Between Life and Death

Between Life and Death

Do you hear them? Clapping and cheering for her. Her loved ones look so happy as she stands on stage with her long locks and beautiful orange sun dress that compliments her dark complexion. She’s happy too, sort of. She just won a $20,000 scholarship graduating with a 4.2 GPA. She’s proud of myself honestly. She’ll be even happier when she’s off of the stage. A thank you speech shouldn’t last this long anyway. She gets off the stage and walks to her friend’s table.

“Hey, how do you feel Dr. Michelle Eshe Black?” Mya asked.

“More important than I should,” Michelle said.

“Well keep that energy for the party,” she said.

Michelle enjoys the rest of the banquet and begins to head out with her parents. But before she leaves she notices a man watching her. He had long locks and looked to be 6’7. He had interesting tattoos all over his body and he was holding a little black book. They stared at each other as she got inside the car and drove away.

“We are so proud of you! You followed every step we laid out for you. You’ll be head of the hospital before you know it!” exclaimed Mrs. Black.

“Thanks, mom,” said Michelle.

“All the planning and everything we went through will be worth it,” Mr. Black said, smiling. “Dr. Michelle.”

“Yay,” Michelle said nonchalantly.

They stop at a soul food restaurant and Michelle gets out of the car. When she does, she drops a little black book on the ground without noticing. When it falls open, the only words seen are Michelle’s name.

She’s at the counter ordering her food. She turns around for her parents but instead, she sees the man that was staring at her at the banquet. She was frightened at first but that quickly subsided when she realized who it was, feeling a sense of familiarity.

“He- hey, I know you,” Michelle let out.

“Yes. My name is Khentimentiu,” he announced.

“Khenti- what?” she asked.

“Khentimentiu, guardian of death,” he announced once again.

“Of death? Wait, am I gonna die?” she asked worriedly.

“No, that’s impossible. You can’t die. You are the guardian of -” he said before being interrupted.

“Wait, what do you mean I can’t die? What’s going on?” she demanded.

“It is time for you to take on your responsibilities, Michelle,” he said.

“Whoa, how do you know my name? And what responsibilities?” she asked.

“You will find out in time. You will see them. Read the book,” he explained.

“What book?” She looks behind her at her parents who have already started eating. “And who am I gonna see?” She turns back to him but he’s gone, leaving her more confused.

Later that night, she went to Mya's building to attend her party. The house was packed full of loud music, marijuana smoke, and drunk college kids. Michelle and her friends were in the kitchen getting more drinks.

“Are you excited, Dr. Black!” Mya exclaimed.

“Ha-ha shit, I would be, winning $20,000,” Bobbi hollered.

“$20,000 for school. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful,” She said as she stumbles to pour more alcohol in her cup and then takes a sip from the bottle.

“Girl your whole life was set up for greatness,” Mya said.

“That’s the thing. Everything that I ever tried I was good at. I never really found a real passion,” Michelle explained.

“Maybe you need a change in scenery. I’m headed out of town tomorrow. I could use more company,” Bobbi suggested.

Michelle sighed, “I can’t, I start classes soon. My parents planned my entire year for me.”

Mya rolls her eyes, “Lame.”

“I just- I don’t know, I just want to do more,” Michelle explained.

“But what more could you do than be a doctor?” Mya asked.

Michelle thought about that. She couldn’t understand why she felt so unfulfilled.

“I’ll be back,” she said.

“Where you going?” Bobbi yelled from behind her.

“To my favorite place,” she answered.

“Don’t fall,” Mya said.

With a bottle in hand, Michelle heads up to the roof. She begins pacing and contemplating on what she wants to do with her life.

“Maybe this is perfect,” she said as she takes a drink from the bottle. “Maybe this is my purpose,” she takes another sip. “Doctors save lives and what’s more important than that?” she takes another drink. “What could be bigger than this?” she asked herself.

Each drink she takes gives her a new thought or question on what she wants. As she’s pacing back and forth, she gets closer and closer to the edge. She looks over at the ground and takes another drink. She turns around to walk away but slips and falls back towards the ground. She hits the concrete and passes out.

Moments later she gets up holding her head. She notices the blood and looks up to see how far she fell. She realizes that she just survived a 30 story fall.

Disoriented she begins to walk home wondering how she survived. With her vision blurred and confusion roaming through her mind, she almost falls over tripping over something. It was the little black book. She picks it up and opens it. The only words she sees are her name which leads to more confusion. She begins losing consciousness but continues to try to walk home.

She looks around and starts seeing Khentimentiu. Everywhere she looked there he was. Then she felt herself about to faint but he caught her in time. Now he finally gets a chance to explain everything to her when she regains consciousness in her living room.

“What's going on? How am I alive right now?” she asked as she came to.

“Because as I said before, you can not die. The reason you feel so familiar to me is because you are my sister. Your name is Michelle, guardian of life.

“You protect this realm from all the dangers they can’t see. I do the same in the underworld. You save lives.

“You can save anyone from the brink of death in a second. And when it’s their time, I help them pass. And that black book that you’re holding, use it as a guide,” He explained.

“How? There’s nothing in it but my name,” she said.

“It'll come to you,” he answered.

A few days pass and Michelle’s in her room with the black book. She opens it and sees no words at first. As she continues to look, words start to appear and she realizes that it’s a journal. It’s been passed down through generations. There are different handwritings throughout the book. It has past experiences, weapons that were discovered, things that she has seen in past lives. She was amazed.

After that, she tried to get back to normal. She goes to school to start class. Before she enters the building, she sees a woman creeping up behind her. Her hair was covering her face but she resembles a zombie. When she turns around, the woman is gone.

Meanwhile, Khentimentiu was fighting a few demons that were trying to escape their realm. They almost had him at first but he regains more strength to defeat them all. All but one, who manages to escape.

Michelle is succeeding in all of her assignments as she expected. What she didn’t expect was how she succeeded. She started seeing patterns to help with calculations and knowing information that she never knew before. Her new powers give her a new sense of purpose. She looks behind her at the door and sees the creepy lady walk passed the door. She feels a sense of familiarity with the lady but she is still terrified.

After class, she goes to a café and sits at a table. She tries to call Bobbi but she doesn't answer. She calls Mya and to her luck, she answers.

“Hey, girl. Have you heard from Bobbi? She should’ve been back by now,” Michelle said.

“No, I was going to ask you where she was,”

In that instant, fear struck Michelle’s heart.

Meanwhile, Khentimentiu is still looking for the demon. Then he heard low growling in a back alley. He goes over to see the demon about to pounce on a bystander. He quickly gets behind the demon and slices his head off.

Michelle quickly leaves her school to go look for Bobbi. As she’s leaving the building she sees the creepy lady again. Michelle begins to walk away but the lady begins to follow her. The closer she gets, the faster she gets. Michelle begins to run and as soon as she does, the creepy lady begins charging at her making Michelle fear for her life.

Michelle stumbles trying to get away. The dead lady almost catches her but Michelle gets away, escaping into her house. She slams the front door and runs straight to her room and slams the door.

She begins to breakdown sitting on the floor. She takes her phone out and tries calling Bobbi again. It goes straight to voicemail making her cry harder.

“Are u okay? Where’d you go?” Michelle cried.

My door slightly opens and a hand comes through. The creepy lady creeps into her room without making a sound. Michelle sitting on the floor with her face in her hands. The creepy lady gets closer.

Michelle moves her hand to wipe her face and put her hand on the ground. The creepy lady comes right next to her and touches her hand. By the time Michelle realizes this, the creepy lady pulls her close, making them face each other, holding hands, foreheads pressed against each other.

Michelle gasps and starts seeing images of Bobbi. She sees Bobbi driving for her trip when something hits her car, makes her stop on a bridge. Bobbi gets out of her car to see what happened. She sees nothing and gets back in her car.

Then the demon that escaped before runs past her car aggressively making it flip over the bridge. She gets knocked out in the process of falling and her car begins to slowly sink in the water.

Then Michelle snaps out of it, gasping into consciousness. She looks at the creepy lady and moves her hair. She realizes that she was Bobbi’s spirit trying to get Michelle to save her. Michelle quickly gets up and runs to her mom's car outside. She speeds off towards the bridge. She stops the car and runs straight to Bobbi who’s almost completely underwater.

“Bobbi! Bobbi!” she exclaims as she goes into the water and in the car through the window. She manages to untangle Bobbi from the car and drags her out of the water. She sits on the ground trying to wake her up.

“Come on girl, wake up for me, please,” she urges.

Michelle holds her hand out and looks up to see Bobbi's spirit coming to take it. Michelle guides her to her body and she instantly wakes up scared, holding on to Michelle. Michelle gasps in relief.

“What happened?” -she coughs up water- “what's going on?” she asked wearily.

“It's ok, I got you,” Michelle answers, holding her close.

Michelle calls Mya to help take care of Bobbi. Later that night, Michelle is outside sitting on her porch with the little black book. She’s writing everything that she experienced with her new life. She wrote, “it’s crazy how I’m going to school to save lives and then learning that was my whole purpose being here. I even gained a brother out of it. I finally can’t wait to see what happens next.” She closes the book and looks up ahead of her. She sees another lost soul walk passed her porch. She gets up and goes to follow it.