9. Meditate. Medicate.

Julian and I started off the investigation. We studied my soul files thoroughly, hoping to find a clue that would assist us in closing this investigation once and for all! I began doubting our progress because every time we made a turn, it turned out to be a dead end. This whole situation, as well as the setting we were in were overwhelming - Hell was no place to kick back and relax.

"That's it! I'm done, let's just leave this whole thing, we're not detectives. Even in the real world we weren't detectives. Let's just quit". I honestly believe it was easy for Julian to talk of defeat the way that he did. I, on the other hand, had seen and explored Heaven, rubbed shoulders with the resident angels, talked to God himself, and even saw Death with my own two eyes. There was no way I was going to just let this whole situation slide. Not when I've come this far!

"We shall do no such thing!", I replied. I tried my level best to try convince him to bear with me for a little while. I could feel it in my bones that we were just a step away from solving this mystery. Every thirty minutes Julian would threaten to discard the whole investigation. I managed to talk him out of it in all instances, but I was beginning to run out of ideas on how to keep him onboard. Just as I was nearing defeat, a miracle dawned upon us.

"Yes!", I shouted triumphantly as ever. At last, the clue that we have been searching for all along. Julian, upon hearing my victorious declaration, came rushing to the room I was in. "What is it. What's the fuss all about?", he asked anxiously. I could tell he was a bit distraught, so to calm him down, I called him next to me as gently as I could. Eventually his fear wore off and he made his approach.

"Look!", I said, pointing at a page in the soul files. The reason we were not able to figure out the message quick enough was because of the language that was used to write the soul files. An ancient language dubbed 'the language of the gods". I did, however, began to decipher a few lines. A few, but crucial lines. As I said Before, the soul files record three moments: birth, life and death. When someone is born, a soul file automatically registers that individual. All instances of life are recorded in the 'life file', and when that particular person dies, the soul file records that death in the 'death file'. What was interesting was the fact that my death file had not been recorded, as we had already stated, so we shifted our focus on the birth and life portions. The birth file wasn't of much help either, so that leaves us with the life file.

So, back to the story. I showed Julian what was written in the very final chapters of my life file. And it clearly translates to: "...for he who achieves oneness and mindfulness shall see and observe life in death". As confusing as that was, it still felt like quite the achievement. Every line of text in that file was very cryptic, that was the most clear sentence of the whole file, and it was also written in bolded all caps. "What does this mean?", asked Julian. He was not the only one who could not understand. I was also a bit lost. As I tried to make sense out of the whole ordeal, I remembered something. "mindfulness and oneness" are two things we used to talk about in my meditation classes while I was still alive.

Mindfulness is the state of mind that one achieves through intense mental training. This 'intense training' was meditation. I had been meditating for over five years. Never before could I have guessed that all my years of experience would throw me down here.

Night time came, and Julian signed off. I could not blame him though, poor guy has been working tirelessly to solve this whole mystery. "See you tomorrow", I said as he walked out the door. I decided to go sleep as well, but there was a part of me that wanted to solve this case badly. I donned my insomniac mask, and proceeded to look through the files. I was not usually a night owl, but today was an exception. I had never been so focused and set on uncovering the truth before. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes into hours, but still, nothing! I began to regret my decision to stay all night. I had played all my cards, except one - meditation.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before. I turned off the lights in my room/cell. I sat down, and got in position, preparing to transcend. I had only ever transcended once in my life. It was the best feeling ever, and I never experienced it again. It felt like a vision, a vivid dream. It also felt like connecting to the spirit realm.

I lit a few candles, sat in position and took deep successive breaths - in and out. I continued this way for close to thirty minutes, which was my maximum meditation time. As I was getting ready to withdraw from it, I transcended. This was, by far, the most vivid one yet. It was like being shown a vision.

THE VISION:

It was a warm and sunny day. It looked as though I had just come home from school. I immediately went to my room, and in my parents' absence, lit a candle and burned some marijuana I had just bought on my way from school. I took about six to ten puffs, and as soon as it hit, I sat down and meditated. I remembered how easy it was for me to meditate while I was high. After a couple of minutes in my mind, I transcended. It was weird, there were two me's - the me observing the first vision, and the me observing the second vision. It was like watching a movie about people watching a movie. On paper, there are two groups watching, but in reality, only one group is actually watching.

Just like the first vision, the second one was also strange...