An average looking man hurries down the streets of a quaint rural town in the south end of Minas Gerais, one of twenty seven states of Brazil. His brows are creased in concentration, sweat pools at his back and his hands slightly shake as he rushes his way to work. He stops at an intersection and looks at both sides for any incoming cars. After a few seconds of silence he continues his franctic jog.

The horn of a truck can be heard as he steps foot into the road- His head quickly snapping to the left at the sudden noise, causing him to flinch and stumble back into the sidewalk.

"Huh?" He blurts out in confusion after spotting... Nothing? There are no cars let alone a truck, so how come can he hear a horn?.

The horn screeches once more, this time closer. Confused, the man looks at the only direction he has yet to check; Up.

And from the sky, a Japanese Semi-Truck falls on-top of the man crushing him into a fine paste in a mere moment.

The Man's unconscious body unceremoniously falls face first into the ground. 

"Hm?" A formally dressed man with pale-white skin, black hair and eyes sits in a simple brown wooden chair. He leans slightly forwards to stare at the fallen man, an oddity to say the least. "Now, who may you be? You do not seem to be from around here." He asks...

The Man, unsurprisingly, remains face-planted into the ground completely out of it. To say he was dead would not be entirely incorrect, considering he was turned into smashed potatoes less then a minute ago.

"Right." The Man in the chair clears his throat and gets up and walks towards the unexpected guest drooling all over the carpet. gently picking him up and sitting him in an armchair. "What are you?" The Suited Man mumbles to himself as he sits in the sofa and stares at the could-be-body with interest. 

Two hours pass before the Man wakes up, clutching his head with a grimace. 

"Hrrrnng... Where am I?" He looks around for a few seconds before freezing up. This place feels wrong. Something about it is incredibly off-putting, making the hairs in his arm to stand. The room is adorned with a warm green carpet which covers its entirety, one grey three-seat sofa facing a fireplace with eternally raging white flames. To its side lays a comfy grey armchair facing towards a pedestal with a mysterious pink pendant encased it what appears to be a force-field alongside a simple desk decorated with a singular title-less red book and two candelabras. He sweeps the room with his eyes one more time and spots a well-dressed figure staring at him with amusement.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Did you enjoy your beauty sleep?" He asks with a polite smile. "You have been out for quite some time, I even suspect you might have died at one point." The sharply dressed figure smirks. "Although, that would be quite the sight to see considering that you already died."

The now dumbfounded guest stares at the figure with a slacked jaw for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. 

"Hi, my name is Lucas. Nice to meet you." He forces his best customer service smile as he speaks, stiff like a stick. 'Just act natural.' He thinks to himself while internally gulping.

The sharply dressed man raises an eyebrow before speaking. "I am known as The Ferryman, the one responsible in guiding lost souls into the afterlife. The pleasure is all mine." The Ferryman bows slightly as he speaks.

The two of them stare at each-other, the silence growing louder with each passing second.

"Soooo... What now?" He decides to break the ice and ask with apprehension, this is nothing like what he was told the afterlife looked like. Too dark and not enough feathers. 

"Good question." The Ferryman answers with a shrug, his smile dropping into a carefully neutral expression. "To answer your question I must first know: What are you?"

Lucas stares at him with an incredulous expression. "A Human?" He carefully answers. He hasn't been this nervous since the time he was forced to enroll into the military.

The Ferryman gives him an once over with a slight frown. "I never heard of such race... Ah." Clarity takes over his expression. "An accident between planes. You are not supposed to be here, yet, I cannot take you to where you belong. What a conundrum." He raises his hand into his chin, lost in thought.

At those words, Lucas's expression morphs into one of despair. "So... I'm gonna be stuck in purgatory?" He shudders after finishing his sentence, uncertain of his untimely fate.

The Ferryman nods to himself and looks at Lucas after a second of inner musing. "No, not quite. I have a proposition for you, Lucas." He asks with a slight grin.

"...Go on." His expression eases up into a frown. Whatever proposition he may make can't possibly be worse then limbo, right?

The Ferryman gets up from his couch and strides towards Lucas, stopping right in-front of him. "I will give you another shot at life, a second chance if you will." His lips tug into a small smile. His intentions are unclear, does he have any ulterior motives or is it simply for entertainment?

"And the catch?" He eyes The Ferryman up and down, uncertainty splayed over his face. Nothing is free, that is a lesson he learned quite early into his life. Sadly for him he does not have much of a choice considering his particular circumstances.

"You will be re-incarnated as one of the myriad of races of Gaia. I could not tell you which as of right now as the process is entirely out of my control, but, rest assured. Regardless of what you may end up as, your memories and soul will remain mostly intact." The Ferryman extends his hand towards Lucas. 

His frown quickly turns upside down as he shakes The Ferryman's hand. He is not quite sure of what this Gaia is, but, it sure as hell sounds more interesting then his dead end 9-5 job. "Deal." He nods his head up and down with excitment, it's finally time to turn a new page. 

The Ferryman's smile widens into a grin as he puts his free hand in Lucas's forehead. "Farewell, for now."

Suddenly, Lucas's eyes widen. "What do you mean mostly inta-" The man disappears from The House Of Purgatory without as much as a sound.