The Unseen (ONC 2023)

Four (Desmond)

"Are souls recycled?"

I sit down in one of the chairs in front of Elijah's desk. I've just returned from my less than pleasant death echo straight into the infinite blackness of Limbo. I can still feel her eyes on me, see the sadness within them as she watched me double over in pain consumed once again by the flames. Her hands, her slender fingers that reminded me so much of my Philomena twisted my still-beating heart in my chest. What I wouldn't give to hold her one last time. To breathe in her scent, taste her lips, feel her skin against mine, hear her whisper my name as she fell asleep.

Elijah raises an pale eyebrow, staring over the top of his wire rimmed glasses. He has no need for them, his eyesight is absolutely perfect. His hair is white, the color of death he says. His eyes are as black as the tunnel most see before knocking on Death's door. He sits polishing his scythe, the weapon is hardly for show. He uses it to reap the souls of those who make his list. He follows the one rule all Reapers follow:

Do not upset the balance of life and death.

"Do you mean reincarnation?" His smooth voice asks, his tone playful. My hand twitches at my side, nails going black sharpening to a razor-sharp point. A low guttural growl sounds from deep within my chest.

"Must you be a smart ass?" I ask angrily.

"I would watch your tone, Desmond." He sets his scythe down on his desk. "Did we forget that I hold your very life in my hands?"

"How can I forget when you remind me every single day?" I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. He sighs heavily, running a tired hand through his hair.

"To answer your question, if the soul did not live a fulfilled life, if it was taken from them too soon by their hand or someone else's we are allowed to put them back in the life stream." Elijah stands up. "Why are we asking?"

I look away, biting my lip. Where do I even begin? If his words are to be believed, then my Philomena's soul was reincarnated into the body of this girl on the school bus? I did not need to be alive to smell his scent within her blood. The blood of Theodore Meadows, the man who took my life, the one Philomena cursed before taking her last breath. Could this girl be the one her prophecy described? Was I the Unseen? Was this girl the thirteenth daughter?

Questions began to swirl within my mind. Elijah took his scythe back, propping it on his lap, polishing the blade with a gentleness very few souls got to see. When I was young, I asked him of his journeys to the land of the living. He would tell me how souls would beg with him, plead with him for one more second, for more time to be with their loved ones. He always told them the balance could not be upset. If he was off by even a second it could spell disaster.

"Well?" Elijah's tone is curious.

"Recently, a young woman has taken to sitting next to me on the school bus." I begin my words clipped. "She resembles my Philomena."

"Ah, is that all?" He stands up, resting his scythe against the wall.

"Did you...Did you know about this?" I stare at him.

"Who do you think delivered her soul back to the life stream?" Elijah crosses his arms over his chest. "I didn't anticipate her soul to be reincarnated into the descendant of your killer. That appears to be the Fates doing."

I heard of the Fates, three beings who controlled the lives of both supernatural and non-supernatural beings. I had not had the pleasure of meeting them personally. It was rumored the Reapers reported to them before reporting to the Gods of Death. I run a hand through my hair my hands begin to tremble against my side. If this was the Fates sick idea of a joke I was not laughing. The very thought of my future depending on this mystery girl made my stomach uneasy.

"Desmond, if you continue to live with these chains wrapped around your heart, your soul will never find peace." Elijah says gently, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I flinch underneath his touch, he knows fully well I do not have a soul. This is the reason why I am trapped in Limbo. This is why I am in a Death Echo, reliving my death over and over again. My soul, has been shredded into a million pieces when I took my first life to complete my transition. Elijah had been present, choosing the life of a dying man who only had a handful of moments to leave. He helped me into my coffin, buried me six-feet underground, and remained at my grave until I clawed myself out. Covered in dirt and debris he recited the Rite of Passage. My soul died the moment the Latin left his lips.

"I have grown accustomed to my chains Elijah. As for peace? I will never know of it, your actions have seen to it." I shrug his hand away stepping towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To die, again." I roll my eyes vanishing back to my seat on the school bus.

The bus driver is a young man who is using this as a means to pay his way through law school. In-between stops he withdraws a stack of flash cards out of his pocket, reviewing terms and quizzing himself. He smiles when he gets a question correct, his brows furrow and his face falls when he gets a question wrong. He stops in-front of her house. My heart, if it could still beat, starts to skip in my chest. She walks out onto the front porch wearing a pair of jeans, a hoodie, and a pair of slip-on shoes. Her mother follows her out, she's dressed in a pencil skirt and flowery blouse.

"Have a good first day back at work, mom!" She exclaims.

"I will, blackbird! Have a good day at school!" Her mother waves a loving smile on her face.

Philomena's mother called her Blackbird due to the color of her hair. My Mena loved the nickname, her eyes would light up much like hers was lighting up right now. She walks carefully up to the bus, offering the driver a friendly smile.

"How did you do this time?" She gestures to the cards.

"Much better this morning, I have a good feeling." He replies.

"That's great! I wish you the best of luck!" Her smile is radiant. She continues carefully and cautiously down the aisle, taking her seat right next to me. Placing something in her ear, she pulls out a rectangular device and props it on her lap.

"Hi there, my name is Nina."

My whole-body locks into place, my breath comes out in a strangled whine. This is impossible, she shouldn't be able to see me. No one should be able to see me. How is this possible? Darkness worms its way into my heart, it courses through my veins. She begins to shiver her breath coming out in plumes of white smoke.

"I like the color of your eyes, they're very unique." She continues, ignoring the dark look on my face. "I'm sorry I didn't speak to you sooner. I'm not very good at making friends. In fact, my old classmates called me a Jinxx because I've had such rotten luck."

There is a reason for that. I say in my head, not trusting myself to say the words out loud.

"There is another reason why I wanted to introduce myself." Nina prattles on, clutching the rectangular device in her hands. Her fellow students pay no mind, I assume this behavior is normal. "My mom, you may have seen her walk out with me. She told me to take the plunge, and well you looked so lonely-"

"Stop." I say the words out loud, my voice like ice. "You shouldn't be able to see me."

*Word Count 4754*