THE JOURNEY OF SHEIRA HART

8 | Express Train To The Other Side

I kept staring at the puzzle on the table, massaging my temple. "Damn it," I mumbled as I can't seem to figure out the puzzle. As of the moment, I am solving another blank puzzle. The last time, it was all white with no pictures at all. Just plain...white. And now, I am dealing with the same dilemma but this time, it's plain black. Who on earth created these torturous puzzles? 

"You're not supposed to put it there," Mikhael said and I just glared at him. 

"We're on our way to the other side and you look like you're about to kill me. Are we going to be fine? Am I going to be fine?" 

I gave him a saccharine smile. "Even if I kill you, you won't die. Which is really regretful." 

He's sitting in front of me, arms crossed. We're currently on an express train that apparently could lead us to the other side. It was kind of unique, I thought. Express Train to the other side. It almost sounded like a good book chapter title.

I groaned inwardly and stared at the one thousand puzzle pieces. Why am I dealing with this thing again, you ask? The moment we entered our cabin, the cabin attendant offered some 'entertaining activities' and I told her I could use some since I can't bear to look at who's sitting in front of me. But I wasn't expecting it to be another goddamned blank puzzle. 

"Can we just forget about what happened?" Mikhael di Angelo gave me a sheepish smile. 

I glared at him. "Forget about what happened?" I scoffed. "You pushed me off that bridge! That's not something I could forget easily, you bastard." 

"I didn't push you. I kicked you." 

"What—“ I heaved a deep breath.  

"But it was nice, wasn't it? Admit it. You enjoyed it." He grinned and I gave him a sharp look and he made a gesture of zipping his mouth.  

"Stop talking. I might throw you off this cabin's window." 

He nodded continuously. I just shook my head and looked at the puzzle pieces. 

What happened yesterday was something unforgettable indeed. Except for the fact that Mikhael di Angelo kicked me off the bridge, the experience was something I never thought I could experience. The rainbow of dreams lived up to its name. And what Mikhael said was true. Just when I thought I'd die the second time, I found myself flying. Or more like floating over the rainbow. My feet were slightly touching the colored dust. Mikhael grinned in my direction and I was so busy admiring the whole thing and the fact that we're actually flying that I forgot that he just push me off the bridge. 

I saw him standing straight and was literally standing on top of the rainbow. He gave me a mocking grin as I struggle to keep myself up. But when I did manage to stand straight, I felt the fine dust of dreams on my bare feet. It felt like walking on sand. And then my feet shrunk an inch deeper and deeper until half my body is submerged in the rainbow. 

And then I felt it.

The feeling was familiar. It was bliss, satisfaction, happiness altogether. I felt it to the deepest part of my soul. There was hope, there was disappointment, sadness, happiness, persistence, and determination. I didn't understand what it was about. And then I realized they were dreams. They were dreams of the souls in here together with their feelings. And I am feeling all of it. I am seeing all of it. 

"Amazing, right?" Mikhael was beside me and he was smiling. I stared at the dust on my fingers, watched them fade to go with the flow.

That was probably the most memorable thing I have ever experienced. Second to waking up dead in a cafeteria managed by the Grim Reaper of course. I know Mikhael was making me enticed by how amazing the city is. Making me admire it so I might change my mind about going to the other side and just decide to stay here flying over rainbows but no. I have already made up my mind and that's not going to change. 

But I still couldn't get over the fact that he kicked me off the bridge. Even if I can't die twice, who knows what will happen? What if they'll change the rule at the last minute and I was already falling? 

"Again, you're not supposed to put that piece there." 

I glared at him. "Can you go back to sleep, please?" 

“I’ve been sleeping for two hours now. Why is this train taking too long to get off?”

He rested his chin on his palm and he shook his head. He has this bored look on his face and I could tell he isn't happy with how I assembled the puzzle pieces together. He looked at the board to which I spent almost an hour assembling. The cabin attendant said it could relieve stress but I think it'll be the cause of my stress. 

"Besides, you look like you need my help." 

"You look like you haven't slept. I don't need your help," I said and rolled my eyes. 

"I am about to disappear from the face of the Afterlife. I was readying myself last night." I saw him grimaced when I tried to fit one piece to another. He must have had enough that he took it from my hand and pulled the board towards him.

"Looking at you deal with this puzzle poorly is very stressful." 

I scoffed. "In case you didn't notice Mr. Sunshine and Rainbow, that isn't an ordinary puzzle. Who made that, anyway?" 

He just shook his head and started fitting the pieces together. The way he does it, he makes it look so easy. 

I was struggling to solve it for almost an hour but in just thirty minutes, Mikhael fit all the pieces together forming a plain black picture. 

"That looks really depressing," I commented and he just chuckled as he placed the finished puzzle under our table. He placed both his hands on the table and looked at me. 

"So, what's your plan?" he asked. I furrowed my brows. 

"What plan?" 

His eyes widened. "You don't have a plan?" 

I shook my head. "I go to the other side, I find my home, and just find clues about how I died. That's simple." 

His jaw dropped. And I could have sworn I saw color leave his face. 

"We're doomed." 

"What? What do you mean we’re doomed?"

He heaved a deep breath and looked at me. His face has become so serious that I raised my brow. "You are going on a journey to find out how you died and once you fail you're never going back to the Silver City. Do you understand what that means?"

"That we have to find how I died before the time limit given to us." I looked at my watch. It was given to me by Mr. Grim before I took the Express train. It had numbers on it but I don't really understand what it was. "What do these numbers mean, by the way?" I showed him my watch. 

"Our time limit. Your watch says we have at least two months. That will change depending on the situation." 

"What situation?"

"That's another talk for another time. First, tell me how on earth are you planning on finding out how you died?" 

"I have no recollection or whatsoever to devise a plan about it." 

He let out a chuckle and then a laugh. "You must be kidding, right?" 

I shook my head. And whatever little hope he had earlier, just shattered. "We are so dead." 

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't sound so discouraged. I know where my house is. We're going to start there. And just find something that could lead me somewhere." 

"Just remember that this is the first time I've been to the other side so I don't know how everything works. You should have found someone who's been there before." 

"I didn't have time to find someone who's been there before. And you're the one who made the deal that you'll come with me once I pretend to be your girlfriend. You're the most convenient."  

"Geez, thanks," he mumbled and took a sip on his juice. 

I looked around and I could see the cabin attendant checking the cabins. There were other people—souls on the train, too. Like me, they must be going to the other side to search for the reason of their deaths. I looked at Mikhael who was busy looking at the view outside.

“Are the people on this train all going to the other side?”

He looked at me and yawned. “As far as I know. But there might be others here, too.”

I raised a brow as he already dig my curiosity. “Others?”

“Higher authorities such as Mr. Grim take this express train to go to the other side.”

“What do they do there?”

“Special missions.”

“Like what?”

“That I have no idea. They’re very discreet about it,” he said and munched on the peanuts.

“Very discreet and yet somehow you knew they take this express train to go there.”

“Fine. Maybe not so discreet about it but the reason for their visit on the other side is something very confidential. I think…” He looked at me and I gave him a questioning look as he trailed. “…I think Mr. Grim knows how everybody died. He might just be forbidden to say it. Or he might have taken an oath to never tell a soul about it. Even if they beg in front of him. Someone like Mr. Grim has to strictly abide those oaths.”

I remembered Mr. Grim saying that he will never lie as he had taken an oath not to. And now that I think about it, he might know how everyone died. He showed me once, in a mirror, how I looked when I died. He showed me how everyone looked when they died. He should have any idea how he died. But then he said he doesn’t know. And he’s bound by an oath not to lie.

“He doesn’t know. Like us, he has no idea.”

Mikhael raised a brow. I just sighed and looked at the snowy-capped mountain outside. “Because he doesn’t lie.”

“Fair enough.”

“Do you think Mr. Grim could have met a woman from the other side?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw him fetch a soul once. I…I can’t explain it but he looked at her like he’s been longing to see her. He looked at her as if he knew her.”

Mikhael just shook his head. “I wonder what this lady looks like to make even the infamous Grim Reaper swoon.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes at him. He just laughed. The door of our cabin opened and I almost jumped on my seat only to see the cabin attendant giving her sweet smile towards us. Her eyes then went to the solved puzzle pieces under the table and her smile grew wider. “I see you’ve finished the puzzle already. Would you like me to give you another one? We have other colors too,” she said.

“Heavens, no,” I said faster than lightning. In my periphery, I could see Mikhael covering his mouth as he stifled his laughter. “I would like to suggest picture puzzles next time you give it to somebody who wants entertainment.”

The cabin attendant’s smile faded and I figured I must have said the wrong thing. Gone was her friendly aura and she looked down on me as if what I just said was unforgivable. “Didn’t you enjoy the puzzle pieces I brought earlier, madam?” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes and she was clearly telling me to say the exact opposite of what’s on my mind. But I wouldn’t be fazed.

I was about to open my mouth when Mikhael stood and held her hand, taking the cabin attendant’s attention. “We enjoyed it very much, Miss. Thank you so much.”

I saw how the cabin attendant blinked and get flustered as Mikhael flashed his dashing smile. I gave both of them a dirty look. The cabin attendant cleared her throat and looked at her. The smile on her face was back and her cheeks were still flushed. “Enjoy your trip, madam. Are you sure you don’t want any more puzzles? I could also give you a book—“

“I’m good, thanks,” I said before she could suggest me more weird things.

“Then enjoy your trip,” she said but her eyes went to Mikhael before she closed the cabin door. I looked at Mikhael and he was still grinning at where the cabin attendant was standing earlier.

“You look like an idiot.”

He looked at me, his grin was still there. “I just saved you from her wrath. Don’t I deserve a thank you?”

“I could handle her wrath. No, thank you.”

He mumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t quite make out. “What was that?” I asked

“Nothing,” he said and just gave me a smile.

I was about to say something when we both heard the announcement.

“Welcome on board the AFT 888. We are now leaving the Afterlife. We will arrive on the Other Side at exactly 8 hours from now. We will have to stop a few stops before we get to our destination. We offer free beverages in each car. Please have as much coffee, tea, or soft drinks as you wish. There is a restaurant on the train. You may purchase a meal there during the trip. The restaurant is in car 11.”

“Purchase? Using what?”

Mikhael gave me a grin and as if on cue, golden coins appeared on a small bucket on our table. “By winning the games,” he said.

“Please note that smoking is only permitted in cars 15 and 23. If you need further assistance, please press the button near your seat to contact a cabin attendant. Please sit back, relax, ad enjoy the trip. We are pleased to have you on board. We look forward to serving you again in the future.”

There was another beep and moments later, I could feel the train slowly moving.

We’re finally going to the other side. 

* * *