Seen

A Lost Soul (Atlas)

I watch her practically run away. I was invested the moment she smiled at me on the bus, I was trying to convince myself it was a coincidence, but she actually followed me to talk to me. She could see me. Octavia, I will see her again soon. When she disappears around a corner, I continue following the mortal I came here for. Luckily I can easily follow his scent, I find his house without much difficulty. The smell of a soul in complete dismay can be picked up by my kind from a mile away. I took this retrieval up today, realizing that it may be a more difficult soul to help, most like him are. I make my way through the door without opening it, narrowly missing a children's toy in the walkway. I pause, but the house is clear, taking a deep breath I move towards the back of the house where soft sounds are coming from. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but the tortured souls are the hardest to handle. I find him behind a locked door to a bathroom, kneeling on the tile floor, he is staring at a letter in his hand. A single name is written across the front. Sara. He doesn't know I am here, standing behind him as he cries over the letter in his hands, unable to stop myself I reach my hand forward. The shadows around my fingers dance across the skin of his neck, relieving some of the tension he feels, his soul feels slightly lighter. It doesn't take long from there, surely a plan that had been devised and thought about for quite some time, soon it is over and his soul is free. The letter clutched tightly against his chest. Leaning down, I grip the back of his neck and mist away, finding myself standing next to him on a cliff overlooking the rolling plains I have gotten to know so well. "What is your name?" I ask pulling a cigarette out and lighting it between my teeth. "Where am I? Who are you?" he stutters frantically turning in a circle, but he won't see anything, but stars above us. That's the point. "You're in the afterlife, I am your escort. What is your name?" I ask again."Henry. Afterlife? Is this hell?" Henry reaches for the necklace draped around his neck, fingering the pendant there. "There is no hell for you Henry, just peace." I puff the smoke past him, taking in the view. "No hell? I won't be punished?" he looks down at the tattoo on his arm and I know he is worried about his actions during his life, not the way he left his life."No Henry, I have no interest in punishing you. You served the life you needed too, and now you can find peace.""I deserve to be punished.""I think you have lost enough. Come, you'll find what you are looking for this way." I walk towards the stone steps that protrude from the hillside. A large body of water separates Henry from the island he will call home. "Where are we going?" Henry stumbles behind me."You'll cross here with these souls." I stop next to the water, where a small group of souls is waiting. Henry looks uncertain, but before I can say anything his face shifts and he rushes past me. I look to find his arms wrapped around another man, a matching "Semper fi" tattoo on his arm, both crying. Henry found what he was looking for sooner than I thought. After a moment, I know Henry no longer needs my guidance, I mist out and find myself on the very sidewalk I had been on not so long ago. I smile as the smoke from my cigarette leaves my mouth, mixing with the humid air, I follow her scent in a very different direction than she had originally gone. Smart women, but she didn't think she could hide from me, did she?