DEATH'S HEART

Chapter 5 (Radish Fiction Version)

The air was still. Almost non-existent. Only on the command of my movement could I stir the wind. The silence was beyond deafening. Only my thoughts disturbed the sanctity of this silence. I was alone, surrounded by the company of dirt that was a gradient of red and black underneath the orange sun. The sun, as scorching as it seemed, had no power over the chill I brought. The red ground was dry underneath my bare feet. The cracks were like veins that branched out in different directions in search of an escape, crawling endlessly towards the infinite horizon.

This was not Earth. Definitely not heaven. Not even close to hell. And this was not limbo...Limbo...My breath huffed a slight laughter to the word. Limbo. The so-called 'edge of hell'. A place where the souls of those who died were awaiting judgement. Would they go to heaven? Or did they burn in hell? Aaahh! The fairytales men of religion concocted to gain a following. The awful stories they told of the afterlife of a damned soul to keep their followers fearful and compliant to their teachings –to gain control. How dare these men lie, and judge the destiny of one's soul? No human would ever know the destination of the soul until after I have taken it and delivered it to the Paths.

I stood on the red ground, feeling the comforting grains of fine dust between my toes. This place was my void. This was where I dwelled, and enjoyed solitude. Nothing existed in this cold plain. No soul stayed long enough to keep me company while I spent most of eternity, staring into what seemed to be nothingness. My consciousness was aware of every movement and sound that had kept the earth alive. I was simultaneously speaking to those I have warned in the past, and those who I was warning now of my return. As the dialogue between me and the dying took place, elsewhere I was taking the life out of the vessels that were due to be broken. That was the power I held – the power of death. I was one. Yet I was everywhere.

12:20PM, ST. MARY DOME CATHEDRAL, RIGA, LATVIA

Aivars sat at the last pew, where no one would notice him. It had been a while since he set foot in a church, long enough to forget the words to the hymns and prayers. It had been thirty-two years since he last heard mass. When he was a boy, his mother would drag him and his siblings out of bed to prepare them for Sunday mass.

He tilted his head up to the church's vault ceilings. Intricately carved wooden beams were painted a rich tone of gold. He smiled at this majestic work of art, but that smile didn't last long. A sudden chill touched his skin. His imagination had juxtaposed his view of the church's ceiling and the view from inside a casket. His forehead wrinkled. It was not fair! He ran his old fingers through silver hair in frustration. Why did this ever to happen to him? He was a good man! Had he not been more than generous to share the success of his law firm? He donated to charities and helped schools raise funds. Had he not been following the law and defending those who needed him? For sure, some of the bastards he defended did not deserve their freedom, but had he not been fair to give them a second chance to start anew?

He clasped his hands together in a solemn prayer. Without a sound he pleaded for salvation, and it was loud. Salvation from what? From his disease? From me? I grimaced at the pitiful sight of this man. Had he been fair? Who was he to know what was fair when his concept of fairness and justice came with a price? He saw the opportunity to fatten his pockets, regardless of whether the people he 'helped' deserved freedom or not. Charity? In exchange for recognition! Everything was a commodity to him.

I stood by the pillar not far from where he sat–eight pews away to be exact. I watched the sweat beading across his forehead, drawing a line of moisture from his temples to his jaw. It was a hot day, but he was trembling. He folded his arms together, briskly rubbing his palms against his shoulders for warmth. He must be a very sick man to be shivering this bad.