"What?" I was a bit shocked at the moment. "Who is that?" I inquired the air surrounding me.
I thought as if all of it was just a nightmare. The over thinking had led me to such a depressive and queasy state. I could no longer differentiate between reality and a dream. Was all of this happening in my subconscious? I didn't know.
"I am nothing different from you." The voice returned. It was a more of a deep voice as if it was a man speaking. It spread in the air, making it dim but listenable.
"What do you mean by that?" I questioned. "Who are you?" I swiftly rotated my head right and left to find the source of the voice. "I am not someone to be seen."
"What's happening to me? Who are you? Am I… am I dead?" I spilled out the last words forcefully.
"Yes you are dead, Linda" the mysterious voice answered. It said this without any hesitations.
"But how? How can it be like this? How can I be dead? I am right there on the bed." It was like talking to the walls of the room.
I was frustrated at the peak of all frustrations. The whole situation was beyond belief for me. In one place I could see my body lying on the bed. And the other place I could feel myself sitting on the floor talking to this strange mysterious voice.
"Who are you?" I asked the voice again.
"I am death." It replied.
I was shocked and left utterly silent.
After five seconds paused I finally asked again.
"Wh...What?"
"Death." The voice replied once more.
"You are kidding, right? Come out now I know it is some kind of a lame joke." I tried being realistic, but I failed in that.
"It's not a joke. I am just not allowed to be seen." It answered me.
"Well, if you are Death then you must have a license of receiving the human souls to the afterworld, can I see that if you don't mind?"
"No, I don't get licensed I am the one and only death. Why do you humans think like that?"
"Oh God! I was being sarcastic, you idiot. Now stop your lying session and come out, this isn't funny at all. Who the hell do you think you are?"
I paused there for a few seconds to get an answer, but the voice didn't reply.
"I said come out." My voice rose at this line. I was furious and scared at the same time.
"Ok If you want it this way, then be it."
After hearing those words, my heart stopped there. Of course it wasn't beating in the first place either, but you know what I mean. Right?
I saw whitish smoke kind of thing rising from beneath the door of the room. Out of shock, I stood up suddenly. I could see gray ashes with the smoke. The black ash like particles started rising above from beneath the doors.
After a second or two, the door started catching fire. It started from the bottom coming towards the very top. The whole situation was just something indescribable. A moment later the whole door was on fire. The ashes that rose from the smoke had started to merge with each other. The black ashes soon began to mould into the shape of a face and then the arms and legs. Moments later a whole blackish man figure was standing in front of the burning door.
I heard a deafening scream. The scream was loud enough to damage the eardrums of all people present within a mile. I covered my ears with my hands with all my might. It was so painful that at one point I thought my ears would bleed and fall off. I closed my eyes while praying for the torture to end. A moment later the scream stopped.
I opened my eyes and saw a man standing in front of me. He had his back towards me. The door was no longer on fire.
"Who…," while trying to speak something I pulled my hand outwards to put it on the man's shoulder.
He turned around that very instant before my hand could reach him...
"Aaahhhhhh!" I screamed to the top of my voice
"AAAAAHHHHH!" The man also screamed at the top of his voice. To my surprise the man had a more girlish sharp scream than me.
He was tall with a good gym going body. He had pure red eyes. His skin was as white as the snow itself and his hair was golden like a burning fire.
"Who the hell are you?" I summoned
"Who the hell are you?" He questioned back.
"I am the hell Linda, now who the hell are you?"
"I am the hell Death and pleased to meet you Linda."
"What?" I questioned again.
"What?" He seemed surprised while asking that.
I was uncertain of what I had just heard.
"Death? Seriously?"
"Yep, that's me Death. Well, technically it's my surname. My actual name is Valek." He said in a much relaxed manner.
"Like the demon Valek?" I asked.
"No, it's more like the valentine's Valek." He replied with a little devil's smile.
"What?" I asked again unsurely.
"You are not very bright are you?" He seemed disappointed with my question.
"Excuse me?"
"Of course I am the demon guy Valek." He explained.
I stood there looking totally dull. I was dumb at that moment.
"The guy riding the dragon….remember anything?"
I still stood there staring dumbly at him. I nodded a little to let him know I didn't understand a single word he said.
"Oh for hell's sake, don't you know about the actual President of Hell?" He seemed very upset.
"I think so…yeah, maybe…I guess…no…maybe yes" I was stuck between my words.
"OK FINE! But the time is running short, so let's boogie." He again got cheerful and started walking towards the door.
"Boogie where?"
"To the spirit world luv."
"What is happening God?" I walked towards the chairs on the right side and sat down on the middle one out of despair.
He sat down beside me and spoke in a hopeless manner.
"You are dead now Linda. The body you see right in front of you is not yours anymore. I know you would give anything to breathe one more time, but I am afraid this is the truth now. You can't go back to your life of being a human now. You are one of us now, only a spirit."
I sat there firmly. I had my head in my hands and I was looking down at my feet. Suddenly I noticed one thing. My feet had no wrinkles on them. I checked my arms and hands. My skin was glowing as if I was in my twenties. It was wrinkle free and smooth once again.
I stood up and rushed to the washroom. When I saw myself in the mirror there was no old lady with bald head standing there anymore. This time there was a young 22 year old girl standing there with her beautiful dark brown hair and the smoothest skin.
Valek also stood up and came to stand just outside the washroom door.
"Being young is beautiful, isn't it?" He asked.
"Yes, it is. But now what's the need of all this". I walked out of the washroom with nothing but pity for myself.
I laid my eyes on my covered body once again. Then my eyes shifted towards the side table where my journal rested. I walked to the table and picked up my crushed dreams journal. It was a surprise to me as I thought I couldn't touch anything. Valek stood there at his place calmly.
"Is there nothing you can do?" I asked him with tears in my eyes.
Valek stood there looking at me with a firm look. He then walked towards me and grabbed the journal from my hands. He opened it and started turning its pages while I stood there looking at him. After a moment he stopped and shut the book with a forced smash.
"Ok, so it's going to be a little tough." He resolutely said.
"What's going to be tough exactly?"
"We are going to get you another life." He was fully motivated.
"What?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"Yes." He said while having his evil smile once again.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean we just need a human body to transfer your soul into that and you can live to fulfill your dreams once again."
"Who? What?" I was moved by his words.
"Why do you always take a pause in that word?" He asked as if he thought he was talking sense.
"Valek I assume you know that me in my dead stage isn't the most perfect time to be joking."
"Actually, it's your after death stage because logically you have been dead for a total of twenty minutes and fifty-four seconds from now."
"Ok, so if you think of yourself to be 'oh so wise' then where do you propose to find a human body then?" I asked jokingly.
"That's the first time you asked a sensible question. You are not as dull as I thought." His disappointment was somehow lessened.
"What?"
"Yeah. We just need to find a dying girl that's it. Preferably 18 to 20 years old. After she is dead I will send her soul to the spirit world and your soul will be transferred into her human body. And don't you worry about anything, I honorably aced my transferring spirit class 3 years in a row. You will be fine and good as new to live again." He said it like he had rehearsed the lines by heart.
"Oh yeah, good as new to live again. That is quite an amazing thing to hear. So now what do you say why don't we go out for shopping?"
"What do you need to shop for now?" He asked with concern.
"Oh, don't know I thought maybe people had started keeping human bodies for sale. Say do you have any spirit money as well; I am kind of out of cash here."
"You think I am joking?" He raised an eyebrow while asking that.
"No, I think you are completely insane and yes not joking, but you are a joker yourself."
"That's just harsh."
"Oh, what did you say sorry I couldn't hear it with all your stupidity flying in the air."
"Fine if I am stupid, you better come and let's go to the spirit world. Happy now?"
"No, I am not happy can't you just see I don't know what I am thinking because there is nothing to think about now. The next moment you know what there will be people coming in to take my body to the morgue and bury me the next day with only 2 or maybe 3 people to cry for me and then nothing. It is the end."
I had tears in my eyes once again.
"Look Linda, I am here trying to give you another shot, but I need your help with this too. It's your only chance to live your life your way this time. You only need to say yes." He tried motivating me.
"The thing is Valek I don't know what I am saying yes to."
"You are saying yes to your new life and I promise I will make this one count."
"Why would you do that for me?"
"It's just…." He stopped there for a while. Since the time we had been talking it was the first time he hesitated to say something.
"I just know the feeling of not being able to do things for your own self. I know how it feels to devote your life to other people and never achieve anything for yourself. I don't want you to be unpeaceful when you reach the spirit world. I want you to be satisfied with the life you lived because I can't be satisfied with mine."
"What if the girl doesn't want to go to the spirit world either?" I asked while actually being serious for a moment.
"Actually, it's just a one in a million case for what you have. Most people's souls are at peace when they go to the spirit world or maybe sometimes too exhausted to stay in real world."
"You know at some point in my life I would have loved to know about life after death. Now I can't even hear about it. It is just giving me scary goose bumps."
"Just tell me, are you ready for your search of new life?"
"Maybe." I said in an unsure way while looking at my soulless body.
"It's just a maybe we need anyway," he said while smiling.