Chapter 8 - The Death

“I am Amara. Nice to meet you Shade.” I said, introducing myself to him for the first time.

“Amara…” he muttered, “Nice to meet you too. Have we met before?”

“If we were to count yesterday, then yes. If not, no.” I answered.

“Oh… You did run away yesterday for some reason…” he chuckled softly. “That kind of surprised me, to be honest.”

“Well…” I scratched my head, thinking whether I should tell him again about it. “As I told you, you looked like a skeleton to me.”

“A skeleton… Like an actual skeleton?”

I nodded in response. “Yeah. The only thing I could see was your bones and teeth. You also have no eyes, leaving you with only two of those things.” I said, examining his body.

He tried touching his body, checking up on different parts with his skeleton hand. “But even if you say that, it doesn't make any sense.” he paused and looked at me, “I know that I am dead, but there's something wrong with what you said, I don't look like a skeleton.”

“Then what is it? If I'm wrong then?” I said as I approached him, looking at him intently with a curious gaze. “You're a skeleton. I am sure of it.”

“But…” he muttered, looking at his hand. “It looked normal to me, and you're saying that they are completely bare bones?”

I nodded slowly. “I am sure of it.”

“I see…” he sighed deeply and was lost in thought for a few seconds. “Then maybe that's also one of the reasons why you looked different for me too.”

Huh… What did he mean by that? I thought as I found it confusing what he was trying to say.

“I looked different? You mean…”

“Yeah. You don't look human to me either.” he paused and placed his hand near my chest. “You’re a fire. Most especially you're a floating fire.”

A fire… A floating fire…

Am I hearing this correctly?

I looked at his hand, which was near my chest. “What are you doing with your hand?” I said, confused about the placement of his hand.

He then pulled his hand back away. “Sorry… I was trying something. I don't feel anything despite trying to touch your fire.”

“Touch… my fire?” I frowned at him as I heard it. I couldn't grasp the idea of his reasoning, or whatever he was trying to say. “I don't get it. A fire of what?”

“Exactly.” he said as he crossed his arms. “It doesn't make any sense. As you said earlier, I looked like a skeleton which in my defense I wasn't. But then, in my eyes, you looked like a floating fire, and not a human.” he revealed. “And that’s the thing that I don’t understand.”

I blinked. I don't think I ever heard someone say that to me. On top of Shac dying and learning he became a skeleton a year later, now he was telling me that I looked like a ‘floating fire’?

“A fire… are you sure you’re not seeing things?” I said, sounding doubtful.

“Considering you were saying that I looked like a skeleton, then I don’t think so.”

“Right…” I gazed down, trying to collect my thoughts.

Let me get this straight. As far as I can see, Shade looked like a skeleton and that’s for sure. But for some reason, in his eyes, I looked like a floating fire.

The thing I don’t get is why am I a fire. And not a skeleton myself? Why?

And I guess he was testing whether I was an actual fire or not earlier.

I turned my head back to him. “So you were trying to say I looked like a fire, and you were trying to test whether I was hot or not?”

He nodded in response. “Yep… I haven’t told you yet, but there’s something wrong with my senses. I lost some of them.” he revealed.

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean you lost some of them?”

“There are three things that I noticed when I woke up yesterday.” he said, placing three fingers on top. “The first thing was, I woke up in the middle of the cemetery. Second, I lost some of my senses. I can’t see colors with my eyes, I can’t smell anything, and much worse, I can’t feel anything.”

“You’re tellin—”

“Shhh… Let me finish it first.” he stopped me from interrupting. “And lastly, I am trapped inside in this cemetery.” he revealed, placing down the last finger. “That’s all I know for now.”

“Oh…” I stared at him, unsure of what to say.

“I almost forgot to say, that you’re also part of it. I don’t know why, but I noticed you yesterday as you were floating and approached my grave. It surprised me that there was a 'floating fire' that could talk for some reason.” he added.

“This is a lot to take in…” I chuckled softly, trying to lighten up a bit. “Did this only happen yesterday, or not?”

“Considering that I only noticed it yesterday…” he nodded, “Then yes. The fact that I woke up in the middle of the cemetery gave it away. I am really dead.”

I felt a slight pain in my chest as I heard him say that. If I could only tell him that it wasn’t the case then I would tell him that. But reality is not as convenient as that.

Even though it was my wish to see him again, I don’t think that bringing him back as a living skeleton is much better.

“Yeah…” I said, my voice was shaky.

“Hahaha…” he laughed awkwardly. “Even after pondering about it, it’s still too much. I never expected to find out I died this way. I honestly don’t remember dying.”

He doesn’t remember dying? But…

Then suddenly the sight of blood scattered across the road flashed on my mind. The scene was so grotesque that it was impossible to recognize who the person was. The face was crushed in pieces and is beyond recognition.

That’s right. There was no way he would be able to remember that. The accident happened in a flash, and I doubt he was even able to act before it happened.

“Amara, you knew me beforehand right?” he added, noticing that I had gone quiet and motionless. “Do you know how I died?”

Startled, I looked at him with wide open eyes. “Why would you ask me that!”

He was taken aback by my sudden change in tone and bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“No no no…” I frantically shook my head. “I was just surprised… If you really want to know it, then I could tell you about it.”

“You sure?” he asked, there was a hint of hesitation in his voice.

I nodded slowly.

I can’t believe I’m about to tell him this so directly. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my mind before revealing it to him.

“You…” I paused, biting my lip before exhaling slightly. “You got run over by a truck. It was sudden, and… you were completely unrecognizable after it happened.”