Lost Soul

“Hey, sir!”  I hurried after him, refusing to give up. “Just a minute of your time, please!” He kept walking. People passed by us—nurses, patients, visitors—but no one looked at me.Not one person.“

Just tell me how I got here, I begged, my voice cracking. I won’t bother you again. I promise.

Tears slipped down my cheeks. Please….. But he kept going straight through the sliding doors. I followed him without thinking.

The moment I stepped out— A blinding light hit me. I gasped, stumbling back as I threw my hands over my face. What—?

The brightness was overwhelming. It burned through my eyes, forcing them shut. I stood there, frozen, my heart racing.

Slowly… carefully… the light began to fade. The air changed, it grew colder and quieter.

I lowered my hands, opened my eyes, and instantly wished I hadn’t left the hospital.

This… this isn’t… my world. My voice trailed off.

Everything was different. I couldn't find the man anymore, i turned my back to look for the hospital, but that space was empty.

The only thing breaking the darkness was a strange light  ahead. A blue light, It flickered softly, casting shadows across the ground.

A low, strange music hummed from it—not loud, but enough to make my skin crawl.

“What is this place?” I whispered. I turned around quickly. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, no, no…” I let out a nervous laugh. “This has to be a joke. Right?  Maybe … this is a prank.'' My voice sounded weak even to me.

Something pushed me from behind. I stumbled forward with a gasp, spinning around immediately. “Who’s there?!” But there was no one, just darkness.

My breathing quickened. “Okay… this isn’t funny!” I shouted, my voice echoing strangely.

Silence answered me. A soft wind passed by, brushing against my skin. A chill ran down my spine.“This is not funny at all…” I whispered this time. Fear crept in slowly, wrapping around me. I don’t want to stay here, my eyes moved around. I swallowed hard and started walking foward.

Another gust of wind rushed past me, it was stronger this time.

I quickened my steps because something about this place felt wrong. Like I wasn’t supposed to be here here or  someone was watching me.

I got to a road. It was quiet and a little bit dark. I kept moving forward until I saw a few people there. They were talking, laughing, and sitting as if everything was normal.

Relief flooded through me so fast my knees almost gave out. “Oh, thank God…” I whispered, i wasn’t alone.

I wasn’t crazy. I stepped further in, looking around. As soon as the people noticed me inside, slowly… every single person turned to look at me, like they'd been waiting for me to come.

My breath hitched. Their eyes were fixed on me. The air grew heavy and i felt really uncomfortable. “What…?” I whispered.

Then— i heard a deep voice. I didn't know where the voice was coming from. “Welcome, to the after live new soul''. My heart stopped. New soul…?

I took a slow step back.  “I think you’ve got the wrong person,” I said, my voice barely steady.  No one responded, instead they just kept staring.   And in that moment… A terrifying thought settled deep in my chest.

What if they didn’t make a mistake?

What if… This was exactly where I was supposed to be?