Panicked footsteps rang through a dark alley, drowned out by the pouring rain. Water splashed everywhere as a young man stepped through the muddy puddles. Any trace he left vanished as soon as they appeared, safe for his lingering pants. His right hand stood glued to his face, crimson blood seeping between his fingers. It vanished in an instant, though, washed away by the rain. He staggered through the alley and stumbled on a pile of trash, falling face-first on the ground.

  He rose with difficulty. His face, now completely revealed, was decorated by a recently carved slash cutting across his visage. Glancing backward, his sapphire blue eyes widened with terror upon seeing a group of three men creeping forward. They wore relaxed expressions as they hunted down the young man. Their facial features were almost completely obscured by a flat cap, safe for their mocking smiles.

  The young man winced in pain as he rushed forward, barely picking up the pace, only focusing on escaping and pleading for help. His frightened pupils shone with hope upon seeing a soft, orange light emanating from around a corner. With a relieved smile, he turned, and a pit formed in his stomach. His face fell, his eyes dimmed, and he bit down on his lower lip upon realizing the truth. Nowhere to go… Staring at the source of the light – a streetlamp tall enough to creep past a tall, moldy, and mossy wall. His head snapped toward the three men, and anger rushed through his body as his hands clenched into a fist.

  Was I being led around this whole time…?

  The men’s rhythmic, unbothered footsteps rang in his ears like a church’s bell at the first hour of dawn. Death’s cold grasp gripped his neck as he gulped, and backed away until the wall stopped his retreat. “Someone! Help! Help! Please! Please help me!” His cries, however, went unnoticed, drowned out by the hailing rain and passing cars. Of course, who would be out in this weather?

  His heart threatened to jump out of his chest as he watched the group of men creep ever so closer. Helplessness, terror, regret, anger. A myriad of emotions appeared on his face as his expression twisted unnaturally. A sort of half-mocking laughter and a hopeless cry escaped his adrenaline-filled body. He glared at the three and took on a fighting stance. Holding out two fists forward and bent his back, placing his legs diagonally for balance. This is how they do it on TV, right?

  A scoff escaped one of the men’s lips, then he took out a switchblade from his front pocket. It swished open, revealing the rusted knife, dripping still with fresh blood. The young man felt a wild shiver run down his spine upon seeing the weapon that wounded him. Despite the intense fear, his pupils constricted, and he readied himself to fight. Either I die fighting or get murdered like a sheep, it’s all the same, isn’t it? The hopeless thought passed through his mind as he watched the attacker’s movements.

  The man with the knife walked forward, followed by the other two, who in turn pulled out their own knives. A similar sadistic smile creased each of their lips. One step, two steps, three steps… He counted and measured the distance between them, his arms trembling, legs shaking, and heart racing. Just two more… please… And his efforts weren’t in vain as the man took three quick steps, arriving before the young man in a matter of moments.

  I want to live! A desperate cry echoed in his head, and let out a loud grunt as he swung his fist in a crescent moon-like arc toward the attacker’s face. His eyes followed the trajectory and he took a step back, the fist making contact with his nose before… he dug the knife into the young man’s neck. A soundless cry escaped the young man’s lips, his eyes widening, losing color as blood gushed out everywhere like a leaking pipe.

  “In your next life, mind your own damned business, kid.” The man said, pulling out the knife and wiping it clean with a cloth. He then threw the dirty rag on the ground, his cold, emerald eyes watched as life slipped out of the young man’s body before leaving.

  Why… The young man’s dimming eyes shut forever as he let out a last, silent breath, just catching a glimpse of the men’s departing figures.

  …

  The sun rose and fell over the bustling city, its soft rays touching every nook and cranny, including the now-dried, remote alley. The boy’s corpse finally began to decompose after several cycles. It emitted a nauseating odor that proved difficult to ignore, even for the people over the wall. Authorities rushed to the location of the murder, and they identified him after searching through his pockets.

  A small funeral was held, with the sobbing of a lone woman dressed in black echoing through the empty church.

  Above it, where the clouds met the sky, a mass of unmoving white light harmonized with the environment. It lay still and small bits of its ethereal body broke off and drifted into the distance or floated around it.

  Huh? The mass of light vibrated without making a sound as it jolted awake. Faint images of a man and a woman surrounded by blood and death flashed inside its rotund body. Where am I? It asked itself, waiting for an answer, yet no one replied. Looking around and finding itself in a soft, white cloud, it could only come to a single conclusion. Is this heaven? Did -

  The images stopped as it moved about, trying to make sense of its surroundings. This is weird… It walked to the edge of the cloud and found itself surrounded by a white void. Looking down or up revealed the same thing, and the land down below became but a blurry fog that soon disappeared.

  Hmm? A sudden whistling sound grabbed its attention, and it grew bigger by a few notches. A tremor ran through its surface. What the-! It gasped as a cloud of sorts made up of what had to be thousands of light particles of different colors and sizes rushed right toward it. By the time it reacted, it was too late, as the hundreds of lights passed right through its ethereal body. Its color changed a few dozen times in the span of a second; From yellow, to red, to blue, green, and so on.

  All the while, its rotund body trembled as it jumped up and down, a primal fear building up inside. What’s going on?! Aargh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Who are these people Who- And its thoughts died down as the last of the wave passed it, its round shape shaking before calming down.

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  As it stood there, motionless, its color returned to a bright white. A few minuscule, almost unnoticeable flickers floated about inside it. After a few minutes passed, a bright light shone upon the speck of light, and a humanoid figure descended from within. It had no features to speak of, save for two bracelets, a loose robe, and a pair of wings. Fidgeting with its fingers, it circled the rotund shape a few times, its blank face wearing a worried expression.

  “I messed up this time…” It murmured with a tinge of misery. “He will be so angry with me, crap.” Picking up the speck, it flew upward, disappearing from the cloud and the light along with it.

  …

  It doesn’t hurt anymore… The white speck awoke, the deep voice of a man and the tender, annoyed voice of a woman ringing in his mind. It looked around as its blurry vision returned to normal. Just like before, though, nothing but a white blankness surrounded it.

  Before it stood two silhouettes, one of which resembled a tall, muscular man with long hair and a loose robe. Its head was lowered as it talked to the second silhouette. It resembled a woman, with straight, long hair and a light halo shining above her head. She wore a long, loose dress but just tight enough to show her figure, decorated with bits of jewelry.

  Yet, neither of them had any more detail than the previous silhouette. They had a slight contour around their bodies, but nothing more. Their voices echoed as they spoke, as if through a filter, and they bounced off against the ethereal walls.

  “Come on Lumi,” the voice of the man-like figure pleaded toward the woman-like one, his deep voice wavering as he spoke. “Please take this one as well, I don't have a way to explain this to Him.”

  “Yurman,” the second silhouette sighed as her hand flew to her forehead, rubbing her temples with apprehension. “How many souls have you given me so far?” She asked, a melodious voice escaping her lips. “Me and the other Gods are getting tired of your angels slacking off. On top of that, you leave it to us to deal with your mistakes! We can't even keep up with the advancements in our worlds because of you.”

  Hearing that, the man's figure’s silhouette grew smaller, however a hint of arrogance lingered in his voice. “Lumi…” He paused for a moment, then said in the best catering voice he could. “He threatened to lower my capacity of faith energy if I kept making mistakes like this. If that happens, outer space exploration will be delayed and-”

  “You said that last week as well!” She snapped back, yelling in annoyance, rocking the white speck of light’s mind. It watched the exchange between the two God-like figures without making a sound. It wasn't expecting to be caught in the crossfire. Letting out an involuntary grunt, the two God’s heads turned toward him, one more surprised than the other.

  “Oh?” The woman-like figure stopped yelling and approached the white speck of light, picking it up as if it were a feather. Holding it in her palm, she looked at it with a curious gaze. “It’s awake.”

  “What now?” The man asked, standing next to her.

  “I guess… I guess I can take it.” She sighed in defeat. Turning her attention toward the white speck of light, she gave it a gentle tap. The figure of what it once was, or rather, who it once was, manifested within. The same boy that died not too many nights ago, murdered in the dark alley, now took the form of this ethereal blob.

  The God-like woman brought it to her eye level, though she had no eyes to speak of, and said, “Welcome, uhm, you’re dead.”

  The boy, in a sarcastic, self-mocking voice, said, “No shit.”

  Upon hearing him talk, the two silhouettes took a slight step back, looking at each other with surprise. “Kid, you need to learn how to respect people.” The woman raised her voice, berating him, but stopped whatever else she wanted to say as the man tapped her shoulder.

  “Ugh,” she grunted, annoyed. “I’m sorry kid but your guardian angel over there,” she pointed toward the silhouette that picked him up, standing sheepishly in a corner. “He made a mistake and now your soul… energy is incomplete. Unfortunately, you need to be transferred to another world before being recyclable.

  Recyclable? The boy pondered, but something told him he was better off not knowing. Instead, he rose, jumping and becoming an oval shape, then said, “Do I have a say in this?”

  “No,” the female voice answered with haste, not bothering to hide the annoyance within her voice.

  “Now,” she continued, dropping the boy to the floor. “You can choose between a variety of races, such as Humans, Orks, Gobelins, Demons, Elves, Demi-humans, Eons, and Vampires. Though I don’t advise you to choose vampires, most of the people I sent as vampires came back much too quick.”

  “Did you put the whole fantasy genre in there?” he asked, jokingly, however the way she replied next rose some suspicion.

  “N-no, of course not…” she laughed, unable to hide her anxiety as her voice cracked.

  I hit the nail on the head, then? Wow…

  “Enough with your comments,” she snapped, as if able to read his mind. “Tell me which race you want to be reborn in so we can get this over with.”

  Hmm… so many races to choose from, though none of them sound particularly appealing. What do I get if I become a human again… He pondered, remembering the stomach-churning moment of his death, and how his life had been taken by another like snapping a twig. No, fuck humans, I don’t want to do that again. Elves… maybe, in all the books I read they were long-lived species but very isolated… I don’t think I could live a life like that. Eons sound like they could live long lives but I know nothing about them…

  What’s left then…

  As he considered everything, the two Gods looked at one another without making a sound. One nervous and one angry, they waited, trying not to peep too much into the boy’s thoughts. “Sure is taking his sweet time, huh? Most others chose humans or Elves, and he doesn’t want either.”

  The man-like silhouette shrugged but waited for the boy to decide, not being in a hurry.

  I don’t want to be some monster, either. Lizardmen and the rest seem kind of lame and I’ve never heard of them, what even is a Nymph… Vampire, though? I don’t know that much about them, but they were depicted as cool and seductive… and… immortal.

  “I've decided,” He raised, jumping up and down like a child. “I want to be a-“

  “Vampire,” the Goddess interrupted him, and willed him upward, in her palm. “Are you sure? It’s not the fantasy you think it is.” She asked with a hint of concern.

  The boy took a moment to reflect before replying. “Yeah, I trust that I won't die as fast as the rest. I'll make it so I live a long life.”

  After hearing him out, the two had no desire to stop him, and neither did they try. “Fine, but don’t cry about it when you see us next time, if you remember anything, that is.” With that said, she tapped the white speck of light, and its shape broke apart into countless shards that disappeared into thin air.

  A few moments later, a surprised expression manifested on the Goddesses face, and she murmured under her breath. “That family… he should be safe then unless something unexpected happens… hopefully. Aye, why is everything ‘hopefully’ when it comes to Yurman!” Her annoyed figure disappeared from the space, leaving the God’s, Yurman’s figure alone with the guardian angel. He gave the angel a stern look, then disappeared as well, leaving him alone, looking into the void.

  “Why was he so heavy…” he voiced his thoughts, fading away, gulping, expecting punishment. “Young souls are usually light and pure white, he was... weird… oh well. I just hope he didn’t lose too many memories if he were to remember anything.”