1 The Grim Reaper's Deal

Out of all the places in the world, a random back alley was not somewhere Shao Yun believed she'd be saying her final words in.

Lying on the cold ground, amongst the filth, Shao Yun was bathing in her own pool of blood. Other than the horrifying smell that would stain on her, she wasn't so sure she'd make it either. No matter how much she tried to cover the wound on her abdomen, it was all futile.

With every second that passed, her vision gradually became a blur. Shao Yun could no longer tell the difference between the flickering street light and the stars, and her blood and her cherry pant suit.

Her hands, too, were weakening. Her grip on herself grew frail despite blood still flowing out. The throbbing pain remained but soon, she would lose touch of her sensations. No pain, no coldness. All that'd be left of her is a void. Nothingness.

Shao Yun thought of herself as a fighter; she struggled to keep her eyes open. Not so long later, she spotted a black shadow-like figure slowly approaching. A stray cat nearby, as far as her blurry vision could tell, sprang away from it, shivering.

"December 14, 2029, 23:34," the black figure spoke before touching her skin.

"Meng Shao Yun. 29 years old. Chinese." The figure continued, leaving her both confused and startled.

Upon sensing her uneasiness, the figure shifted its shape to mimic the body of a man. The voice was deeper now, perhaps in an attempt to seem like a human male. "No children, one living parent, one sister."

He began to slowly resemble a man but it did not make him any less terrifying.

"What?" she mouthed. She lost all her energy to speak.

"Meng Shao Yun. 29. Chinese. No kids, one living parent, one sister."

She narrowed her eyes and blinked once, then twice.

"I am certain this is you." His voice remained monotone, "Get up."

"What?" Her vocal cords struggled to make a sound.

"What is it?" he repeated her question, "I'm also certain that you, Meng Shao Yun, are not deaf."

"Who are you?"

"You need not know."

"Wait, I am... dead?"

"Your tone doesn't seem to be so sure. Go look at yourself."

And so she did. She raised herself to sit up and look at her own body. "I'm, I'm see-through!" she gasped under her "breath."

"More importantly," the figure spoke again and he formed a finger-like extension of himself. It seemed like magic but she knew awfully well it was not time for amusement. The shadow pointed at her, hinting her to look down. Her see-through form was seated right on her physical one. She looked at herself, lifeless.

"I am dead," she murmured, a sharp inhale followed right after.

"Now, get up. There's still a soul going astray in here." It made her conclude he was a grim reaper, a creature from her grandmother's old tales.

"Wait. No, no, no," she repeated again and again, "This can't happen."

"What do you mean it cannot happen? You, Meng Sha-"

"I can't die now, not now, not yet!" She was panicked enough to interfere with the grim reaper himself. She stood up, feeling no weight on her body.

"Human, do not interrupt when I speak!" he growled and grew even bigger, as if his original shape was not towering her weakened body enough.

"I want to make a bargain." She ignored the warning and withstood his attempt of intimidation, much to his dismay. "I want to negotiate with you."

A few more moments of silence passed before the figure let out another sound. When he did, he burst out laughing, both in mockery and amusement.

"You little humans never fail to astonish me!" he exclaimed, "Why is it that almost every single human gives me that line?"

"A bargain with me? The grim reaper himself?! How foolish and desperate you must be!" he continued.

"But tell me, little human, what bargain will you strike with death?"

"You've never had a physical form, have you?" Shao Yun answered in a prouder tone. When it comes to bargains and wagers, she claimed herself to be the country's number one.

"What purpose will I ever need it for?" his voice was no longer in monotone, rather, it was excruciatingly loud and prideful.

"You've never understood humans, have you? And why we're desperate to keep on living?"

"I need not understand."

"Indulging in food, money, pleasures, you can't have those without a body."

"I have seen countless humans indulge in those pleasures and they've added more misery to their misery."

"You can't even touch anything without taking away their life, can you? Or without being feared?"

The figure was once again quiet. She knew by then that she hit the mark.

"I have something you don't," she emphasized, getting straight to the point.

"And?"

"Let me correct this teeny tiny mistake of mine and in the end, I'll let you, death, have my physical form."

The grim reaper paused; it made her smirk.

"You know what, human? Consider it done," he whispered before slashing through the surface of her skin. She was see-through still, but a dash of blood poured out all of a sudden. Right after, he pulled out a paper-like item where the blood dripped on.

"Wait, what? I haven't specified anythi-"

It was all pitch black.

There was no sound nor a single sensation on her body.

It was nothingness, just like before, up until a voice reaches her eardrums. From then on, the senses she lost felt as if they all came back. The softness of her own skin, the light airy feel of the AC, and the warmth of sunshine.

Shao Yun opened her eyes slowly, feeling the heaviness of her eyelids. She found herself seated on a desk and it seemed like she had just dozed off.

It was all strange. She could still remember the throbbing pain earlier but it was completely gone. Panicked, she sat straight and swayed her head left and right, restlessly surveying the room. Contrary to her beloved home, everything was utterly mediocre and as she described it, "sad-looking." Brown walls, a bunch of bookshelves, and a table— it was all bland, yet had a tinge of nostalgia.

"Shao Yun?" she heard a voice, a feminine and uncannily familiar one too. She looked at the leftmost corner of the room where a door swung open. "Hey, sorry, I'm done. Let's go now."

Shao Yun eyed on a brunette peeking out and she racked her head to remember who she was.

"Hui Jia Li?" she blurted out her guess.

Yeah?"

She was correct. The girl was none other than her college roommate and friend.

"Anyway, let's go now, we'll be late."

"Oh?"

"Oh, wait wait, I forgot something again," Jia Li said and rushed back to what seemed to be the bathroom.

As the door slam shut, Shao Yun found herself speechless, completely in disbelief. She looked back on the beige curtains, then unto the calendar hung on the wall.

August 9, 2019

"Ten... Ten years?" she mouthed, wide-eyed.