The Choice

Chapter Seven

Ichimatsu couldn't see or feel anything. He could only hear the odd whispers that echoed through his mind as he lay afloat in the darkness.

Some of the voices were peaceful, whereas some were terrifying. But Ichimatsu couldn't tell the difference between the two.

And though he was dead, he could somehow still think, his memories all the same.

"Karamatsu..." Ichimatsu thought, his friend's face flashing through his mind. "Why have I been so alone...what did I do to deserve my parents? My life? I wish I could have asked you this sooner, because now you're gone. Or, more like, I am gone. You don't know me anymore, and I do not know you. We can only be in each other's memories, right? And are your memories even the same as mine? Or do you only think of what painful line to say next? I always enjoyed the painful lines you would recite to me. Even though I didn't act like it, I truly did enjoy them. I'm so grateful to have met you..."

"Ichimatsu...." a loud voice hissed. "The time has come for you to go back to the world and take the lives of those who have been just like you. Give them what you believe any murderer deserves. But, if you want to be reborn, there is one certain person you absolutely MUST kill. Do you hear me? YOU MUST KILL THIS PERSON."

"Who is this person?" Ichimatsu asked.

"Your friend Karamatsu, the priest, has committed a great sin. As the years have gone by, they longed to be with you so much, that they went out and began to kill people. Their goal was to meet you in hell in the afterlife. Can you believe that? He loved you SO VERY MUCH, that he went out and became a murderer?"

And before Ichimatsu could even respond, he suddenly found that he was standing directly in front of the church.