Let Me Live

Death is waiting for Grace Goodwill, will he finish the task assigned to him? Or will he have no choice but to welcome his end.

Let me live

 

“14 more days to go, hell is waiting”

 

 

            My eyes jumped open, the only thing I felt was the soreness from certain parts of my body, while the rest was still numb from sleep. While others would be worried or panic in such situation, it was just another night of “trying to sleep” to me. Without a moment’s hesitation, I did a quick scan of my nightly routine.

 

 

            Just like other nights, I let my eyes slowly focused on the surroundings basked in the darkness of the night. At the same time, I noticed something amiss. My body felt wet, which was unusual as I remembered falling asleep on my bed. I quickly got up to inspect my bed and to check out.

 

 

            “Did I fall asleep in a pool?”, I pondered to myself as I slowly started to realize that my body was drenched from head to toe.

           

 

            A hint of fear suddenly started to manifest in the depths of my heart. I vaguely remembered drinking a few cups of water before bed.  It was not hard starting to imagine something else that was soaking the four corners of the bed. I started to inspect it attentively, albeit curiously, while hoping fervently that it wasn’t what I thought it was.

 

 

            “It was just my sweat,” I sighed.  A grown man like myself did not need that sort of new experience in life, I mumbled.

 

 

            Waking up drenched in sweat and panic in the middle of the night would be just another “routine” in my somewhat uneventful life. The last thing to complete it was a tragic back story and I could be easily mistaken as a main character for a third rate novel.

 

 

            “Oh wait, I do have one of those, don’t I? Isn’t my life itself a tragic backstory?” I muttered to myself.

 

 

            I reached out and grabbed the bottle of water by the bedside and sipped it silently while waiting for my brain to slowly awaken.

 

 

            If I wasn’t thirty years old I would have thought I was getting old. Once I even pondered if I was just an exception compared to the rest. After a few decades of living, people tend to stop counting their age, maybe I just stopped counted one day and forgot about it. The thoughts currently going through my head might seem silly, but I would just blame it on my half-awake brain.

 

            Waiting to regain my senses and recollect myself was like waiting at the post office or the local bank, annoying and boring yet something I had to go through once in a while. Sometimes one more than another, but that’s a story for another time.

 

 

            As my brain was in the midst of processing, the line that woke me up suddenly popped up. When I remembered the sentence, I nearly choked on the water that I was drinking and spat it out on my newly washed floor.

 

 

            I have always been known as a decisive person, making critical and hard decisions in life was as habitual as waking up and going to bed. Therefore at that very moment, I knew it was better to choke on the water than to grab a mop and clean it up in the middle of the night. Thus, without any hesitation and thought, I forced it down my throat and swallowed it whole; being subjected to my own cooking for years, this was no big feat.

 

 

            My eyes unconsciously drifted to the black shadow in the corner of the room. A small outline of a cat could be vaguely seen if one was to focus hard enough on it. The cat was snow white in colour, with orange spots around its body. It was round and chubby, nothing short of a fat fur ball that any person would find adorable.

 

 

            However unlike ordinary cats, this one had the number fourteen written on its forehead. Two digits “1” and “4” were written in bold with black ink on the cat, it appeared so natural that others would find it to be a birthmark. Bystanders would look at the cat and think it was nothing more than cute and ordinary, but only I knew that it wasn’t. In fact, other people would not even be able to see the cat at all.

 

 

            I threw back my head and a sigh unconsciously escaped my mouth. For what seemed like an entire year, I have been plagued by nightmares and mental breakdowns. For the most part of my life, one would often associate the world confident, passionate and courageous when describing me. At present, what was left of me now was nothing but an empty shell of its former glory.

 

 

            The source of all this trouble, was of course the cat that was floating in the corner of the room right at this moment. The cat would often disappear for a while but only to reappear a few moments later. After a few months of such shenanigans, it became the norm for me, and I ignored it all together.

 

 

            Thinking back, the cat may not be entirely to blame for this; it was also due to my own negligence, as a matter of fact.

 

 

            A small Volkswagen Beetle, overturned; a well-built young man lying on the middle of the road in a pool of own blood, cool night breeze blowing his hair- this was how the night of last year’s Christmas ended for me.

 

 

            As the one lying on the road and slowly drowning in my own blood, I couldn’t help but to recall the previous events of the night.

 

            To quote some philosophers, when you are at the doors of death, your life seamlessly flashes before your very eyes. This was of course nothing short of rubbish that every fiction writer would like to believe was true. It had even turned into a type of clichés in novels.

 

 

             However what actually happened was an entirely different experience for me. My head was still spinning, half from the crash, half from the alcohol I consumed earlier.

 

 

            “Maybe I was probably too drunk to notice or see the movie playing,” I pondered to myself.

 

 

            The only thing that I could have seen lying on the road was limited. In my eyes was the limitless night sky that even covered the busy city far away from me.

 

 

            That night, the dark sky was empty. Dark heavy clouds were swirling around the night sky and obscured anything that was once visible. It seem as if someone stole the moon and stars just to ensure that I could not have a beautiful last sight in this lifetime. How sad would I be if I was plundered of this last sight, yet again.    

 

 

            Drip… Drip…

 

 

            The surroundings were in complete silence, not a single living thing was heard within a twenty mile radius around me. Regret instantly grew within the depths of my hearth, I instantly realized that I should not have drown myself in alcohol before driving. Otherwise I would not be drowning in my own blood at present. Now, my car was overturned and I was lying here patiently waiting for death to humbly greet me. Life is truly mysterious and full of wonders sometimes.

 

 

            “Meow”

 

 

            A cat? I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that soft cry. I was absolutely sure that no living thing was around me. Curiosity filled my heart, I instantly wanted to turn to around and see. However to no avail as my body was broken from the crash, the only thing that was still within my power at the moment was not to faint from excessive blood lost.

 

 

            “Meow”

 

 

            Again, the cry repeated more loudly; but this time a large beast accompanied it. It was a large white beast with large claws that were easily five meters long. Its claws looked like it could effortlessly tear a human apart with just its sharpness; which I shuddered to imagine what it could do to my body.

 

            The beast had big yellow eyes that looked exactly like a feline’s and large whiskers were on its mouth filled with sharp teeth. On its head were strange blood red markings; and on its back, a long fluff tail that accompanied it. The beast looked more of a fox than a cat but I did not point it out as I was not suicidal.

 

 

            “Do you want to live, human?” the beast said with temptation. Its voice was strangely comforting as I felt the pain slowly subsided within me.

 

 

            “Who…. Who are you?” I tried to ask. My words were shaky and inaudible, but I could not seem to muster the courage an octave higher, in front of this huge beast.

 

 

            “Just a local cat deity, a bored one at that. Hey kid, you haven’t answered my question. Do you want to live? I can help to extend your life.” The beast said with a sly grin.

 

 

            There was a certain look in the beast’s eyes. It was as if it was staring at a new toy, wanting to play with it until it was less bored or worst, broken. As quickly as the thought crossed my mind, it vanished as quickly too, as it could, as absolutely did not want to die. I was waiting for a miracle, something I hoped with all my heart that the beast could produce for me.

 

           

            “Yes! Let me live! Let me live! I don’t want to die!” I shouted as loud as possible.

 

 

            My surroundings instantly turned pitch black, it was as if the universe disappeared before my very eyes. What was left of my body instantly went cold to the bone, I could not help but wondered if those were my last words.

 

 

            “Done! Don’t regret it”, the beast said straight after with a crafty smile.

 

 

            Golden light covered my body from head to toe. My injuries were being healed at a rapid pace that was even noticeable to the naked eye. Even my car that was previously overturned was back to its normal condition. It was as if that accident never happened. This was nothing short of a miracle.

 

 

            “Thank you cat deity!” I shouted with delight and a hint of respect could be detected in my voice.

 

 

            The beast in front of me brought me back from the dead in an instant. I guessed that this beast in front of me was no easy mongrel at all. Thus I did not hold back on politeness when facing it.

           

            The deity did not say anything, but instead pointed at me with one of its claws. Strange markings instantly appeared around it. Each was basked in golden light and looked complicated. If one was to look closely, it would seem that each contained an essence of nature to it.

 

 

            BOOM..

 

 

            The markings flew from the beast’s claw and landed on my forehead. A strange complicated symbol was immediately etched on my forehead.  I did not even have the time to examine it as it instantly flew out and transformed into a small fat cat.

 

 

            It was snow white like the beast in front of me. However unlike it, this cat had orange spots around its body. On its forehead was a strange marking that had the digits “3”, “6”, “5” on it.

 

 

            “Listen kid, I haven’t messed around with you yet. So here’s a small parting gift. You see the numbers on the cat’s head? That’s how long you have to life.”

 

 

            “What?!”

 

 

            “I told you that I could only extend your life, didn’t I. Anyway you have till that long to do a good deed that I find adequate. Go over the time limit, and maybe I’ll come and eat you.” The beast continued without giving me a chance to speak.

 

 

            “But, I didn’t agree to this!” I protested with all my heart. I thought I was able to escape death, but it turns out I just took a detour and was heading straight at it again.

 

 

            Poofff…

 

 

            The beast exploded in front of me, leaving nothing behind but white mist. However an audible roar was still ringing in my ears after it disappeared.

 

 

            “Life’s not fair kid, now get to work!”

 

 

            Fast forward three hundred fifty one days later, I still had not done anything close to a good deed, let alone one that the beast seemed adequate. I was never a good Samaritan to begin with, and now I was in a pickle. I only had a fortnight to the deadline, and I was getting more depress and anxious with each passing day.

 

            I was snapped back to reality as light suddenly shined into my eyes and blinded me. Bright light came in from the window, and made the room I was staying in less horrid and suffocating. The sun was rising and morning came, but I hardly breathe in the sunlight in or even admire the sun rise. I was simply not a morning person, nor a night person for that matter; not much of a living person either since the deadline was steadily approaching.

My eyes drifted to the clock behind me, two hours have passed since I woke up. I figured that I might have been lost in my thoughts until now. I took a quick shower, dressed up neatly and quickly headed to work. Hopefully to find someone in need of help over there.

 

~~~

 

 

            Grace Goodwill, a thirty year-old man who worked at the district attorney’s office- that was who I am. After a few years of college, I somehow ended up working here.

 

 

            For the last few years, my job was to defend those less fortunate. For those that needed an attorney but could not afford one, they would come to the office and chose one of the many that were readily available to help them.

 

 

            Sounds perfect? With this kind of environment, how could I possibly not find one desperate soul in need of my help?  Well, even I did not understand it too. After the curse, all the clients would pick the other attorneys that were often busy and even avoided me altogether. For the past year, I was entirely free and even had the leisure to sleep in my office due to the lack of work.

 

 

            Even my co-workers were perplexed as to why this was happening. I however, instantly blamed the so-called cat deity. It was definitely making a show out of me for entertainment.

 

 

            Determination was my forte of the day as it was the day that I would have a case. And, I was right.

 

 

            “Goodwill, come here. There’s a client here for you,” one of my co-workers said.

 

 

            “Coming, what am I supposed to do?”

 

 

            Right in front of me was a small girl who looked exactly like a porcelain doll. On her young petite face, her age showed no older than nine years. She had smooth white skin that was almost translucent and stood tall at around half my waist.

 

 

            “This is your assignment, apparently she’s a victim of a failed kidnapping and attempted murder. You’re supposed to guard her until tomorrow morning.”

 

 

            “What? Why me? What about her parents? Where’s the police, shouldn’t they handle this?”

 

 

            “Her parents passed away and her guardian is nowhere to be seen. The police will only come tomorrow morning after settling the paperwork. Not to mention there’s a serial killer on the loose that’s killing people left and right. So you’ll have the job of taking care of her.”

 

 

            Sighing, I braved forward, “I don’t have any other choice do I?”

 

 

            “No you don’t. Since it’s not safe with both the serial killer and kidnapper are on the loose, you better stay here. Both of you can sleep in the small room at the back of the office tonight, the bed’s already set up for you. Good luck Goodwill, try not to end up dead.”

 

 

            “If only you tell me sooner,” I muttered under my breath as she left.

 

 

            I looked at the girl again and tried to strike up a conversation with her. Unfortunately, my efforts were all in vain and she gave me the cold shoulder. This was fine by me as my job was just to look after her. It would have been weird to others if a grown man was being friendly with a child out of the blue. We sat across each other and stared. I stared right at her, and she, at me, until night came.

 

 

            Ring… Ring….

 

 

            My phone’s alarm rang, it reminded me that it was time for dinner. Before the curse, I would often be immersed in my work and neglected my meals. Once I even got admitted to the hospital because of it.

 

 

            Since it was time for dinner, I called out to the child and decided to bring her out for dinner. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand with her delicate and small ones. She said in a tiny and delicate voice: “The bad uncle’s coming.”

 

 

            I arched an eyebrow right at her, was she talking about me? My appearance looked no older than 30, I was in no way a bad nor an uncle, so why the sudden name calling?

 

 

            Boom! Boom! Boom!

 

            The sound of heavy footsteps started to resound in the empty hallway. A big burly man who was easily approaching seven feet tall appeared right in front of us. In his hand was a large butcher knife that reeked of blood even at this distance. A sense of threat and immediate danger instantly swelled up within me.

 

 

            “Hello pretty doll, come back to this uncle. It was not nice to run away from this uncle you know,” the burly man said.

 

            “Hey, who are you? Don’t you know that trespassing is a crime chargeable in court?” I shouted with a steady voice I was far from feeling.  Furthermore, what serial killer would care for some legal mumbo jumbo at this time? Bad choice of words.  I did all I could to try and fool him, trying to act brave. However, my face that was turning ghastly pale as each second passed by.

 

 

            “Who is that man, child? Did you go and find another uncle? Why did you leave your old uncle Sam for this fool?”, the burly man said with no emotion.

 

 

            The child immediately hid behind me and grabbed my leg. I thought that she was extremely frightened by the sight in front of her. I could not blame her as I was feeling exactly the same.

 

 

            Suddenly, a crazy thought appeared in my mind. Since the man wanted the child, why don’t I just give her to him? It might seem crazy, but not as crazy as dying for someone I just met. I absolutely did not want to die again!

 

 

            The idea disappeared as soon as it emerged as a knife was plunged towards me at great speeds.

 

 

            Puchi..

 

 

            The knife went straight through my arm, and I felt as if it touched bone. Having experienced a trauma before helps, I thought in a flash, as it, more or less prepared me for this shock.  Prepared me for not passing out immediately.

 

 

            “Child, I thought you wanted to play with Uncle Sam? Didn’t you play with my wife and child? They are waiting to come play with you. Come, let uncle bring you to the other side to play with them.”

 

 

            Again the knife was plunged towards me. However this time as I was prepared, I narrowly escaped with just a graze on my left cheek. Blood gushed out of the wound on my face, some even entered my mouth. The blood made my mouth taste of metal and shook my heart a little.  

 

            “Die!”

 

 

            The knife was plunged again, again and again. With me narrowly escaping death each time. I was like a ballet dancer dancing to the tune and rhythm produced by the knife; except it was one bit graceful, but life threatening.

 

 

            Puchi

 

            Once again the knife penetrated me, although this time I allowed it to. I took the attack of the knife with my injured hand and tried desperately to force it out of the hand of the assailant.

 

 

            The knife flew out of his hand and into my other. Luck has finally smiled upon me today. I took the knife and pointed it straight at the burly man. With the knife in my hand, courage instantly grew in my heart, and the cowardly man I was before disappeared. I was the one in charge now!

 

 

            A voice suddenly resounded in my head.

 

 

            “Kill the girl! Kill the girl! Don’t regret it! Kill the girl!”

 

 

             These words were repeated like an explosion within my head again and again. Each word filled with endless bloodlust and killing intent. I felt fear, it was as life my head was about to explode from the pressure.

 

 

            Golden light came out of my forehead and the cat appeared within it. It pointed at the girl with its fat paws. As if to confirm the command within my head.

 

 

            I tried to fight the voice within my head, but it was too strong. Without wanting to hurt the child, I quickly threw away the knife in my hand.  Soon after, the voice slowly subsided.

 

 

            The burly man looked at me from afar with confusion. He did not understand what had happened, and in truth neither did I. He rushed forward to grab the knife but stopped himself suddenly.

 

 

 Puchi

 

 

            I stared down at the blade that was protruding out of my stomach. There were drops of blood slowly dripping down the edge of the blade. I looked behind me with shock and confusion.

 

 

            “I can’t believe I had to interfere. You couldn’t even be a proper scapegoat. I even expected for both of you to kill each other off. No fuss, I’ll do it myself then!”

 

 

            These words escaped the girl that was currently holding the knife that was inside me. She was the one that stabbed me, and now, she wanted to kill me. I felt wronged, I felt confused but even worst, I felt angry! I did not want to die again!

 

           

            Suddenly the man shouted: “A serial killer could not change no matter what huh, you killed so many and now you’re increasing the count. I couldn’t take my revenge that day, but you won’t be so lucky twice. Even if I die, I’ll take you along to the depths of hell with me.”

            The words confirmed my hypothesis and I cursed my own stupidity. What seemed like a small child was in fact the serial killer on the loose. How could I have known she would have come out with this convoluted plot? Killing the man’s family and framing him to be the killer and kidnapper.

 

 

            I worked so hard for so long in order to keep myself alive. Now only to be killed by what appeared to be a small child, how ironic and laughable it would seem to the world.

 

            Anger swelled within me, with all my effort I pulled out the knife from my back.

 

 

            Blood rushed out of the gaping wound from my back. I was on the verge of passing out, but I held on for just this moment. I had to do this no matter what, I needed to outlet for my anger.

 

 

            I stared at the child with my bloodshot eyes and killing intent radiated out of every inch and fibre of my body. I took the knife and stabbed it into the child with hesitation. Again, again and again until she finally stopped breathing. In the final moments of her life, shock was plastered on her face. She could not have imagined that I would be so ruthless and decisive.

 

 

            Even the burly man was absolutely terrified by what I have done. To him, my character turned a whole hundred and eighty degrees. The person in front of him was not in fact the scared person he just met, but a ruthless person that just struck down another.

 

 

            To me however, I did not in fact change. Ever since the curse was bound to me, one thing was always on my mind- to survive. In fact, after so many sleepless nights, it was the only thing keeping me sane.

 

 

            Now a serial killer in disguise of a child had critically injured me, ridiculous. I finally snapped. All the pent up frustration and anger exploded out of me, and I could not stop but strike down the killer with all my might.

 

 

            My decisiveness was numbing. However actions have consequences, I would no doubt be sent to jail as the next morning came. No one would ever believe me and the burly man would undoubtedly have escaped to avoid suspicion.  In a little moment, the end of me would be as definite as the sunrise.

 

            However I was still too high on adrenaline and bloodlust to notice what happened or even the consequences that were coming. My brain was still processing what had happened and what I did.

 

 

            BOOM!

 

 

            Suddenly my surroundings turned dark, it was as if the universe was being pulled away. It was exactly the same as when I met the beast that night. I suddenly appeared before a strange white huge beast with blood red markings on its head. It was of course the cat deity.

 

 

            “I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO LIVE! I ASKED YOU TO DO GOOD! HOW DARE YOU KILL ANOTHER! I’ll EAT YOU.”

 

 

            “But…” I couldn’t even speak as it instantly took me with its paw and threw me into his mouth, he crunched his jaw and I could feel my body being destroyed with each bite he took. After a few more bites, my body was destroyed and grace goodwill was officially dead.

 

 

            Poof

 

 

            A small white call with orange spots appeared. On its head where numbers were normally present, was empty. It was as if the number birthmark never existed.

 

 

            “Another one falls for your schemes huh.”

 

 

            “What do you mean? I did nothing”

 

 

            “You marked him for death on the night of the accident, didn’t you?”

 

 

            “Well, I am a reaper of souls after all.”

 

 

            “You were supposed to collect his soul that night, not make a show out of it because you were bored!”

 

 

            “No one will know anyway.”

 

 

            “If you get into trouble, I will too!”

 

 

            “It’s not my fault, when will these simple humans ever learn that one does not simply bring the dead back alive.”

 

 

            “You didn’t even tell him that he was in an illusion for the past year?”

 

 

            “I was lazy.”

 

 

            “…..”

 

 

            “Well, time to find a new toy to mess around with.”

 

 

            “NO! You said this one would be your last. I do not want to be fired again!”

 

 

            POOF

 

 

            The deity and the cat disappeared into a puff of smoke, waiting and searching for another unsuspecting, hopeless soul to fall into their trap. Whether it was the next or the one after, all of them wanted to live, but none ever did and would never do.

 

 

The two disappeared and never to be seen again.

 

           

           

 

 

 

            

Author's Note

first time, better than expectations?