Part 1 - Chapter 1
It was as if demons were whispering into his ear to commit immoral deeds. Yet, the only one who had decided to execute those sins was he himself; there was no one else to hold accountable. He lived a short life and after his death, he was forgotten by the society. Just like in his life on earth, he was the center of attention in his afterlife. He was a semi-demon called Ray.
This story is not about his life on earth; no, rather it is about his life after death. It’s about his rise and his fall as a semi-demon.
The question, as to what proceeds after one’s demise, has remained unanswered to many. Countless believes have established over millions of years; nevertheless, in this tale, the afterlife is a fantasy-like world.
The afterlife is governed by the heavenly realm and after one’s demise, angels pick up the souls and take them to the ‘bridge of reincarnation’. Though, if someone commits grave sins, they are transferred to hell, while having been exceptionally well is rewarded by an offer to become an angel. However, the number of people who became demons was considerably little, and even less were rewarded to become angels. The majority of people are reincarnated and can see the beauty of life once again.
“Checkmate,” Ray
announced as he gazed at his component with a playful, yet confident smile.
Lisa, who had just suffered defeat, did not look to be bothered at all; in
fact, she was too occupied with gazing at Ray’s grey eyes, which appeared to
look dull to her.
“Ray, don’t
smile at me like that when you are not happy at all,” she expressed. “Geez,
you’re way too serious; I’m completely fine,” he answered as Lisa looked at him
unconvinced.
“Now, I shall
receive my price,” he continued and extended his hand.
“Fine,” the young woman replied with a sigh and handed him twenty dollars. As he put the money in his pocket, he sensed some kind of small paper in his pocket, which had not been there before. He took out the chit and looked rather bored as he read its content.
“The heavenly realm is summoning you,” it said.
“It seems like I have to go. My work is calling me,” he voiced, flashed Lisa a cheeky smile and rushed off to the nearest washroom. Ray was like a mystical being to her: she met him eight years ago when she was fourteen years old, when he spontaneously challenged her to a game of chess for twenty dollars. At that time, she was playing alone in the park near her home. Lisa never understood why no other child ever wanted to play with her, but it did not matter to her. She was fine on her own. Nonetheless, when Ray approached her, in some way, she felt as if she had finally made a friend. A strange friend indeed.
Since she did not know the game instructions, he first thought them to her and then, defeated her. He promised to meet her again: exactly one year later, at the same time and same place.
Consequently, he appeared in front of her 365 days later, and once again, they engaged in a game of chess. Since then, this ritual has been taking place annually in the same park. Till now, she has already lost 160 dollars to him and she is well aware of the fact that he is no ordinary human being. After all, he has not aged in these past eight years. In spite of this, she has not dared to question him about his identity, as she feared that he would never show up again if she did so.
She only knew one fact about him: He was becoming gloomier as years passed. He never talked about himself, nor did he ever ask about her personal life. It was as if he was only interested in the twenty bucks he would receive as the prize money. Sometimes, Lisa would wonder why she is curious about Ray in the first place. Was it because his entire existence seemed to be unnatural? Or was it because he was her first friend? She was not even sure if he considered her to be his friend.
Meanwhile,
currently locked in a bathroom-booth, Ray snapped his fingers and in the next
moment, he was inside the main office of the heavenly realm.
“You know, I have better things to do then to be here. I just earned some money and wanted to have something delicious to eat,” he uttered with a hint of displeasure in his voice as he stared at Albert.
“You’re a demon;
you don’t even get hungry. What’s the point of consuming anything?” the
middle-aged man responded as he looked at Ray in an entertained way.
“But that does
not mean that I cannot taste. It’s worth it, try it yourself,” he
suggested.
“Anyway, your arrival is being awaited. Let’s head to the meeting room,” Albert said as he walked down the long hallway.
Albert was an
angel who usually completed duties which a secretary would do. On the day he
died as a human, aged 76, he was rewarded by the heavenly realm for the
excellent deeds he had performed in his life and was crowned as a divine
being.
Just as they reached their destination, both of them stopped. “This new task is an opportunity for you, use it well,” the sagacious man advised and left. Confused, Ray opened the door and entered the room, only to see Luis sitting in front of a table, staring at some papers.
“Finally, you
arrived,” he said as he noticed Ray entering the room.
“What are you doing here, Luis,” he replied as he made himself comfortable on the seat next to him.
“The members of the heavenly realm are having an important conference right now; I am not quite sure what happened, but I overheard them discussing a serious issue. Apparently, masses of people are going to die in a matter of time. I believe that I will be sent there to collect their souls along with some other angels,” he explained. He took a short break as he continued, “However, another concern has emerged as well, and therefore, they sent me to deliver this message to you.”
“Look at those papers, it’s your new mission,” he resumed as he handed him the Information, “Her name is Camellia Davis, she is alive and we want her dead. Bring us her soul.” For some seconds Ray looked at the papers skeptically. “So, you want me to kill her because you - oh-so-great angels - can’t do it?”
“Unlike what others say, I certainly do know that I am not the greatest here. Besides, this is not the reason why you have been chosen to execute this mission. Death is predetermined for everyone and this girl should have died today in a car accident. Strangely, she miraculously survived, without even a single scratch.”
“You mean she
has become an immortal? I have never seen such a case,” Ray remarked as he
finally started to show some interest in the conversation.
“Though,
apparently, a similar case occurred a couple of centuries ago,” he added as he
skimmed through Camellia Davis’ Information.
“How do you
know?” Luis questioned amused.
“I overheard some really old angels talking about it.”
“Now that I have caught your attention, let me share the most exciting part. If you complete this mission, you will be granted your innermost wish. The heavenly realm knows what you desire and has decided to permit it if you fulfill their condition. That’s why you have been chosen.”
Instantly, Ray shifted
his gaze to Luis and started laughing, as if he was genuinely having a
delightful moment.
“Now that’s what
I call a deal.”
Ray’s grey eyes
looked fierce and alive, something that Luis had not seen for decades. He stood
up and flashed Luis a smile. “I’ll bring her soul,” he uttered before he
snapped his fingers and disappeared.
“For someone who desires such a sorrowful wish, you sure seem to be thrilled for it to be coming true,” Luis whispered to himself.
Yet, what no one knew was that this was not a task that could be completed in a day. If Ray believed that his wish would be granted for such a simple and effortless job, then he was highly mistaken. After all, he will have to cope with an immortal.
Camellia was a twenty-one-year-old young woman who was in her final year of university. She was a bright student, who not only got along with her family and friends but was regarded as an extremely popular senior on her campus as well. It was on a rainy 21st December, when Camellia entered the lecture hall, only to see her best friend Lisa looking spaced out as she was doodling in her notebook. “Good morning,” she greeted as she sat down next to her dear friend. “How was the meeting with your crush yesterday?”
“He is
definitely not my crush. How many times have I told you, Cami?” she stated monotonously.
“Yes, yes, he is only your friend,” she said as she opened her bag to bring out her notebook. Just as her lecture was about to start, she heard her phone vibrate. She took out the device and saw that she had received a message from an unknown number. Curiously, she opened the text message and saw only one sentence written in it.
‘Dear Camellia Davis, I have to talk to you about an urgent matter and request you to come to the campus garden in your lunchbreak. – Ray’
“What are you looking at?” Lisa questioned. Her dark brown hair was tied into a messy bun, her bare face was not covered with any makeup and her oversized blue pullover gave her a cozy look.
It was the simplicity of Lisa that motivated Camellia to take the first step and befriend herself with her. Unlike many other friends Camellia made in her life, Lisa was never interested in gossiping, minding other people’s business, or any other similar matters. Furthermore, she was one of the few people she could confide in and was the only one who would be ready to engage in a basketball match even on a rainy day.
“I just received
a strange message: someone is asking me to meet him in the garden,” Camellia
explained.
“Must be another one who wishes to ask you out on a date. Just ignore him,” Lisa replied as the professor entered the room.
“Good morning,
everyone. Let’s begin with the lecture right away,” he announced and immediately
started with the teaching.
“But I do not want to be impolite. I’ll just send him a refusal by text,” she whispered as Lisa nodded approvingly. Once Camellia sent the reply, she put her phone in her pocket and focused on the lecture.
Meanwhile, Ray and Luis were sitting next to each other in the bureau of the heavenly realm. Ray was holding a small black device with his thumb and pointer finger and was examining the smartphone thoroughly. “So, this thing sends messages?” he wondered. “Where did you get it from?” he continued as he gazed at Luis. “One angel is living on earth, disguised as a human. I told him to arrange one of those for me,” he explained. “That’s a strange yet fascinating object,” Ray remarked.
Suddenly, the phone vibrated and the screen brightened, which somewhat stunned Ray. Luis took the phone from him and read out the message.
‘Dear Ray, I am sorry, but I cannot come to meet you as I do not meet with strangers. Have a nice day. – Camellia’
Luis began to laugh loudly while Ray sighed. “What were you expecting anyway?” Luis questioned once he composed himself. “I don’t know. I was hoping to give her the most painless death as possible. I’ll find another way,” he honestly replied
On the same day, in the afternoon, Camellia was walking down the streets with Lisa after her classes. Usually, both of them would walk to the nearest train station together and take different trains to reach back home. It was still raining, and it seemed like the somber weather was nowhere near gone.
As they reached the train station, Lisa decided to walk with Camellia to her platform, as her train would be arriving in another fifteen minutes and she wanted to tell Camellia about her recent dispute with her father. Unaware of Ray gazing at both of them from afar, both were occupied with talking. “You should have come when I asked you nicely, but some people want to go the crueler way,” he thought. At that moment, he noticed Camellia was talking to someone he knew.
As the train was about to arrive, he wore his hood and walked towards both girls. Since the train station was packed with people, getting closer to them was not a problem at all. In a matter of milliseconds, he walked past them and slightly pushed Camellia towards the railway tracks. Usually, such a light push would not make someone fall, however, this was not a common push. This was the semi-demon’s doing. She was bound to fall on the tracks.
Following the
push, he continued walking ahead with a smile on his face. “Cami!” he heard
Lisa’s desperate cry as the train arrived at the station.
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