Darkness began to dominate Lee Verstappen's mind.
His ever-warm hands were now cold as ice and rigid as stone. The greenish eyes so talked about in the media were static. His pink lips were now blue, hiding his yellowing teeth. Lying on the ground, head turned back, he faced the person who had betrayed him. Coralee Hellborn. He would remember that name. No matter how long it took, he would get revenge on the one who murdered him and his friends. Amid endless thoughts of death, the darkness finally reached his last shred of rationality. At that moment, Lee Verstappen was dead.
His body was consumed by a great dark mass, almost like a cloud. The corpses of his friends met the same fate. But for some mysterious reason, the 31-year-old man - "The Future of the World" in mankind's words - still remained awake. He looked down, watching his waist and legs materialize before his eyes in all that vast darkness. He could feel his own touch, running his hand gently over his smooth, pale skin. His casual clothes, which consisted of a dark green jacket, white blouse, jeans and a pair of brown shoes, also appeared on his body. Even his red hairpin appeared, tying his blond hair into a ponytail. He floated at an absurd speed. It was like being pulled by something or someone.
A light penetrated his field of vision. It was as if Lee was looking directly at the sun that for 31 long years had given him vitamin D.
"Hold on… I think I'm seeing the head!" A mysterious voice took over the place. Lee looked more closely at the light that practically blinded him. He felt light touches all over his body, ruffling his few strands of hair.
The screams of what appeared to be a woman filled Lee's head, and he put his hands to his head, trying not to hear the echoing screams. His eardrums were trembling so much was the noise.
"Just a little longer, ma'am! That! Just a little more! "
"Help her please!"
"We're doing everything we can, sir. You have to calm down. "
"But, but…"
Several voices occupied Lee's mind. Was this some kind of magic? Maybe Coralee cast some binding spell. Maybe Lee wasn't even really dead. It could be a punishment spell, often used on prisoners. Perhaps…
As he thought aloud, Lee felt a tug. And then another. And another. And one more. He began to be dragged through the infinite unknown, towards the light he had once been curious about. Now, he just wished he hadn't had all this curiosity.
"No, no!" His screams didn't echo in the darkness, disappearing without a trace. He kicked like a small child. He feared what might be on the other side. His hands went back to his ears as another voice filled her mind.
"It's a boy!" And then everything went dark.
"What... But what's going on?" His voice didn't come out of his throat. Instead, his eyes opened, revealing people and objects. His vision was a little blurry and he could have sworn he was hearing a child crying.
"Hey you! For God's sake help me! That bitch Coralee betrayed us. She wants to end the world!" Again, his voice didn't come out of his throat. "But what is this? I... I can't speak!"
"Let me see him." Another female voice spoke, right beside Lee. He still didn't realize he was being carried until the man holding him handed him to the lying woman. "He is so cute." The woman said as she watered. Another man standing beside her was also crying.
Lee tried to get up but couldn't. He tried to turn around but couldn't. He tried everything and failed in every way. For some reason, his hands moved almost unconsciously. They moved toward his eyes, revealing incredibly small, baby-like hands. A thought came to his mind.
"No… This is impossible. There's no way this could have happened!" Despair seized him. He was trapped in the body of a newborn baby.
"What should we call him?" The man asked. He was Lee's "father." His name was Arthur.
"Arthur, we've already talked about this. If it was a girl, Ronanva. If it was a boy, Gregorios. Just like your father." The woman replied. She was Lee's "mother". Her name was Renoelle.
"Gregorios? What horrible name is that?" It was the only thing Lee could think of at the time.
"Gregorios Arthurson. It's a beautiful name. " Said the doctor who accompanied them. There were 13 other people in the room. Besides Arthur and Renoelle, they were all doctors or nurses. With the situation in the room they found themselves in, it was a fact that the two of them didn't have much money.
Lee stopped to calmly analyze the situation. This was a chance to get revenge on Coralee. A chance to kill the person who took everything from him. But who saved him? And why? Why give him a new life, with a new family, in a new world?
He looked at his parents with his tiny eyes. If he could smile, he would. The closest he had to a family was the orphanage where he'd lived half his life. It was more than a chance for revenge. It was a chance to live again and in the right way. Whoever helped him, he was grateful from the bottom of his little heart.
Renoelle held him gently and calmly in her arms. She hummed to little Gregorios Arthurson. Her husband tried to contain the desire to hold the child himself. The two smiled at the boy, revealing their yellowed teeth.
"You're going to be the best of us all, aren't you Greg?" Arthur said as he held the boy's little hands with his fingertips.
Lee couldn't answer. At least not verbally. He would accept his new life. He would live like Gregorios Arthurson. And he would get revenge on Coralee Hellborn, whatever the cost. The baby who had been crying incessantly calmed down in his mother's arms. A small smile formed on his little face and then he fell asleep.
It was his first smile.