CHAPTER 6

The visitor's voice was deeper than the deepest ocean and I vaguely saw a woman behind me, placing her palm over her heart. I checked the other's faces as well, and found them swooning at the newcomer, but it was different from the looks they gave to the other guardians, like a hint of fear interlaced with adoration.

The only other person who was not drooling over him was a teenage girl, standing near the problem scene, and she even had a bored expression on her face. We locked eyes and she smiled a little as if she was happy to see a normal human in this weird place.

'Me too child, me too.'

"Were you the one who woke me up?"

We both diverted our attention back to the 'God knows what creature' and saw him looking menacingly at the bully.

"It was a mistake. I am sorry. And it's not like he will die again."

Even though that man had a point, I couldn't support him, seeing how weak and fragile the other man looked, lying on the floor with splattered limbs. He definitely felt pain from the actions, as he was groaning and trying to move his supposedly broken arms with great effort.

"Ah, what an intelligent guy we have here."

He tsked to emphasize the sarcasm and the female guardian who called him smirked.

"You are right. You people won't die again, but you will still have blood and pain, to know how much the other person has hurt you. Only then could we give a proper punishment. And it seems like he would have been dead by now, if he was alive. Don't you think so?"

He studied the victim's body with his eyes and completed the sentence by staring at the bully with an emotionless smile.

It was so creepy, despite the fact that his magic was still making him look extremely handsome. However, what he said made perfect sense and I wondered what the punishment would be. Jail? Torture? Expelling to hell?

"I am sorry. I am really sorry. I won't repeat my mistake."

The bulky man threw himself at the guy's feet and began to beg him to spare his life. I felt nothing, watching the large fellow in tears and literally looked on the verge of passing out in fear.

"We value your lives, son. That's why we have built this realm."

A small ray of hope filled the other man's eyes but something didn't add up. The younger guy wasn't trying to soothe him but more like giving an introduction to a much larger picture.

"However, we wouldn't want to taint it with people like you now, would we?"

Saying that, he simply placed his palm over the trembling man's head and whispered something.

Right in front of us all, that 200+ lb man disappeared into the air and only some dust remained on the floor that flew away at the slightest breeze.

Gasps and screams echoed all around me and it increased to an unbearable level when the guardian turned to us with a smile.

"Don't worry, I am not the bad guy here. My name is Asher and I am the head of the guardian team. I do not have the power to kill anyone, but only the souls that are harmful to others. He would continue to harm anyone who irritates him and his apology wasn't heartfelt. This place is only for the well behaved ones and I hope you will take today's events as a lesson instead of a threat."

Wow, you should be kidding me. Wait, is he God? Probably not. From what I have heard, God can never be so bad tempered and evil-looking. Besides, his wings proved to me that he didn't entirely belong to the upper realm.

However, his words settled the crowd. Even the children stopped crying and I was a hundred percent certain that he used some magic on us to calm our nerves. My head felt light and I was no longer concerned about anything or was overthinking.

The leader leaned in and whispered something to the female guardian, who nodded her head in acknowledgement and swiftly walked to the front of the line. The other guardians followed her suit and soon everything was getting back to normal.

The Asher guy was still standing there, watching two guardians helping the beaten man up and carrying him to another white door. They must have medical facilities here as well.

After waiting till the door was closed behind them, he made small steps towards the door I came from and said something to the guardian standing next to it before exiting the hall. What a lame exit compared to his dramatic entry? However, from his action I could say that he wasn't an attention seeker and was just doing his job of intimidating the bad guy, and it worked. I mean it even worked for everyone who had the intention of causing some trouble.

Our line moved comparatively faster after that. All of us were on edge and by the time I was close to the counter, I saw the teenage girl from before, having her turn at the far end of the hall. We made brief eye contact and she gave me a wink. She is definitely a bad ass.

She motioned at me to see the other side and I smiled broadly. I think I just made a friend.

...........

"Bethany, please stand on the weighing machine."

I did as was instructed by the woman sitting behind the counter. She was checking the papers and glanced at the digits, which showed zero.

"I think this is broken."

I commented, giving a beating or two on the old looking metal.

She smiled on seeing my action and shook her head.

"No dear. It's perfectly fine."

I stared at her with suspicion but she said nothing. Instead, the woman checked my temperature, heart rate, pressure and oxygen level, which were all zero.

"What is the point, anyway?"

I asked,not able to contain my curiosity. She even checked my thump impression. But surprise, surprise. there was nothing. It was just a blot of ink without any marks.

"Sometimes souls leave a comatose body and think that they are dead. If that's the case, then these zeros would change to numbers. It happens rarely, but we have got to check."

A sliver of disappointment passed through my face and from her sympathetic smile, I knew she caught onto it.

That was the last confirmation of my death. I am definitely a soul now.

"Sorry. We usually don't get any questions asked by the visitors and when they do, we are bound to provide them with basic information."

I nodded my head in understanding. By now, I have come to terms with the fact that I was slightly bolder than most souls. It was proving to be a boon as well as a curse. Too much knowledge was trouble, so I just kept silent for the rest of the formalities.

"Excuse me."

The woman asked my permission before folding my earlobe and punching a stamp on the skin behind it.

"This will be your permanent identity mark. Welcome to the after-life realm."

She grinned at me warmly and I reciprocated her gesture. My ears were still tingling by the time I was guided to another door, which was wider than before.

I was expecting to see bright sunlight or green meadows or forest or seaside, but was utterly confused when I saw the dark street, lit by several street lamps.

I turned back just to make sure that they weren't mistaken, but the door was not there anymore. I was standing in the middle of an alleyway with a bus stop in the front and several people were already waiting, their faces mirroring my expression.

I saw the young girl from before and I slowly made my way towards her. She was sitting on the wooden bench and I could see that she was assessing everyone around her.

"Care to share some space?"

I asked, lowering my voice and her calculating eyes turned to mine, instantly forming a smile on her lips.

"Ah, I thought you would never come."

She talked as if we were old acquaintances and moved to the right, giving me enough room to relax.

"What is your name?"

"Bethany. Yours?"

"Livia. Or at least, that's what they said. How did you die?"

The question would have been awkward if we were still in the living realm, but luckily we were not.

"Accident. The post went straight through me."

I pointed at my chest and she cringed visibly, making an 'eww' face.

"What about you?"

I asked in between giggling. I already liked this girl.

"Strangled by my drug-addicted mother. I don't know what happened to her, but the grim reaper said she would be punished."

I didn't know how to respond, so I just hummed. Livia didn't look a year older than seventeen and I felt bad for her. She could have had a wonderful life, but here she is. I myself was not old, but definitely older than her.

"Why are we sitting here?"

I eyed at the others, who were still in a daze, but they didn't know what they were waiting for either. There was no sign of a guardian and no one had any idea what to do.

"I don't know. But I guess a bus, considering the structure."

Livia stated the obvious and I liked her more for being so blunt.

Just as we were waiting, a honk was heard from the distance and, just like Livia assumed, a bus came our way. It was a double-decker bus and was painted in blue. The automatic door opened right in front of us, and the guardian inside smiled at us, before gesturing to get inside.

Livia gave me a look and we both hopped in the large vehicle. Livia even greeted the guardian, which actually surprised him. The others looked like love sick puppies as they followed the guardian's instructions, while I and Levi climbed the steps and decided to settle on the top, where we could get a clear view and fresh air.

...........