by RJ Pritchett
“His name is Alex,” Devonte said, pointing at the squirrel, “they found him in the forest.”
“Yeah, that’s Alex (I guess) and this is Maria,” Rebellia pointed to Maria, “we found her in the forest too. All of them are newcomers… they don’t remember much. Devonte is lost, looking for his parents. Hopefully, they’re here,” Rebellia gave the man a grim look, and he understood immediately, “Vincent here remembers a wife. Her name is Clara. You don’t happen to know a Clara around here, do you?”
“Uh… I don’t think so,” the man said, rubbing the back of his head, “I can check with a few people, but I don’t recognize anybody with that name. Is it short for anything?”
“Not that I remember,” Vincent shrugged.
“Okay,” the bearded man nodded, “well… before we get down to business, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Quentin. I’m one of the founding members of this guild… wait a minute… someone’s missing. Where’s Travis?”
“…” Daphne pointed to the sky.
Silence followed.
“He’s… no longer here.” Rebellia translated while motioning towards the sky with her eyes and eyebrows.
“Oh!” Quentin’s eyes widened, “he was accepted? Wow… Okay… my man Travis. That’s great. I’m really happy for him.”
“… Yeah,” Rebellia nodded, “I am too-”
“So, uh… how are we going to break the news to Patricia?” Quentin asked.
Rebellia sighed, “I have no-”
“Oh, my goodness! Reby, you’re back!” a brown-haired woman with a white lab coat draped over her brown dress rushed over. She hugged Rebellia and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, “and you brought new people too. I expected a larger group but- what? Wow! May I?”
“…” Daphne nodded.
The woman took a few locks of hair into her hands and rubbed the strands before yanking it softly.
“How is this even possible?” she said, looking at Rebellia and then Quentin, “It’s natural too. I can tell. You were born with this hair color?”
“…” Daphne shrugged.
“She’s mute,” Rebellia said, “at least for now. And plus, she probably doesn’t remember a thing about that yet. Give her some time, Faye.”
“You look familiar,” Devonte said, looking at the woman that Rebellia referred to as Faye.
“I do?” Faye asked, smiling.
“A little bit, but I can’t really remember why,” Devonte scratched his head.
“Aww. Hopefully, everything comes back to you soon. Sorry for my impoliteness. I’m Faye,” She went around shaking hands, “if you could, I want you all to follow me so that I can get to know more about you guys before your first tour of the sanctuary.”
“Just these three,” Rebellia said, pointing her finger at Vincent, Daphne and then Maria, “this little guy can wait a little while.”
Devonte was confused, but he didn’t comment.
“Okay,” Faye shrugged, still smiling, “alrighty then. You three, follow me,” she said before turning around and leading the trio of newcomers towards the large brick building that seemed to welcome them with open arms.
Strangers outside of the building stared at them, mostly in awe, pointing and staring at Daphne’s blue head of hair until they disappeared into the building.
Faye’s office rested on the ground floor of the sanctuary. She pushed herself inside and took a seat at her desk when the automated lights came on. Maria, Daphne, and Vincent looked around to see a bunch of plants in all four corners of the room, a large library that reached from wall to wall behind Faye’s desk, a couch to the far wall and two chairs directly in front of the big wooden desk.
“Have a seat wherever you please,” Faye said, motioning to the two chairs and the couch. When they all complied, Daphne flopped onto the couch while Vincent and Maria were left with the chairs. “Okay, now that we’re all situated… how are you all doing?”
“Fine,” Maria said, “still a little confused on everything involving the current situation I’m in. But I’m fine.”
Daphne and Vincent nodded in agreement.
“I’m doing as okay as I can under these circumstances,” Vincent said, “I don’t think my wife is here and I don’t know how long it will take to find her. The Rebellia girl tells me that it could take a while for me to find my wife in this world. But what about you, Miss? How is everything around here?”
“Everything around here is fine if you ask me. Also, hopefully, we can help you find your wife. Then it will be better. What is her name?” Faye asked.
“Clara.”
“Clara? No last name?” Faye said, jotting the name down on a sheet of paper.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember,” Vincent said running his hand through his coarse head of hair.
“Don’t worry. It’ll all come to you sooner or later. I’m sure Reby already briefed you on the way this world works.”
“Reby?”
“Rebellia,” Faye giggled.
“According to her, we’re all dead and this is the afterlife. Not Heaven or Hell… someplace else,” Vincent said.
“Correct,” Faye nodded, “this is the afterlife, this is pretty much a world that transitions you from Earth to Heaven. Sins are a crucial part in this world. While here, you must cleanse yourself of all the sins you’ve collected on Earth and come to peace with your life. After that, your soul will finally be called to Heaven. Some of us are here because we either sinned, or we pretty much have unfinished business that refuses to let us move on into the next life. For example, Vincent here… right now, he’s pretty much only focused on one thing and that is finding his wife. If his wife were to walk in here right now, he’ll probably be at peace and then move on. Unless he’s committed horrible crimes throughout his life of course. Then, his stay will probably be a little longer. Do any of you remember how you died?”
“No,” Vincent and Maria said in unison while Daphne merely shook her head.
“I just remember waking up in the forest to a bunch of explosions,” Maria said, “Oh, and eventually I remembered that my name is Maria. That Rebellia girl says that she found these two in a prison somewhere.”
Faye turned to Vincent.
“Yeah. I just remember dreaming about this woman’s voice calling my name. It’s strange because I remember a smell from my dream. The woman smelled like roses when she came closer to hug me. It had to be her hair smelling that way. I couldn’t see at all in this dream -it was like I was in a dark room, but I heard her, felt her touch, and smelled her. She kept calling my name over and over, and she told me her name and who she was right before I woke up. When I woke up, I was in that prison. I got out of the bed and I saw this girl back there. She was locked up too but in a different cell. Rebellia says we were the only ones locked in there. But anyways, Rebellia came, rescued us and then I carried this girl into the forest because I think her legs were hurting her or something. She was limping and… I picked her up, carried her out the building and then ran away from the building into that forest. I’m sorry, my mind is pretty much everywhere right now… There was a guy… Travis?”
“Oh, Travis. I know him well. He went out with Rebellia to save you guys. Where was he? I ask because I didn’t see him with you guys outside.”
“He… I don’t know what you people call it. He moved on, I guess,” Vincent answered.
“He did? Travis? Wait… hold up,” Faye was easily flabbergasted, “did he like… float? Or did he vanish? I’m sure it makes no difference, but I just want to picture it.”
“He floated,” Maria nodded, “He started floating right after I found them.”
“How did Reby react to him… being called up?” Faye asked, resting her chin on top of her fist.
“She was pissed,” Maria said with wide eyes, “She thought that I was somehow responsible for his… transition. She held a gun in my face and everything. She was asking me for my name, but I didn’t know. Daphne here, jumped in front of the gun
for me, acting as a human shield. Thank you for that by the way.”
“…” Daphne smiled.
“I remembered my name somehow after that. I guess the pressure of almost being killed brought it back.”
“Hmm,” Faye said, reaching under her desk, “um… Maria, do you know your last name?”
“No,” Maria shook her head.
“How about now?”
“Whoa! What the fuck?” Vincent nearly jumped out his seat, Daphne and Maria sat frozen in shock. Maria held her hands up as she stared into the dark chamber of the pistol aimed at her. Faye didn’t have her finger on the trigger, but having a gun pointed in her direction made Maria feel paranoid.
“Menaphie,” Maria said.
Faye smiled and placed the weapon on the desk. “That’s what we call a trigger (no pun intended). Apparently, a gun was involved in your death. You see, when a person sees something that connects to their life or death in any way, they remember little pieces of their past. I’m guessing a gun took your life, so it should help you remember little things from your life. Let me give you an example… if a person drowned. The moment they see or touch water, they’ll remember something. Here, I think you should carry this around with you. Don’t worry, you can’t die in this world, so it really poses no serious threat to you or anybody else for that matter. Just don’t go on a shooting spree because… just use it wisely. Well, to be honest, you can’t use it at all because it’s empty,” she laughed, “it’s only here to help trigger any memories. Go ahead, take it.”
Maria grabbed the gun slowly. She allowed her fingers to caress the steel as she held it firm in her hands.
“How does it feel?” Faye asked.
“Powerful,” Maria said with a slight smirk.
“Now point it at him,” Faye pointed her finger to Vincent.
“What? No, don’t listen to her. Please,” Vincent said with his eyes wide and arms up.
“How else are we supposed to know if you were shot or something?” Faye laughed, “and plus, it’s empty so you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“If I was shot, I’ll just dream about it, right?” Vincent said giving Faye a sarcastic look that was covered with uneasiness, “Changing the subject now… Everybody here is dead, right?”
“Yes,” Faye nodded.
“Including you?” Vincent asked.
“Yes, including me,” Faye nodded again, “I see where this is going. You want to know how I died.”
“If it’s okay with you,” Vincent hesitantly nodded.
“Certainly,” Faye said with a slight nod, “you see… long story short… I was… I was walking across the street and didn’t see the truck coming until it was too late.”
Maria gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand while the other one was occupied with the empty gun. “That’s horrible,” she said while Vincent rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
“Yup. Simple as that. I died instantly,” Faye added, looking down at her hands, “I never got to say goodbye to my parents, or tell my mom that I was sorry. You see, the last time I spoke to my mom, I yelled at her because I wanted our family to move, but she wouldn’t talk to my dad about it. I wanted to leave because I was constantly picked on at school. The popular girls were such bitches to me. Everybody was horrible at that school, and the teachers didn’t help. It was my senior year too, but since I wasn’t the smartest kid in my grade… colleges weren’t really knocking at my door. There was a group of kids that made sure to make me feel bad about that. Told me I might as well had joined a gang, gotten pregnant, or got a minimum wage job because, after graduation, nothing else was coming my way. High school is like mandatory hell. You know?”
“…” Daphne’s head hung low while Maria nodded. Daphne then got up from her seat on the couch, walked all the way over to Faye and hugged her. A hug that Faye accepted with gratitude.
“You’re too sweet.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Vincent said, “and I’m sorry to break up this little touching moment but… this place… what do you all do here? Like what is the purpose of this… guild? Rebellia didn’t exactly give me the full play-by-play of what you people stand for.”
“Oh, here… our main objective is to have fun while we’re here, to be honest,” Faye said, removing some strands of hair from out of her face, “we used to be in a place where we all tried to cleanse ourselves of our sins to get ready for Heaven, but Rebellia sort of pressed pause on that. I say sort of because none of us are bad people. We’ll all find our way to Heaven eventually and not even Rebellia can stop that, as you all must’ve experienced with the Travis situation.”
“She must’ve really liked that boy,” Maria said with her eyes locked onto the gun she held, “the look in her eyes immediately after he left was… there are no words for it.”
“Yeah. Rebellia constantly breaks the first and only rule she tried to legislate here at this guild. A rule that she herself came up with. Rule number one in this world is to never get too attached to anybody. She said that growing attached here opens the door for vulnerability. God can call any one of us to Heaven at any moment. She wants us to limit God’s direct effect on us. If he calls one of us, and the rest of us aren’t affected by it… (like we don’t grow from the experience, or we don’t change our ways) is there a point in calling any of us up?”
“I think so,” Vincent said, “it’s in our nature to get attached after a while.”
“Exactly, and she acts like it isn’t. Trust me, we’ve had many arguments about it. She constantly falls for the trap that she’s avoiding anyways. It’s quite comical, to tell the truth. She loved Travis very much. Although probably not in a romantic type of way, she loved him just like she loves all of us,” Faye said, “it’s unavoidable, even though she thinks it is. Sure, there comes a time when someone is called by God and she doesn’t even blink twice but that’s kinda rare nowadays. She didn’t really show any emotion when that guy Benny moved on.”
“So… he’s real?” Vincent asked.
“Benny?” Faye asked, squinting. “Yeah, he’s real. Why would I make him up?”
“No,” Vincent almost laughed, “I meant God.”
Faye rubbed her forehead as silence entered the room for a few seconds. “Shortly after waking up, I heard a voice. The voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time -if that makes any sense. It was a strong, powerful, reassuring voice. Now, I couldn’t physically see anyone, but there was something there. I happen to believe that entity was indeed what we call God, the creator of the universe. I never saw a physical God, or any angels and all that other stuff, I was just sent to this world, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Maria snickered, covering her mouth with her left hand.
“Um… what’s funny?” Vincent asked, turning to her.
“I’m sorry,” Maria said, still snickering a little, “it’s just that I always thought that when I died, all of the questions that we all been asking for years would finally be answered. Like, are the Gods real? Where do we go? What happens to us when we die? Was I a part of the right religion? Those questions. And I still don’t even know if I truly know the answer to any of those questions yet.”
Faye broke the next awkward silence. “I don’t know what awaits us after this world to tell you my honest truth. Are we just restless souls waiting to enter our final resting place, and when ‘God’ calls us, our souls are finally at peace and we just disappear forever? I don’t know. I don’t remember being inside Heaven’s gates, but I do have a strong hunch that when a person vanishes in this world, the entity known as God is calling them into the kingdom widely known as Heaven. When a person is struck by lightning, that’s when a soul is wiped away forever. That much I can tell you. What happens after you’re called up remains a mystery to even me. I may have answered a few questions,” Faye smiled, “Okay, although I would love to talk with you all a little more, I think it’s time we show you around the sanctuary. It’s a pret
ty cool place. Rebellia should be somewhere out in the hall if she’s not outside still. When you find her, can you please have her send that kid? I forgot his name. My memory sucks sometimes.”
“Devonte,” Maria said, rising from her seat, “and okay. We will.”
“Thank you,” Faye smiled and nodded, “we’ll resume this over the next couple of mornings to see how much you guys remember daily. Thank you all for sharing this brief meeting with me, and lastly... Welcome to our guild.”
“Home…” Maria’s voice immediately trailed off. Another awkward silence followed when Maria quickly forgot what she was about to say. She and Faye stared at one another in confusion before Maria shook her head and walked out of the door behind Daphne and Vincent.
* * *
It’s been about a week since Daphne, Vincent, Maria, and Devonte were brought to the sanctuary, and another relaxing day looked to be upon them.
While a few people stayed behind, a couple of guild members were sent to retrieve wood for an upcoming event being held as soon as dusk arrived. Later this night is where the real fun was supposed to begin. As the sun was getting ready to set, Vincent, Quentin, Devonte and a young woman by the name of Patricia were walking back to the sanctuary with bags full of tree branches, leaves, and twigs.
“This bonfire should be a fun one. I’m waiting to hear what Rebellia is going to talk about this time. It should be a memorable one… after the whole Travis thing, I know she has a lot to get off her chest,” Patricia said, “she better…”
“Who’s Travis again?” Devonte asked, looking up at Patricia.
“He was my best friend,” Patricia said to Devonte, “… he… moved away.”
“Aw man,” Devonte shook his head, “that sucks. I had a friend move away once. I was really sad. I cried for a really long time but after that long time, I just forgot about my friend.”
“You can’t forget about your friends, Little man,” Quentin said, laughing, “you have to keep remembering them forever so it’s like they’re always with you.”