Chapter 1: Prologue

I hate December because it always pushes my energy to the limit by the number of parties I must attend to. Company Christmas Party, Department Christmas Party, Team Celebration, Family Reunion. I usually don’t attend gatherings, but December is the only month where I should compromise. I don’t want to be labelled as the 'uncooperative jerk'.  December 3, 2011, I was walking on a nearby alley after the team celebration. As usual, they decided to have a 'drinking session' which involves all night drinking. It was only past 10, and I’ve noticed that my manager and my other colleagues are drunk already. Well, it makes sense, they’ve finished drinking those heavy, expensive bottles of alcohol after all. If I don’t use this opportunity to bail out now, I won’t be able to come back home. I sneaked out of the resto-bar and walked towards the nearby alley. I know what you’re thinking, “why is a girl walking in an alley alone at night?” Well, this place is full of life at night until dawn and besides, I have no choice but to pass-by here to get to the parking lot where the uber driver is.

 

I’m feeling a bit queasy, and my body feels heavy. I don’t want to walk anymore. Just five more minutes and I will reach the parking lot. I looked in front and saw something I shouldn’t have. Under the flickering streetlight, I saw someone wearing a baseball cap and mask stab someone. I was so shocked that my body wasn’t cooperating with me. I kept telling myself to take a step back and slowly get away while the killer hasn’t noticed my presence yet, but I was frozen in place. I closed my eyes hoping that I might have drunk something bad and caused me to hallucinate but when I opened my eyes again, I instinctively knew, that he saw me.  I know that I must run but my shaking legs kept me from doing what my mind is telling to. I tried to scream but no words came out of my mouth. 

 

Under the flickering streetlamp, the man took his mask off and licked his lips. “Stay there, little kitty, your owner is coming”. The man walked slowly towards me while scraping the wall with the knife he used to stab the woman.

I should run! Run! My body finally listened to me! I was running with all my might when I felt a hand in my shoulder. I looked back and there he was, standing next to me.

“Where are you going little kitty? You’re not supposed to run away from your owner or else-!”. He laughed manically and stabbed me in the stomach.

At that moment, I felt heavy pressure and fell to the ground.  It hurts, it hurts so much! Please, If God is real, if I’m destined to die, please, don’t let me suffer further. But as if mocking me, the man laughed and stabbed me again and again.

That’s weird, I-don’t feel the pain anymore.  

“I guess you’re simply unlucky little kitty.”

Those were the last words I heard before everything became dark.

When I opened my eyes, I was floating in the water.  

Where am I?

I saw a bright light coming from the sky. I couldn’t see clearly but I heard a voice, although I couldn’t capture what it was saying.

“Wait a second, I’ll prepare a seat for us.”

In a flash, a wooden table and two chairs floated in the water. My body floated and stopped in front of the chair.

“Sit” the man says.

Is that telekinesis? No way, I must be dreaming.

I took a deep breath as I sat on the chair.

For a dream though, this place looks so realistic. How the water felt on my skin, the texture of the table, the softness of the chair cushion. The only thing out of place here is the clear presence of magic and the otherworldly beauty of the man in front of me.  

The man smiled and said “this is not a dream. I created this space so I can talk to you.”

Can this guy read my mind?

“Yes, I can read your mind. All thoughts that flow in this space is known to me, the creator. What was the last thing that you remember?”

“I-I was walking on my way home from a party.”

“Is that all?”

“Then, I woke up here.”

I’m dreaming. This must be the effect of the alcohol kicking in.

“I see, your mind must have removed your last fragment of memory. Let me tell you something, this is a place where the living cannot reach. It can only be found by souls which was devoid of regret and passion. In other words, you are dead.”

The moment he said that I felt excruciating pain from my stomach. When I touched it, I felt a warm sticky liquid. 

“Oh, what a gruesome death. Most people who end up finding this place are those who took their own life, so it’s rare seeing someone who obviously had 3^rd party help them die. Tsk, pitiful soul, drink this, it will remove the pain.”

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He forcefully opened my mouth and poured a liquid that tasted like blood. I stopped feeling pain after swallowing it.

“So, how did you die?”

Despite the pain being gone, my body is still shaking that I ended up closing my eyes. That’s right- I remember now, I was killed by that man! I remember those eyes full of greed and pleasure, his maniacal laugh and his knife that repeatedly stabbed my body!

I’ll tell you now in case you ask, I’m not your God. The God of that plane has been sleeping for hundreds of years.

“Who are you? And where am I?”

“I am, Mahazael, I look after the people who was felt that they were casted away by the God of earth. I guide them, on his behalf. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t work for him. This is just a hobby of mine.”

“So, you are doing his job while he just sleeps away? Heh, no wonder earth is such a mess since the God is so lazy that he just sleeps for hundreds of years.”

“Well- since I don’t work for him, I don’t exactly know why he just continuously sleep, but supposedly, the soul of people who dies are guided by his servant to the afterlife where they are judged, purified and reincarnated. In your case, your soul drifted to this place since you didn’t have strong attachment to the living, and you didn’t believe in him.”

“I hardly go to the church, and I don’t pray often either, but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an atheist. During my last moment, I called him, asking for help to alleviate the pain and just end me quickly, but the opposite happened I stayed half-awake, half-dead as that man stabbed me repeatedly!”

“Well, don’t hate your God too much though. He was asleep, so he probably didn’t hear your prayer."

“I think you do a better job than he does anyway. What do I do now though? Since my soul drifted here, I won’t be able to reincarnate?”

“I can, ask the guy that I know to reincarnate you if you want, but not in this world. We have stronger powers in a different plane of Earth. You can think of it as earth but has a different history and culture. Kind of like a parallel world.”

“So, your friend is a God?”

“He is sort of a king? Ruler of the world. But don’t get me wrong though, that parallel plane has different countries and region too and they have their own ruler. It’s just that, from the spiritual’s perspective, he is the real ruler of the world, even though he is a minority. The people of that place believe in a different being. He is sort of my relative as well, so it’s easy to ask him for a favor. So, do you want a second chance in life? Maybe this time it’ll be much more exciting.”

“Hmn… well, my life on earth is monotonous. It’s not that bad except for my end, yet not great either. If I reincarnate in that place, will I be able to keep my memory?”

“A portion of your memory will be kept. Since, it will help you drive your future self in that world. Since I will personally do you a favor, I will ask him to especially look after your creation! So don’t worry about it!”

“We might not see each other for a long time, but don’t worry, even though you can’t see me, we’ll try to look after you! Now off you go!”

“Thank you for helping me, Mahazael.”

******Mahazael POV******

“Hello, I need your help to sneak in a soul to the reincarnation pile. I blessed him already but make sure you bless him too!”

“What are you planning to do Mahazael?”

“Nothing much Belial, I just thought that she’ll bring color to that place. She’s such an enigma after all, she lived her life according to the laws of the earth, even though she’s not a hardcore believer of God and is leaning more towards agnostic, she valued his teachings and was mostly good her entire life, and yet, on her last moment, she was able to catch my attention. She’s like a diamond covered by a rock, if I polish her a little bit, her potential will bloom.”

“If that’s your judgement, I will help you. After all, her soul is foreign so the laws of that world won’t apply to her, and her soul is inherently good so it will blend in with the others. Plus, if she’s able to reincarnate in that plane, it will be beneficial to us.”

“Well, I didn’t lie to her when I said that you’re the ruler of the world. Heh, not in the kind of way she expects though.”

“Are you sure she doesn’t know who we really are?”

“Nope, she would have thought something when I mentioned my name if she knew us.”

“HAHAHA! I wonder what kind of joy she will bring?”

"Such poor soul, she ended up catching the attention of a pervert like you" 

"Don't say that! Aren't you worse than me?"