IF

The Life of a Brother

Whatever it is he's thinking, Leo decides to shrug it off. "Let's go home?" he suggests, waiting for Eyrin to turn her back towards him. She nods but before he can make a step, black ribbons strip their way out of thin air and wrap around him.

He had no time to protest. The garments lace around his mouth, purposefully muffling the words he's screaming. He sees Eyrin desperately running towards him, arms extending and eyes full of worry. By that time, he's all covered in. His movements are restricted but he tries his hardest to reach for her. Their fingertips touch but as she is almost about to grab him, he disappears.

He wakes up in a white room.

It is a room, he supposed, but he's not sure how far the walls go. All he knows is that no matter how hard he looks, all he sees is white.

"Hello?"

His voice comes back to him, ten folds. He gets up on his feet and gazed up the ceiling but it's the same thing. His eyes extend as far as they could still he can't see nothing but white.

He tries to inhale the air to at least get a common idea what place he is right now but even the air is not stale or fragrant. In fact, there's nothing in it to the point that he gets tired of sniffing for just getting nothing.

"Am I in heaven?" he asks himself though he thinks that's impossible. He's not even a forty-day old soul.

Someone snorts and it echoes until the sound becomes a mere disturbance that is eventually lost in space.

"My,my," the voice speaks again but this time it sounds nearer. "You really are entertaining," the voice says. The small strands of hair at the back of his head raise and cold shivers run through his spine. He still cannot see the owner of the voice but he feels its presence behind him, as if whispering on his ears.

"Who are you?" Leo asks. Beads of sweat form on his temples. His body is so stiff he can barely move. He can't even crack his finger. A lump in his throat starts to cause him a hard time breathing.

"Who? Me?" The voice speaks again. This time, it's more than just a lump his throat. This time he feels like someone or something is strangling him. The veins in his neck are starting to become visible. Beads after beads of sweat are racing down his face. He can't open his mouth to scream as his movements are focused on the muscles in his neck.

The feeling gives him the thought of familiarity.

He's dying.

Again.

The grip loosens and he falls on his knees, an arm pinned on the ground for support while his other hand is holding his neck,as if checking if it's still there.

"When you're choking, what are you losing?" the voice speaks again. That time, Leo knows its in front of him, maybe kneeling or just looking down at him.

"A-air," he answers though hesitant at first. The voice groans, obviously not satisfied.

"And when you lose air, what happens?" The voice puts emphasis on every word.

"I die." Leo answers nonchalantly but the voice is not happy. The air around them starts to tighten and his entire body feels like its being compressed to a smaller vacuum. He can't move a muscle again. The place reverberate the sound of the air pressure and it's not pleasant to the ears. The sound is as if shooting air bullets and is magnified by earphones plugged in his ears.

"When you die what did you lose?" The voice changed. It's as if the wind did that to it or the voices of thousands of people speak the same words at the exact same time. Leo can not speak. He's literally caught up in the middle of a hurricane and he can't do a thing except to cower in fear.