It was almost the end of the school year, which meant that the annual school dance will be held in a week. Ella was in charge of the decorations for the school dance and volunteered Lorelai to help with the decorations too. Lorelai thanked her by looking at her like she’s going to kill her but still stayed every day after school and helped.
One day Lorelai wasn’t feeling well so in the decoration workshop she told Ella that she’ll go home early. She packed her things and left. There were a lot of people still walking outside, but it was starting to get dark, so she hurried home. She entered a park that was on her way home and saw a black figure standing on the other side of the park. It wasn’t that dark outside, she could still see other people clearly, something was off about this figure. She stopped walking but the black figure kept coming towards her.
Lorelai started to walk back slowly, something in the way the black figure moved seemed threatening. She wanted to get out of the park, to try to lose the figure in the side streets, but as soon as she started moving the black figure accelerated its pace. In a few seconds it was just a few paces away from her. The black figure suddenly stopped, looked at her and leaned forward.
“I told you I’d find you and kill all that you love.” It said and Lorelai recognized the voice.
“You are the one I sent back.” Lorelai said.
“Yes, and I was fortunate that it was you who sent me back. You screwed that up ad now you’re going to lose all that you love.” The black figure said.
“How? How did you get here?” Lorelai asked
“Thanks to your incompetence. Now let's start by getting rid of you first.” The black figure said, started walking towards Lorelai and lifting its arms, with the intention of choking her.
Lorelai started to back away, to run from the black figure, but slipped on the gravel floor and fell on her back. She started to get up when suddenly all around her and the black figure time stopped. All the people stopped moving, the tree branches stopped swinging and everything was quiet. The black figure took a step back, looked around and asked. “Is this some kind of a trick? What are you doing?”
Lorelai, still lying on his back, got up on her elbows and looked around. She saw a man, around his thirties, with a scythe coming towards them. He stood between her and the black figure and said. “What a mess.”
“Get out of my way! This doesn’t concern you.” The black figure said and tried to bypass the man to get to Lorelai.
The man touched the forehead of the black figure with the tip of his scythe and said stop. The black figure immediately stopped moving. “Good. Stay there.” The man said and turned towards Lorelai.
“What did you do to him?” The man said.
“Nothing. When I first saw him, I sent him back.” Lorelai said.
“How?” The man asked.
“What do you mean how? I just said go back.” Lorelai said.
“Is that a joke? Is not following the rules a joke to you?” The man asked.
“No. I just told him to go back.” Lorelai said.
“Why? What did he do?” the man asked.
“He killed and raped six women, it was all over the news and he tried to kill me.” Lorelai said.
“Ok. Let me fix this mess.” The man said and again touched the forehead of the black figure with the tip of his scythe. “Go back for a hundred years, then go through the decoruption ritual and be judged.” As the man said the words an unseen force pulled the black figure and he disappeared at one point screaming.
Lorelai stared wide-eyed at the point where the black figure disappeared, hoping that he won't come back again. She was so focused on that point that she didn't hear what the man in front of her was talking about. She saw a hand and fingers snapping in front of her face and looked towards the man, now crouching in front of her.
“Good. Were back to reality. Now tell me is sending some souls in the wrong direction a joke to you or do you have a hidden agenda?” The man asked.
“I… I… What?” Lorelai asked and looked at the man wide-eyed trying to understand what he was talking about.
“Ok. You are obviously still under shock. Let’s start slow. I’m Max. What's your name?” The man asked.
“I’m Lorelai.” Lorelai said.
“Good. Now, Lorelai tell me why are you sending some souls in the wrong direction? As a path teller, you should know better.” Max said.
“What is a path teller? Is that connected to the crossroads?” Lorelai asked.
“Oh no…” Max tapped the bottom of his scythe twice on the floor and it shrunk so it fits in his palm. He showed it to Lorelai and asked he. “Can you show me your scythe?” He attached the scythe to his belt.
“I don’t have one.” Lorelai said.
“You don’t you have one? Did you lose it? You have the path tellers hourglass, you have to have the scythe.” Max said.
“The hourglass? I don’t actually have a real hourglass. I have a tattoo of one on my back.” Lorelai said.
“Can I see?” Max asked.
“Sure.” Lorelai said, took off her jacket and lifted the back of her shirt. Max looked at the tattoo and told her to put her shirt down. She turned around to ask Max if the tattoo was the reason that the souls were coming to her, but found him sitting on the floor, frowning, biting his finger.
“What’s wrong?” Lorelai asked
“You have the path teller hourglass on your tattoo and the words of the path teller on it. That's why the souls are coming to you. But you aren’t a path teller. I have to report this.” Max was talking really quickly and sounded worried. He stood up and looked at Lorelai.
“Go home and stay home until somebody comes to you. And avoid souls at all cost. Understand?” Max sad.
“Understand. I’ll be home.” Lorelai said.
Max nodded, snapped his fingers and disappeared. Time started flowing normally around Lorelai. She got up and went home. She was glad that she told Alina to remove the letters from the tattoo design, so no more people had to go through what she did.
Around ten o’clock Lorelai was lying on the bed watching a movie with her earphones on. Someone abruptly took off her headphones, she looked up and saw Max.
“You could have just said hello. You didn’t have to be so rude and take off my earphones off.” Lorelai said.
“I said hello three times, but you didn’t hear me.” Max said and looking at her blankly.
“I see that they sent you here. What’s the verdict?” Lorelai asked.
“You know that you messed up some of the soul paths?” Max said.
“Yea, you told me that already. Which ones did I mess up?” Lorelai asked.
“You remember the soul of Mr. Marcus? The first one you saw and told to go left? Max asked.
“Yea. I always wondered what happened to him and what’s the left path.” Lorelai said.
“The left path is reincarnation as an animal.” Max said.
“Ohhhhh… That’s cool.” Lorelai said.
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“It wasn’t for Mr. Marcus’s soul. He was reborn as a fish and eaten alive after two days. His soul was so traumatized that he's still on the right part. They are still getting all the negative emotions and experiences out of his soul so it doesn’t go corrupt.” Max said.
“Oh no, poor Mr. Marcus.” Lorelai said and continued. “What's the right path? What happens to the souls there exactly?” She asked.
“The souls there go through the process that gets all the negative emotions and experiences, that they collected through their lives, out of them and they pass tests to see if the process was successful. The souls have to go through this process because too many negative things can corrupt them and they can end up like the black figure.” Max said frowned and continued “And by the way, you should have sent the little girl right.”
“But she was just a child.” Lorelai said.
“You are not a path teller so you don’t see their souls. That little girl is an old soul that was full of negative energy and she manipulated you. I’m afraid that, when you told her to go forward and reincarnate as a human, she will be exposed to too much negative things in her next life and that her soul will go corrupt.” Max said shaking his head.
“But when you sent the black figure back you said that there is a decoruption ritual. Doesn’t that mean that the souls can be healed?” Lorelai asked.
“Some can, but a lot of them can’t. A lot of them stay corrupt even after the ritual and they fade away like all other souls without a body.” Max said.
“What about me? Do I get to be a path teller or not?” Lorelai asked.
Max scratched his head and said “Ahhh… Here’s the thing. We can’t make you a path teller.”
“Why? Did I screw up so badly?” Lorelai asked.
“It’s not that. The only one that can make you a path teller is Death. And we don’t know where he is.” Max said.
“You don’t know where Death is?” Lorelai asked and looked at Max like he was wearing a dunce hat.
“Some think that he just left, some that he’s doing something important, but I think that he’s recruiting new path tellers. And a lot of them, by the last numbers I saw. I don’t know why but I think something big is going to happen.” Max said. “For now, I can just tell you to remove the white letters from the tattoo and the souls will stop coming to you.” He said avoiding looking her in the eyes.
“What if I want to be a path teller?” Lorelai asked.
“I already signed you up but I don’t know when that will be. But without a scythe and the sight to see the soul’s true nature, you are just putting yourself in danger so think about it. Ok?” Max said.
“Ok.” Lorelai said.
They said goodbye and Lorelai sat on the edge of her bed hugging a pillow. Max was right, without the sight to see souls she will just send souls in the wrong direction. Without a scythe she could put herself in danger if she meets a corrupt soul. Her only option was to remove the white letters and wait for Death to make her a real path teller.
As Lorelai was thinking about her options a spot on her back started to itch. She scratched it unconsciously and all of a sudden felt a sharp pain around it. The pain suddenly spread all over her back. She arched her back in agony, clenching her teeth, trying not to scream. A black mist started to come out of her back and the pain became worse. The black mist gathered in front of her and started to take shape.
The pain stopped when all the mist came out of Lorelai‘s back. Lorelai took a deep breath of relief and looked in front of her. The mist finally took shape and Death was standing in front of her. Speechless, she just stared at Death, not sure what to do next.
“Hello, Lorelai.” Death said.
“Hello.” Lorelai said and immediately felt stupid for greeting Death in such a lame way.
“I have been watching your progress as a path teller without powers and I can tell you not to listen to Maximilian. He made more mistakes than you without powers. In you, I see a natural path teller.” Death said.
“Thank you.” Lorelai said.
Death summoned a scythe with a black wooden handle and tapped twice with the bottom of the scythe on the floor. The scythe shrunk so it fitted in the bony hand of Death.
“It is time for you to choose. If you take this scythe you will become a path teller. If you choose not to take it, I will remove the white letters from your path teller hourglass. Choose.” Death said.
Lorelai looked at the scythe in the Death's hand and thought about the last past months. About how her life changed when souls started asking her where to go. At first, it was confusing but later when she put the pieces together, she actually liked being a path teller. She lifted her hand and took the scythe from Death’s hand.
“Wise choice. There are two things I have to do now.” Death said and leaned towards Lorelai.
Death put its hand on Lorelai’s back. It didn’t feel like Death put its hand on her back, it felt like Death put its hand directly on her soul. Death moved the black sand, on her tattoo from the lower chamber to the upper chamber, leaving a few grains of black sand in the lower chamber.
“Since you already have a path tellers hourglass on your back, I used that one. The path tellers hourglass makes you immortal when there is sand in the upper chamber. On your hourglass, I moved the black sand in the upper chamber. I left the grains of sand in the lower chamber for the souls you already told where to go.” Death said.
“What will happen when all the sand falls down into the lower chamber?” Lorelai asked.
“You will become mortal and when you die your hourglass will become real and your tomb.” Death said. “Now close your eyes.”
Death put a finger on Lorelai’s forehead, drew half of a circle and said. “Open your eyes.”
“Whoa! The world looks more vivid.” Lorelai said.
“That is the power of sight. A path teller will come to you and explain everything you need to know. I must go now.” Death said tapped the bottom of his scythe twice and disappeared.
Lorelai ran to the mirror to look at her tattoo and almost all the black sand was in the upper chamber. Only a few grains of sand were in the lower chamber. She took the small scythe and tried to figure out how to make it big. She knew that tapping twice on the bottom made it small but she didn't know how to make it big.
“Hello.” Max said and startled her.
“Don’t just barge in my room.” Lorelai said frowning.
“You got a scythe? How?” Max asked.
“Death came here a few minutes after you left. Can you tell me how to make my scythe big?” Lorelai asked.
“Tap it twice on the bottom.” Max said.
Lorelai tapped the small scythe on the bottom and it got bigger. She hugged it, smiled, looked at Max, grabbed his arm and with a grin said “Tell me everything.”
“Damn it, why me?” Max said shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.