You can't escape Death <Frans>

CHAPTER 6: Another Place

Opening my eyes, I could quickly tell that I was no longer in the tub of my small bathroom anymore.

I was taken aback by the beauty of this place, looking around, fully clothed in my previous attire before taking them off for my short-lived bath.

The place was near empty ... it looked strange, too, having been painted with all sorts of different colors that were not allowed in houses back in Ebott city. Large windows surrounded the boxed area with different patterns of colorful, stained glass, much like the inside of the many churches found in the city I once was in.

It was a remote, desolate place and yet, the sheer beauty of this room seemed to replace anything else on my mind. It was nothing like I had ever seen in Ebott city, let alone imagine. We were never allowed to think of such things.

The words I wanted to describe this place were far too strong to be allowed in the society. I held myself back from using such strong words such as 'Love', afraid that I'd be hooked on using such a dangerous word for the future.

Admire. I thought. I admired this place very, very much.

The air was stagnant, yet fresh. It was confusing not to have a constant flow of air inside of a room that seemed so perfect. It was a comfortable silence, and I could only hear the sounds of my footsteps on the marble floor.

Overcome by ataraxia, I looked up in awe, gazing at the tall, gorgeous ceiling that towered above me. It was ineffable, as ironic as it may be, the entire thing as a whole— as if this was merely a dream. But, I knew I could never dream of such a breath-taking place, because it was against the rules to use such an imagination if you were not a child.

It had almost a nostalgic feeling towards it, as if I had been here before, or it was always there with me, but that couldn't be right. These feelings were perplexing my own mind, bumfuzzling my thoughts and emotions.

However, this beauty was only ephemeral, for I soon realized the occhiolism of my inner thoughts about this place, due to the rules of my community prohibiting to admire this place to its full potential, and stripping me away of humanitarianism.

I was afraid, nevertheless, rather than in star-struck awe.

Rather than warming my heart, it became a sense of sudden coldness, and caused me to shutter, as the room began to glisten even more from the rising lights of the stained glass windows and the many rose petals scattered along the marble floors.

I wished for the feeling to stay and for it to be nothing but aeonian in the end. This place was only flawless in my eyes.

Suddenly, as I was commending the alluring, mysterious place, I heard another footstep, one that had not been mine.

My heart stopped, and I turned around swiftly in fear that it had been one of the chairmen of the society, however, it was someone that I had never seen before.

"Beautiful, is it not?" The peculiar individual said, in a deep, resonating voice. He wore a black cloak that covered the entirety of his body, and a dark hood to match that covered his face from where I was standing. "It really is a eumorpha of architecture, guiding you right into the pitiful deception of the human condition." He spoke as if he knew something I didn't. Just who was he? "Don't you agree?"

"Who are you?" I said, narrowing my eyes, and my head told me to run from this man—warning signs were going off everywhere. The skepticism in my facial features were apparent, I did not go fourth to try and hide them. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

However, no words seemed to come out of my mouth. Just a Jouska played by my mind, trying to figure out a way to step into this situation as best as possible. I tried to analyze the situation, but my mind went blank at the intimidating figure that stood in front of me.

He seemed to have a sudden calmness when it came to speaking. His voice was smooth and compelling, it was almost ethereal to hear it come from such a menacing person. As he took a step forward, the rose petals on the ground wilted instantly in his presence, and caused me to back away from him in fear.

"Not a talker, huh?" He said, nodding his head slightly, and sighing. He proceeded to dip his head, and bring up his hands to take off his hood. I was surprised to see his hands took the form of a skeleton, and my eyes widened when I saw his smooth skull, completing the skeleton figure. "That makes things easier then." He said, grinning, chuckling rather monotonously. "You have died, to be plain and simple." He said, looking at me. "This is the border between Life and Death. You have drowned." He said, causing me to give him a look of confusion.

I couldn't comprehend what was going on. Had I fallen asleep in the bathtub? I didn't want to die! This was all a dream! This had to be a dream! I hadn't turned 18 yet! I needed to turn 18 so I could start my life! My parents.. my friends.. what would they think?

All at once, the beauty of this place turned into a pulchritudinous sight. I couldn't believe what this skeleton was telling me. I couldn't be dying. I had to be alive!

"Don't look so confused, little human." He said, bringing out a rather large Scythe and raising it above his head, as if he were the Grim Reaper. Was this what Death was like? Did the chairmen lie about what it felt like to die? "It'll be over soon." He said, looking rather solemn as his weapon started to come down upon me. "Your soul will be safe with m—!" He said.

However, suddenly, he stopped mid-air. All I could feel was the wave of fantods as his scythe huh dangerously close to my body, as his breath hitches in surprise. Had I done something? What was happening to him?

"T... Tori?" He stuttered, looking up at the tall ceiling of the chapel-like building. His hollow eyes went wide, and his face became frightened and distraught. "TORI?!" He yelled rather loudly, looking around frantically, as if he wished to find someone inside of the room. "Damnit!" He cursed under his breath. "That DAMN CHILD!" He hissed, becoming more and more angry. "How dare..." he paused. "How dare that MORTAL?!" He said, clenching his fists.

Abruptly, he spread his wings that reeked of Death, they were pitch black, like everything else around him, and took off, disappearing instantly before I could process anything at all.

The wind from his wings gusted the petals everywhere, and caused my hair to go haywire within a second of him jumping into the air. It had almost a beauty to it, despite anything.

Gasping loudly, I opened my eyes widely and came out from under the water in the bathtub.

I was hysterical, and breathing heavily, water dripping off of my hair and nose as I coughed up water violently. I held my throat in pain, and squinted my eyes shut as I continued to take deep gasps of air to refill my empty lungs.

All I could do was sit there, breathing heavily, and stare into the whiteness of my bathroom, as if it were a void.

"What...?" I asked myself, breathing heavily, trying to recollect my thoughts. "...What was that...?"