Rin knew from the start that she was not on her own body anymore. She got up from the makeshift bed with a start and the cold breeze assaulted her at once. She furrowed on the thin blankets as best as she could and took a deep breath.
There was the smell of death around her, she had been a soldier before, so she was well acquinted with it. She shivered and tried to look around herself to locate the source of the smell and saw two bodies slumped over a low table, right beside a fireplace that had gone off sometime ago. There were a couple of small coarse bowls and chopsticks which had been slapped out of place and only a sorry mess of congealed liquid with bits of some sort of cubbed vegetable remained beside the deceased.
Rin blew a breath into her hands and the warmth made her feel a bit more real. This place was definitely not anywhere in Mariner Town. The slight sunlight was too much clear and white for it to be.
She had no memory of how she got here. She had fallen into a trap set by 3 other women that had ganged up on her because they had their eyes on the son of Mariner Towns major and he had taken a fancy to Rin lately. They had decided to get her out of the way and declared that no one but them was allowed to marry him, specially not an orphan soldier like her. They had ended up suffocating her to death, she who was a seasoned warrior and had survived the Campaigns to resettle Post Outbreak Earth...
She got her hands out of the blankets and seen that her skin was paler than her previous shade had been. Her palms were those of a young woman, a too skinny maybe even malnourished young woman.
Rin peered beside the bed and saw a pair of crude looking animal skin shoes. With how cold it was, the leather insulation felt amazingly good when she put her almost frozen feet inside and slowly but steadily, made her way to the table to take a look at the bodies and begin to make sense of just where she was.
-I am so sorry-said the clear and sad voice of a woman-
-Holy!!!-Rin jumped. As she turned, she saw the bed she had just vacated had been occupied by 3 beings that could only be described as specters. One was an adult woman clearly nearing her forties but with black long hair, beautiful and charming. To her right was a boy of maybe 9 years old that looked smilingly at Rin. To the left of the woman sat a young lady that had just reached adulthood. Her most stricking feature was her long flaming red hair. The 3 of them looked completely human, until you noticed they had some sort of gem embeded in their brows.
-Dont be afraid-said the boy
-We mean you no harm, Rin-said the woman.
-Yeah right-Rin said, clearly spoofed, she had seen plenty of scary things in her life and translucent people clearly ranked high, right beside the infected.-Who the hell are you?
-We are the family that used to stay here- The red haired girl looked at the adult woman and saw her nod- The body you are using, was mine until just a moment ago-
Rin felt shivers. She had seen so much death, just never the aftermath...
-The bodies you see by the table were mine and my sons-said the woman- The three of us did not make it past the night because we were poisoned to death. My daughter however, was sick and did not eat as much poison as we did, thus she fell on a deep sleep while not damaging her body like ours were.
-we want to go on to the next life together- said the boy- The people from the otherworld also had need of a body to accomodate your arrival here and we reached an agreement.
-Two bodies will be burned, three souls will go on together, one new soul goes on a new life- said the lady.
-I dont understand- Rin said. Bullshit, she understood plenty, but it was too spooky just yet...
-The people from Beyond want you to have this- Said the young girl while opening her palm to show Rin a cristal clear gem-This cristal eye carries important things from both your old world and this new one. Take it and touch it to your brow and it will become a part of you-
-Rin-said the older woman- we know you have just been betrayed, we understand your distrust but we really mean you no harm, for your own survival, you must do what we say, at least for today-
Rin extended her hand and took the gem while still carefully watching the ghosts.
-You talked about burning your bodies-Rin said. She was a no nonsense woman, sure she had a sense of humor but most of the time, she projected a serious and unyielding personality.
-Yes, take what you can and serves for your survival and set this house on fire-said the boy- Make a small shelter to pass tonight that wont be easily found and lit no fire, whatever happens. I was able to glimpse parts of the future and I have seen that both you and another person will need to be hidden together tonight. Wait for him by dusk, he will make his way to you and the fire will help to fool those who mean to kill you both.
-Live well Rin- said the older lady with a smile.
-Live happily from now on- said the boy, they clearly meant to go to wherever the Beyond took them.
-Live-said the red haired girl, she seemed somewhat conflicted- not my life, but a brand new one for yourself.
The mother took both her childrens hands, got up from the bed and started to walk towards the door of the hut. Rin saw just how they vanished from view before they even arrived there.