Eric leaned back at the register, staring at the empty shopping aisles. Apart from the hum of refrigerators and the faint buzz of fluorescent lights far away, the store was silent. His thoughts returned to the flood that had killed his family. Years had gone by, yet his memories were clear, as if it was written in his head yesterday.

Although he had wanted to attend college, failing the admission tests crushed that dream. Instead, he wound up here filling shelves and scanning goods. The only family he had left, his grandfather, showed him how to handle tricky customers and even somewhat trick them if needed.

“Always stay sharp, Eric,” his grandpa would say with a smile.

Eric's grandpa had an accident, so he was in the hospital right now, and things weren’t looking good. Eric felt slight pain every time he thought about it.

Eric took his luggage as his shift came to finish and headed out into the night. There was a hint of rain in the thick, heavy air. Wanting to get home right away, he picked up the tempo.

Eric saw a black cat sprint across the road ahead as he walked. Superstitious by nature, Eric muttered a cursed and quickly turned to find another path.

As Eric wandered through the dark alley, unease gnawing at him, he hurried towards the distant sounds of people. Eventually, he stumbled upon two burly men seated in a secluded corner. With a bit of hope, he approached them, thinking he might be safe. But his relief quickly vanished when one of the men suddenly stood up and pulled out a knife.

The man with the knife insisted, "Hand over all your money, and nobody gets hurt," his voice filled with threat.

Eric looked uneasily between the glinting knife and the massive figures in front of him. He examined them closely and saw the man seated in the rear had a scar over his face and something bulky hidden in his pocket. He was staring at them when the knife-wielder yelled angrily, "Oi, are you deaf? Hand over all of your money right now."

“I-I don’t have any money on me,” Eric mumbled, trembling with fear.

"Then hand over your phone and that bag," the man said, his voice getting more threatening with each word.

"Oh shit," Eric thought frantically, "if I give them these, I won't be able to afford new ones."

“Oi, are you fucking with me?” the man snapped. “I said give me your bag and phone NOW.”

Eric froze for a second, fear clutching him. Understanding he had no choice, he gently put his phone in the bag and approached the man.

“Nice, you've made a wise decision, eh?” the man sneered.

In a sudden burst of defiance, Eric swung his bag at the man's chin, hitting him squarely and causing him to stagger.

Eric turned and sprinted back the way he came, a flutter of hope lighting up his face unconsciously. " Nice, now if I can just get out of this alley, I'll call the police for help," he thought, a faint smile crossing his lips as he ran.

But his relief was short-lived.

Bang

Eric felt agonizing pain blast across his chest as a gunshot rang through the alley. His hands naturally reached to where he had been shot, and he fell on the ground struggling to breathe.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Eric shouted out, tears running down his cheeks and coughed up blood while the world spinning around him. "It hurts, it hurts."

In the distance, he heard the two men arguing.

“What did you do?” the knife-wielding man asked in fear.

“I shot him,” the other man replied calmly.

“You’re out of your mind! We'll go to jail for murder!”

“No, we won’t. I know a way get out of this. Hold these for a moment. I need to stop his bleeding”

Looking nervous but following instructions, the second man handed his coat and gub to the first man. He snatched Eric's bag off the ground as soon as he took them and ran towards him, the man carrying knives close behind.

As Eric was listening to them with pain in his chest, A wave of relief washed over Eric as he thought, "Ah, I'm... saved," Watching the second man dash towards him with the knife-wielder.

He took a moment to notice how much faster the second man was than the knife-wielder and quietly thanked him for running to his rescue to ease his suffering. But his relief was short-lived yet again. The second man sped up and fled the alley just as he was about to approach Eric. Eric's shooter said, "A gentleman in a blue shirt and black trousers just shot someone! Call the police!"

Eric and the man carrying the knife were left shocked as the alley echoed with a desperate scream, while the second man ran out onto the street.

Realizing he had been betrayed, the first man said, "Fuck, that bastard." He shot off rushing from the alley with all his strength. Eric was left all alone, laid on the chilly ground, sobbing in agony, regretting he hadn't simply turned over the bag and left.

His thoughts turned to his grandfather. "Grandpa" Eric pleaded, tears blending with the blood on his face: "I don't want to die".

Sirens cried in the distance as he started to pass out, and he could hear the sound of gunshots. "Ah, that bastard got caught," Eric said, his vision blurring with relief. "I hope his prison mates give him hell..."

Eric fell into unconsciousness with those thoughts, feeling the weight of suffering lightening as death seized him, leaving him to a lonely end.

***

After some time, the landscape changed to be entirely white with brilliant lights and an elderly man dressed in white clothes appeared.

[Welcome to the spiritual world. I am the manager of Earth, and you have been selec-]

As he was introducing himself, he noticed that Eric was unconscious in the spiritual world, where souls were always aware and awake. It was unheard of for a soul to be unconscious, as consciousness was intrinsic to their existence in this realm.

The old man thought for a moment and then tried to wake Eric up by calling out his name multiple times, but it was no use. Frustrated, the old man cursed

[Motherfucker, wake up! You gotta go,]

after no response from the boy old man got frustrated A deep frown creasing his face. after all no one has ignored him ever since he was in spiritual world, he wanted to rip apart and send the soul that was lying unconscious to earth as a cripple to make him suffer for ignoring the old man, but as he was a special case old man couldn't do anything to him.

After some time the old man said, "This won't do," then made a decision. A massive wheel descended from above with a snap of his fingers. Its sheer size far exceeds Eric's unconscious form. The wheel was enormous, its surface covered in brilliant symbols and complex patterns. At the top it said "The Wheel of Fate," strong, elegant letters.

As the wheel settled on the ground with a heavy thud, The old man clapped his hands and grew to match the enormous wheel.

He gave it a mighty push. Its slots, shining with different inscriptions—"Afterlife Adventure," "Second Chance," "Guardian Spirit," "Ascension to a Higher Plane," "Eternal Rest," and one marked only with "???" started to turn.

The elderly man watched carefully as the wheel spun, his eyes ablaze with curiosity. The wheel started to slow down gradually, then stopped right at the "???" mark. The eyes of the old man widened shockingly. He was excited to see what new surprise would fate provide this time; it had been 7,650 years since he last witnessed the wheel land on "???".

Suddenly, a blinding light burst out of the wheel, so strong that the old man had to shut his eyes. This was a sign that fate was at work. The brightness of the light represented the power of the fate's influence. Had it landed on "Eternal Rest," the light would have been much more dimmer, yet this brightness had far beyond any other outcome known up to now.

When the old man opened his eyes, the soul that had been there was gone.