(Fifteen years later...)
Death had always fascinated humans around the world. It holds a certain kind of mystery nobody could describe. What does one experience when one dies? What happens when the soul leaves the body? Will there be an unknown universe waiting for the soul? Or a messenger perhaps? An angel who would guide the soul in the Afterlife?
Death may most always tie-up with sadness and agony but yes, people still regard it as a fascinating phenomenon.
Be it in whatever religion, gender, age, social status, and race, a person most likely welcomes the thought of death and dying at least once in their lifetime. Fear it, accept it, or ignore it, death is the one thing that is...
“... constant in the ever-changing world, ” Solene finished and then twisted her lips. She stared at the sentence longer than any geek would and munched on the lesson it was trying to relay.
The fact that she’ll have to make a reaction about this article didn’t bother her much. After all, she was studying Psychology with special attention to Thanatology because she liked it and because of her family traditions.
Her family had always been a unique kind. A little known fact about her father was that he could see spirits of the dead since childhood. Ghosts if you may. And her mother, married to him for forty-five years, greatly believed and supported him. She saw it as a gift rather than a curse.
Solene’s grandparents on the father’s side were a very superstitious duo too. They had specifics on where to place trinkets that they claimed would act as a barrier and discourage any lost souls into their household. They also had traditions and beliefs about the dead, the life beyond, and how to communicate with them. Their house was built under the Feng shui principle too, specifically to repel bad spirits.
All in all, Solene’s life was surrounded by death, or specifically, it’s principles, ideology, and material representations. Joking around, Solene once called her family, the Adam’s Family, with all the death-inspired life they were living. And hey, what better way for her to top it all off other than to get a special degree in Thanatology, right?
But deep inside her, Solene knew why she wanted to study the uncommon discipline.
It was because when she was at the tender age of six, she saw her father die with her own eyes. Her mother was there too, crying silently while he was gasping for breath, trying to explain something to his wife with which Solene didn’t understand.
Her father’s death had affected her life thereafter. Her mother said it was a case of a heart attack, but she didn’t accept it. She believed he was killed. Killed by a man with long dark blue hair and piercing red-green eyes.
He was there when Solene saw her father lie frail on the ground. He held a weapon that was unusual for her, almost like a staff with the top surrounded by a cloud of smoke. A tip of a blade was noticeable at the far end of the smoke, somewhat curved and sharp. Very sharp.
Solene kept that discovery to herself, cocooned safely by her young heart until the present.
Over five years of studying, she had tried to research about the entity and the one information that came close to it was a Grim Reaper, or the Angel of Death. For her, it somehow clicked, but there was a problem. As per the books, Grim Reapers don’t kill humans. They collect souls.
How accurate these books were, she didn’t know, but she aimed to study more on this aspect, and maybe even find a way on how to kill a Grim Reaper. After all, she wanted to avenge her father’s death.
“Shit, it’s almost seven!” she cried out just as she caught a glimpse of a wall clock above her head. Hastily, she scooped out all of the books that had scattered on her table—a total of four books that were thickly bound, stacked them up, and brought them to the library counter.
On the way there, she noticed a man walk past her. He caught her attention not only because he wore chic clothes but also because he was taller than her. She had been one of the three tallest women in her university and she was sure she hadn’t met a man who could contend with them, not until now that is, and it seemed he was handsome too judging by the fine-shape of his jaw and facial features.
“Hi Dally, I’d like to bring these books home please, ” she stated when the librarian looked up past her counter.
“For your thesis again?” the woman named Dally asked.
Solene shook her head. She adjusted her red asymmetrical blouse as well as her sneakers and then smiled, but her eyes were actually looking elsewhere.
“Ah, no, just a weekly task instructed by my professor, ” she answered whilst trying to find the tall man who had disappeared into a bookshelf.
The librarian shrugged. “Okay, library card then.”
“Here, ” Solene placed the card on the counter and then went back to look. This time, she saw the man sit in an area where there weren’t any students. He opened a leather-bound book and flipped the pages, instantly engrossed on whatever the contents were. He was even oblivious of the many college women ogling him from the other tables.
Meanwhile, the librarian did her routine work that consisted of stamping, typing the details on the computer, and asking for Solene’s signature before all of the four books were released to her.
“There. The due date is two weeks from now, ” Dally said with a pleased grin. She couldn’t even tell that Solene was partly out of herself when she handed the book. “I deliberately extended it for you because you’re a frequent visitor here.”
‘Frequent’ was an understatement though when Solene knew she had been coming to the library almost daily for the past six months.
Solene awarded the librarian a smile anyway and nodded, putting the inviting presence of the man at the back of her head.
“Thanks Dally. You’re the best.”
“Say hi to your grandmother for me, ” the librarian chimed just as Solene placed the books on her recyclable bag.
“I will, ” she said and then walked away.
Unconsciously, her eyes shifted back to the man still sitting on his seat. He was still reading and judging from his furrowed brows, clearly quite invested with it instead of the women obviously fawning over him some meters away.
She gave herself a shrug.
“It looks like the library is going to be full this day.”
“You’re late, ” an old man sitting on a couch pointed out the moment Solene walked through the front door. For a seventy-five-year-old senior, he still had a thick mass of gray hair and could still walk properly without the aid of a cane.Solene dipped her head shyly and approached her grandfather.“Sorry pops. I’m on a tight schedule with my school work.” She stooped low and placed a quick kiss on his forehead.Her grandfather cringed.“Seriously, you’re the only college student I know who goes to the library almost every day, ” he commented.Solene didn’t see it as a complaint though. She just chuckled and walked towards a bookshelf near the kitchen.“All part of a student life pops, ” she answered whilst placing her newly acquired books on the shelf.“Bah!&rd
The next day, Solene took her little brother in the local supermarket for a quick shop of produce and fresh fruits. She parked her mother’s SUV first near the entrance of the supermarket and hand-in-hand, they walked inside the building with an eco bag in hand.Solene picked the biggest wheeled grocery basket so that her brother could ride inside it. They entered into the Candy and Chocolate’s Section first by AC’s insistence. Solene didn’t mind as she also loved to buy her favorite chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.It was past nine in the morning on a Friday so the local supermarket was filled with customers. Some were together with their families and some others were buying alone.On their way into the C and C Section, Solene noticed a commotion some distance away. It was the manager of the supermarket arguing with the delivery men about the late deliveries. She just shrugged her shoulders, seei
By afternoon, despite her conscience telling her otherwise, Solene braved herself to leave the house. She had only one goal in mind and it was to go to the library and ask Dally for a copy of the log records yesterday.She remembered the time when she had seen the man inside the library. She knew how to focus her search and oust those names which were students of the University. She could narrow her search down to his name — whatever name he had — and possibly try and track down his address.By the time Solene arrived in the library, there were only a handful of students in sight, mostly men taking their IT major. Dally was in her usual counter, busily sorting out piles of magazines.“Hey Dally,” Solene greeted, showing a soft smile.“Oh, back so soon?” Dally looked at her from behind thick-rimmed glasses and smiled back.“Yeah, I need to
With a strong conviction to hunt for the truth, Solene decided to visit the supermarket and ask to see the security camera of the building, specifically while the tremors happened.There was footage found, yes, but it only showed pictures before the shaking started. Solene couldn’t be more disappointed when the video stopped right when she and AC were about to approach the Nutella shelf.‘A technical malfunction,’ the manager explained, but Solene didn’t buy it. It was damn too coincidental. Something in her gut told her it was intentional. As to why and who did it were the two questions that filled her mind.Ultimately, she returned to her house with more questions than answers, and those lingered until the next day.Early in the morning, Solene met with her thesis partner and best friend, Myrna — a redhead with a short bob and thick lashes. They chose the
“Okay, let’s pick up where we stopped,” Myrna stated once they settled onto their seats. This time, they chose the University library to finish their planning instead of anywhere outside the school.After the incident they experienced that morning, Solene returned to the house to change clothes. She had coaxed her best friend not to visit the hospital. She didn’t need it when really nothing had happened to her. Myrna told her she had an insane amount of luck, but Solene just shrugged the statement off. Clearly, her best friend knew nothing of her growing fear.“We were about to make the second draft of our thesis, Myr,” she reminded, getting comfy with her chosen wingback chair.The latter puckered her lips and grinned.“Oh, so you really were paying attention to me other than just checking that stranger in the cafe.”Solene rolled
A black limousine pulled over the curb just as Meridith entered the kitchen. She had just finished attending to AC’s needs in his bedroom when she decided to prepare snacks for Solene on the road. Sure there would be more food inside the plane, tastier and fancier ones even, but Solene preferred her cooking, and she loved the tuna sandwich she always whipped up.Some minutes later, she heard the doorbell rang. She wiped her hands clean and sashayed towards the main door.“Madame St. Fair, good morning,” a Caucasian man wearing an MIB-inspired suit greeted once Meridith opened the door. He had a perpetual passive look on his face that said he wasn’t here for leisure. There was no hint of a smile nor a grin, just a signature straight face that she knew came from a certain family.‘Right on time,’ her mind commented. She expected no less from the staff of the Rantzen Household.&nb
The stewardess left the bedroom first while Solene followed. The whole time she traipsed the hallway to the interior of the plane, her pulse double worked. She felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She felt as if her insides had somersaulted sixty-nine times or possibly even more. Her breathing picked up and all her senses grew hyper-aware.She was about to see her soon-to-be-husband finally and she was going to give him a piece of her mind, planning to ditch hi’s or hellos and other unnecessary pleasantries. After all, he didn’t seem to care about that before the plane took off, or what’s more, for the whole of her fifteen years of life since they were faithfully betrothed by their families.Karma was in order and she was going to serve it in full.However, as she got a full view of the man sitting on one of the leather seats facing her, she couldn’t help herself but laugh&mdas
Once they landed and transferred to an eight-door black limousine, Solene had not had the chance to speak with the Lord anymore. The moment he entered the vehicle, the constant ringing of his mobile phone regarding business matters didn’t give Solene an opening to broach the earlier subject. Sure this disappointed her, but expecting she’ll be spending time with him more and more, she decided to bury her inquiry temporarily. Instead, she rerouted her attention to the view past her side of the window, allowing herself to acquaint with the new country she was in.But even with the fresh touristy look of the streets, shops, and the scenic spots they passed by, she couldn’t peel her focus away from the man beside her. His voice reverberated all over the small space, confining her ears to his manly sound. Adding to her dilemma was his scent: a mixture of cologne and something delightfully masculine, teasing her nose to take a deep breath. She certain