For the past month, I have still not been able to find my mom. Even though Mat had promised to find her no matter what, I was beginning to think that I may never get to see her again. I still didnt understand how she coukd do that, appear in my life one night and then disappear the next morning.
Meanwhile, Mat had received some valuable information regarding the disappearance of Nirvana's mom. An anonymous location tip from a case in the ouskirts of the afterlife.
He frowned as he parked the patrol car in front of a shack. How come people lived in a place like this, secluded from the rest of the afterlife and having to live such a life that was below average?.
And how did Nirvana's mom end up here?. He had so many questions and yet so few avenues to ask all of them. Mat saw the name place hanging shabbily on the side of the wretched-looking shack. Slowly, he pushed the door open and cautiously stuck his head in.
Surprisingly, the interior was way better than the exterior although not by a long shot.
The place was so eerily quiet and seemed empty. Perhaps, there were no people living here afterall. He looked around a little hoping to at least find something that would help him in his cause.
There were about a dozen bunk beds on one side and a couple of red lipsticks on the floor close to the only window in the shack. Mat concluded that the shack was empty when he didn't find anything useful.
Just as he was about to turn and walk out, he heard a voice.
A feminine voice.
Shanti's voice.
"Shanti?", he called out.
Out of nowhere, about a fozen females appeared all answering with a simple "yes?".
Okay, what the hell is happening?, Mat wondered in surprise.
"I'm looking for Shanti", he said to the women hoping there was some sort of confusion with the names.
Yet again, they all answered.
How was this possible?, that a dozen women had the same name?
Mat turned confused eyes to their faces and then he saw a familiar smirk.
"Well, if it isn't our super friendly grim reaper", she whispered. As soon as those words were uttered, everyone involuntarily stepped back as if they'd been burnt.
So they know who to fear.
At that very moment, Mat saw the slimy conniving murder accomplice Janice Shanti move from behind the other Shantis and step forward.
"did you come to find me?", she asked making him raise a brow. Seriously who in their right minds would come to find her?
"look Shanti number", he turned to a redhead beside him and asked "excuse me whats her number?"
"12", the redhead immediately responded even though her lips trembled slightly.
"so you're 12 hmm? Seems you're far behind Shanti 12", Mat said sarcastically.
Janice Shanti rolled her eyes.
"Did you come to tell me not to spill your secrets to your sweet beloved ignorant girlfriend?"., she asked
Seriously can she stop with the lame threats?
"No", he rudely answered.
Mat turned to the redhead from before
"May I ask you about another Shanti?", he asked. SmTge redhead briefly nodded and then turned to look at someone in the crowd.
All of a sudden, someone from the crowd shouted
"I'm here"
Mat frowned slightly as the crowd began to make way for someone. A familiar person.
"I'm the one you're looking for"
When she finally stepped out of the crowd, Mat immediately recognised her.
The strange woman from the morning after his birthday party. The one he'd thought had a similar smile to his girlfriend's. Nirvana's mom.
"Mat, shall we talk somewhere else?", she asked softly.
Mat nodded silently and allowed her to lead him to a room adjoining a part of the shack.
She sat down on a very old armchair and asked him to sit in a rather rickety couch.
Mat declined politely and stood watching the brown-eyed woman seated before him.
"I know you have a lot of questions", she started "but it's a really long and complicated story"
" I'm ready to listen to you Mrs--?", he paused momentarily
"Addilyn"
"Please tell me everything Mrs Addilyn, Nirvana is my girlfriend and she's really worried about you. If you can trust me, I would like to hear everything you have to say"
Addilyn Shanti nodded briefly
"You know what the name Shanti already means so I will begin from how I got that name. It was a rainy day and Shayda's father, Abner and I were returning from our vacation from Macao. I had told him to park at a motel so we coukd spend the night there and continue the rest of the journey the following day"
Mat licked his dry lips and nodded once again.
"Abner was being very stubborn as usual and I tried to reason with him. Out of nowhere, an animal jumped infront of thw vehicle. Out of fright, I immediately grabbed the wheel and we both struggled to take control of the vehicle. The last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness was when we crashed into a tree"
Tears stained her eyes as she spoke.
"Abner was unconscious when I became conscious and I struggled against the seatbelt which had suddenly locked itself in. I yried to scream but my head felt as if I was under water. My chest was so heavy and I took each breath painfully after the other trying to get some oxygen into my depraved lungs"
"Then I saw him slowly stir awake. Abner struggled against the seatbelt and finally managed to set me free. Just as I managed to crawl out of the bent car, I tried to look for my phone so I could call an ambulance"
And the tears built uncontrollably and began to fall continuously.
"Right before my eyes, I saw the car go up in flames. As I tried to ran I stumbled from a nearby cliff I hadn't noticed and fell"
Mat felt his throat constrict at her words.
"I must have cracked my skull because I only saw blood flowing all around me and then slowly everything began to lose focus. Everything turned dark and suddenly I was standing and looking down at my body", she finished sadly and looked up at Mat.
"That was when the grim reaper came for you"