Talking with Mr. Pheles made me realize that despite all that happened, I may still have the responsibility for processing that man's funeral.
However, Mr. Jinn has already completed most of the work, down from the hospital papers to the cremation, by the time the moon has replaced the sun.
All I'll just have to do is deliver the news. I'm sure his sudden death will cause a sensation in the culinary world.
I check my phone, only to discover that my phone is out of battery. I ride back to the direction of my apartment yet I am bombarded with the sound of sirens and red flashing lights from a distance.
Rushing to the mob, I make my way to the front. Uniformed men walk back and forth towards the building with the hose in hand. The burst of water is directed to a particular area.
Before I can fully take in what the hell is happening, Jacob runs straight to me.
"Boss! I've been calling you!"
"What is this, Jacob? Why is our office on fire?" I struggle to maintain my composure but my trembling hands can't hide the frustration. We were just bouncing back but now this.
Can I even catch a break?
"It's not clear what happened either. We were just doing our job when something explodes in the kitchen—"
"Wait up. Explosion? How is everyone?" Trepidation course through me just imagining the worst.
"Nesa's nearest to the accident and has been sent to the hospital right away. There are those who have minor injuries from escaping but don't worry they are currently treated in the ambulance," he summarizes and relief washes over me.
At least, it's not as grim as I am anticipating. I'm not sure I can handle several deaths in a single day.
Jacob leads me to my staff. Seeing their ashen face makes me guilty for a reason but thankfully they are safe. I still have some money from my work in that world and I can manage to compensate them. It'll be a heavy burden on my shoulders if something happens to them under my wing.
"Jacob, just bring them to the hospital and have a full body check-up. Make sure they are all in good condition."
"Alright."
My head begins calculating the upcoming expenses as I gaze back to our rental space. The fire has been extinguished and only black traces of smoke and flames mark the white-painted walls of the exterior.
We have insurance but if the kitchen is the source of fire, I might have to say goodbye to all my pieces of equipment that cost me months and years to save just to buy them.
While I blank out thinking of the cost, someone catch my attention.
I have seen him earlier and I don't think I can mistake Dracula in a crowd. With that bright scarlet eyes, I doubt I can ignore him.
Nevertheless, he has shorter hair and wearing a simple tee and jeans. Our eyes lock for a whole minute before he leaves. It's almost like baiting me and goading me to follow him.
As the person who is not the sharpest tool in the shed, I do so and excuse myself from Jacob.
Dracula's trail brings me to the warehouse behind my apartment building. With no person in sight and trees and buildings surrounding me, I am reminded of the words they say about him.
Regardless, I try to ease the sudden pace of my heart. The best he can do is bury me six feet underground. Great.
"What is it?" I initiate the conversation while his back is facing me.
He pivots, morphing into a form I'm familiar with.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
Ah. Guessing games again. These guys do love to ask me questions I'll have no answers even held at a gunpoint.
"No," I still reply.
"Why do you think only your office is burned?"
Now that he points it out. That is indeed strange. With the amount of damage I've seen from afar —almost everything pulverized to ashes — it's weird it did not spread out to the other spaces.
"This is your warning," he utters without any fluctuation.
It's as if he's just commenting about the weather and not some fvcking arsonist who endangered innocent people.
"What the hell do you mean?" My pitch rises a notch from his absurdity.
"Humans are the greediest. When your wishes are granted, your desires become a bottomless pit," he answers but how can I understand such vagueness.
"I can't—"
"You better stay away from Mephisto. With your appearance, he has already broken two of his vows. If you continue to do so, I'll make you regret your choice."
"I don't even know his vows and I'm not the one pushing myself to your world," I defend.
"Because of you, his magic is weakening and the Warp Realm is affected because that damned Faust shackled him to the realm. He can't risk his last vow broken when you're here."
"I told you I don't—" I am interrupted again. By then, talking to him is like talking to a wall.
"When his last vow is broken, everyone will cease to exist. And it'll be because of you. That goes with your Wraith parents."
"What?"
"That is why I'm telling you to stay away from Mephisto. It'll be better for everyone. For you specifically. Considering the last person who ignored my advice are merely bones now." His tone is ever somber which doesn't match the threat he is saying. "It'll be—"
In a blink of an eye, Dracula's body is flung to the wall. Another figure materializes with his cane pointed to Dracula's neck.
"What did you do, Dracula? You broke your vow! You are never allowed to interfere with the human world!" Mr. Pheles reprimands with a rare streak of anger in his words.
"Says the person who is down to his last vow!" Dracula shouts back. The stoic face only seems to fade when Mr. Pheles is around.
"But you only have one vow, you idiot! Now you can never return to the Warp Realm!" The composure from Mr. Pheles is completely gone. His scarlet eyes blaze in the dark as he keeps Dracula off the ground.
"If it keeps you from wasting your vow to these pathetic humans, I won't mind."
"Bloody damnation! Just for that?"
"Let me ask you the same thing. Just for him, why do you have to break two of your vows?"
"It's none of your business," Mr. Pheles spits out.
"It's none of your business either if I break my vow. I'm just preventing the worse to happen. The Warp Realm can't exist without you."
"Faust made the realm as my punishment, Dracula. Perhaps I want to break it because I'm weary taking care of all of you?"
"You can't." Seething glares are exchanged. "You can't just abandon us," he repeats with emphasis.
A snicker escapes Mr. Pheles' lips. "What does it have to do with you? You're not one of us anymore."
"You must never abandon us. Villain or not, humans are never empathizing with monsters. Only Warp Realm is our home. If it means betraying you and breaking my vows. I'm willing to do it as long as the realm prevails."
Obviously, Dracula only listens and responds to what he wants so that not even Mr. Pheles can come across his point. But his fierceness disappears, his eyes shaking as if he can't concentrate and finds it difficult to understand the words spoken by Mr. Pheles.
Silence consumes us for a minute before Mr. Pheles let go of his hold. Like a melting candle, Dracula drops to the ground.
Mr. Pheles deeply exhales. "Fool. I know my limits. You should have never done this. You won't even see the daylight tomorrow at this point."
Dracula stands up, eye to eye with Mr. Pheles. "I did this knowing the consequence. But how about you? I may not like everyone in the Warp Realm but we are all the same. Have you thought for a single moment about us when you brought a human who is uncontracted? Did you spare a single inkling when you made another contract after already having one? Why did you break your vows for a measly human? How about us who have been with you for centuries? Are we really a burden to you?"
Watching on the sidelines leaves me in bewilderment. It's not even an hour yet I feel like I have known Dracula the whole time. He reminds me of an old stern head chef who criticizes ruthlessly but still looks out for you. The questions he let out were all for the sake of the monsters living in their world.
Before I met them, all of them are just products of fiction. My days with them have been full of surprises. It may not be a welcome one but it helps me learn that they have emotions too. Making them more real and now, sympathy rises within me.
I can only imagine the anxiety of having my world depending on a single person, fearing how the world I've considered a home will disappear in a blink of an eye with just one mistake.
Mr. Pheles fails to respond and more seconds pass. Dracula snorts, concluding Mr. Pheles' answer.
"Heh. You're a demon, indeed. It's great while it lasted, Mephisto Pheles."
With that, Dracula turns his back. My gaze follows his figure as it vanishes into the darkness.
"Aren't you following him?" I probe after noticing we are staring in the same direction.
"For what? He'll disintegrate sooner or later." The cold response sends me gooseflesh. With apathy plastering on his face, I can never respond to that.
I guess it's true that no one should try to anger an easy-going person. Gone with lenient smiles, I can understand the chills running down my spine.
I'm fully aware they are monsters but it is at this moment that it dawned on me how detached they can be. Specifically, Mr. Pheles.
He is able to abandon the person he's been with for a long time and even the world he lives in. He states it is his punishment but won't he care even for a little bit? His aloofness only shows his true colors.
I don't want to continue living on the edge. Just thinking about walking in a thin line and fearing what will happen next is already exhausting.
Solidifying my resolve, I urge myself to speak. Because if I can't end it now, I doubt it'll only be a cycle that'll never break.
"I want out, Mr. Pheles. I don't want to get involved in your world anymore," I declare.
"Pardon? But I am bound by my contract with your father," he counters.
"You can do it without bringing me to your world."
"Then what's your plan for Richard?
"I... I don't know..." That was the truth. The mixed emotions are colliding inside me.
If I'm honest, the sadness is creeping to my bones along with a little guilt. Maybe I should've softened and tried to understand him more. Too bad honesty is never my good point.
Despite feeling remorse, deep in my heart, I still can't forgive him. The scars he caused are already too deep. He may not be the one who inflicted but he is the reason.
Even if Mom sacrificed her life for his dream, he has the one who has the choice. If he only contemplated bringing us with him, maybe none of this would have happened.
"I understand," he says after probably listening to the concerns circling in my head. "But how about Selene? Won't you like to have another chance with your family?"
It's like a literal devil coaxing me. I really can't pinpoint how he manages to do it but it must be his voice.
"Stop with your tricks, Mr. Pheles. You said yourself I can't meet them or else they'll disappear. Even if I have to trade my soul to forget everything, I'll do it. I want my normal days back." I lower my tone, trying to prove my point.
"Are you certain?" He is obviously trying to convince me otherwise but I'm sure with my decision.
I want out from all this madness.
"Maybe I'll come to a time I'll need your life. Maybe by then, I won't mind meeting you next time. And by that time, feel free to call me Lucas," I say, trying to ease the situation.
"Fair enough," he replies.
But, it's not an agreement, and talking to Mr. Pheles must need confirmation or he'll twist my words again.
The corner of his lips finally tilted, must be after tuning to my mind. "You're learning..."
"If I don't know how to adapt, I won't survive living as an orphan," I comment before returning the seriousness in my voice. "I need a contract."
"Come again?"
"I told you even if I sold my soul, I want my normalcy back."
"I can do it without you doing a contract."
"Unfortunately, you don't give me much to put my trust in you," I rebuke.
"Ah. Understandable." His lips widen only to tilt downwards as if thinking something. "But, you'll become a Wraith when you die."
I cock a brow. "Isn't it the best option? By the time I die, I'll reunite with them in your world. Maybe it's the second chance I'm seeking and I'll be thinking your world is my heaven in the end."
Letting my opinion out, I know I have made the right decision. I still want to continue my life here and achieve my mom's wishes to become a great chef but when I'm done in this world, I can only hope for our reunion.
"Then what are your terms?" Mr. Pheles says.
"Make me forget everything and don't bring me to your world again."
"But, you'll lose all your success now. I won't be able to return time but everything will disappear."
"It's alright. If I can do it before, I'm sure I can do it again," I say, full of unconfounded pride. It may not be easy but I have confidence in myself. I know I can achieve my goals with my own hands. After all, that's what life has thought me so far.
He inclines his head. "I see." And, this time the slant gradually emerging on his mouth did not annoy me that much. He offers his hand and speaks, "Well, if that's what you truly desire, I'll be glad to be of service."
THE END
Word Count: 2245
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