1 Soulless

The final moments, they say, is the one where you reflect and look back on your life. Having any regrets? Satisfaction? But at that moment, Rael felt happy. He was ecstatic that finally,

Finally! He gets to escape his life.

Rael took one good look at his surroundings. He then pulled the trigger. Rael felt the bullet penetrate his brain through a sharp pain in his head. Everything went slow motion as his ears rang similar to a person with tinnitus, then his body went slack.

"Quite the horrendous struggle there, Rael."

Everything suddenly felt weird, like reality was bent. Rael whirled around to where the voice originated. Whoever or whatever it is, it stood beside his body, right next to the grisly painting created by his splattered brain. He looks around and panicked; everything was still like he's inside a dollhouse.

"My body?" Rael gasped, feeling his body, patting his hips, his shoulders, then his face. "I briefly felt the pain. . . then I saw a body, but at the same time, I didn't feel it?" Rael was confused in his current state.

"Relax, you are just a soul as of the moment. That body of yours is nothing but a hollow sack of meat. Your genuine body is this soul; everything else is just a fragment of God's imagination."

"How would you know?" Rael asked. "and how do you know my name?" Rael was still confused with what happened, he thought after all that, everything would just be dark.

"I am the one that delivers the souls." It said impassively. Rael got a better view of the 'thing' that talked to him.

"Like the grim reaper?"

"Perhaps. You creatures of the low world give me some interesting names over the years. It's only natural that I know of your names, too."

Rael is talking to a small child that could not have been any older than fifteen, with a lanky physique and hair color of ash that made its pale skin stand out even more; the kid 'reaper' garbed in the blackest robe he had ever seen, with streaks of red strings that protruded out of the kid's sleeves. The small child's eyes betrayed its looks. The look in those strange, golden eyes knew many things.

Like the wisdom only those who spoke the dialect of the dead knew.

"Come, I shall deliver you to where you should go."

Baffled and overwhelmed by all that had happened, Rael still followed behind the kid 'reaper'; Where would the kid 'reaper' bring Rael is unknown. Would he be delivered to hell, as he died in his own hands? Or would he be delivered to heaven, as other weary souls are supposed to go? Rael did not even know both realms existed or he decided not to believe in them.

A door materialized in front of them. The kid 'reaper' beckoned to enter with him.

"Where would I go?" Rael anxiously asked. The place on the other side of the door appeared to be a narrow tunnel, but the walls seem to be made of flesh that oozes out disgusting substance. As Rael entered, he touched the wall lightly, and it pulses back at him. Rael pulled his hand away quickly from the wall, out of instinctual fear.

The kid 'reaper' offered nothing but a coy smile. "You will see. . . It was a good thing I pulled you out from your world. After all, you are destined for greater things and greater places Rael, higher than this plane of existence where you resided that is."

The words of the kid 'reaper' shocked Rael; however, this weird place just convinced Rael he will be going to hell rather than heaven. For hours and hours, they walked, not a sound except for their footsteps as they walk in the strange mushy tunnel.

After some time, at last, there seemed to be an end. At the end of the tunnel is a body of water.

A lake?

"What is this place?" Rael asked out of curiosity. The lake gives off a feeling of familiarity that troubled him eminently.

"Something you know very well, Rael."

Rael didn't understand the kid 'reaper'. "I don't know this place," Rael replied confidently, brows furrowed by what the kid 'reaper' said. He turned to face the water's halcyon surface, and there he sees his own reflection. The gunshot in his head was still there. "Is this hell?"

"You could say that." The 'reaper' impassively replies while it taps the blank space, seemingly arranging things Rael could not comprehend.

Rael continued to stare at his reflection.

Then out of nowhere, Rael felt his balance fumble was thrown off. He didn't have the time to speak, his eyes wide, as he felt a bony hand unequivocally push him to the water; an extensive, rope-like material quickly attached itself on his body. Then Rael felt that he's being hauled into the water. As he flailed around and gasped for air, the last thing he saw of the kid 'reaper' was its eerie smile. It looked like it knew something he doesn't.

"Safe travels, soulless one."

Rael plunged far down the water. Even under the water, he could see his reflection clearly. The rope attached itself to his belly, and he can't remove it no matter how hard he yanks. As time goes by, Rael found out that he can breathe underwater, but found strength leaving his body. Soon, he could not even grip the rope.

He felt that he gradually shrunk in size.

What's going on? Rael's mind was fogged with uneasiness. He started to doubt his understanding of all things. For what reason was he here? Who was that small child? What did he use to be? How did these things happen? What was his greater destiny? Rael curled his body, he grips his knees with his own hands. The final expression and words of the kid 'reaper' punctured his memories.

Soulless?

As Rael struggled to understand bits and pieces of what remained of his thoughts, he felt being urged to the water's surface. He was being pulled out by the water's current. Someone gripped his head, and the next thing he saw was a radiant light.

Is this the heavens?

He stared at his hands which were small and stubby. Rael's thoughts finally caught up with reality. Serenade of gasps echoed around him.

"Soulless!" A shrill voice exclaimed, which shattered the crowd's gasps and cries.

Not knowing anything else to do, Rael cried.