Mors, Amor, et Fatum

Chapter 2

Sally suddenly found herself on a glass floor, facing a wall full of clocks. She sat and looked around. Every wall was filled with different clocks, all counting down to something. They were all at different numbers. She then noticed that the clocks had names on them and as she looked around, she noticed her own clock. It was a bright blue, cat-shaped clock with moving eyes. It was not moving or counting down; in fact, it was perfectly still. Looking around the room, she fixed her sight on a luminous pool hanging in the center of the room. She saw what appeared to be a movie of- "The accident!" she said aloud, interrupting her own thoughts.

A white-robed figure appeared and said, "We have been expecting you."

"Expecting me?" she said bewildered. "Why?"

"Well, this is going to sound terrible, but you were supposed to die today," the white-robed figure said.  

Sally was speechless for a moment. She did not know how to respond. She did not know how to feel. Was this the end? What happened to everything she knew? She had so many questions, but she finally asked, "So...the crash was supposed to happen?"

"Not exactly, anything could have happened. You could have been shot, killed by your own hand, what have you, but you just needed to die today."

"Oh..." she said as she fought back tears. "What is this place? Where's Dmitri? He was in the crash too."

"I'll start with your first question. First, I do not think we were properly introduced. My name is Lemencia and I am part of the Order of the White Cardinals. This order along with two others, the orders of the Black  Ravens and Blue Hummingbirds, watches over worlds to make sure everything's in balance, including death. We are like the fates or oracles of Greek mythology, seeing the future, sometimes even altering it. We watch over the timelines of everyone that is depicted with the clocks on the wall. Everyone has a set time to die and to be born. You were meant to die today, how was up to you. This place is apart from time and space itself. It's a neutral zone, allowing us to be completely objective and to view everything at once. It's almost like watching a parade from above, looking at all the twists and turns before they are made by the marchers."

"So why am I here?" Sally asked.

  "You are here because everyone who is fated to die has a limited window to get back onto the main timeline of the universe, so you can get to your timeline and live. If you do not get back on your timeline, you die. This happens to everyone eventually."

"How about Dimitri? Did he die?"

"He was not supposed to die, so he is lost in this world. We do not know where he is, so he cannot make his way back."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"It is possible to help him get back, but it is exceedingly difficult."

There was a long pause before Sally spoke again, "So if I want to be alive again, how would I go about doing so?"

"You would find your clock, which would then turn into a portal that leads to the between place. You will have three hours to get to the portal which would lead you back to the correct timeline. You will have a guide that would take you there. It is possible to stray off the path to find someone, but remember only one person or thing could go through the portal and it will only be open for three hours."

"How will I know who or what is my guide?"

"You will know."

Sally then went over to her clock that suddenly turned into a mini door. She looked back at Lemencia, who smiled and mouthed "Good luck." She took a deep breath and walked through the door.