Part 1 - Chapter 4
“Goodbye,” Ray whispered to himself. Immediately, Camellia stopped
walking and turned around. “What are you doing?” she uttered as the vase
smashed on the ground, just one meter ahead of her.
Ray’s eyes gradually turned back to his original form and color as he
stared at her expressionless. Camellia, who was still in shock, stared at
the broken vase paralyzed. She was indeed shaken up, yet she did not fail
to notice Ray’s changed look.
“Did you do that?” she
questioned in a serious tone. “No,” Ray quickly answered and waited a few
seconds to come up with a convincing excuse.
“Whenever I have to pick up souls, I turn into my original form.
Remember, deadly incidences will keep occurring until you perish. I
thought you’d die here,” he explained his made-up story. “And why did you
stop walking beforehand?” Camellia was still unsatisfied with his answer.
“I am not a human; my instincts go beyond your imagination.”
As she felt unsafe, she swiftly turned around and continued walking to
her actual destination, leaving the broken vase and the wonderful flowers
where they had fallen. Ray caught up with her and was next to her once
again. “Where are you taking me?” he asked, as he tried to change the
subject.
“I will take you to my favorite Indian restaurant,” she explained and put
her shivering hands inside the pocket of her jacket. “I never had Indian
food,” Ray remarked and smiled at her, anticipating the dinner. “Even your
smile looks evil.” Instantly, he stopped smiling and gazed at her
displeased.
For the next few minutes, both were in deep thoughts. While Camellia was
dreading her fate, Ray was perplexed why she was not dying. He knew that he
will have to be around her as much as possible to find some clues. As they
entered the restaurant, Camellia finally spoke again. “If you want to stay
at my place, you need to tell me everything or else I’ll make sure that you
are thrown out of the house,” she stated. “I’ve already told you
everything,” he replied as he sat down on the chair next to the table. “No,
you have not. I suppose you won’t tell me everything by yourself, so I will
just ask you questions and you will answer them.”
Ray was in no mood to explain anything but when he saw the determination in
Camellia’s eyes, he knew that he had no choice. He nodded as he looked at
the menu card full of unknown dishes. “Good afternoon, what would you like
to order?” the waiter asked. Since Ray was not familiar with Indian food, he
silently gazed at Camellia to make a decision for him. “Two
butter naan, dal makhni and chana masala please.”
Once the waiter was gone, Camellia asked her first question. “So, you say
that you pick up souls and bring them to the bridge of reincarnation but you
are a demon at the same time. I cannot fully comprehend why a demon is
completing the job of so-called-angels. Explain it to me.” The waiter came
back again and placed two glasses of water in front of them. “After I died,
I was sent to hell. I spent there many years and I knew that I had deserved
that punishment. Thus, I did not revolt, neither did I become troublesome
for the heavenly realm. Sometime later, the heavenly realm decided to enroll
a new program. I don’t know what the exact requirements are, but they chose
some other demons and me to carry out their experiment. The heavenly realm
created a new rank, called the semi-demon. At first, we demons served as
assistants of angels: We carried out smaller jobs and aided angels in their
missions.”
Camellia was so fully engrossed in the story that she had not noticed that
the waiter had already put the food on the table and left. “As time went on,
we were entrusted with larger missions and ultimately, we were given the
same positions and powers as angels. There is only one difference: the
heavenly realm has put a spell on us which hinders us from using our full
powers. You can call them safety measurements, in case one of us becomes
problematic.”
Once again, this sounded like a plot of a book, yet she knew that it was
the truth. Once she had processed the entire information, she felt shivers
run down her spine when she thought about why Ray was sent to hell. What
could he have done that he was punished this severely? For a second, she
contemplated if she should ask him about it, but decided not to touch that
topic. She already found him intimidating; knowing what atrocities he had
committed would probably only make her fear him.
“I am starting to get the full picture,” she said as she ate her food.
Unknowingly, Ray mimicked Camellia in her way of eating and was utterly
stunned with the scrumptious flavors. “Why?” he questioned himself as he
took another bite. “Why have I never eaten such food before?” Ray relished
the food with such a delightful heart, that he did not notice that Camellia
had stopped eating and was staring at him. She smiled as she saw this side
of him, but immediately her mind wandered off to her previous thought. How
could someone who is innocently sitting next to her commit any sins? Soon,
she quietly continued to eat again, without talking further with him.
Once they were done, the waiter came back with a bill. Camellia took out
her purse and was taking her money out, when Ray placed twenty dollars on
the table. “This is all I have,” he said with a cheeky grin. “Where did you
get that from?” she questioned curiously. “I earned that from a game of
chess,” he explained. For a second, she gazed at him shocked and he
instantly noticed why. Noticing that the waiter was impatiently standing
next to them, she decided to inquire about this matter later and pulled out
another twenty dollars. She handed the waiter the total sum and both of them
left the restaurant.
“Let’s come back again,” Ray suggested as he gazed at the sky. Camellia did
not reply and started walking with a sigh. A few minutes later, she finally
decided to ask him about it. “Do you know Lisa? I know that she plays chess
with someone every year for twenty bucks.” It took Ray a few moments until
he replied, “Yes.”
Ray knew that he had accidently revealed something he should not have said,
yet he was still hoping that she would never ask him about it. Quietly,
Camellia was waiting for Ray to give an explanation. “I once saw her in a
park, she was completely alone and gloomy. I decided to challenge her for a
game of chess. The winner would receive twenty dollars as the prize money.
Since that year, I’ve become her friend.”
He was not telling the entire story again. Previously he had lied to her
because she is better off not knowing everything. This time, however, he did
not want to tell everything to her. There was more to the story, and
Camellia was aware of that as well. After deciding not to be too intrusive,
she left that topic and both of them quietly walked back home.
Once they reached their house, Ray walked to his room, while Camellia
visited the bedroom of her mother, which was located next to the kitchen in
the ground floor. “Everything alright?” Alissa questioned once she saw
Camellia enter the room. “Yeah, it was just a hectic day today,” she
honestly replied, not wanting to look her mother in the eye. She was afraid
that she would start crying if she would stay here any longer and thus
decided to keep the conversation short. “About Ray, I was just surprised to
see that a fellow colleague of mine has become our tenant and reacted in an
unmannered fashion. I am sorry for that,” she explained and Alissa gave her
a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, my dear. He seems trustworthy and
well-behaved. Everything will be alright.”
“Yes, everything will be alright,” Camellia repeated after her mother and
gave her a small smile before she left to her room. Once she closed the door
of her room, she threw herself on her bed and covered her face with a
pillow. How was she supposed to process all of this Information in one day?
The existence of the heavenly realm, angels, demons and immortals sounded
unreal to her. On top of that, she was supposed to die any minute, and her
‘companion’ who will lead her to the bridge of reincarnation is sleeping
next door. Once she realized that death was awaiting her, inevitably, tears
started to flow down. She wanted to be strong, find a solution, but it all
seemed useless.
Unknowingly, after many hours, she finally cried herself to sleep, only to
wake up with puffy and red eyes. Even after putting a quick eye mask on her
face and applying makeup, the traces of her breakdown were still visible if
looked closely. After all attempts, she ultimately decided to leave it and
see what Alissa and Ray were up to. As she walked down the stairs, she could
already hear both of them chatting in the kitchen and was not surprised to
see them eating breakfast with a smile on their faces. “So, what is that
research that you are looking forward to?” Alissa questioned Ray. As
Camellia had no idea what they were previously talking about, she just
quietly sat on the chair next to Ray and looked at them. “Well, I would like
to research if the latest gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies actually has
good long-term effects.”
Even though Alissa did not have any medical knowledge, Alissa looked at Ray
stunned. At the same time, she was confused why a nutrition science student
would be interested in this matter. “You know, we should head out to attend
our lectures now. Let’s go,” Camellia hastily grabbed Ray’s arm, while he
quietly followed her, wondering what he had said wrong. Once they left the
house, Camellia asked: “What was that all about?”
“What did I say wrong?”
“I have told my mother that we study together. Don’t pretend to be some
sort of medical student.”
“Fine, but you should know that I was a medical student when I was alive.
Technically, it’s not a lie.”
Honestly, Camellia was surprised to hear that. She hadn’t failed to notice
that he was exceptionally well mannered and skilled with his word choice,
but she did not expect this. Similar to Alissa, Camellia was not sure what
Ray was talking about in the kitchen, but she deducted that he is
knowledgeable about the latest medical advancements. Once again, she was
pondering about what Ray had done that he became a demon.
“What will you do while I am attending the lectures?”
“Attend them with you, what else?”
“You need to be a student of nutrition science to enter my lecture
halls.”
“Don’t worry, I am officially a student in your department.”
Camellia stopped walking and stared at Ray displeased. “How did you do
that?”
“I’ve got my connections.”
Great. As if sharing a house with Ray wasn’t enough, now she would be stuck
with him in the University as well.
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