The Transmigration Of Souls [How To Save A Life Sequel]

Chapter 1: The Man In The Mirror

It was dark. I was surrounded by darkness, a never ending darkness that was killing me on the inside. My head was a mess and I still couldn't comprehend what had just happened to me, where all of this pain had come from now that I was dead. I didn't imagine to ever feel pain again. Not like that. So, what has just happened? And who belonged to that voice I had heard? Who was this mysterious man that was somehow able to see me and at the same time be the person who scared me, the dead man?

I didn't know. So many questions on my mind that were waiting for a response but I couldn't answer any of them. I was confused, terribly confused. Where was I supposed to start?

"Is he going to be okay?", I suddenly heard another voice, a woman. Her words chosen carefully and with hesitance, a new wave of uncommon warmth soon after flooding my whole body like light that was reaching into the darkest, most forgotten corners of my aching soul. "He's going to be alright, isn't he? I didn't-- I didn't mean what I said. He knows, don't you think?"

What was she talking about? Her voice, as kind and warmhearted as it sounded, sadness swinging in every word she spoke, was totally unknown to me. I had never met her before, that's what I was sure about. But why did she seem to know me? Quite well in fact, according to those emotions in her slowly failing voice; like she was an incredibly close person to me.

"We don't know what he's going to be like when he wakes up", another man suddenly replied, his voice stern but sometimes cracking with concern, "Every brain damage is different and I really don't want to guess.  All we can do is wait and hope-"

"I don't want to hope", she replied sadly, sending another ray of light into my soul, lighting up my darkness, "I'm asking you as a friend, Liam. Is he going to wake up? I just-... I need to know."

What were they talking about? Brain damage? My brain wasn't damaged, it was working perfectly fine. I was here, right here, hearing every single word they said just to be even more confused than I already was. Maybe if I could scream loud enough, maybe if I could open my eyes-...

"Chances are good he's going to wake up", the man, Liam, replied then, pausing for a second, "I'm not promising anything but-- his chances are good."

No! No, they weren't. I mean, hello? I was dead. Couldn't they see? I wasn't breathing, my heart wasn't beating. What more evidence did they need to see I was already dead? Did they need my name on a sheet of paper tied to me toes, my cold body laying in the morgue?

"Those can't be the last words he's heard from me", the woman sobbed as I suddenly recognized her thumb caressing the back of my hand, "I can't lose him. I just can't lose him now."

Who was this woman? What happened and why was she talking about me like that? More and more questions coming to my mind, drowning me in the darkness of my thoughts, her touch sending more and more waves of light into my soul. And with every word she spoke, I just got more and more confused, my head aching in pain.

"Please just make this stop", I begged with tears forming in my eyes, "Is this a nightmare? Then let me wake up. Please, please, let me wake up." A moment of silence following, I eventually realized that those words had actually left my lips and apparently, someone (the woman and Liam) must have heard me because I could almost sense the way they were staring at each other. "Kate?", I then asked reluctantly, "Kate, can you hear me? Please, answer me. Don't leave me alone. Please, Kate."

"N-no, this isn't Kate", the woman replied, her voice shaky but at the same time relieved, "It's me, Clara."

I gulped, furrowing my brows in confusion. Clara? I couldn't remember anyone with that name in my previous life.  And if Kate wasn't here, where else was she?