Damion sat stiff in front of his computer, staring at the strange email that had forced itself open.
"You who despair! Would you like a second chance at life? If
He read the words aloud in disbelief, his brow furrowing.
"...What the hell kind of scam is this?" Damion muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "A second chance at life? Really? Who writes this crap?"
His heart gave a tired thump, almost as if mocking the absurdity of it. For a brief moment, he even let out a small laugh. "Tch... some troll must be having fun with desperate idiots. Well, I might be miserable, but I'm not that gullible."
His finger hovered over the mouse. He was about to just close the window and delete the email from existence.
But then....
Ding-dong!!
The sudden sharp chime of the doorbell startled him, making his shoulders jump. "Hah!?"
He jerked in surprise, his finger slipping.... Click.
The mouse tapped against the screen. The email window immediately flashed.
["Your offering has been accepted. Reward for compliance will arrive in: 60 seconds."]
Damion blinked in confusion. "Shit, I click Yes by accident... But a reward ha, I better delete this when I come back. I don't want my device to get some kind of weird malware.
But he had no time to think about it. The doorbell rang again.
He frowned, muttering under his breath. "Probably Old Lady Mary again... always bringing leftovers. Honestly, she is the only person who doesn't treat me like trash."
Not wanting to keep whoever at the door waiting, Damion dragged himself to the door, and sure enough, when he opened it, there she stood. A frail but warm woman in her late seventies, carrying a tray covered with foil. The smell of chicken soup drifted into the hallway almost immediately.
"Damion, dear." Mary said with her usual grandmotherly smile. "I made too much again. With my four little ones, you'd think there would be no food left, but somehow I always cook extra." She chuckled, shifting the tray in her hands.
Damion managed a tired but genuine smile. "You really didn't have to, Ms. Mary.. I don't deserve all this kindness from you."
"Nonsense." She waved him off. "You remind me of my eldest grandson, always locking himself away in front of a screen. Besides, it makes me happy to know you're eating something warm."
Damion reached out, taking the dish of soup from her. The steam rose against his face, and for a moment, he felt something he hadn't in a long while...comfort. "Ahh, well I will take, it, again th...
But then, before he could say another word. A sudden bolt of pain tore through his chest. His breath caught in his mouth. As he started to became light headed. And his left went to his chest as grabbed it tightly.
"Ahh!" He gasped, the tray slipping from his hands. The ceramic dish shattered on the floor, hot broth splattering across his feet.
"Damion!?" Mary shouted, reaching out as his knees buckled.
The pain was relentless, crushing, like a steel fist clamping around his heart. He clawed at his chest, stumbling backward. His body refused to obey him, every muscle spasming as he collapsed against the wall.
He could feel his heartbeat hammering erratically, then slowing, then hammering again.
His breath came in sharp broken gasps as he tried to fight for air, as breathing became harder and harder by the second. And as he falls on his side, his eyes darted toward his open room door, and toward the glow of his computer screen.
The world started to go silence, as only the sound of beeping in his air's, and the mumble sound of Mary's voice was present as she tries to help, calling the other neighbors for help.
And the last thing he saw.
["Reward has been deployed. Transferring the soul to the $/))¥£¥∆...
The words blurred in his vision as his body convulsed.
'Ahhh...! It hurts...!' He began to think, as he started to loose vision, the world went into a blur, and was slowly fading into darkness.
Mary's voice was panicked now, crying for help down the hall. But to Damion, her words were muffled, as though coming from underwater.
His world shrank to the unbearable pressure in his chest, the stabbing pain in his left arm, the black spots filling his vision.
His body trembled until it began to go limp.
Then everything went silent.
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"wHo ARe yOu!?" A voiced echoed, and a soul heard, plunging, soaring it did not know, it was the voice of all, and the words of none, it was emotion and apathy alike, whoever it was, male, and female, exist within it's heart, albeit neither or either, yet when the consciousness of the listen heard the speaker, it voices came back as a distorted song.
Was it speaking, the soul did not know, but it answered anyways "I don't know, was I anything to begin with?" The soul answered back with a question of it's own, confused but not loss, but it was enough.
"WhAT dO YOu dEsIRE!?" Another question came, the soul took a while, it did not understand, yet it strangely had an answer, even if it was one it could not properly comprehend. "Freedom." That was it answer, as vague as it may sound.
Time pass, or maybe none at all, but the soul did not care, given it could not feel the presence of anything but itself, even with the voice's that questioned it even now. "FReeDoM? AS gOd? aS mAn? as sOmetHIng ELse!?" It asked.
And the soul replied "As me... Only me, meMemeMEEEE!!" Time pass, and the question's stop, but a verdict was made.
But unlike before, the voice became somehow clearer as it said. "Love, joy, and happiness... Pain, regret, and despair. Without these forces, the world would be flat, colorless, and without meaning. Yet unlike the countless souls who have already passed through the Cradle, you are among the rare few who embody both spectrums in equal measure. Within you, the scales refuse to tip, leaving you eternally adrift, unable to decide which current defines you, unable to remain still in one place. Such is the nature of the Free Soul. It belongs neither to Heaven nor to Earth. Its path is not given, but chosen on it's own accord. And in that choice lies both liberation and tragedy. For there is no realm where light and shadow hold equal dominion. One must rise, the other must fall, Heaven or Hell, bliss or sorrow. Roam then, wanderer, until you discover where your heart can rest, whether in radiance or in ruin... Decided your own fate, and condemn yourself as you please. But know this, wherever you end up. I/He/She/Her/Him/Me/We/Them/They/Us/All/ None leave a gift befitting of your uniqueness."
Like a hand letting go of a fly, or a jail door falling before a prisoner, the soul went adrift, free from the Third Party choice.
It had not the slightest clue where it was going, yet in this whatever, it felt the presence of the stars alas, good, and bad, black and whites. Combined but never equal, they glow, they show. And yet as it drift, more and more, the soul finally came to a stop.
It had no idea why it choose this star, or rather it did, but it could not comprehend it, this star seem special it thinks, it was an all black star, with small spots of white that was slowly fading, it's dark light radiated the brightest it had seen so far in this whatever.
A voice, a voice, a voice, it called out to it. "Please, even if it is a low level one, I just need one to answer, I am not smart, I am not strong, and I am not talented, and I have nothing worth while to offer, but I asked you ohh spirit to make a contract with me, I can't stand that bitch, my pride and pettiness cannot allow it... All I have is determination. So come out, show yourself already, and answer my call."
The soul like this star, it did not know why, but it went towards the voice, and the moment it did.
A bright light sparked forth, marking the beginning of a new life.
This was the soul choice, good or bad, it did not know, but it has already condemned itself to this place.
Such is the power of free will.