I looked around in confusion. I didn't know what happened, but I found myself standing next to Death amid the darkness.
Yet, I felt like something was different. It wasn't the same darkness eating me dead (no pun intended) a while ago. I felt like there was a shift in the location of where we were.
"This is your first encounter with Death, isn't it?" Death spoke, giving me a sideward glance.
I blinked. In the middle of all this darkness, there was a spotlight on a little girl kneeling on the floor. Tears were streaming down her face. She was sobbing softly, scared that someone might hear her cries.
I squinted, trying to get a better look at her where her long brown fringes weren't entirely covering her eyes and, consequently, her face.
In front of the little girl was a rabbit.
It was a pure white rabbit, looking so tiny and innocent as it lay down on the floor. It was unmoving. It looked dead.
"Where are we?" I asked Death.
"I told you, didn't I? We're looking at your most important memories throughout your lifetime." He said. "It's a process you must follow before I send you to the afterlife. Now, let's watch your memory unfold before us."
After hearing his words, I returned my gaze to the child. Long sandy brown hair was cascading down her back, and her fringes were so long that they covered half of her face. She wore a blue denim jumper dress, a pink shirt, and pink flat shoes.
Upon further inspection, I realized it was me. The child was the 6-year-old me.
It was one of the memories I thought I'd forgotten because it seemed insignificant. But who could have thought this memory was just buried at the back of my mind, waiting to be found again?
Only to be found when I was close to death.
"You're so stupid!" A boy's voice shouted angrily, still squeaky and probably in his pre-teens.
I looked around the darkness, looking for the source, but there was no one aside from us in this place of darkness. But I know that irritating, shrill voice. It was my older brother's, Emman.
"You promised Mom and Dad that you'd take good care of Kuneho, but he ended up dead just after a few months with us!" Emman's voice continued.
"But I did take good care of him! It's just that…" I sniffled while looking at the little rabbit that was already dead. During that time, I couldn't help it and started to cry loudly.
"Stop crying already! Your tears won't do anything." I hate to admit it, but he's right. No matter how cursed our relationship was. "It's all too late now. Kuneho is already dead, and that's all. Your. Fault!"
Ah, yes. The name of the rabbit was Kuneho. How odd, calling a rabbit 'Rabbit'.
I could only cry harder at my older brother's harsh words. My pitiful cries echoed inside the vast darkness of the room.
"Who is he?" Death asked, noticing my pained expression upon hearing the familiar voice.
"He's my older brother, Emman." I quietly answered.
"He seems rather terrible."
"He is." I nodded. "He hated me growing up."
"Hey."
I looked up with tears still streaming down her face. The darkness faded away, and the room lit up. That time, I was in the middle of the small, well-trimmed lawn in front of a house. Our old house.
I saw a young boy peeking through the white fence that was too tall for him.
"I heard you crying from across the street." The young boy said. He was on his tip-toes, so I could see him through the high fence. "Are you okay?"
The boy was the same age as the younger me. The high white fence covered his whole body, so I couldn't describe his clothes. I could only have a glimpse of his face.
Cheeks were round and chubby with baby fats. He had long, thick eyelashes that graced his eyes, brown eyes so brown that they resembled melted chocolate bars. Like the Beatles members, his brown hair was styled into a bowl cut, which made his face look even rounder.
He was an adorable-looking child. He looked so innocent and pure. Wiping the tears off her tear-stained face, she shook her head.
"What happened?" He asked, not in an annoying way that sounded like he only wanted to gossip but because he was genuinely worried about me.
I began telling him how my pet rabbit died, how completely heartbroken I was, and how my brother blamed me for everything because he didn't want to take accountability (a word I had yet to know at that age) as the fellow owner of Kuneho.
"That sucks." It was all he said.
Yet, I remember how it made the pain in my young chest slightly lighter. Maybe because it was the feeling of somebody wholeheartedly willing to listen to you, or perhaps because my senses already knew he would be my first friend.
Until now, I was not sure.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Evangeline." I hiccuped, and now the tears on my face completely dried up.
"I'm Dante," He said proudly, "as in Dante's Inferno. I just moved here a few days ago!"
"What's Dante's Inferno?" I asked innocently.
"I don't know," Dante shrugged. "That's what my father said when I asked him where my name came from."
Death hummed. "And just like the book, the inferno was what he brought to you later in life."
I looked at him in surprise. "How did you…" But I didn't continue.
Of course, Death probably knew everything about me before reaping my soul. He had access to my memories and was kind enough to show them and relive them with me. He probably asked who Emman was out of politeness.
I didn't say anything. Instead, I only looked away and bit my lips. I don't know if it was my imagination since I'm already dead.
But I tasted blood.