The pouring rain drowned out the sound of his footsteps, and water splashed everywhere as his fatigued legs stepped into the muddy puddles. Any trace of his steps was long washed away by the rain. His right hand was glued to his face, and blood seeped through his fingers before being washed away. The young man rushed through the dark alley, adrenaline coursing through his veins, feeding his muscles with much-needed energy. He grunted as he stumbled on a pile of trash, falling face-first on the ground.
A group of three men gave chase behind him with relaxed expressions, their slow and rhythmic footsteps ringing in the young man’s ears as he got up, his frightened face decorated by a freshly cut wound. Salted rain fell down his cheeks; his terror-filled eyes reflected the dim light from around the corner.
A relieved smile manifested on his lips as he turned the corner with a soft sigh. He raised his head, his relief cut short by a sudden realization - there was no escape. The light in front of him came from a long pole, situated behind a tall and moldy wall. He snapped his head back to the three men walking towards him as if they were strolling in a park. His face darkened and countless thoughts rushed through his head. Was I… being led around this whole time?
The men’s footsteps echoed in his ears like a church’s bell at the hour of dawn, he felt death’s cold grasp approach his neck. Helplessness, terror, and regret all mixed together with the desire to live that burned in his soul. All of these emotions manifested on his face as it twisted unnaturally, his widened pupils stared at the three men that would send him to meet his mother.
He clenched his fists and took on a fighting stance, as his eyes filled with determination, and his muscles with rage. One man let out an involuntary scoff and another pulled out a short switch knife which still had some of his prey’s fresh blood on its rusty blade.
He stepped forward, brandishing his knife as his emotionless eyes stared coldly at the young man. One step, two steps, three steps. Just two more! The young man counted his attacker’s footsteps as he waited to be within range. His fists trembled, and he gritted his teeth as the fifth step appeared.
He punched with all his might in an arc, like a crescent moon, towards the attacker’s face, whose eyes followed the trajectory. He stepped back, the punch passing by his nose as the young man fell forwards. Without hesitation, the knife pierced his neck, and blood gushed out everywhere like a leaking pipe.
Why… He closed his eyes and let out a last silent breath as the man pulled out the knife from his lifeless body, wiping its blade with a crimson-dyed napkin that he threw on the ground.
The sun rose and fell as the body lay in the remote alley, and the nauseating stench of its decomposing flesh finally caught the attention of the authorities. The boy was quickly identified and a small funeral was held, the sobbing of a single woman echoed in the empty church.
Just above it, high in the clouds stood a mass of calm white light, blending perfectly with the soft clouds. It lay motionless, small bits of its body breaking off and drifting into the distance every time it pulsated.
Huh? The speck of light jolted awake, faint images flashing inside its rotund body. Images of a woman and a man, of blood and death, and - Where am I? Didn’t I… Is this heaven then?
The images stopped as the speck of light moved about as it tried to make sense of the cloudy surroundings. This feels weird… it walked to the edge of the cloud and found itself surrounded by a white void, unable to see the mortal world.
Hmm?
It looked into the distance where a multitude of colors slowly approached its direction, most of them were white but there were some green and red ones mixed within. They dashed toward the cloud it was in and seamlessly passed through its watery mass, however, once they touched the speck of light, it vibrated violently as it absorbed the color.
Hundreds of color fragments bombarded its body as all of them entered its rotund mass, mixing within, turning the terrified white speck darker. AAAAH! What is this, it hurts! it hurts! Who are these people? Who- The speck’s thoughts died down, its rotund body trembling violently as the last of the wave passed it by.
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It stood motionless once again, the dark color slowly disappearing as it turned to darker white. After a few minutes, a bright light shone upon the speck, and a white, humanoid figure landed next to it. It circled the rotund speck as it played with its fingers, its blank face covered with worry.
“Crap, I fucked up this time… He will be so angry…” It picked up the speck and flew upward, the light disappearing along with it.
Oh? The pain… it’s gone… The white speck of light’s consciousness slowly awakened, and the deep voice of a man and the soft voice of a woman rang in his mind as its vision slowly became clearer.
In front of it stood two white silhouettes, one resembled a tall and slightly fat man while the other resembled the slim and sexy figure of a woman, their loud voices echoed in the empty void.
“Come on Lumi, please take this one as well, how am I supposed to explain this to Him…” the man pleaded with the womanly figure, his deep voice trembling slightly as he finished his sentence.
The woman let out a long, exasperated sigh as her hand flew to her forehead. “Yurman, how many souls have you given me so far? Not only that, but the other Gods are getting tired of your lazy angels as well! Our worlds are advancing too rapidly because of this.”
“But Lumi…” the man paused briefly, thinking carefully about his next words, “He said he would lower my faith energy if the population diminishes now because I can't keep maintaining the universe they will never be able to explore space! Please, just take this one too.”
“You said that last week as well!” her yell rang in the white speck’s mind, who silently watched the exchange between the two god-like figures. “Ahem,” it let out a low grunt, and the two gods’ heads snapped toward him.
“Oh?” The woman stopped her yelling and her head snapped to its location. “He’s awake,” she said as she approached him, picking him up effortlessly.
“Now what?” the man asked, standing next to her. “I guess I’ll take him…” she sighed, feeling defeated. She turned her attention toward the boy, bringing him up to where her eyes were supposed to be. “Well, there is no nice way to say this… you’re dead.”
The boy, as if rolling his eyes, said “No shit.”
The two silhouettes moved their heads slightly backward, feeling surprised by the boy’s lack of respect. “Kid, do you even-...” the female raised her voice as she started berating the boy, but the man stopped her mid-sentence.
She let out a grunt before she continued “I’m sorry kid, your guardian angel made a mistake and now your soul is incomplete, you will need to be transferred to another world.”
“Do I have a say in this?” he asked, his tone slightly hesitant.
“No.” the female voice answered instantly.
“Now,” she continued, “You can choose between a variety of races: Humans, Orks, Gobelins, Demons, Elves, Demi-humans, Lizardmen, Dwarves, Mermaids, Nymphs, Ghosts, Ancient Beasts, Eons, and Vampires. I have to warn you though, vampires are like playing a game on hard mode.”
“Did you put the whole RPG genre in there?” he asked jokingly.
“N-no!” the Goddess’s voice cracked as she replied anxiously.
So I hit the nail on the head?...
“Enough with your comments, tell me which one you chose so I can get this over with.” She commanded hurriedly, in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
“I want to be a vampire, how bad can it be?”
The two Gods stared at each other and then at the boy before the Goddess asked “Are you sure? It’s not the fantasy you may think it is.”
“Yeah, it could be interesting. I just want a simple life though, nothing too complicated…”
The Goddess shook her head but in the end, she flicked her hand in front of the boy and he disappeared, her voice echoing in his mind “Fine, but don’t regret it later. Also, you won’t remember anything… hopefully.”
A short moment later her and Yurman’s figure materialized in the white void. She wore a white robe that accentuated her form, and her perfect skin sparkled under the halo of light behind her. She had long flocks of blue hair and her golden eyes shone with intense holy light.
A look of surprise manifested on her face as she murmured under her breath… “Hmm? That family… he should be fine, hopefully. Aye! Why is everything ‘hopefully’ when it comes to Yurman?”
She gave the guardian angel a stern look of displeasure before her body disappeared, without even saying goodbye to the other God.
The angel didn’t notice her behavior, however, as his eyes lingered on the boy’s soul until he disappeared. That soul was really weird… Despite how many memories it should have lost, he was way heavier than any other. And usually, young souls are pure white, for some reason he had a lot of colors mixed in…