15 Days :: Prologue & Chapter 1
Prologue: Adam
In which death is a factor and fear isn't.
The living think they know a lot of things about the spirit realm and how it works. They have textbooks telling you what happens to the soul when a person dies. Every religion has something to say about the matter. You know... speculative garble they make up to console themselves. But nobody knows for sure. The only way to find out is to die. As we all already know, the knowledge of what comes after death is exclusive to those who has crossed that line and are not coming back.
My name is Adam. I've been dead for three years. Ghosts don't have a concept of time but I knew this because I've been keeping close tabs. It's kind of hard to miss because you know how long it takes for a child to be born. You know what they look like at various points of their life. If you forget, you can always look at the calendar and compare it to the date on your gravestone.
I couldn't cross over at first because my sister murdered me, and according to the rules of this world, I have to see that she gets her due on way or another. I won't get into that now. After I fixed that little problem, I decided to stay back because being a ghost among the living wasn't all that bad. There were always other ghosts - poor souls who were stuck here because they didn't know any better, or because they have unfinished business like needing to avenge their own deaths.
Some of them don't even realise they are dead, the poor saps.
But here I am, trying to make things a bit better for those who are having trouble figuring out why they are still here. Me and my little dog Litch, who once belonged to my best friend in the living world. I won't get into that now either.
I can leave anytime, of course, but I'll wait till I'm bored with my life after death. There are still plenty of things to learn about the spirit realm, but I have all the time in the world.
All the time in the world.
Part 1: Hallie
Chapter 1
In which some toast goes cold.
For some ambiguous reason, Hallie Vincent was sitting at her favourite table in Earth/Spirit - a café in the old side of town that she and her friends frequent - and some Chinese guy at the next table was studying her with open interest.
She couldn't remember how she got there. Was she meeting someone?
A young waiter she had never seen before breezed by, depositing a menu, order sheet and a pen on her table. She wanted to ask him if he knew what she was doing there but that would sound silly. How can she not know why she was there? Why can't she remember?
Meanwhile, guy at next table was still staring at her. Just her luck.
On a normal day, Hallie wouldn't have found the attention disturbing. People tend to stare at her because she didn't look fully Asian or Caucasian, but something in between. It comes with being half Iban, half Canadian and fully outrageous with her personal style. She was currently sporting crimson, chin length hair.
Leafing half heartedly through the menu, Hallie marked the little box next to the print that says 'ice blended kiwi juice' and 'toast with kaya'. She pushed both menu and order to the edge of the table as another waiter approached. He walked right past her without even looking. She frowned and waved at him when he came back around with someone else's order. Again, he didn't appear to have seen her, although he was facing her directly.
It was distinctly odd to be ignored like that. The waiting staff at Earth/Spirit was usually an attentive lot. A different waitress came by and also didn't see her outstretched hand. By then, Hallie decided that something was very wrong. What was the matter with everyone?
"Here, allow me." Said a male voice. She saw her order being taken off the table and a stocky figure making off with it. As she stared, the man strolled past the other waiting staff and headed straight into the kitchen. He was the same one who had been staring at her since she arrived - if 'arrive' was the right term. Come to think of it, none of the other customers in the café as much as glanced at her either. Hallie didn't panic easily, but she felt a rare edge of hysteria peck at her.
"Hey, you okay?"
Hallie looked up again. She wondered if her sudden grip of dread was that apparent.
The man was back, minus the menu. She decided that he appeared less creepy now that he wasn't quietly checking her out from afar. He wasn't handsome, she thought. Or perhaps he just wasn't her type.
"I'm fine. I think." She answered. "Thank you for... you know... I don't know what's wrong with them tonight. They're usually more responsive than this." Great, now she was babbling.
He smiled, or at least she thought that was what he did. His expression lightened and he looked more pleasant. "You're new here."
Hallie's forehead furrowed. "I would say the same about you." She said, slowly regaining her normal composure. "We must keep different hours. I've never seen you before."
He shook his head, still smiling. "I'm here quite a lot." He said. "But yes, you're right. I doubt if you've seen me before." He offered a hand. "Adam Lim."
She took it and gave it a firm shake. "Hallie Vincent."
"Hallie, pleased to meet you." His voice did not bear any trace of the typical local accent but she can't place it. "Hate to sound like some dumb barfly, but perhaps you'd allow me to join you?"
She consented to that, partly because she didn't want to seem rude. After all, he just helped put her order through. Perhaps Adam knew some things she didn't.
It seemed that way.
Not long after Adam collected his own drink and sat down at her table, another waiter Hallie had never seen before brought her kiwi juice over. Who the hell were all these new people and what was the matter with the original staff? They should recognise her; she goes there often enough.
Adam was following her curious gaze. "I bet I know what you're thinking." He said.
She looked at him now. "What?"
"Why they're ignoring you."
"Why are they ignoring me?" Hallie stabbed her thick ice blended drink with the straw.
"It'll sound preposterous but promise me you won't scream or throw your drink at me." He paused. "Actually, you can scream and throw things if you like because they'll still ignore you. It'll only make me uncomfortable." He grinned sheepishly.
She felt her lips twitch with a smile. "Stop being all mysterious on me, Adam." She said. "Spill."
Adam looked up at a passing waiter, who walked past their table without missing a beat. "Look carefully." He said. "Look at their t-shirts."
Hallie looked as the waiter walked by again. They all wore uniforms that consisted of a white t-shirt trimmed in dark green, usually paired with jeans, and a dark green apron over that. The shirt had the words 'Earth/Spirit' printed on the back.
As Adam calmly sipped his tea, her toast arrived by the hand of the waiter who also brought the menu to her. What he wore was identical. She was about to say this to Adam but she saw his eyes shifting to the departing boy's back. She followed his gaze.
The boy's t-shirt said 'Spirit Café'.
"What the..." Hallie turned back to her new friend, a questioning look in her eyes.
Adam gave her a subtle nod but didn't say anything. Hallie ignored her newly arrived food and began looking at the words printed on the back of every staff uniform. Most of them said 'Earth/Spirit'. She counted three that said 'Spirit Café'.
"Okay. Either they did a half assed job of changing names or some of their staff put on the wrong shirt today. Still, it doesn't explain why they are giving us the cold shoulder." She inhaled. "Tell me what this is all about then."
Adam studied her from across the table, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. "Tell me," he began. "What is the last thing you remember before coming here?"
Hallie opened her mouth to answer but was once again struck by the awful sensation of not remembering anything. She felt herself go cold.
"Nothing, right?" said Adam softly.
She closed her mouth and shook her head. Something was very wrong.
"I'm not very good at lessening blows, Hallie." His voice took on the kind of tone one would use when trying to lessen a blow. "And there's no other way I can put this."
"Spill." She said again. She wished her voice didn't sound so unsteady.
"You're not in the same world as Earth/Spirit anymore. You're dead."