The Suicidal Soul

“Hey don’t spill the details so easily! What if he hears us?”

“Geez let’s just get this over with… this case is so annoying! I’m only doing this for the high commission pay!”

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My head was stinging and the blurry world around me was slowly colorizing itself.

Ok let’s go over what happened. I was on the road near the construction complex and I jumped in front of the nearby speeding car. Does this mean I’m dead now? Is this hell? I wouldn’t be surprised… I probably deserve to be anyway, especially after a lame suicide.

I looked around the room, trying to make sense of my surroundings despite the immense pain I was feeling. This is a hospital room? Am I not dead? Ha, a failed suicide attempt. I’m not surprised; a loser like me doesn’t even get to choose his ending.

What if I could be the main character in my next life? Haha, as if I'm not worthy of such a role…

“Hey kid! You up yet?”

“You’re giving him a scare! I’ll take care of it, stupid. This is why you got demoted”

Demoted? Who’s talking? Am I hallucinating in this coma-state? Haha this is hilarious.

“He’s up!,” spoke an annoying but eerie voice. I couldn’t see where the voice was coming from but it was too audible to be considered a hallucination.

“W-who are you? Are you here to take me to hell?”

“Ahh this is your lucky day! We’re not devils don’t worry. We’re here to save the damsel in distress,” he said in a sarcastic but incomprehensible tone.

“I’m not a girl though…”

“No that wasn’t what I was implying… isn’t this how your Earthlings joke around?”

“God damn it! You idiot can’t do one thing right; demotion serves you right!,” muttered another voice. This time it was a deeper voice and even more menacing. I felt all the hairs on my body stick up and a chill ran down my spine.

This new voice then spoke up and interrupted the first one: “Ken, we are here to provide you with an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

“Yes exactly!” He sounded excited, replicating the attitude of a child getting their favorite toy on Christmas. Why would giving me, a nobody at that, an opportunity make this guy so happy?

He continued promptly as he noticed my confused expression: “Ehem. We’ve seen your life, your struggles, and your memories. Everything that lead to you being in this ‘failed suicide’ state.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “And today we are offering you a second chance at life! Wouldn’t that be great?”

“No thanks. If you’re here to take my life, please do so. I already suffered enough pain and loneliness to care about living anymore. This is embarrassing…”

He seemed to have been taken aback by my words and the room went silent. I couldn’t figure out if he was experiencing any sort of fake pity or if he had left by this seemingly prolonged silence.

I was just about to call out for his voice when he started speaking again, as if reading my mind.

“I understand. You’ve suffered quite a lot haven’t you? Your mother’s death and your abusive father really broke down your soul didn’t it?”

I was startled but immediately infuriated.

“Shut up,” I murmured.

“You were lonely all throughout high school weren’t you? No friends. No one to care for you, and until after your father died you finally received a glimpse of ‘freedom’ with the money he had left behind, obviously not for you-“

“S-shut up,” my voice was getting louder as I felt my adrenaline rising and my ‘paralyzed’ body heating up.

“So you moved to the outskirts of town in a shabby apartment to avoid anyone who would recognize you, especially those nasty nasty bullies, right?”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. My heart was racing and I felt like piercing my eardrums to avoid the inhuman voice.

“You were lonely and your untreated depression only got worse and worse until you finally attempted suicide and fai-“

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP…please stop!,” I couldn’t let him finish and I shouted at these voices with every ounce of my diminished energy.

“Okay okay calm down Ken. We’re only here to help.”

The other voice seemed to have scoffed at these words.

“CALM DOWN? HELP? I EVEN HAVE TO SUFFER WHILE I’M BASICALLY DEAD? JUST LEAVE!”

I waited for a moment before finally responding,

“Please I can’t take anymore pain.”

“We didn’t mean to cause pain. I’ll explain our proposal now; no harm intended.”

He waited before confidently explaining a vague proposition.

“So you’re telling me you’re aliens who descend to Earth to ‘help’ suffering people like me to have a second chance at life on your home planet?”

The voice seemed rather offended when I called him an ‘alien’, but still retained composure.

“Yes we are able to offer your soul the body of a being on our planet, Cerilea, while they take your body. It’s like body-swapping or whatever that genre you Earthlings read.”

“And why would that ‘alien person’ want to switch souls with me? What good would my deprived life bring them?”

This time the first voice interrupted and replied, “W-well you see… us Cerileans are very curious about Earth and want to experience a life here. The only way we can offer this binding contract is when the human is in a partially conscious state, as in when your soul is not fully bound to your physical body.”

I took a moment to think to myself. It’s not like I had anything to lose. A new life on a different planet? Maybe in this world I could reach my happy ending too. This is better than being in a comatose for an undefined amount of time.

“I’ll do it!,” I quickly responded. “I’ll switch bodies.”

The voices seemed to have sneered at my words, despite being physically invisible.

“Yes! Yes! Great, now let’s do the exchange! You might experience some dizziness through the wormhole. Don’t worry, it’s natural. Enjoy your travels!,” his voice became clogged as if a barrier had been placed between us and my body felt like being sucked through a rip current.

I slowly opened my eyes as I saw countless ‘dots’ consume my vision. It took me a moment to notice these ‘dots’ were all planets and stars. I gasped as I was consumed by their vivid light.

I surprised myself as a slight smile seemed to have appeared on my face, admiring the beauty of the cosmic matter, while simultaneously feeling a rush of terror had shot through these non-existent ‘nerves’ of my soul.

This didn’t last long, as I soon felt a sudden heavy weight on me and the gravitational pull had pushed me down onto the ground. I slowly regained my five senses and examined my body. I looked human? I was surprised. I had no differentiating characteristics from a human being, in fact I felt stronger and more defined than before. From the bottom of my stomach I felt a slight sensation of joy before the voices around me began to flood in. They sounded foreign at first, but eventually had a greater resemblance to English.

This must be the muscle memory of this body, ha amazing!

My smile and joy were abruptly yanked out of me as I felt a sharp slap against my cheek. This wasn’t just any slap; it was as if it was infused with fire. I looked at the hand of the being next to me before noticing flames flowing out of them, as if they had been manifested from within.

Flames? Is this a power? THERE’S MAGIC IN THIS WORLD?

I started to smile again before I heard a tall man who was dressed in metallic armor, and held a spear in his hand speak in a loud, angered voice to me.

“Why are you laughing? Do you understand the troubles you have induced Cerilea throughout the years? Alexander Booker, this time the royal Duke of Cerilean region 51 has taken action in the matter.” He took a moment to speak again and his face seemed to become more enraged.

“This time your actions are beyond repentance. I am forced to sentence you a death penalty!”

My hazy mind wasn’t promptly able to process his words, so I let my eyes guide my understanding. I looked towards the man and noticed the scars on his hands and soon after laid my eyes on my surrounding environment. Stone walls, a glass chandelier, lined soldiers bearing spears and swords, and massive void chambers with dense metal bars that had enclosed the spaces as tight as possible. At this point his words became clear as if engraved in my vision. My hands started trembling and droplets of sweat were starting to form throughout my body. I then felt a sharp pang in my chest and felt my legs wobble, becoming powerless as my lower half was giving out.

Ha ha haa… no way, of course this was going to happen. What did I expect? An opportunity to achieve happiness… become the protagonist? I am nothing but an ignorant fool.

I’M. GOING. TO. KILL. THEM.