Learning To Live

Chapter 18

I was awoken by an alarm. It took me a second to open my sleep filled eyes. I sat up and looked at the clock on the wall above the dresser. It was only two minutes after midnight. What was this? What was so important as to have woken me up from sleeping? I closed my eyes again and tried to fall back asleep as if a loud alarm was not making so much noise. I could not shut the sound out and so i laid in bed for a while before sitting up again. What was that alarm even for? Why did the afterlife need an alarm? What could there be in terms of danger in the afterlife where everything was supposed to be perfect and happy?

I blinked groggily, not really knowing what was happening. I laid back down to go back to sleep but after lying there for a while, just staring at the ceiling of my room and listening to the wailing of the siren, i finally got up out of my nice, warm bed. I pulled the covers up over where i had laid, wanting to go back to sleep in the worst way. I shook myself out of that reverie of thoughts. I did not want to think about that anymore, i had to be awake, wide awake, in the case of something that actually did happen.

The alarm stopped then and everything became dead silent. What was happening? I quickly stood up straight and stretched while looking around the room. Everything was still. There was nothing wrong. But something felt off. It felt as if the cry of the alarm had never happened but then i heard something that came from outside. I froe and listened intently for any sound that might come next. I heard a scream then and looked out the window to determine where it had come from. I could not see anything unusual outside from the part of the street that i could see from my window. I went to the closet in the room and quickly got dressed. I slipped on a pair of jeans and a shirt and threw the shorts and shirt i had been sleeping in on the ground in a pile that served as a dirty laundry pile. I would need to get a laundry basket soon.

I went out of the room and down the stairs. The siren did not come on again and for that specific moment, i thought that everything was okay. Surely this was just a drill or something. Nothing was happening.

I went out of the front door of the house and looked around. Everything looked normal to me. Of course, i had only been in the afterlife for a few days, not counting the time i had spent on my mission, and so i did not have that clear of a picture of normal. I looked both right and left but saw nothing. There was no movement anywhere, everything was still. I heard footsteps then and looked in the direction that they were coming from. I saw Kayla coming up the street and she waved to me but had a worried look on her face.

When Kayla reached me, she was out of breath. Her breathing was loud and she tried to catch her breath while trying to speak. It did not work out well and so she had to wait. Several minutes went by before Kayla was able to speak without breaking out in a coughing fit. When she was finally able to get some words out, i listened intently because it seemed urgent.

"Enna, we have to hide. They are coming", Kayla said to me in between gasps of breath.

"Wait, what, who is coming?"

"The wandering souls. Now, come on, we have to go."

I could not believe what i was hearing. I did not respond for a while. I stood frozen while thinking how wandering souls could have gotten into the land of the dead. How would they have gotten in? I thought that they could not get in. I did not understand what was happening very well so i turned back to Kayla to get some more information from her about what was happening.

"The wandering souls are here? Where?"

"I saw them. They are coming from the gateway between worlds. I am not really sure how but they managed to get into the afterlife. This was supposed to be a safe haven from them. That is the entire purpose of the afterlife besides the place where the dead go after their lives are over. We have to go now, we can not let them get us."

"How did the wandering souls get in though? It makes no sense. How could they just appear like that and get into the afterlife?"

"I do not know but the one thing i do know is that we can not let the wandering souls catch us. Who knows what they will do to us."

"I ran into a wandering soul on my mission", i suddenly blurted out for some reason that i can not describe.

"What?", Kayla exclaimed. She sounded like she did not believe me.

"On my mission, a wandering soul caught me. It held me captive for what felt like days on end but was, in reality, only about a day or so. I escaped but then the wanderer caught me again. I do not even really remember that well how everything happened so fast. It kind of seems like a blur but i do remember how i had managed to get free. I cut the rope that had bound my wrists and ankles somehow. When the wandering soul came for me a short while after that, i punched him in the face. It never even saw the punch coming. Then i ran for my dear life and was able to fly away", i explained to her.

"What?", Kayla said again as if she still could not believe it, as if the fact that i had run into a wandering soul was still being processed in her mind.

"Yes it happened but i am okay. I did fail my mission but only because of that stupid wandering soul", i admitted while giving a weak excuse.

"You failed your mission?"

"Yes", i said regrettably.

"Well, not everyone is cut out for that job. Anyway, we still have to go. Again, i am not sure how the wandering souls managed to get into the land of the dead but they did. You can tell me everything later but we have to hide now. I know of a great hiding spot."

"I am not going to hide Kayla."

"Enna, i am going to tell you this only once. I do not know how you managed to survive that encounter with the wandering soul in the land of the living but you can not fight this. I can not fight this. The only way is to hide. We can not do anything."

"But. We can do this. We can help."

"No, we can not. Just let the adults handle it", she tried to pull me with her down the street.

"Kayla, stop. I need to help. I regret not finishing the first wandering soul that i encountered in the first place. I need to fight. I am not just going to let the adults handle this. I know i can help and nobody can tell me that i can not help. Not even you", i told her in a strong voice while pulling my hand away from her grasp on my arm.

"Fine, then. Bye."

"Wait. Kayla, stop."

"What?", she said to me after stopping in her progression down the street.

"Please, Kayla, i promise that we can do this, together."

"I am so sorry but no", she replied without turning around, her voice sounding as if she were trying to hold back tears.