The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

It turned out that the crowd at the concert was worse than Emma had imagined. There were so many youths around her. It made Calvin and Emma no longer able to walk side by side. Calvin walked in the front with Emma following right behind him. The thing that kept them apart was that their hands were linked in a tight grip.

Calvin continued to pull Emma while looking back several times to make sure she was okay.

As she walked, Emma continued to stare at Calvin’s broad back. Although the situation was so crowded that it made it difficult for her to walk, all her focus was locked on the figure who was paving the way for her; just like a camera that only focused on one object so that all the pictures around it become blurry.

Unknowingly, Emma seemed to be hypnotized; either because of the noisy and crowded conditions, or because of the man who was pulling her in a large and warm grip. Did she ever say that Calvin Lee was so cool? Did she ever say that Calvin Lee was shining so brightly?

She didn’t know if it was because of the loud thumping music or if it was her heart, but Emma felt that her chest was about to explode from that thump that came from nowhere.

Calvin Lee was a warm man. He was sweet and paid attention to every little thing about Emma. He was polite in treating Emma and never forced his will on her.

Suddenly, Calvin stopped walking and looked back with a wide smile on his lips. He pulled Emma gently until she was actually standing next to him. “This is our spot. Look at the bracelet,” He shouted because of the deafeningly loud music.

“Bracelet?” Emma muttered as she turned to the bracelet wrapped around her hand.

.....

“The standing position of the audience is determined by the colour of the bracelet.” Calvin pointed up.

As it turned out, four meters above their heads hung a neon green cloth flag. Then when Emma looked to the other side, she saw that many other flags of various colours hung at a considerable distance. The colour of the bracelet indicated where to stand.

“The green stand is the best location to watch the concert,” Calvin said beside Emma’s ear.

“What I heard, you have to move fast if you want to get a good spot at the concert,” Emma asked.

Calvin nodded. “As soon as the ticketing site opened, I immediately bought it two weeks ago. That’s why I managed to get a good spot.”

“Gosh! You bought two tickets right away? What if I couldn’t go?” Emma asked with a surprised face at the fact that Calvin asked her out two days ago.

“Then those tickets would be wasted. But thanks to you they aren’t,” He answered lightly.

“At least you could ask someone else,” Emma shrugged her shoulders.

“I bought this to come with you. It would lose its meaning if I went alone or with someone else,” Calvin answered again.

Emma couldn’t say anything else. She paused with an awkward face, realizing that the thumping in her chest came from her heartbeat which became many times louder because of the man standing beside her.

The lights were turned off. It was a sign that the concert was about to start. Not long after, stage lights turned on and the group band that thousands of people had been waiting for finally appeared. The audience’s screams echoed to welcome the famous group band.

Tonight, Emma was full of joy because this was the first time she was watching a concert. Even though she didn’t know the band, she enjoyed their great songs and performances. Besides all that, what really made Emma’s heart feel happier was that Calvin was beside her. The man so much made her feel at ease.

The concert lasted for about three hours. Unconsciously, the concert was eventually over. The audience rushed out of the venue with bodies covered in sweat from jumping during the concert. The spring night air, which was still cold, couldn’t even beat the heat from the thousands of people huddling.

“I didn’t expect concerts to be this much fun. I mean, I’ve often heard that watching concerts is fun, but this really exceeded my expectations,” Emma said on their way out of the concert venue.

Calvin just continued to smile gently while listening to Emma who had not stopped talking. This was the first time he had seen Emma being so talk-active, but he liked it. He was glad to be able to put a bright smile on the face of the girl he crushed on.

“We’d better sit over there first. Aren’t you tired after three hours of standing?” Calvin asked, pointing to a row of crowded concrete benches.

“Well.. After you say it, it feels like my legs are getting a little sore now,” Emma laughed.

Then they approached the seats that were shaped like stadium stairs.

Calvin cleaned the concrete part Emma was going to sit on with his hand. “You can sit now,” He said when he finished making sure that the seat was clean.

“Thank you,” Emma said seriously.

Calvin just smiled. “I’ll buy a drink and some food. Wait here a moment.”

“Okay.” Emma nodded.

“Don’t go anywhere. I won’t be long.” Calvin said before getting down the row of seats. Then he walked toward the booths selling food and drinks which were located a few meters from the seats.

Emma let out a long sigh as she watched Calvin who had walked quite a distance thanks to his long legs.

“Looks like it’s only you who can make me forget Levi,” Emma muttered to herself.

It seemed Emma had made up her mind now. Either this was a temporary feeling or indeed something valid. She realized that what she felt for Levi and Calvin was the same. Greedy indeed, but that was how Emma felt. Her feelings fell for the two men.

At first, Emma couldn’t choose because all this time, her feelings fell deeper for Levi than for Calvin. But at the same time, Calvin was definitely a more suitable man for her. But now, Emma’s heart was finally open to Calvin.

“If I go with you, I won’t regret it because you’ll never hurt me,” Emma muttered as she continued to stare at Calvin who was standing at the far end of the booth.

Because all the booths were busy, Calvin had to wait quite a while. Emma patiently waited for her to return by looking around. She found many people were also resting their feet after standing for so long.

While looking around, Emma caught something that immediately caught her attention. Near where she sat, a guy chatting beside a girl.

Actually, they both looked normal. There was nothing wrong with a man chatting with a woman. But the problem was, the man was wearing a jeans jacket that had a small pin on the collar. The pin had the Beast Empire logo.

In an instant, Emma sharpened her sense of hearing, trying to eavesdrop on what the two of them were talking about. But unfortunately, the two of them were sitting a bit away from Emma and it was really crowded there, making it impossible to hear what they were talking about.

‘That man cannot be alone. There must be some members around here.’ Emma thought in her mind.

A concert like this was indeed attended by very many youths. No wonder this concert became the target of Beast Empire to ensnare victims.

After the Black Swan had always thwarted their kidnappings and even released a few hostages, the Beast Empire must have been understaffed. Previously, Rachel had told Emma that there was a luxuriously designed building that was almost finished on Jen Marie Street. From the front sight, it was a brothel, indeed. That meant; Dragger needed a lot of female night workers that Beast Empire had to provide.

After her eyes scanned the surroundings, Emma saw four suspicious men gathered on the side of the path. They seemed to be busy watching the people passing by. In Emma’s eyes, they looked like they were picking targets.

Emma turned to Calvin. The man was still standing in line in front of the booth. Then she immediately stood up, and walked down the seats. She walked slowly towards the group of four men she suspected.

When she got close enough, Emma could see the same pin on the men’s clothes. She smiled crookedly as she continued her leisurely pace. Then she opened her sling bag and took her a cell phone that had been lying on a Black mask.

“Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt,” Emma said while approaching the four men.

“Oh, no problem. Is there anything I can help you with?” One of the men asked kindly.

“Do you know where the exit from this place is? I came here by taxi and didn’t pay attention to the road. It happens that the taxi I just ordered cannot get in and is waiting at the exit.” Emma explained in an innocent tone.

“Of course we know,” The man replied before secretly glancing at his friends.

“Where are your friends? Are you alone?” Another man asked.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, I’m alone. My friends are home early,”

“Gosh, why don’t they keep you company until you get a taxi? It’s a bit dark in front of the exit, you know,” One of them replied.

“It is?” Emma gave a worried face.