Redeemer

Chapter 1: Life, Death, & Everything In Between

"Bright, flashy, beautiful but meaningless."

It was past midnight in the city of Sedna. The sky was dark and the surrounding streets where quiet. The lights of the skyscrapers shone in the distance like stars in the night sky. Nika stood alone on her apartment rooftop, watching the lights in the distance. The night was cold since it was nearing December but there Nika stood alone, wearing an oversized high school sports fest shirt and pajama pants; letting out a small shiver whenever the wind blew. Nika wasn't exactly small; at 5'4 she was average in height but her small body structure and overall skinniness made her look small. It's not uncommon for 20 year olds to have her body structure so Nika didn't really stand out at all. Especially in the sea of people in Sedna, it was easy for her to be another one in the crowd. What made Nika stand out, however, is a bright red stripe on her long jet black hair. She thought it gave her her uniqueness; something she really needed. Nika let in a deep inhale of cold air.

"Sedna is a big city." Nika said to herself staring at the lights. "Will I actually amount to anything?"

Nika bends to pick up the notebook she dropped on the floor a while back. She skims through the pages.

"...mediocre...mediocre...mediocre..." She mumbles as she skims through the notebook. "I must be some idiot to think my writing would actually make it out there."

She sighs as she closes the notebook and presses it against her skull. The cold wind blows harder.

Nika shivers. "Yikes. Time to go back indoors."

She turns to look at the bright city lights one more time, all the powerful bright colors making her feel so small. She walks closer and stands on the ledge, her eyes full of wonder. She glances back at the notebook she's holding and sighs.

"It's actually so pointless..." she mutters to herself.

Nika turns around to step off when a bat flutters past her. Nika loses her balance. . . and falls.

SPLAT.

Nika opens her eyes. She was on the ground, no pain, no feeling at all.

"Nice landing." said a male voice.

Nika turned to see someone sitting on a bench across the road. A mysterious man who wore a blue pinstriped suit with a black shirt underneath. He carried a golden cane with him.

"Not exactly Olympic diver but not bad at all." The man said as he walked across the street towards Nika. "Right under the spotlight too, plus points for style."

He out stretched his hand to help Nika up. Nika took a good look at his face. He look Asian in features, maybe Korean or Japanese. He was young, not a day older than 21. His hair black hair neatly slicked back. He looked like a celebrity. Nika slowly took his hand and stood up. He was tall; at least 6 feet tall. She looked at her legs, they were perfectly fine.

"I-I fell. I shoul-... wha-" Nika began to say as she tapped around her body seeing she was virtually unharmed.

She turned to look back at her apartment. It was massive. She must've fallen at least 18 floors. Nika didn't understand. She began to panic.

"Oy oy oy." the man said, his deep voice snapping her back into reality. "Listen to me okay, there's no easy way to say this."

Nika met his eyes.

"You're dead." the man said.

"What? But I'm right here." Nika replies.

"You just fell off a building." He replies as he points behind her.

She turns around and there she was. Lying on the ground lifeless, a pool of blood surrounding her body.

Nika fell back onto her butt.

"W-wha...wh-what?" Nika said her breaths drawing in faster and faster.

She began to shake. Her hands trembling. The man kneels in front of her and grabs her hands.

"Hey hey hey! Listen to me." The man says forcing Nika to look at him. "It's not permanent. At least not yet. We can fix this."

Nika squirms. She was scared, shaking, confused.

D-dead?! I'm- d-d-dead. I f-f-fell an- CLANG

Nika's eyes shoot up to see that the man just slammed the end of his cane against the ground.

"Calm down." He says, his voice commanding.

Nika realized her body stopped trembling. She was perfectly calm. He offers her a hand.

"How did you..." Nika said to him as she took his hand and stood up.

"Please walk with me." He says as he turns and starts walking

Nika quietly follows.

"So to put it simply. You're dead." the man says to Nika. "But the th-"

"Are you an angel?" Nika asks him.

"Nope I'm-"

"Jesus! I didn't think Jesus would be Asian tho.."

"No, actually-"

"No way! You're Buddah! I thought youd be fatter."

"No! I'm not buddah!" He says as he stops walking to look at Nika.

"Well. Who are you then?" Nika asks looking at him.

He scratches the back of his head. "Well, my name is Sybaris."

Nika stretches her hand out. "Sybaris? My name is Anika. You can call me Nika. Nice to meet you."

Syb gives her a smile and shakes it. "Nice to meet you too. C'mon, we're almost there."

Syb turns around to continue walking. Nika follows him.

"Where are you taking me? Nirvana? Heaven? Hell? To my next life?" Nika asks as she tries to keep up with his strides.

"For someone who just died, you ask a lot of questions don't you?" Syb said as he continued down the street.

"Well, I'm just curious you know." Nika said as she scratched the back of her head.

"Well, were here." Syb said stopping.

Nika looked up and saw an ice cream parlor.

"ICY AVALANCE ICE CREAMERY" the signboard said. "OPEN 24 HOURS"

"An ice cream shop? What are we doing here?" Nika asked but Syb was already making his way inside.

"Sit over there." Syb said pointing to the table beside the window. "I'll be back."

Nika walked over and sat. She took time to admire the inside of the parlor. It was soothing. Laminated wood walls and low orange light lamps decorated the place. The tables and chairs were also wooden but gave a feel of home and comfort. There were a few other people in the cafe. An old man having a bowl alone; a couple, spoon feeding each other; and a student hunched over a laptop. Upon closer inspection, Nika noticed something off about all of them. They weren't moving. They just stayed there, locked in the last action they seemed to have been doing. They were frozen in place. The old man's spoon hovering an inch over his bowl, the couple's mouths only slightly open, the student locked staring at his screen. It was as if, time stopped. Nika's thoughts are cut by Syb dropping a tub of ice cream on the table. He passes Nika a bowl with a spoon and sits across her. He scoops ice cream into his bowl and begins eating.

"Eat some." He says as he puts a mouthful of ice cream into his mouth. "It's mint chocolate chip."

"W-what's next for me?" Nika asks Syb, her eyes not leaving her bowl.

"Right. Listen." Syb says as he sets down his spoon and leans on the table. "You died, but the thing is, it wasn't your time yet."

"What?" Nika looks at him. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't supposed to die yet." Syb says as he fixes his gaze at her. "That's why I'm here. I'm a Redeemer. I'm here to give you a chance to redeem your life."