The Soul Catcher (Harry Styles)

06 - Bye pal

"If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character... Would you slow down? Or speed up?"

― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

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I left the Council Hall without further thoughts, yearning for my bed and a nice company.

There just had to be some girls around my age, maybe even a little bit older... I had never felt the urgent need to get constantly laid, but I was still a guy after all.

Where could you find cute girls? Coffee shop? Supermarket? Library?

Wait, was there a library in Shimmerland?

"Harry?" A deep voice called me. I turned around and - God help me - came face-to-face with George.

"Hi coach, nice of you to finally show up," I sarcastically greeted him.

He smiled gently at me, either not understanding my sarcasm or simply not giving a damn. I noticed a light dimple on his right cheek and grimaced. I, too, had dimples and I just hated them with a passion that came close to the vampire/werewolf disaster in Twilight.

"I am sorry but I had business to do," George explained, shifting nervously on his feet.

"Business? Isn't our only business our destiny?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms in front of my chest, flexing my biceps. He wouldn't get away with dodging my questions now.

"Not exactly," he vaguely answered, shrugging his shoulders. I hadn't known him for a long time but from what I've learned so far I could tell that this wasn't a typical behaviour for him.

"I want answers," I demanded, kind of too harshly. George's eyes momentarily widened and I quickly softened my tone, adding a "Like, I'm new to all of this and I'm just so confused."

"I can't tell you a lot, Harry, you will have to figure out most of it on your own. Just let me tell you, that afterlife is not just pleasure and rainbows." His voice never lost its kind edge but something in his mood has shifted that I just couldn't put my finger on.

"I have a question that's been budging me," I told him, waiting for his approval to continue. "When Hannah met her old friend, she said she hasn't changed a bit. Don't you get older in Shimmerland?"

George nodded, getting ready for his explanation. "No, you don't. If you meet someone new, they will look the same age they were when they died. I mean, the way they looked before they died. If you meet an old friend that, let's say, died at the age of 8, you will still see him as an 8-year-old. You will see people you know the way you remembered them from the last time you saw them living."

I replayed his words in my head before understanding what he was talking about. "Wait, so my grandparents won't see me the way you see me now? But girls will?"

A grin played on George's lips. "Yes."

Amazing. I wasn't very narcissistic, but, to be fair, I had gotten quite some attention back on earth. Some people used to call me a womanizer but I wouldn't consider myself as one; I didn't play with hearts.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" George asked.

My mind went blank. It was like in the moments when someone asked you to tell them something about yourself and you couldn't even remember your name.

"I do have a lot of questions, but... uh, I can't remember one. I'll take you up on that offer later, though," I said, grinning sheepishly.

"That might be a problem..." George replied, avoiding eye contact.