A Soul's Journey

Chapter Five

Von couldn't believe what he saw. He dropped to his knees. His confused mind couldn't connect the events together.

He pacified his thoughts and stood up to look at the face of the corpse once more. It must be a mistake. It couldn't be me.

Oh God, is it me?

Still, he refused to accept it. It must be a dream.

He let his hands wander over his face, arms, chest and everywhere. Why can't I feel anything?

"No. It couldn't be!" He looked around. His friends and relatives were there. He called their names one by one but nobody seemed to hear him.

He turned around and ran outside of the house, with no direction to go. For every stride he made, a heavy pounding rocked his chest.

His emotion brought him to a corner of the playground near their home. This place used to be his comforting area. He sat down on a concrete bench in silence but with agitated heart and mind.

The deserted place only aggravated his loneliness. He felt alone.

His emotion massed into a huge ball of mixed feelings—fear, nervousness, anguish, uncertainty, regret and the pain in losing Kim, their future and his family. He couldn't bear its weight that he dropped to the ground on all fours. He sobbed like a little child lost in the wilderness. Kneeling down, he lifted his face to the sky. And with trembling closed fists he shouted his emotions, cursing heaven. His voice ripped the azure sky simultaneously exploding his heart into a million pieces.

He dropped his head, hugged the concrete bench and continued his unquenchable painful cry.

Unknown to him, a shadowy figure behind a nearby tree was watching and feeling his thoughts. It finally came out and drifted behind him.

"Need any help my friend?"

The husky voice sent Von's wit out of him. He thought he was alone.

"Calm down, stay foot and don't be afraid."

Von looked at the shadow, not knowing what to say.

"Is it your first time to see a ghost like yourself?

I... a ghost? He pointed at his chest. Am I a ghost? He touched every part of his body instinctively once more and he felt nothing, and realized that only his emotion remained. He slowly nodded. "Who are you?" he asked in a soft, scared voice.

"I'm Danilo. I just passed by. When I felt your heavy heart, I was drawn and listened to your thoughts."

How could this man know my thoughts? Is it like this in the spiritual world? I have much to learn, he muttered. "...and where do you live, sir?"

"You mean where I stay?"

"Whatever..." Von rested his body on the bench while his eyes still focused on the figure.

"...in the cemetery. I've been there long before this place was populated. But spirits don't have any permanent place to stay. Just like me, I stay in a place where I am comfortable with my emotions."

"The place is lonely. How come you managed to stay there for a long time?"

"You have many questions and yet I do not know your name yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry...just call me, Von."

The shadow seemed to take a deep breath from the deepest well before he answered. "My wife was buried there." The shadow walked to and fro in front of him as if he was still a living creature. Von felt Danilo's emotions sinking low as the memory of his dead wife came through.

As Danilo narrated his story, Von thought about himself...how he met his death. He remembered nothing, only the strong sense of love for Kim was clearly etched in his heart and memory. So he thought this shadow might be of help to dig his past.

"What happened to her, Danilo?"

"She was raped and murdered by my drinking partner while I laid drunk nearby...that was my regret. I should have protected her. I should have not trusted the rapist whom we considered a family friend. I blamed myself for what happened."

Well, his case might be more tragic than mine. It eased his heart a bit.

"...and I stayed on guard, night and day, by her grave."

"And why do you still do that?"

"I want to make up for the mistake I had."

"You've been here for a long time. How long should you stay here and where do you go from here?"

"Not just me, Von, but including you and the rest of the dead. We may stay here for indefinite time as long as we don't qualify for the next plane of existence. For now, I'm contented to stay in this world with my wife."

Von thought of himself and Kim again. Danilo wanted to stay here for his wife so I could also do that to protect Kim from Jim.

The thought of Jim sent shivers all throughout his body. Jim is the name he would never like to hear.

He was their classmate and friend since high school and he had watery mouth for Kim. It was only his friendship with Von that kept him at bay from her. Now that Von was gone, the gateway for Jim to possess her was wide open.

Many girls had passed through his hands weeping and crushed. Jim's athletic physique, mixed with Caucasian features and his standing in society attracted ladies that fancied his eyes. And he got what he wanted.

Kim would surely be the number one in Jim's list and Von, although existing in a different world, would move heaven and earth to stop Jim's devilish desire.

But how could he?