1 THE END OF ME AND THE BEGINING OF ANOTHER

I could feel my strength leaving me as I trashed in the arms of my stalker.

No matter how much I moved or how much I resisted, his iron grip never wavered as he forced my head underwater.

I was in a constant state of panic, I was being gagged by the water and I could not scream. No one could hear me and no one could see me because of the darkness of the night.

A perfect scenario for a serial killer.

My lungs started to burn, I was desperate for that sweet taste of oxygen. I keep hoping that I could breathe and the pressure made me feel like I was about to explode. Eventually, my lungs gave out and I took a deep, deep breath.

I was desperate for satisfaction, craving to breath so desperately but I could just feel the water fill me and make me heavier, I could feel the weight of it clog all my orifices.

The weight of the water just hurt... so badly.

As I inhaled more and more water, I began to feel really dizzy.

Then calmness. Calmness like no other. I felt like I was waking up from a deep long nap.

I was on the lake floor now, too weak to do anything, and I was just so calm.

My vision started to spot until it was all black.

I didn't understand why this was happening to me.

I was an average looking, lonely 48-year-old man. I was in a relationship but it was nothing too serious. Had a few friends but we were not very close. I was unable to comprehend why would someone be after my life.

My day started as anyone else's would. I woke up in the morning and got ready for work. As I was walking near the park near my house to go to the subway I saw a mysterious looking guy in a hoodie blankly staring up at me. I meet the guy stare but instead of doing what any other person would do and look away he continued staring at me indifferently. Startled by the bizarreness of the situation I quickly made my way to the station.

Thought the day I keep seeing him, as soon as I had placed my eyes on him he would disappear. I saw him on the train, in the office, in the streets, while talking to my colleague.

Everywhere.

By the end of the day, I was very paranoid especially when I had to walk through the park at the dead of the night.

Why did I walk through the park when it was so dark and I knew I was being stalked?

Because I was a lazy motherfucker and walking three extra miles around the park did not settle well with me.

I keep convincing myself that he was just a stalker and that even if he tried to attack me I could probably drive him away so I could run to the comfort of my home. His size was smaller than mine so it really was a surprise when he threw me to the lake so effortlessly to drown me.

Now see where my stupidity led me. Drowned at the bottom of the lake buy a man half my size.

I was surrounded by darkness. I don't know how long I was floating in the darkness.

Seconds, hours, days, months. I had no concept of time.

Slowly my vision started to whiten and the water like substance around me started to disappear and suddenly I was standing in a white space. There was no ground or sky, no end and no beginning.

I was in an endless whiteness.

Is this heaven?

I thought as I looked around.

If this is heaven, What kind of low budget heaven is this?

I walked and walked but the was no end, I sat down as I gave up any hope of finding an end to this torture.

"Mr Brown?"

Startled, I quickly stood up and looked around to find a dark-haired woman wearing a black secretary uniform. Her chocolate skin was in contrast with her bright silvery eyes. She was beautiful but she looked so irritated at the moment.

"Nicholas Brown?"

"Yes that me." I quickly answered avoiding her silver eyes.

"Follow me." With that, she turned around without looking if I was planning to move or not.

I hesitated for a second, after deciding it was best to follow her as I had no one else to consult about my current situation.

"Excuse me...where am I?" I asked as I caught up to her.

"Somewhere." She said increasing her pace.

I was shocked, I expected people in heaven to be gentler or kinder but this woman treated me as if was an annoying fly that she had to carry around.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere."

I stayed quiet acknowledging that she did not plan to answer any of my questions.

Suddenly, a door appeared in front of us. The women abruptly stopped and knocked on the door three times.

"Come in. " I heard a gentle voice from the inside.

As we stepped in were greeted by a boy and a girl sitting in an office.

"Thank you, Sylvia, you may leave now."

With that Sylvia bowed and stepped out of the room.

"Mr Brown you may seat down.

As I focused on the couple I noticed that they looked like teenagers. The blond boy with blue eyes was wearing a hoodie and some jeans and the long silver-haired girl with midnight eyes was wearing a top and some jeans. While the boy looked bored out of his mind, the girl looked overly excited.

"Where am I?" I asked as I glanced at the paper on the desk.

"In our office." The boy answered with a bored tone.

"Let get to business shall we," the girl said with a bright smile "I am the Moon Goddess and he is the Sun God." She pointed at herself and the boy.

"So, Nicholas Brown" she continued, "28-year-old male, worked in customer service in a flight business, connection with parents: lost, friends: three, relationship status: in with a cheating girlfriend, life: pathetic, cause of death: drowned."

I already knew all of this thing but being told to my face really hurt. As the son of two surgeons. My parents gave me everything I ever wanted, me being a foolish teenager ended up taking advantage of my parent's money and never really worked hard to become successful. So when my parent decided that they were not going to take care of me anymore I was left alone with barely acceptable grades and not much money. It forced me to start looking for work and survive with the bare minimum. Friends were something that I lost as I lost my parent's money and my looks were so under average that it was rare for me to have a girlfriend.

"So basically a waste of 28 years of life " she continued as if she was talking about the weather.

As much as I wanted to shout at her and justify my mistake, I knew she was right. My whole life was a waste and it was all my fault.

"Seeing that the Sun God's world was not able to gain anything from your pathetic soul, we will try our luck and reincarnate you in my world" she pauses for dramatic effect "The land of the wolf."

"Wait, wait a moment" I was in disbelief.

The church always seemed to sing about eternal rest after being dead.

Why am I supposed to start again after just being killed? And what kind of half explanation is this?

"There is no time to wait," she said as she stood up from her chair "Your new body is just about to be born and the poor soul that is in it is not going to make it."

Suddenly, she appeared in front of me and quickly gave me a hard push. It should not have hurt so much looking at the difference in sizes but that was the most painful push I have received in my life.

My eyes were forced closed from the impact and when I opened my eyes again I was in another room laying in a soft bed.

I tried to move around but my body felt too heavy to lift. I tried moving my hand to my face but it only resulted in me hitting my face with the hand. Looking closely at my hand I could see my broad finger had been replaced with baby fingers.

I tried talking but only cries left my mouth.

"Briley" I heard someone say. Suddenly a woman with pale skin and brown eyes peered down at me from above. Her dark brown curls framed the women's face perfectly and her lips were pulled in a sweet smile.

Shocked at first, a few cries left my mouth.

Her big hands slipped under me, wrapping me close to her chest. She rocked my body as she hummed softly.

Her voice and touch were enough to calm me down into peaceful quietness.

It didn't take long for me to realise that I have been reincarnated...as a baby.