Grim nodded. “Yeah. Sometimes entire realities collapse, and the survivors get dumped here. But don’t worry—they’re usually harmless. Confused, but harmless.”

Tim wasn’t exactly reassured by that. “And what happens if we run into one of them?”

Grim gave him a grim smile. “You just keep walking.”

They walked in silence for a while longer, the endless rows of shelves and crates making it feel like they were wandering through a maze with no end in sight. Every now and then, Grim would pause to examine a particularly strange object—a floating orb that hummed with energy, a stack of books that appeared to be written in a language Tim couldn’t recognize, and even a small, glowing cube that pulsed with a strange light.

“What’s that?” Tim asked, pointing to the cube.

Grim shook his head. “Don’t touch it. That’s a reality fragment. Probably from a universe that collapsed. It’s best to leave it alone.”

Tim shuddered, stepping away from the glowing cube. “Right. Got it.”

They pressed on, the warehouse seeming to stretch on forever. Tim’s legs ached, and his head throbbed from the constant hum that filled the air. Just when he thought they might be lost, Grim stopped abruptly, holding up a hand.

“Wait,” Grim said, his voice low. “Do you hear that?”

Tim froze, straining his ears. At first, he couldn’t hear anything over the hum of the warehouse. But after a moment, he picked up on a faint sound—like the soft rustling of paper or the whisper of wind through trees.

“What is that?” Tim asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Grim narrowed his eyes, scanning the shelves around them. “Lost souls. We’re getting close.”

Tim’s stomach churned. “You can hear them?”

Grim nodded. “Yeah. It’s subtle, but once you’ve been doing this long enough, you learn to pick up on the signs.”

Morty shivered, clutching his scythe tightly. “I don’t like this.”

Grim ignored him and motioned for them to follow. “Come on. Stay close.”

They moved deeper into the warehouse, the strange rustling sound growing louder with each step. Tim’s heart raced, his nerves on edge. The air seemed to grow colder, and the strange, floating objects around them became more erratic—shifting and shimmering as if reacting to some unseen force.

Finally, they reached a section of the warehouse that was different from the rest. The shelves here were older, more dilapidated, and the objects stored on them were even stranger than what they had seen before. Floating orbs of light drifted lazily through the air, casting an eerie glow over the space, and the shelves were lined with jars, boxes, and odd trinkets that seemed to hum with a quiet, malevolent energy.

“This is it,” Grim said, his voice barely audible over the sound of the lost souls. “We’re in the right place.”

Tim swallowed hard, his eyes darting around the space. “So… where’s my soul?”

Grim sighed. “That’s the tricky part. We’ll have to search.”

Tim groaned. “Of course we do.”

They began searching the shelves, sifting through the strange objects in search of any sign of Tim’s soul. The whispering sound of lost souls grew louder, filling the air with an eerie, mournful tone. Every now and then, Tim would catch a glimpse of something—an ethereal figure drifting between the shelves, or a shadowy form flickering in the corner of his vision—but whenever he tried to focus on it, it would disappear.

“I don’t like this,” Tim muttered, his hands shaking. “I really don’t like this.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Grim didn’t respond. He was focused on the shelves, his bony fingers moving quickly as he examined each object. “It’s got to be here somewhere…”

Tim was about to ask how long it would take when he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest. He gasped, doubling over as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

“Tim!” Morty shouted, rushing to his side. “Are you okay?”

Tim groaned, clutching his chest. “I… I don’t know. Something’s wrong.”

Grim’s eyes widened. “It’s your soul. It’s close.”

Tim’s vision blurred, and for a moment, the world around him seemed to tilt and spin. He felt a strange pull in his chest, as if something was trying to drag him forward.

“There!” Grim shouted, pointing to a small, glowing jar on one of the shelves. “That’s it! That’s your soul!”

Tim squinted through the pain, his eyes locking onto the jar. Inside, a faint, glowing light pulsed softly, like the beating of a heart.

Grim reached out and grabbed the jar, carefully cradling it in his hands. “We found it.”

Tim sagged in relief, the pain in his chest easing slightly. “Thank God.”

But just as Grim turned to hand the jar to Tim, there was a sudden, loud crash from behind them. Tim whirled around, his heart racing, and saw something that made his blood run cold.

From the shadows of the warehouse, a massive figure was emerging—a towering, hulking form made of swirling darkness and flickering light. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent red, and its long, clawed fingers reached out toward them, casting a shadow over the entire aisle.

“Grim…” Tim whispered, his voice trembling. “What… what is that?”

Grim’s expression darkened. “That… is not good.”

The creature let out a low, rumbling growl, its eyes fixed on the jar in Grim’s hands.

“Run,” Grim said, his voice steady. “Run now.”

The air inside the Cosmic Warehouse turned icy, and the low growl from the massive figure rippled through Tim's chest, sending chills down his spine. The creature moved slowly at first, its hulking form blocking the only exit from the aisle, its red eyes glowing like two malevolent suns.

“Grim,” Tim whispered again, his voice barely audible over the rising hum of the warehouse. “What… what is that thing?”

Grim, still holding the jar with Tim’s soul, didn’t take his eyes off the creature. “That, Tim, is a Guardian. Think of it as a cosmic bouncer. Its job is to make sure nothing leaves the warehouse without permission.”

Morty, standing behind them, was shaking so hard he nearly dropped his scythe. “W-we need to go! Right now!”

The Guardian let out another rumbling growl, its claws scraping against the floor as it took a slow, deliberate step toward them. The entire aisle seemed to tremble with each of its movements.

“I second that!” Tim shouted, feeling panic rise in his throat. “Run!”

Grim didn’t need to be told twice. He shoved the jar containing Tim’s soul into his cloak and turned on his heel, sprinting down the aisle with Tim and Morty right behind him.

The warehouse, which had already felt like an endless maze of shelves and strange floating objects, now seemed even more disorienting as they weaved between towering stacks of crates and bizarre artifacts. The Guardian was close behind them, its heavy footsteps echoing like thunder as it pursued them relentlessly.

“Grim!” Tim panted, barely able to keep up with the Grim Reaper’s long strides. “How do we get out of here?”

Grim didn’t answer immediately. He glanced over his shoulder at the hulking Guardian, which was closing the distance between them alarmingly fast.

“Warehouse exit protocols are... tricky,” Grim said between breaths. “We need to find the emergency portal.”

“Emergency portal?” Tim gasped, dodging a stack of floating books that had drifted into their path. “Why didn’t we use that in the first place?!”

“Because,” Grim growled, “it’s only for emergencies. Like being chased by a reality-bending monster.”

Morty yelped as a section of the floor beneath him suddenly gave way, the tiles dissolving into nothingness for a split second before reforming. He jumped, narrowly avoiding falling into the dark void below. “Oh, Death’s bones! This place is falling apart!”

“That’s because the Guardian is destabilizing reality around us,” Grim explained, his voice steady despite the chaos. “It’s a defense mechanism. The closer it gets, the more unstable things become.”

Tim risked a glance over his shoulder. The Guardian was still coming, but now the space around it seemed to warp and shift in strange ways—shelves were bending, objects were floating in and out of existence, and the very ground beneath its feet was shimmering like heat waves in the desert.

“Oh, great!” Tim shouted, his heart pounding in his chest. “We’re running from a monster that breaks reality as it moves. Just fantastic!”