1.35 — And So They Were Gone

“It’s okay. There’s no reason to fear me. I am Reizumi Igarashi, a Grimmer of the 4th Coven,” she introduced herself in a soft tone—again, a tone I wasn’t aware she was capable of using—and made her way slowly towards the kid. “I know these last few moments have been tough for you but as my colleague just said, you are safe now.”

Colleague? Who the fudge is her colleague? Wait, does that mean I’m an official Grimmer now, despite not being dead?

Reizumi crouched down to meet the son’s eye level and looked straight at him. “What’s your name?” she asked him.

The boy hesitated, as if afraid to give anything of himself to this new stranger. He looked up at her mother as if to ask her permission, which she did give with a nod. “T-Tejas,” he said.

“Hello, Tejas. I know you’re scared but I can assure you that where you’re going next, there are no monsters. No one is going to hunt you, no one is going to hurt you. You will have a good home, good food and a good life.”

“Are we going to heaven?” Tejas asked, light returning within his weak voice. Almost as if he could taste the hope that Reizumi was giving out.

“Of sorts, yes,” she said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear, “You are going to a place called Aatmahal. It’s where we, Grimmers, live to help dead souls like you and your mother. We make sure that you’ll never be sad again for the rest of your life. Does that sound nice to you, Tejas?”

Tejas replied with a wide grin and an enthusiastic nod. Satisfied with his reply, Reizumi got back up and met her gaze with the mother this time.

“Further process will be explained to you on your way to the Aatmahal. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. We are, after all, there to serve you.” Wow, she even bowed for that. Straightening up, she asked, “Are you ready, ma’am?”

The question posed by Reizumi was a simple one. A clear one.

But somehow, it also held a lot of weight behind it.

The mother looked at her child, at the bony body and the pale skin with sunken dark eyes.

Unlike Ritu or the weeping Janitor, these two weren’t killed by someone else, some human. They weren’t murdered nor did they meet their end in some accident.

No, these two were dead because of their poor circumstance, because of their hunger.

Because of their inability to provide for themselves.

They were, in essence, killed by life.

Chances were, they had never seen a moment in their life where they were...happy. Not truly.

Ofcourse, I could just be projecting my own assumptions onto them but still, to such souls, Reizumi’s offer was everything they dreamed of. Everything they wished for in their mortal life and, perhaps, in their ghostly one too.

But what the question really meant was—were they ready to live this new life? To start anew? Were they ready to make that decision?

Were they ready to finally let themselves be the decider of their faith instead of just going with the flow of destiny?

Then again, there was always a chance that I was reading too much into this. But from the long silence held by the mother, I knew I was somewhat—if not completely—right.

“Yes, I think we are,” the blind mother said, meeting Reizumi’s gaze with a slight nod.

It seemed to me like she still wasn’t sure like she still held some hesitation.

Or maybe that was again just me projecting my thoughts through her and jumping to fantastical conclusions.

The offer made by Reizumi, the contents of it...they seemed too good to be true. Not that I think she’s lying, no. I just think that she wasn’t…telling the complete truth. That there were lies hidden in that deal.

Then again, I guess for them, it’s either take the deal by some woman and her friend who saved them or keep on living as a ghost in this world where they could become a target to some monster once again.

As a mother, her choices were pretty much cut and dry. She couldn’t help her son as a mortal, yes, but she sure wanted to give him a good afterlife.

Now that she had received the consent, she held out her glowing arm again in front of the pair. “Take my hand,” she said, that comforting smile never leaving her face. I wonder if that was part of their training too.

Looking at each other for a moment, the pair then grabbed Reizumi’s hand together.

As soon as the contact was made, the red light from Reizumi’s hand seeped into the hands of the ghostly pair and crawled upwards until it had covered their entire body.

A moment later, their pale bodies started disintegrating. Perhaps the effects of the pill still hadn’t worn off since I saw how the Ruh behaved around this phenomenon.

Just like during my attack, the Ruh started enveloping the bodies of the pair. But instead of solidifying around the bodies, they seemed to carry the little pieces of their disintegrating bodies and disappeared in some direction that I couldn’t really see or follow.

The entire process barely took a minute or two and once the process came to an end, my sight was returned back to normal. As if the switch for my ability to be able to see the Ruh was turned off again. The effects of the pill had now completely worn off.

And with that, my body and mind strangely felt...off.

Like I was suddenly forced to see the world as only shades of black and white instead of all the colours. Like a part of me was just stripped off, making me feel empty and incomplete.

It was, it seemed, like I was somehow...addicted to it.

To the power, to the Ruh.

To be someone else.

Someone who I could be but wasn’t.

And to be honest, that thought terrified me.

Just a few minutes of power and this was how my mind and body reacted from its withdrawal? Wonder what that says about me…