Hello Michael

When we play chess, one person always wins and the other loses. But before striking the king off, before the winning move, the player says checkmate. The other player then puts in his everything, all his experiences and tricks to somehow save his king in this one last chance of redemption. If he is able to find the right trick the king is saved or else death is inevitable. My mind was yelling checkmate to me all this while, but I just couldn't find the right trick. Holding the knife in front of my hand, the metal box placed just below it at a perfect angle to catch the blood droplets, I regretted not acting and saving my sorry self. "Just a little cut it is.", Emily said. Just a cut! The knife was over 30cms long and the edge was too sharp. If I put a little too much pressure, it would result in my limb getting cut, completely. "Let me do it.", she said annoyed waiting and moved ahead. I took a hasty step back. Oh please, the last thing I want it to let her cut my hand. "No! I'll do it. I am doing it.", I stuttered and she rolled her eyes. I kept the knife a little close to my hand and finally pressed it on my skin. I flinched as the sharp edge of the knife made contact with my skin and slowly punctured it. The moment I felt a sharp pain, blood started oozing out of my hand. I placed it over the box at an angle so that the drops can fall into the box. The crimson red colour was caught by the picture inside and the face of Kim Song turned blood red. "And we are done!", a very happy Emily exclaimed. I looked at her and forced a smile. I was happy thinking about being free, but the crimson red shade covering Kim Song's face, made my heart sink and soon my head was spinning.

I opened my eyes slowly and the bright light made me flinch. As my pupils adjusted to the light and the surrounding became more and more clear. I found myself standing in the middle of a courtroom. On one side there were two guys and Kim Song sitting and on the other side, there was one girl and one guy. I looked behind at the seats for the public, and I saw a dozen of familiar faces. All the people I had met till now were there, but none of the faces showed any worry. I could sense that it was Kim Song's trial for some crime and people here were definitely enjoying themselves. But then my eyes landed on someone, it was Chan. He was standing at the back holding Emily's hand. Emily's hand? They were not alive. I could see a lot of spirits standing there. But Chan and Emily were a little worried, unlike others. How could Chan be with Emily? Will he die as well? Is he going to sacrifice his life for Kim Song? Wait! If I return now all the things will happen just like before and that means Chan will die and the real murderers will be moving freely. Will I be able to live with this guilt in my real form? My head was clouded by these thoughts. "Listening to both sides, the jury has decided that Miss Kim Song is guilty.", the judge's words made me turn around abruptly and the scene in front of me froze. I saw the lawyers next to Kim Song looked hopeless, lost and guilty. Kim Song was looking dead inside. I turned around and saw Dr Bo Yan and all the others including Kim Song's band members looking happy. Chan and Emily were not there and none of the other spirits as well. "We have to look for clues here.", Jung Suk's voice echoed in my head. I remember being stuck in one such place with him last time and he told me to look for some clues. I looked around clueless. I didn't know what exactly was I looking for. I walked behind the lawyer's desk and there I saw something unusual. The person next to the lawyer was holding a file and it looked more like he was passing it to the lawyer. But the lawyer's hand was placed as if he was refusing to accept it. I moved forward and took the file from their hands. I had no idea if it was important or not but I went ahead with my gut feeling. The moment I took the file in my hands my head started spinning again. I held the chair tightly and sat down on the floor trying to keep my balance.

"Song! Are you okay?", I heard a worried Emily. I looked around and saw I was back at the crossroads. I looked down at my hands but they were empty. 'Where did the file go?', I thought. "What happened?", she asked again. "Nothing! We can't stay here any longer. We need to go back.", I said pulling her along with me. "What are you saying? We can't go now!", she said removing her hand from my firm grip. "What do you mean?", I asked. "The box is already in the crossroad. The angel will be here any moment now.", she said and pointed towards the crossroads. I saw that Emily had already buried the box. I stood there shocked. "Now what will happen?", I asked knowing exactly what is going to happen now. Emily gave me a weird look and ignored my question. "Now we just have to wait.", she said happily. I looked at her excited face and wondered why was she so happy. "Oh! don't look at me like that. These angels are always so hot. I am here to just give my eyes a nice delicious treat.", she said and again started to look at the crossroads eagerly. I rolled my eyes at her childish explanation and nervously started to look at the gravel. 'If I tell the angel I don't need his help anymore, it should work. Right?', I thought. 'But he is not an angel!', my brain reminded me. Okay so all I have to do is tell a devil, I called him here for nothing. Well, I am doomed.

After waiting nervously for 15 minutes, biting my nails at an unnatural speed I finally started pacing around. I had no clue how was Emily still this excited. "Will you stop moving around!", she said annoyed. "What happened?", I asked. She was excited one moment and suddenly annoyed at me the other second. What is it with these ghosts having such mood swings? "Your shoes make an annoying creaking sound when you move. It is irritating so please just sit down.", she said. "These are sneakers and they cost me a fortune.", I retorted and sat down next to her with a huff. With my face resting in my palms, I was consumed with the thoughts of Jung Suk and Mr Kim, while my eyes were staring at the road. "You are creepy.", Emily said out of nowhere. I looked at her to see who was she talking to. I found her looking at me. "Are you talking to me?", I asked. "Obviously. Mr Angel hasn't arrived yet.", she said with a roll of eyes. "What is your problem? I didn't do anything and you find me creepy?", I was super angry now. She just looked at me for a few seconds, smirked and then looked away with a shake of the head. "No, tell me, Emily! What is so wrong?", I asked making her face me. Her eyes were full of tears but I could see a volcano erupt behind them. Was she angry with me? What did I do to her? She pulled her hand away and just before she was about to snap at me, we heard a loud crack. We both looked at the source of sound and saw that the place where she had buried the box had a huge crack. We looked at each other and stood up to go and check the crossroad. "Why would you two fight while waiting for the devil?", a deep voice made us stop dead in our tracks. I looked behind us and there he was, the devil! In front of me stood a 6 ft tall middle-aged man with a signature smirk. He had sharp features and a jawline sharp enough to cut a diamond. His smirk clearly showed the size of his ego and gave me a fine message that I will have to make a deal or he will kill me right here. "Michael?", behind me stood a very horrified Emily. "Michael? Do you know him, Emily?", I asked her. She looked at me and her eyes were full of horror. "Shouldn't you be showing more respect?", the men in black sneered. Emily bowed and went down on one knee. "Lord Michael!", she said while bowing. I looked at her petrified. He nodded and Emily stood up. His eyes were on me now. "Bow!", Emily whisper yelled in my ear and forcefully pushed me down on my knee. I unwillingly bowed. He nodded smirking. "A human who can be touched by a ghost. Very interesting!", he said with a grin. Emily and I looked at each other. "I must ask you, why did you come here yourself?", Emily asked still clinging tightly to my arm. "Why you didn't like that I visited you.", he said leaning a little forward making both of us take a step back. "Who are you and how do you know each other?", I asked looking at him and Emily. "Everyone knows me.", he scoffed. "I don't.", I said with a smirk. He looked at me and I could see his eyes getting filled with anger. "He is Lord Michael. He is King Lucifer's younger brother.", Emily said. "King Lucifer, as in king of hell?", I asked. Emily nodded and to say I was petrified would be an understatement.