Part 1 - Chapter 3
“What are you doing here?” she asked skeptically.
“Do you guys know each other?” Alissa questioned.
“Yes, we go to the same university,” Ray lied, his gaze still fixed on
Camellia.
“What a great coincidence!” Camellia’s mother answered with a
smile.
“Can I talk to you? Alone.” Camellia asked. Alissa noted that the
atmosphere in the room was tense but decided not to comment on it.
“Sure.”
Before they walked outside, Camellia turned around and smiled at her mother
to reassure her that everything was fine, apparently.
“Follow me,” Camellia instructed as both left the house. Ray shrugged as he quietly followed her and, in a few minutes, they were in front of a park, near Camellia’s neighborhood.
“I want to sit on the swings,” Ray spoke with a hint of anticipation in his voice, making Camellia look at him confused. “What? Don’t you judge me,” he said with a laugh as he went to the swing and sat down. “Do you know when I was on a swing the last time? One year before my death with my sister, and that was an unimaginable long time ago,” Ray explained.
To Camellia it was confirmed: he was ill.
“Alright,” she responded unconvinced and sat down on the swing next to him.
“So, what are you doing here?” she continued.
“I am here to take your soul. Remember, I told you last time,” Ray answered
as if his statement was ordinary for humans to hear.
“Could you elaborate on what you mean?”
Camellia was trying to stay as patient as possible, but his statements were getting more and more unusual. Moreover, she did not like the aura around him. He seemed to be crazy to her, probably devilish as well, but what was bothering her the most was that she felt extremely uneasy around him.
“Okay, let me explain,” he said as his swing went up and forth. “Generally,
after your death, an angel will pick you up and bring your life to the
bridge of reincarnation. You are reborn and start a new life, with a new
identity. However, if you were remarkably good or bad, you are turned into
an angel or devil, depending on your behavior and actions. Clear till now?”
he questioned.
“I guess?” she unsurely answered to his peculiar explanation.
“You, Miss Davis, are an odd case though. You should have died in a car accident a few days ago.”
For a moment, she recalled how she was nearly hit by a car two days ago.
Still, this could be a coincidence, right?
“Therefore, you have become special. Something we call ‘immortal’. Everyone has a ticking time bomb inside of them, and one day, it goes off. Yet, you have somehow managed to turn it off and no one exactly knows what the future beholds for you.”
Briefly, she looked at Ray taken aback. The following thoughts were going
through her mind: Did he push her on the railway tracks because of this
reason? Because he is mentally unstable, he invented a story and believes
that this is his task to accomplish? “And that is why you tried to push me
on the tracks?”
“No, as I said, it wasn’t me.”
A cold wind brushed against Camellia’s bare arms, making her shiver. The
clouds were slowly getting darker, indicating a possible rain
shower.
“Since you should have already died, destiny will try to end your life. Life-threatening situations will keep occurring and it’s only natural; after all, your existence at this point is unnatural.”
Well, a small lie wouldn’t hurt. He considered telling her the truth for a second – he indeed did – yet, wouldn’t it be distressing for her to know that she must live with her ‘soon-to-be killer’ in one house, for God knows how long?
“If destiny will kill me on my own, what are you doing here?”
“I will wait for that day to come and guide your soul to the bridge of
reincarnation.”
“But aren’t you a demon? Shouldn’t that be an angels’ duty?”
“Yeah, that’s another long story. Maybe some other time? It’s getting cold,
let’s head back.”
“No. I am kindly requesting you to move out of my house. Tell my mother that you have found a cheaper place somewhere else,” Camellia demanded as she looked Ray directly in the eye.
Ray stood up and sighed. “You don’t believe me,” he stated. He extended his
right hand and gazed at Camellia with a genuine smile. “Take my hand, I’ll
show you something fun.”
Camellia gave him a distrustful look and stayed put.
“No thanks.”
“Common, trust me.”
“I don’t trust you. What are you intending to do?”
“Just give me your hand.”
For further more seconds, Camellia did not move while Ray gazed at her, his right hand still extended. Finally, she warily gave him her hand and Ray grinned as he snapped the fingers of his left hand. In the blink of an eye, they were in another place, a different space. Camellia gasped as she comprehended that something supernatural had just taken place. “What is happening?” she questioned with a loud voice.
“Who is here?” both heard someone say. Currently, both were inside the
headquarters of the heavenly realm, standing in a hallway. Albert came out
of a room and gazed at the semi-demon furiously.
“Mr. Ray, care to explain why you have taken a mortal here?”
Once again, Ray gripped Camellia’s shaking hand which somehow aided her to
calm down.
“First of all, she is an immortal. Second of all, we just dropped by for a few seconds. Bye,” he replied, jokingly winked at Albert and snapped his fingers again. Albert shook his head as he was wondering what this boy was up to this time.
Immediately, they were back in the park and Camellia let out a sigh of
relief. She removed her hand from his and took two steps away from him.
“What was that?” she questioned as her body shivered.
“Do you believe me at last?”
If she would tell someone about what just occurred, no soul would believe her. It did not matter how implausible this entire story seemed because she had grasped that there was a certain truth in what Ray had told her. Plus, that he was no ordinary being. For a moment, she stood there silently as she tried to comprehend the entire situation.
Heavy raindrops began to fall from the vast clouds and the rustling leaves were playing a symphony of their own. “You have two more days to live at best.”
Expressionless, Camellia looked at the ground for a few moments and then
finally uttered, “I need some time.” As she started walking away, Ray
wondered if he should follow her but decided to leave her alone. Once again,
he snapped his fingers and was back in front to his ‘new home’.
Ray assured Alissa, that Camelia had to meet her friend Lisa urgently, and
that she would be back soon. In his mind, he had already decided that he
would go out to look for her, if she would not return home in a few hours.
After some more small talk with Alissa, he decided to head to his room,
which was located opposite of Camellia’s chamber.
Three hours had passed since he last saw Camellia. “Maybe I shouldn’t have
lied to her,” Ray whispered to himself as he stared at the ceiling. He was
laying on his bed, his head resting on his arms, and was immersed in his
thoughts. All of a sudden, he sensed the presence of someone in his room and
tensed up.
“What are you doing?” Luis exclaimed and sat down on the chair next to the table. As Ray realized that it was just his friend, he sat up and ruffled his hair with his hands. “The actual question is: What are you doing? Can you not appear out of nowhere?” he requested. “So, you want me to come from the main door?”
Ray decided not to reply to Luis, laid down and gazed at the ceiling
again. “What are you doing, Ray? I told you to bring her soul, not to rent a
room of her house.”
“I tried to, but she did not die.”
“Explain.”
“Well, I pushed her on the railway tracks but she was saved. I was
astonished myself. It’s my first time seeing an immortal, I need some time
to figure out how to handle this situation.”
Luis was just as confused as Ray was. How did she survive? “How much does
that immortal know?”
“Her name is Camellia,” he said as he stood up and looked outside the
window. He could see Camellia about two hundred meters away, walking
towards her house. “I’ve told her everything.”
“What? You told her about who you are?” Luis questioned stunned and Ray
nodded. “Though, I told her a small lie,” he said and took a brief break
until he continued. “I told her that destiny will create near-death
experiences because her existence is abnormal and that she will die as a
result.”
“That means that she does not know that you will kill her?”
“Exactly. I made it seem like I am a bystander who is waiting for her
death. She thinks that accompanying her soul to the bridge of reincarnation
is my only task,” Ray explained as he felt like a deceitful person.
“I suppose it is better this way. For her, it’s must be horrifying enough
that she has to die soon. Not knowing every detail is only to her benefit.
Anyway, I have to pick up a soul in a few moments; I’ll take my leave.”
Luis snapped his finger and was gone just as quickly as he had appeared.
After being immersed in his thoughts for a few more minutes, Ray finally
decided to check on Camellia. When he reached the door to her room, he
knocked on the door and waited a second until he heard an answer. “Come in.”
Once he entered, he was perplexed. Camellia had turned on the radio, was
sitting in front of the table and was highlighting some parts of the book
she was holding. She stopped to hum along with the song which was currently
being played and gazed at Ray with a smile. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?” he asked. He took a seat on her bed and stared around in
her room. “Yeah, why do you ask?” she questioned back. “Well, I wouldn’t
expect someone to be so calm in this situation. Besides, are you seriously
studying now?” Camellia looked down on her book again and continued
highlighting. “I don’t even know what to do myself,” she replied honestly
and sighed.
“How about you buy me some food?” he asked hesitant.
“What?”
“I am just like you: I have a limited time left in this world. Maybe we
should go and have a delicious last supper.”
Camellia decided not to question what he meant and thought about it for a
few seconds. However arbitrary Ray seemed, what he said did make sense.
Maybe, she should have one fine meal before she died. “Fine, let’s go.”
Surprised to hear her agree, he stood up as well and both made their way
downstairs. “Where are you going?” they heard Alissa question as she saw
both of them wearing their jackets. “To have a meal; we’ll be back soon. I
have to talk to you later, so don’t go to sleep early,” Camellia replied and
flashed a smile to her mother. Confused, Alissa did not reply and went back
into her room.
For the first few minutes, both quietly and awkwardly walked next to each
other, Camellia guiding Ray to an unknown location. While it had stopped
raining, the dark clouds were still in full bloom and were accompanied by
the strong wind. Suddenly, Ray stopped walking and gazed at the top of the
building next to him. He smiled as he saw that there were many heavy vases
filled with colorful flowers at the corner of the rooftop.
Camellia, who was engrossed in her own thoughts, kept walking ahead, without noticing that he was not beside her anymore. Ray’s round eyes turned slightly upwards and his grey eyes became red. Then, the vase started to fall. It was perfectly calculated, there was no escaping. With the speed Camellia was walking, the vase would crash on her in exactly 3.27 seconds. “Goodbye.”
↞Chapter 2 Chapter 4↠
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