and the cheers were still ringing in my ears even when we were already backstage.

We were congratulated by our managers for a job well-done. My manager Anita was literally crying her eyes out, as if we haven't done this together for some time now. I realized that I could never get tired of this, the privilege of making people get in touch with their emotions.