When I got back at my apartment, which was still littered with last night's revelry, I decided to read the contract, my 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 knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with the thought of it lingering in my head.

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 sickness afflicting him. (Eg. physical, emotional, mental).

2. Erase all traces of client's existence, may include client's identity, his memories and of those who know him.

3. Provide client a new identity, a lifestyle 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 of which the Provider has total discretion after the contract is signed. In addition to this, a spell of remuneration shall be cast upon the Client to enable his body to deal with the said task. 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, 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 a creature like him would demand from me.

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. As soon as I was in that place the drunk call home, a state of mind where you felt invincible and untouchable, I slept

My dreams were filled with visions of my past. Images of my parents, friends and acquaintances flashed in quick succession, a painful remembrance of 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, and the sound of his laughter reverberated in the room.

"Don't flatter yourself, you'll die where you stand if I wanted." He flicked his hand and the bottle dissolved into tiny shards. 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. I went to the sink and washed my face then proceeded to brew coffee. "You want some?"

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"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?"

"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. He rummaged through it and took out a bar of chocolate which he unwrapped and started eating. He noticed me staring. "What? I like chocolates, it's one of the few things you humans got right."

It was absurd, the devil chomping down on a chocolate bar like a little kid with his first lollipop.

When the pot of coffee was ready, I laid two cups for the two 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 packets of cigarettes that littered the apartment.

I kept quiet and simply relented, putting a teaspoon of sugar on my cup. He drank his coffee black. He reached into his grocery bag and brought out two sandwiches. "I figured you wouldn't have anything other than alcohol for consumption."

He started eating and I did the same. It was a tuna sandwich and it was delicious.

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 and 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 was lost. 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 grinned. "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, one of 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 took some time to processed what he just said.

"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 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.

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

She's a prodigy, a freak of nature. She's a musician and an actress among other things. A 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 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. It's fucking impossible."

She was successful in everything that she did while I was a failure in just about everything other than doing nothing.

"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?" He looked amused.

"Are you actually giving me a pep talk?"

He sighed. "You humans are so superficial. Your concept of beauty is too grounded in material things, it hinders your capability for thinking and achieving something. You're too afraid of scrutiny from your own kind."

His words ran through my head like. "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.

"Anyway, let's cut to the chase. Will you accept the task and sign the contract or will you just give up and die?"

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 however I 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.

Conversations ran through my head then. Memories of an episode in my life that would fuel and build my desire.