Death

Three people were talking along the sidewalk as they waited to cross over to the other side.

"AHHHH!!!!", a painful shriek was heard.

Panic ensued right after that. A robber seems to have shot someone and was running our way.

I didn't know why I did what I did, maybe I always wanted to be a hero or maybe I read too many fiction novels.

The robber was running with a black handbag in his right hand and a gun in the other.

Sirens were heard in the distance, which meant that policemen were on their way.

Desperate in an attempt to escape, the robber dropped the handbag and was about to take a woman hostage when my friend intervened.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the robber had no qualms directly pointing the gun at my friend and pulling the trigger. Observing the scene while making calculations was I.

I jumped into the fray at that moment, but I guess I still underestimated the power of the human mind, especially when working under pressure.

The moment moved, as if he had practiced it beforehand, the gun pointed in my direction and fired two bullets right through my chest.

My body fell before I could even register what had happened. I saw my friend overpowering the robber the moment he pointed his gun in my direction.

I felt pain in my heart, but it only lasted seconds as everything abruptly turned dark.

I started reminiscing about my life up to this moment.

My name is Austin Blake, born in a family of five as the last born, with an elder brother, elder sister and moderately wealthy parents. Responsibility became a word that couldn't be attributed to me. With all eyes focused on my siblings' fame and achievements, I got by easily.

Alas, all good things must end.

I was never a social person. It only became more apparent in my teenage years, when my siblings' accomplishment had brought fame to the name Blake, but had also unknowingly put pressure on me as their sibling, and outsiders only made it worse.

So I became what most people called a NEET.

I would stay up in my room either reading comics or novels, only coming down to eat and only going out when I deemed it necessary.

My father couldn't allow his son to become a deadbeat, so he made me go to military school. My mom, who would usually be against this decision, could only agree.

Thus, I was sent to a military school in Germany.

Three weeks later I was back in the house as I had run away. My father was furious at this course of action, but with the promise that I'll change and my mother's support, he finally gave in.

He gave me a stern warning that failure to adhere to my promise would immediately get me sent back to military school.

So I got myself into high school. It was a lot at first, but gradually things worked out and I was able to make friends who didn't judge me.

I met them at the station as we agreed to go to school together, and then this happened.

I finally came to the realization that I had died. An expectant look on my face to what would happen next and then...nothing.

Thirty seconds went by and still nothing. I became disappointed with a perplexed expression wondering if maybe this was all there was to it.

But I couldn't have been more wrong, as I felt a pull on what I assumed must be my soul.

Pain out of this world assaulted me as I tried multiple times to scream. 

Alas, no sound came out from the form I was currently in.

My soul moved at inhumane speeds until I arrived in a place devoid of sound. In front of me was something transparent and as big as three skyscrapers combined moving in a circular motion.

As I got closer, I saw more clearly what it was.

It was....souls!!!!, too many to count. All moving in a circular motion to look like a turning ring.

My soul kept moving towards it as I didn't have any control over it.

As I was inching closer and closer, the space suddenly started warping and a black hole emerged. It immediately sucked me in with some other souls.

What I saw from then on could only be described as a myriad of colors. I was moving even faster than last time before everything went dark.....again...."

There was something different this time, but before I could even ponder on what it was, a sensation hit me as I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.

My mind's working at breakneck speed, as I observe my surroundings.

I'm in a bed with no sheet in what seems to be an apartment with four sets of clothes hanging on the wall and a reading desk with a set of glasses on it.

I then came to an answer that was too crazy to believe, and I asked myself again.

Could it be???

SOMEPLACE ELSE

A group of men could be seen wearing palliums in a church. They surrounded what would be later known as a summoning circle as they waited for help to arrive.

"Well?", asked a man who seemed to be the leader among them.

"It.....failed sir", said another who was currently examining the circle to know what went wrong.

"Just try it again!!!", said the leader with impatience clearly noticeable in his voice.

These men would never know that they had caused the beginning of an event that would later shock the universe.