1 Death of Me

On a drowsy afternoon, a young man can be spotted surrounded by eight armed men. At a glance, you can deduce that this young man is an important figure. He is wearing a black and white sophisticated tuxedo. He has a gorgeous face, with distinctive royal blue hair and spotless white eyes due to him being born a half albino, and judging by his guileless face; he is more or less 15 years old.

This young man is Killigan Everheart, a prominent individual who has achieved many considered impossible. He is a natural-born prodigy, leading one of Europe's most prominent real estate enterprises.

He started investing when he was only 14 years old. He started small, yet through his hard work, talent, and consecutive luck, Killigan is able to achieve what he has today. His net worth alone could perhaps end world hunger.

Despite his guileless face, he is older than perceived; he is currently 17 years old, still considered relatively young and ultra-talented.

Killigan has made a considerable amount of enemies during the periods of his skyrocketing success.

While Killigan and his eight-armed bodyguards walked down the street to reach their cars, they overheard a loud explosion happens right on the corner of the road.

*BOOM*

"EVACUATE! EVACUATE! Sir, stay behind my back." One of the bodyguards said immediately, showing their professional virtue.

Another one secures an elderly pedestrian from the cloud of dust ommited from the explosion.

Killigan was surrounded by his highly trained bodyguards to ensure his protection. He quickly ran towards his enterprise building when suddenly, another explosion resonated from the same direction.

*BOOM*

"James! What in the world is going on!" I hysterically asked my bodyguards as they stepped into the building, corroborating my safety.

"It's speculated to be an assassination attempt on you, sir. Unfortunately, your cars did not make it. *chuckle*" James replied with a tinge of humor in the end.

"Stop joking. This is a serious matter, James!" This time the sound came from his left. The security captain, Owen, responded to James' goofy reply.

They quickly went upstairs to the enterprise's safety vault. While this was happening, Killigan quickly theorized why they wanted to pull a warning for him. Despite his bodyguard's speculation about a mere assassination attempt, Killigan has a bad feeling.

'It's a warning. If they, whoever they were, wanted to kill me, they would've waited until I got in the car. Is it a kidnapping? Or is it- wait, what if it's-' Killigan realized something. "Wait, Owen! Stop! Do not open the vault-" But it's too late he opened it!

Then a whole squadron armed with guns barged into the room. Shooting Owen and six other bodyguards, Me and James quickly took cover while they berated us with bullets.

'Shit! They were baiting me to open the vault!' I thought.

James attacked them when he heard them reloading, but another squadron quickly suppressed his counter. James got shot. He's dead.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' I quickly calmed down and contemplated my next decision carefully when a feminine voice rang behind me.

"Killigan Everheart... The young prodigy. O, how I envy your successes." the feminine voice said.

'Who is it that dares- Okay, stop Killigan. Stifle your pride. There's no time for that. Let's ask her as calmly as you can, alright, Killigan?' I nod to my inner thoughts.

"Pardon me, Lady-girl-I- Ummm, do I know you?" I calmly asked her.

"Don't play calm! I know you're panicking inside. Heck, you're probably pissing yourself now. *chuckle*" Whoever this fucking bitch is, she seems reluctant to humiliate me.

"Well, none of that matters. Listen to me carefully, Killigan Everheart. I'm going to give you two options; 1 is to surrender yourself to me, or 2 is certain death. Now, choose wisely." She ignored my question, which was honestly rude.

"A rhetorical question! Great! I love these. Fuck." I mumble the last part quietly. 'Basically, the option is to work 'till death or instant death? *sigh* shit. Just who is this lady!'

"I will give you 5 seconds to think. Two heavily armed squadrons will attack if you don't come out from your hiding. 1.. 2.." The feminine voice said, then I started to panic.

'Shit, shit. Fine, I'll choose the most logical opt-'

"3.."

'-ion!'

"4.."

"I will choose option number 1," I said politely.

"GOOD! Now slowly turn to me with your hands in the air where I can see it." The feminine voice chirped.

'Owen, James, and others. I will always remember your sacrifice.' I thought while doing as the feminine voice said.

While I turned around, I saw her figure.

'Who is she?' I wondered.

"I did what you said. Now what?" I said. I walked toward her slowly and carefully, but as soon as I moved one step towards them, they pulled their gun pointed at me. I was surprised and halted at my path.

'Why are they so cautious towards an unarmed teenager, geez, so stupid.' I ridiculed them in my mind. I walked towards them again, but they seemed unfazed.

I paced on forward without leisure care.

They're still not moving. Wait! Something's weird...

'No sound, motions, vibrations, now this is quite a something.' I thought, "Isn't this quite cowardly? You're all fighting a single, unarmed teenager here!" I said.

Silence.

'What the fuck! Is going on... Is this a prank!' I thought.

I walked towards their unmoving, statued figures.

They seem not to move even a single micrometer. I waved my hand in front of their eyes and mocked them about their disgusting physical features. Jokes aside, though, they're hideous.

Their eyes seemed to be fixated on one location, giving them an impression that they were frozen in time. I looked behind me towards the location that they were eyeing.

I remembered. It was the first time I spooked. My blood curled, adrenaline pumping uncontrollably, goosebumps materializing on my skin.

A dead body, to be specific, MY dead body is lying on the ground with a singular bullet hole on my head.

"Wai- wait, what the fuck, what- wha- what is the meaning of this?! Alright, *inhale* *exhale* how is this scientifically possible? Did time freeze." I manically said, hundreds of speculation running through my head, theories after theories, I finally concluded, a hypothetical conclusion.

'I'm dead. That's for sure, but what I don't understand is the fact that time stops. When someone's lifeless, they close their eyes, the blood stops pumping towards the brain, and the brain shuts down.

But this? no-no-no-no, this is something entirely different. My body is there when I'm ultimately moving freely without a string attached.

Did I prove the existence of souls?

Will I be sucked in towards the purgatory to be judged, for am I worthy or not worthy of living in heaven gracefully?' I thought in ecstasy, which is weird.

If someone dies, they would typically feel the feeling of terror and confusion. But I think... great. It's like all of my mental and physical burdens have been lifted. I feel rejuvenated.

I walked toward my body, inspected it, and found something startling.

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