Sympathy For the Devil [Keith Richards]

Epilogue

Keith opened his eyes and for the second time today he was on his bed in his hotel room, but this time around there was no trace of Persy and he was still in his clothes. Groggily he got up and looked around to make sure it wasn't an illusion again, even if he had no idea what to look out for. Everything seemed to be exactly like it was when he had left, which Keith took as a good sign and still he couldn't shake the feeling off that this wasn't real, but if Judith was to be believed his memories would soon fade and his adventure would just be a foggy fantasy. 

Keith didn't know if forgetting was a good or bad thing. He'll probably find that out over time, which he had no more than enough of, he thought, of course only if that deal hadn't been some cheap trick . Judith's claim that Persy's bargains were fair could be true, but it didn't have to be. So even though everything in Keith rejoiced at the thought of finally being out of Hell, there still was doubt, but he didn't want to worry about that for now, he just wanted to enjoy his freedom. His moment of joy was however cut very short by a knock on the door. 

With unsure steps he walked over to it and took a deep breath before opening it. He nearly expected to see Persy again, but it was only Charlie and Keith had never felt so relieved in his life to see the drummer. He had no idea what it was, but he felt like this was the real Charlie, not the Reason one.

"Morni-"

Charlie didn't get any further before Keith had pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you," Keith said before letting go of him. 

"We only saw each other-" Charlie started off, only to be interrupted anew.

"Wait, you would tell me if we were still in Hell or something? You being the Reason and everything. I mean I can trust you," Keith rambled probably sounding a tad insane. 

Charlie's face held a look of confusion mixed with worry. "What are you talking about? Did you take something again? Keith, I told you a million times already that this can't be good for you... I know it's your life and you can do what you want with it, but please think about it. "

"You don't need to look out for my health, promise. I already did, so why are you here then?" Keith asked the still confused drummer. 

"I just wanted to let you know you that we're leaving. We're supposed to meet in 30 minutes down in the lobby."

"Thanks. I'll be there," Keith said and Charlie nodded and left. 

He closed the door and packed his stuff up. It wasn't much, because he hadn't really gotten the time to unpack considering he had spent the whole night away. Strangely he didn't feel exhausted at all, even though he hadn't slept a minute the whole night and gone through Hell quite literally. One should think this would have been an exhausting experience, but Keith only felt refreshed. 

It didn't take him long to finish and he made his way down to the lobby.  The hallway, the elevator and even the lobby itself looked exactly like they had in Hell and Keith felt his stomach unsettle again. A feeling he really could have done without, but it was understandable after what he had gone through that he was now doubting everything.

There was however a small comfort, the lobby wasn't empty. Bill and Mick Taylor were already there, sitting in armchairs, cigarettes in hand and Keith could make out a few other people as well. He sighed relieved, but then a new thought entered his mind. Keith felt like he needed to say something to Taylor, but he wasn't sure what. The test had made him think about the way he was treating the younger guitarist and he felt an urge to say sorry at least.

"Keef, you totally missed out yesterday," he heard a voice say from behind him and felt a hand on his back. "You should have gone with me to the bar instead of staying in your room!" Keith didn't need to turn around to know who that was. 

"Why?" he simply asked, not even bothering to look at the singer or he had to think of him as the Devil and he would probably start laughing again.

"I met this incredibly beautiful bird last night, Perse- something."

"Persephone?" Keith asked surprised, even if he wasn't sure what astonished him more that he had finally gotten the name right or that Mick had meet a girl who had indeed such a barmy name. 

"Yes! Do you know her?" Mick wondered.

 "In a way?" Keith mumbled, making it sound more like a question than a statement, but he had no real idea how he was supposed to answer. He did indeed know a beautiful woman with that name, however he hoped for Mick's sake that he had met a different one than he had.  "Eh... what did you do with her?"

"We played Monopoly all night. What do you think we did?" Mick replied sarcastically. 

"Never mind..." Keith said sighing. 

"Are you ready?"Stu interrupted their conversation and they just nodded. They had done this a million times already and this stay had been besides Keith's nighttime activity nothing special. "So I'll just check us out and we can leave. Charlie will be here in a minute too."

Again they just nodded and Stu left for to the reception desk. Keith had no idea what made him look in that direction, but he seriously wished he hadn't. Mick had started a new conversation with him, but he wasn't listening to a word the singer said. He couldn't, not after what he had seen. There she was and he could have sworn she was directly looking at him with a smile on her lips. Judith.

Was he still in Hell?

The End.

Omg you can't imagine how satisfying it was to write those two words. Thanks for reading, voting and commenting! (: