The Soul Catcher (Harry Styles)

01 - Shimmerland

"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty."

- Buffy, the vampire slayer

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[Harry's POV]

Have you ever thought about how you would die? Have you ever spent a minute thinking of afterlife? If you were to die now, would you think about it?

I certainly have never thought about dying. I supposed I thought I would grow old and die peacefully in my sleep.

Surely, the thought of dying at the age of 20 never crossed my mind. Never have I thought about afterlife and what it would mean to me. To be honest, I have never been the religious type either.

The weirdest part about dying was that nothing really changed. At first, I wasn't sure if I really was dead. The abhorrent images were still fresh in my mind, I felt like I was reliving them. Burning metal, penetrative smoke, a sharp pain in my head, blood covering my vision, then nothing at all.

That was what you got for driving down the highway faster than allowed while holding your phone in your hand. One frictional second – and bam, car met tree. Seriously, who planted those trees next to the highway? Annoying nature protection activists.

Maybe, just maybe, I would have survived. But no, that stupid tree had to bore a branch through my forehead. Thanks a lot, by the way.

The black nothing had only remained for a split second before I opened my eyes again. The pain was gone and I felt lightweight. Not daring to move my head, I saw the branch directly in front of my eyes. I wondered if my body was pumped with adrenaline. My hands, hanging loosely by my sides, went up to my chest, checking my heartbeat – and felt nothing.

Panic shot through me like a meteor across the sky. With one swift motion, I ducked my head. Normally this would have caused more pain. I wasn't a doctor or a biologist – or whoever knew stuff about the human anatomy – but even I knew that a branch bored through your forehead wasn't the daily round.

My mind blanked and I jumped up, reaching for the doorknob – and I grabbed right through it.

That was the moment epiphany overcame me. I was dead. I was sure of it.

But why did I still feel so alive? Apart from not feeling my heartbeat, that is.

Now I was just standing next to my damaged car, grimacing at the spoilage. Other cars stopped next to me, a woman screamed for an ambulance and an older men opened the car door and reached for my neck, trying to find a pulse. His, I assumed, wife stood behind him and he slowly turned around and shook his head. She put her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened in terror. The other woman was still screaming for an ambulance and finally found a victim with a phone.

But I knew it was too late. I saw the scene of my death right in front of me and kept reliving my death.

I have never thought about how I would die or what would happen after I did, but now I wished I had. I didn't know what to do, where to go and what to say.

Could I even speak?

"Hello?" My voice was hoarse and I desperately needed some water although I didn't feel thirsty. No one noticed my attempt at speaking.

I couldn't be dead!

"Hello?" I tried again, nearly screaming this time. I frantically ran to the older couple and reached for the man's shoulders, trying to shake him to make him see I was right in front of him, unharmed.

But what happened next took my breath away: my hand reached right through him.

"NO!" I screamed and fell to my knees. I was assailed by emotions. Fear, regret, pain, dread, anxiety, concern, worry, shock and finally numbness.