9 Not just a being

How many days or hours might have passed, the man wasn't certain. All he knows that it has been quite long since he last saw the being after it instantly vanished.

Seated on the cold hard ground in the midst of the intense eye-blocking mist, he tried concentrating with his eyes closed and his body – soul – in a meditating position as he thought about the recent occurrences from the moment he became conscious of this place.

He traced back what had happened before he opened his eyes to this place. The last thing he remembered was wrapping his arms around a woman, his fiancé, after an intense activity in the midnight. What happened next, he wasn't sure.

Presently, he had mixed feelings in him. He was scared and worried at the same time. Scared about being in an unknown place and worried about his safety. Where in the world was he? This mythical thing happening to him was one he couldn't figure out.

There was something that made him more scared. His present state. According to what the being had mentioned, he wasn't dead. But was he alive either? No. So, this was currently his soul lingering in God knows where.

'The pathway dividing the balance between my world? What balance does it even mean?'

Suddenly, his thoughts had a distraction...

"Hello again,"

He opened his closed eyes and raised his head up. His eyes welcomed a not-too familiar sight — the mysterious being, still covered in what looked like an armor to him and standing in the same spot as the last time.

But, the result of seeing the being was something his mind couldn't control, or maybe wasn't able to control yet. He began shivering a little at the sight, even though his body wasn't completely unrelaxed from the initials. Or could it be the aura emanating from it that was causing such mind havoc?

"How has been your self-concentration?" A question was asked from the being's direction. Immediately those words flowed out, the aura being emanated instantly suppressed, leaving a serene atmosphere after.

The man now felt relaxed as the shivering stopped. Instantly, he stood up from the ground so as be on guard. Who knows if he could he be attacked? But, could he even shield himself from any form of attack?

"How are you able to do it?" Feeling a bit confident to talk, he questioned the being.

"Do what?"

He pointed his finger towards the being's direction. "This... this vanishing thing you're doing."

"You are bound to know that very soon." The being gave him a hanging reply, just the usual.

Not too bothered about that, he asked the main question presently troubling his mind. "How long have I been here?"

"Apparently one hour, fifty-five minutes, twenty-eight seconds and twenty thousand milliseconds..."

"What? So, I haven't been here for long?" He cut the being short.

The being ignored him and continued. "...which equals to one day, twenty-two hours, twenty-eight minutes and twenty seconds in your world. Now twenty-six seconds."

Bit by bit, his mind began processing the information the being just gave to him. If he heard clearly, the being stated that he had spent a day, twenty-two hours... without consuming anything? No way, that was impossible.

"I don't quite understand,"

"It's simple," the being began to say. "The time difference in this realm varies from that of your world,"

There was complete silence for a while as he ruminated on it before he eventually spoke up. "And what's the time difference?"

"To be specific, one hour here equals one day in your world,"

His expression turned to a shock when he heard the reply from the being. "But how did I survive close to two days here without consuming anything? I pretty much don't feel the urge to eat anything too,"

"Remember one thing I mentioned before. This is your soul right here. It consumes energy, not the edibles."

The man sighed, realizing the awkward situation he was in. "When am I going to leave this place then?"

"You are almost nearing the second hour of your ascension. You will only be eligible to leave by the end of the twentieth hour."

'So, does that mean I'll literally spend over eighteen days more in this place? Oh God!'

"What ascension are you talking about?" He asked the being.

A stern reply followed after. "The ascension into your new life."

"New life?"

"Yes. The details will be made available later. Meanwhile, to begin the first stage of your life reforming, there is something you will need to do,"

"What am I supposed to do?" The section had unknowingly turned to a Q&A.

"If you care to notice, there is a constant flow of energy in here being supplied by the mist." The being stated and the man had to look around him, oblivious of such energy the being was referring to. "You will have to begin garnering the energy into your soul for the commencement of your ascension."

"How am I going to do that? Walk to the mist and touch it to get it into me?" He nonchalantly commented.

"You will need to concentrate to be able to harness such energy into your soul. It has to be directed into you or else you won't get it,"

"Is it all that necessary?" The man had to ask.

"It is, or you might not be able to leave this place..." The statement came out like a warning.

At first a bit fazed, but he was seemingly getting used to this mystery happening right before him so he got over it quick. "Since I'm here, I mean my soul, then what about my physical body? How is it?"

The being gave a one word reply. "Coma."

"Coma?" the man reiterated with a question, looking totally surprised. Cut the initial statement, he wasn't still used to this mystery.

"Yes, coma. To the outside world, you're in a coma which will last for a total of twenty days."

Coma for twenty days? Isn't this going to cause a dilemma for his family? Including his fiancé? Tsk... What other terrible thing does he need to hear again?

"But, why me? Why choose me for this ascension thing? I don't quite understand why,"

"Do not be in a haste. In time, every little detail will be told to you so make sure you prepare yourself."

The man subconsciously nodded his head in understanding.

"Before I go, remember this. I am not just a being. I am Rasmus, your guide." The being reminded. Obviously, it had read through the man's mind.

The man was about to utter something when...

[Remember that.]

"Arghhhh!"

The ringing voice in his head again. He went straight to the ground on his knees as he held his head with both hands, feeling a migraine coming.

"You see why you need to prepare yourself entirely. Your mind is not ready yet."

Immediately, the being vanished into thin air like the last time. The man looked up to stare at the now empty space which the being was occupying a short while ago. He then muttered in a low voice, "Why do you have to do that?"

.....

Inside a private ward in a hospital, a woman could be seen lying on the single bed in the ward with a white sheet over her body. A bright light overhead shone on her face, revealing closed eyes. Near the bed, the early morning ray slightly peeked through the window blind, reflecting on the plain white wall near the IV stand which didn't have the tube inserted into the woman's body.

The woman turned her head a bit on the soft light green cased pillow, her face scrunching a bit as she felt an excruciating pain in her temples. The glass white tinted door opened silently with a light creaking sound and a man walked into the ward. As she was already almost conscious, she instantly opened her eyes to stare at who had entered.

"Jacob..." she let out faintly.

The coffee brown haired man grabbed a plastic chair near the bed and sat on it. He reached out his hand and touched the back of the woman's palm on the bed, caressing it with care.

"How are you feeling, Trisha?"

The woman ignored the question and asked instead, "John... How is John?"

The man frowned a bit at her. "You should be more worried about your health, Trisha. Do you know how worried I was when you passed out last night?"

The woman sniffed as she tried to suppress a sob. Worried that he might have been a little harsh with his words, the man immediately consented to calm her down.

"It's okay, Trisha. He's going to be fine, I can assure you."

She turned her gaze to the white ceiling. "But– But there was nothing wrong with him. How can he just fall into a coma?"

"I also don't understand—"

Knock. Knock.

The man's speech was interrupted by the knocks on the door and immediately, a huge, tall man dressed in a black suit with a pair of black shades on walked in. He had a transceiver right up his ear as he approached the man who had tilted his face a bit to look at who had entered. Bending a little, the huge man whispered something to the man's ear and walked out after.

Seeing the man sigh after the huge man left, the woman spoke. "Why was your bodyguard here? Is there any problem?"

The man, who had his face down, looked up to stare at the woman. "There's been another problem. John's coma has been revealed to the public and there is a swarm of reporters at the entrance of the hospital as we speak." He paused a bit before finally stating. "I think we have a mole among us,"