8. Back to Square One

The strong voice, coming from all directions startled us, even though we knew exactly who was behind it. "We come in peace", I said as desperately as I could. This place was dark and had some ominous vibes to it. No buildings, no people, NOTHING! It was almost as dark as hell. Now I understand why they say it's outside the space-time continuum. Time did not affect us here, neither did the constraints of space. This was the ideal setting for someone who had to be everywhere at once.

"What brings you to my domain?", he enquired as he slowly progressed towards us. Never had I been this up close and personal with death before. The folklore stories got it right: he appeared to be a fairly tall fellow, with a cloak that concealed more than half his body except for the face and hands, those were visible to the naked eye, and they appeared to be bone like structures. The cloak had a hoodie, which covered the upper portion of his head. Two red objects floating in the darkness of his cloak which go on and off periodically had my attention. That must be his eyes. I could feel them seeing through my soul.

He had a scythe as big as the average human man, which he kept behind his back while not in use. Apparently, that's what he uses to reap souls. The scythe opens a portal in the middle section of the body and from there, he extends his arms to reach for the soul. Upon getting a hold of the soul, the portal closes. Around his waist were a couple of glowing spheres, which he later explained to be 'soul balls'. He uses them to transfer the spirits from the living plane (earth), to the spiritual realm (heaven, hell or limbo).

"What is it you seek?", the reaper asked as bold as be could. I went down on one knee as a way of showing respect, and said the following: "Oh, great one. We've come here, before you, to ask for permission to view my soul files. As you can see, both my guardian angel and I are present, and humbled before you. This alone is an absurdity, for one can not be present in the afterlife with his or her soul still on existence. We ask that you spare us, and let us see through the files". "Ahh yes. Jacob, son of Francis. Your case is a unique one. In all my years as a Death, never had I seen such, and that's saying a lot, for I have been reaping souls for as long as humanity itself.

"I don't remember paying you a visit, meaning you haven't really died. The question is, how did you cross over, yet still alive?" he asked, as surprised as we were. I knew we had reached a dead end when our only hope was as clueless as us.

"You know, this all started when Lucifer died. I thi...", before I could even finish that sentence, Death interrupted. "Wait. Lucifer's not dead. What are you on about? If he was dead, I'd be the first to know, seeing as how I'm the facilitator of death and all". It was at this moment when I wished we could just pause everything and start afresh. Everything led to a new mystery. This was no longer just about finding Lucifer's killer. It was about uncovering the truth behind all the chain of events that were occuring. For the first time ever, I was speechless. I mean, I SAW Lucifers dead body, I even buried him for crying out loud! This really began to bug me, like, who was the guy we buried? And why did hell suddenly change right after the death of 'Lucifer'?

Even though he had no facial expressions, I could see in his gestures that death had no idea as to what was going on. "Here, take this. it's your soul file", he said as he handed me the book. He also told me that no one should ever posses even a copy of their soul files, but since we were facing such difficulties, breaking one simple rule didn't bother him too much. Besides, I had to study it to find clues. He also handed me the Devil's soul files. His was obviously bigger - the longer one lives, the heavier that particular being's book gets. This was because everything was recorded in it, so living longer meant more recordings.

As we departed, Death opened up two portals, one that led to Heaven, and the other to hell. His scythe can rip a hole in space and create a wormhole.

My guardian took the one to heaven, while I decided it was time to go back to hell. It's been a bumpy ride, so I needed to let off some steam. As weird as that sounds, it's the truth. Hell had become my comfort zone. plus, Julian was probably dying to know about my journey.

I approached the portal, and as I walked in, Death told me this: "Whatever you do, don't try to fiddle with the soul files. Just watch and observe". I nodded at that remark, and went through the portal. On the other side, was Julian, as frantic as ever. I could tell he was glad I made it back in one piece. "So... how did it go?", he asked. I wish I had a single sentence to answer his question. Even I didn't quite understand what I had just experienced. I told him everything though, from the moment I got into Heaven, to the last bit in Death's realm. He seemed a bit disappointed by the outcome, especially when I told him we were going to have to go through the files. I could tell he did not like paperwork, but I still managed to get his assistance.

Time was not longer on our side. I say this in reference to the realm of Death, where time did not exist. We could talk all day, and it wouldn't matter, because the realm was not governed by time and the rules of classical mechanics.

We started with my soul file, because it was the smaller one, and we'd be done with it in no time.