2 A call beyond the grave

It was an hour of silence. Waves hit slowly on the seashore, reflecting the calmness of the moment. There were thousands of cross marks standing on mud with writings. Two bodies lay in the middle of the vast cemetery under the night sky in the blue moonlight. They were sleeping peacefully, remembering nothing in the deep muted moment where they could only feel poignancy. They remembered the good memories and bad memories. We should be glad that we have good memories to remember after death, because some people may not have them. Even the small gestures that made us happy are important. People who made us comfortable or people who listened or stayed even when our life was dull and full of shadow. People who were like daylight and kept us sane. Those people are important. They gave us their time. You may think it was just minutes or seconds. But some people don't even have those seconds. You should be glad that there were people in your life who loved you enough to be a part of it. Cassandra's memories shifted to Jonathan, her childhood friend who cared with never wanting anything in return, her mother who sacrificed her own dreams for her children and gave all the love she could produce for them, her dad who was busy but kind, her brother who brought her little things whenever he went out. She even remembered an old woman giving her a toffee. She didn't even know how she remembered it. It was a forgotten memory. That is the power of death. It brings everything good and bad to remind you about how you lived. Your dreams and ambitions. Love and hatred. Sorrow and happiness. Moments you felt safe. Moments you felt insecure. Everything. Every single detail of the life you lived. Your soul will remember everything. You have noticed some people understand better or learn better when told one time. But some people take a lot of time. It's because they have lived more times than the second. Their souls have memories even if they're removed. Memories can be removed, but feelings can't. Or we can say memories cannot be removed entirely. Souls remember. A person with an old soul who lived many lives captures everything easier than a person living their first life. How old are we? Or the question should be—how old is our soul?

Cassandra's eyes opened slowly. Ethan was lying straight to her in deep sleep. She stood up. She looked around the cemetery. She felt a sudden sadness. She heard screams and whispers from afar. But it was not from the cemetery. It was coming from the night sky above the clouds. She felt cold. Where was she? She was standing on wet sand and she noticed the cross marks. She noticed the one ahead of her. There were white roses near the wooden cross in which her name was written. She moved closer to the tomb to see what was written. It was about her lived life, which she would never live again.

Cassandra (17)

Death: 13 November 2025

Reason: Accident

Aimed to change the world but couldn't even change her toxic boyfriend. RIP overthinker.

What? Cassie squinted her eyes to read it again. Was that it? Her life summary? She felt frustrated and overwhelmed by the fact this was her life summary. It sounded like a joke. She felt deficient. She couldn't accept it because it was true. Making a better place was her dream, but she chose the wrong person and supported his male ego. That put her in a difficult position where she felt incapable of accepting her own ideologies. Love can change you. You break rules for love. Sometimes it's dangerous and unworthy. Ethan was basic and toxic. She was foolish to give him a chance. She regretted it. Guilt filled her heart. She wanted to cry aloud. But she couldn't. Something stopped her. It was her lived life. She couldn't do anything to change it.

She looked at Ethan's grave. She moved closer to it. There were white roses on his grave too.

Ethan (17)

Death: 13 November 2025

Reason: Accident

Tried to rule hearts but ended up losing his own. RIP drama king.

She chuckled. At least his sounded poetic. That was also true. He never saw his fault. He only tried to mend someone else's heart. It made him less kind and shallow.

Ethan grunted in sleep and slowly opened his eyes. He looked around. He couldn't believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes to get a better picture, only to find the cemetery again.

"What the hell?" he screamed.

He noticed Cassie's presence and that brought him back to his senses. They were quarreling in the middle of the road, and then there was nothing.

"Where are we?" he asked grudgingly. He inspected the surroundings, and it brought a chill to him. He could see something more. There were skeletons in the cemetery and decayed bodies. He felt like he should puke. He could smell it from afar. Why could he see it and she couldn't? When you reach heaven, what you see is a reflection of your own mind. If it appears normal, you have lived a good life, but if you see things beyond normal or things that are bad and scary, you had a bad mind. They were children, and their bad thoughts were also limited, so they saw only that. What would a serial killer see? It would be darker and creepier. We can only guess.

She looked at him in a gentle way, but with a little hatred than before. She didn't care to answer his question. She didn't know how to escape from here or if there was a way to get out. So she started to walk past graves. Ethan didn't know why he followed her. Maybe a greater force made him do that. For the first time, he followed her choice. He accepted her decision. Was it the magic of the grave? He didn't know..

She didn't look back or care if Ethan was following her or not. Why were they alone? Or was it the fact that everyone who died was present there at the time, but they couldn't see each other because it was not necessary? Ethan and Cassie died at the same time from the same accident. Their teenage life revolved around them. Maybe that was why they were seeing each other. But something about her thoughts regarding her past life lover had changed. They were the same age in that life, but she felt older. She didn't know why she felt that way. Was her soul older than his? Or were her thoughts just more mature? She had no answer for any of those questions. She felt alone, tired, and yearning. But her legs felt free. She felt like she could walk for days. Was it an opening to heaven? Or hell? Or the afterlife? She didn't believe in any such things. But this cemetery was ethereal. It was not human-made. It had magic beyond human trace. She could feel it around her.

Ethan was silent in his own thoughts. Was he regretting too? Was he feeling the same as her or close to it? They felt tiny in the vast graveyard. Where was she walking to? It felt endless. The sand began to fade, and grass began to brush her legs. The sound of waves died down. They were getting to a hilltop. It was sloping. She couldn't stop walking. There was something that was alluring her to the hilltop. She could see the soft and fluffy clouds touching the top of the mountain. The blue moon followed them, witnessing their inner struggles.

"Stop," Ethan said. Tiredness filled his body, especially his eyes. "It looks never-ending," he whispered. "Are we kidnapped? I don't understand, Cassie. What happened? Why are we here?" When she didn't respond, he shook her, putting his hands on her shoulders, standing in front of her.

His questions were irritating. She wanted to say they were dead, but he wouldn't understand such things. He questioned everything. If you don't have a mind that can accept things, explaining doesn't help. It only makes you question more. Understanding is an endowment. It takes energy. She started to walk again. Ethan stopped her, running in front of her and halting in her way. He looked deeply into her eyes with an expression of sincere fear. She understood his fear. They were alone in a silent, creepy place. He had no power here. He couldn't control it. He needed help to understand and to get out of this cemetery. He needed her help.

"I don't know, Ethan," she said with a straight face. Her right blue and left red eyes stared at him with pity. He was just unenlightened. He gave up questioning and continued walking behind her. He would never understand this great truth of the universe that they were stepping into a grander fate decided by a higher power.

She heard birds singing in harmony. Could he hear it? The night was fading. The clouds began to move faster. The screams she heard from the sky increased. She felt like they had less time to reach where they should have been by now. She quickened her steps. Ethan did the same. Maybe he felt that too.

She saw light. A yellow light on top of the hill. That was where they should go. What was that light? A pathway opening to heaven? She knew it was where everything began or ended. She didn't know how she knew it. Had she been here before? Was it her first life? She had no time to think. She began to run. For the first time, she held Ethan's hand, and they ran together in rhythmic pace. It felt divine. She prayed to God, if this was heaven and if she was entering it, to take her man with her. Ethan was everything to her. She couldn't hold her tears. She noticed Ethan was also crying. They loved each other. Their egos, past lives, didn't matter anymore. Love was greater than any of it.

"Sorry," he looked at her with sorrowful eyes, expressing his regret for treating her badly in the previous life. She nodded with a smile, wiping her tears. Those children did two great things right there: By accepting his mistake and apologizing, he showed remorse. By forgiving him, she showed maturity. What she did might have been right. But who are we to tell which is right or wrong? We have all done something wrong, and someone has forgiven us. Right and wrong are a matter of perspective.

They reached the top of the hill and saw a red telephone booth. The yellow light was emitting from it. They let go of each other's hands. It was alluring them, but was it a trap? Doubt lingered in their minds. But it felt like the only way to escape there. Ethan's thoughts were different. The decayed bodies and skeletons he saw earlier must have belonged to people who could not find this booth. Why hadn't they found it? Were they eternally trapped here? Maybe they couldn't find it because they were evil.

But why couldn't he see things like that? It was because he still needed to understand what would happen to evil people. Ethan wasn't like Cassie. He could go either bad or good. It was a choice for him. He needed to understand the consequences. But Cassie was a pure soul who understood things better than him, and she didn't need reminding. It didn't make Cassie the greater one among them. It took time. Ethan needed more time. It was just that. A simple fact.

Cassie couldn't understand what they should do. She stepped into the booth without thinking. Nothing could go wrong. It was the only way. There was a red telephone, and it was the one emitting yellow light. It rang the moment she entered. Her body was shivering. She picked it up with trembling hands.

"Hello?" she said, confused, with no idea who she was talking to.

"Welcome, Cassandra. You have completed your 13th life. The Grim Reaper, the Supreme Collector of Souls, awaits you." It was a robotic male voice. The voice paused. She looked at the phone like it had stopped working. "You have been given a special opportunity to decide if you want to go on a mission meeting the head of the Shadowed Order. If you complete the task, you will receive special consideration and be transferred to a progressed version of the world in the next level." The robotic voice paused again. "Warning: Leaving your companion will make your tasks easier. We will provide two minutes for you to come to a decision." And the call ended.

What? What did that mean? It sounded like she could either meet the Grim Reaper and go straight to the next life, or if she completed the special task, she could go to a higher level? Heaven? And who was this Head of the Shadowed Order? Leaving Ethan here would make everything easier. Maybe they were testing her kindness. It might be a choice provided for her to decide between hell and heaven. And it was her 13th life? That was so much information in one minute. Her time was running out. She had to think faster. She loved Ethan. He may have been toxic, but leaving him here would only make him die without even entering his next life. Would his soul die? She didn't know what would happen to him. But it felt like she had to make a decision. His longevity depended on her decision. What should she do? She held the telephone tighter, breathing heavily.

"Cassandra, your time has ended. If you want to go straight to the Grim Reaper, press 1. If you want to meet the Head of the Shadowed Order alone, press 2. If you want to meet the Head of the Shadowed Order accompanying your companion, Ethan, press 3. Thank you."

The robotic voice died. She pressed 3 on the red, old telephone. The telephone booth began to fade. She was spiraling once more, with clouds surrounding her, moving faster and faster.

Ethan couldn't see or hear inside the telephone booth when she was there. It opened before him, with her gone and nothingness surrounding him.

"Cassie!" he screamed and got into the telephone booth.

( to be continued)