Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Adrian!”

“Who… who's there?”, Adrian looking around him. The thunderous sound of the voice had caused him to almost fall over as he managed to catch his step from all that stumbling. The voice seemed to walk on the ground around him, with something heavy to his feet striking on the ground, like metal hitting metal - a vibrating aura to it.

Andrea rubbed his eyes, finding it hard to believe what he was seeing. The form was obviously headed in his direction and a strange feeling overwhelmed him. He could feel the strange energy in this ethereal place and it sent chills down his spines. He didn't want to be overwhelmed by fear so he asked the questions.

“Who … who are you?”, Andrea said as the blinding figure came within his view. It was in the form of a man and his face was illuminating extremely, that Adrian couldn't even look at him straight.

“Adrian”, the deep voice called out to him again.

“What.. what do you want from me?”, Adrian said, his arm over his eyes to prevent them from going blind.

The strange man stretched out what looked like hands and in a short while, the glow in his face seemed to dim a little. Adrian could now remove his arm from over his eye and look at the strange man - quite still, his facial features were unclear and blurry.

“Welcome to the after world Adrian”

“After world? What afterworld? I'm supposed be dead”

The strange man burst into a cheerful laughter that re echoed in the vast space, almost causing Adrian's ears to bleed. He covered his two ears tightly, the resonating frequency of the sound giving him an instant short lived migraine.

“Where do you think your soul goes, Adrian, after you die?”

“I.. I.. don't… I don't know”

The strange man seemed to scoff. “That's a little disappointing Adrian. What did you use your time on earth for?”

Adrian shifted uncomfortably, not knowing if he should feel shame or anger.

“Anyways, you are here now and this? This is the afterlife or the afterworld. Either of which you choose to call it”

“Cool”

“I’d have loved to show you around but we've got business to do. I wish to send you back to earth”

“Really?” Adrian asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Yes. I have an important assignment for you”

“What assignment? Give me anything, I'll do it. Just send me back”, Adrian said fast, a hint of desperation in his speech. He knew right what he'd do if he was given the chance to be alive again. He'd made a promise to Rosa and he was damn well going to fulfill that promise.

“Slow down mortal. I offered to send you back but I didn't say in what form”

“Form? What do you mean?”

“I'm sending you back to earth but not with the same identity as the one you had before. I'm going to reincarnate you into a life and family, say much bigger than the one you lived before.”

“Why? Why can't I just go back to being the same old me?”

“Because I have conditions for my wish. Ordinarily, you should be facing judgement but like I said earlier, I have an important assignment for you. You either accept the offer with the conditions or we proceed to the next stage of afterlife.

“Better than nothing”, Adrian thought.

“Good. That means you accept”

Adrian's face expressed unpleasing shock immediately.

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

The strange man laughed. “Of course I can read your mind, Adrian. What do you take me for? I knew all along you'd accept”

“I don't even know you”

“You don't need to. All you need is to listen and ready your mind to go back and accomplish the task”

“What kind of task are you talking about?”

“Well, you'll know when you get back to earth”

“Why? Why can't you tell me?

“Because that's part of the task.”

Adrian rolled his eyes.

“Now, listen carefully Adrian. This assignment has a dead line. You have five years and I repeat, five years to accomplish this task. You must come to the full purpose of the identity of the person you will identify as on earth. If you fail to accomplish this, after the five year duration, you'll be sent back here to proceed to judgement”

“Come to the full purpose? What does that mean?”

“You must act fast, act quick and act aptly. You must be smart and you must outsmart anyone who stands in the way of your accomplishment of this task. Note; you only five years, Adrian and you must complete this task in five years unless you will return to the afterlife as dead man”

“But..”

“All the best Adrian”, the strange man said, turning his back on Adrian and walking away.

“Wait!”

Adrian felt his body gradually becoming light and he was faring away fast from that reality.

“Wha..what.. what's happening?”, Adrian asked, breathing heavily in confusion and fear.

“What's happening to me?”

The strange man turned to Adrian and smiled. With a wave of his hand, Adrian felt a strong force push him backwards and within seconds, all he saw once more, was black.

******************************

The sound of bird chirpings and the awakening of nature came not so faintly from a not so far away garden still within the Grayson family compound. The steward drew the curtains and the light rays scattered everywhere in the room, disrupting Adrian's slumber.

Adrian opened his eyes to a tall ceiling above him. Realising suddenly with a flash of past events over his mind, he sat up wondering where the heck he had landed and touching his body all over to know if he was really not a spirit. His eyes searched around and he was more than surprised to find himself in a overly luxuriously furnished room. He looked around in complete bewilderment, shock causing his words to fail.

“Good morning Master”, the steward said, greeting and bowing dutifully. “How was my master's night's rest?”

“Master? What the heck?”