Redemption

Purgatory

Anya awoke to a faint beeping sound. Blinking rapidly as she came to, she was greeted by bright fluorescent lights and an white room, sunflowers sat in a vase to the side of the bed she was in and a get well soon card.

'So I'm at the hospital.' She mused.

Sitting up she froze in confusion, she felt no pain. The last thing she remembered was facing at least two tonnes of cold steel hurtling towards her. She should be dead or dying. She got off the bee and approached the windows, the blinds were drawn shut so she was unable to determine the time of day. Instead of the peaceful blue skies of the day or the cool cosmic blue of the night she was faced with fire. It stretched miles and miles, the grown from what she can see a rusting red and entirely barren.

She recoiled in fear, turning around to have her heart drop. Anya saw herself laying in the bed, still as stone. The beeping still faint, but there. Her body was wrapped up, almost completely. Her beautiful face, scratched and covered in bruises. She looked down at herself then, horror ceasing her very being at the translucent appearance of her body. She trudged closer to where she lay unconscious, attempting to touch her own arm. The situation finally dawned on her. She was a ghost, or a spirit- whichever.

Suddenly the door to her room slammed open, a figure gliding away. Anya felt her eyebrows shoot up and began to follow the hooded figure.

"Hey! HEY!" She had begun to chase the figure, their pace not breaking for a second as they walked through the vast expanse of nothingness. Only reaching up to figure when they paused at an intersection. She was greedily gulping down air as they came to a pause, hunched over as she regained her bearings. When she straightened up, the first thing she realized was this individual had black where the whites of their eyes should be, two hourglasses for pupils. Their faces pale and expression grave. A large scythe in their right hand and numerous clocks fastened around their belt.

Even without being told, Anya knew this was death's henchman- the grim reaper.

A menacing grin split across his face, the hourglass in his eyes spun and burned bright before turning over, devoid of any sand. A clock on his waist had revolved to face her, the hands began to chime pointing to twelve before falling suddenly.

"Curiouser and Curiouser." He began to examine her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "A hollow in the flesh. Or should I say...spirit? I haven't seen a case like this in years."

Finally regaining her senses, Anya shook her head. "Hello, I think there's been a mistake. You see, my name is-"

"Anya Pérez. Yes I know all about you." He swung the scythe idly. "And believe me, there's been no mistake. You are in Purgatory."

"Purgatory? So I'm dead?" Anya was immediately filled with fear to hear his answer.

"Dead? Not yet." She felt only a little bit relieved, if his expression wasn't so happy. Suddenly a clock chimed and he sighed deeply.

"Listen Anya, you're stuck here because you have done an equal amount of good and bad in your life, therefore your fate is undecided." He waved his free hand and a pair of stairs appeared, one leading up and one going down. "These are the steps to the afterlife but you will be unable to use either of them."

Anya was sure she was going into shock. 'Afterlife? ' She hadn't been too religious but to imagine all of this was real was mind blowing.

The man had begun to pace around, seeming to get impatient. "As a hollow, you have the opportunity to either return to earth as a spirit and help someone or stay here for eternity."

"What happens if I go back to earth? Will I go to heaven?" She wrung her hands nervously, she knew enough about religion to know she wouldn't want to go to hell.

He paused then, his face taking on an indescribable expression. "You have the opportunity to return to your earthly body."

Anya felt her attention latch onto his words, her spine straightened. She searched his gaze, hourglasses began to spin again, almost empty, and the same clock rang loudly. "A reaper's work is never done." He turned fully towards her. "Let's seal the contract. You return to earth under the condition of assisting someone to make their life better. You have two weeks to complete this assignment before your human body passes away."

He extended a hand in her direction which suddenly became encompassed in blue flames. "Do we have ourselves a deal?"

She mulled over his words. This was an amazing deal. She had the opportunity to return to her life, to live again! She'd worry about that helping someone part when she reached that bridge. She reached out, taking his hand in a firm handshake. "Deal." A blinding white fire covered their hands at her affirmations before she felt herself slipping through the floor.

"Until we meet again." The reaper had called as he watched her fall, turning on his heel and disappearing mid-air.