luminosity [h.s]

prologue

I shouldn't be here.

I shouldn't be back on this dreadful place. I've been gone for so long; I almost forgot what it is like to witness death and sorrow, loneliness and isolation. I look up as thunder rumbles over head, the rain following in it's footsteps. It falls in sheets, drenching the sidewalks and the unfortunate people trapped below, but I can't feel it.

I don't feel anything. I glance at my arms and watch as the water rolls off, the rain not leaving a trace of evidence behind.

People always question what it's like to cross over, to be in the afterlife. This is mostly because no one has ever accomplished it. Nobody has died and come back years after they have passed. The belief that Heaven is utterly blissful is remarkably true- in the afterlife, you feel nothing but perpetual peace. There is no suffering, there is no loss. However, when you pass, you see the world from a terrifying new perspective. You observe from afar all the crime and hate that suffocates this delicate planet, the devil's grip slowly tightening and choking it even more as time passes. You see this world for what it truly is. Evil.

My fingers slowly trace the outline of my face again to make sure that I'm actually a living, breathing organism. Having a physical body with a mind and a beating heart is so foreign to me; I had forgotten what it was like to move, to breathe, feel, and live. I know I am still not fully human because unlike my original life, I will not encounter the harsh cruelty of the world during my visit.

As I look around the now-empty streets, I realize I have no idea why I am here. They say that if you're sent here, you're here for a specific reason; to protect. The catch is, they don't tell you who or why they need to be protected. You will instantly know once you encounter them.

I'm a Guardian now, and I'm ready to save whoever from what the devil has planned next.