The Stitcher of Souls - Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1: After Death - Part II

A gate. It opened.

Three thick threads, blue, red and b;ack.

I walk on them. They pierce through me.

And we’re blinded by pulsing whiteness.

I sat on a tree trunk.

I was surrounded by massive trees.

I was in an open spot – it was green.

I was in a forest.

I felt the wind on my face.

I saw how it moved my bare feet, my bare legs.

I looked at my hands, bare too.

I looked at the rest of my body and realised it was naked.

I also realized that it wasn’t a body. It was a shell.

The wind blew again, but it didn’t reach me.

I sat on a tree trunk, but I didn’t feel anything underneath me.

I saw the forest, but it didn’t change me.

I even stood up, but felt no difference in height and experience.

Nothing.

This body was a shell.

This shell carried me, Quin.

I am Quinn. Nothing more, nothing less.

I am Quinn.

I walked and the sun beamed straight at me, but I felt no warmth and no changes when walking.

That is, until someone yelled.

“Hey you– What the hell?”

Someone sat on a horse, which someone put to a stop, but after seeing the shell someone was moving it away again, slowly.

I reached out.

“Wait!”

I ran straight at the guy on the horse, but stopped because what the hell indeed.

Where am I? How did I get here? What am I doing here? What is this place?

I looked down at my body and thought of the guy standing before me.

WHY THE HELL WAS I NAKED?!

It was just like the animes, really, jeez.

No – Quinn, no time for anime references.

First, hide behind that tree.

Okay, okay – good.

Now slowly, show your face to the probably extremely traumatized guy – I couldn’t really blame him – stop it, Quinn.

Now say something, yes, open up your mouth – WAIT! Don’t say anything – you might screw it up and get yourself in trouble.

Just, eh, ah – got it! Act all innocent and lost and scared.

Yup, perfect.

I stood there, my body hidden behind on of the biggest trees I’ve ever seen, and looked at the guy on a horse, who also wore a badass – Quinn! – cape, in a very innocent, lost and scared way.

He frowned at me, obviously not trusting the naked girl, but also not too sure if she’d really do any harm – well, she might- QUINN! – and after a while he opened his mouth to say something.

He sounded very stern and accusingly.

“What are you doing here, butt naked?”

Mr. Obvious, huh. QUINN! STICK TO YOUR ACT, DAMN IT!

I cowered under his stern and accusing tone and looked down.

“I-I… I don’t –” what do you say in these situations?

‘I don’t know’ sounds too easy, lying about that this is how I live, suspicious and lying about that I’ve raped and robbed, too obvious and can easily lead to my end, because why didn’t I look tackled and painful?

I didn’t have any info or knowledge that could help me out here.

Well, then the easy one – then I could at least sound like I’m speaking the truth, because I honestly didn’t know why I was here, butt naked.

“…I don’t know.”

He snorted and mumbled, “Of course you don’t.”

Yup, definitely too easy. Well, better stick to what I started.

Even though he was going to think I’m the typical helpless girl. Hallelujah – just like in the movies.

I bet he’s a prince, too.

Quit the sarcasm, Quinn, and make sure you don’t die.

Die.

Wow – I died.

I remembered then: I remembered the guy in the dark cloak and his knife – god, that cold knife that did terrible things to my flesh.

Holy shit – I died.

I died. The jokes about dead sounded pretty pathetic at that moment, because at the time I made those jokes it seemed like I could handle it, like it wasn’t a big of a deal, but…

The way I died –

The fact I’m here now –

I couldn’t help but cry.

I slumped against the tree and eventually fell with my knees on the ground.

And I couldn’t help but being utterly terrified and feeling truly innocent, lost and scared.

And helpless, o so helpless.

Ironically, I’d say afterwards.

I started to cry even louder, more desperately and I curled myself up in a ball. I forgot that there still was this guy on a horse with a cape watching me and that I had more important things to do than to cry, but I just let it all out.

Slowly the fear, the tension slipped off of me, just when I felt a heavy jacket fall on top of me.

I looked up to see the guy towering over me, his dark brown eyes staring down at me with a kind of sneer on his face, making him seem quite dark and evil, in that bad-boy-way. His dark, almost black in two earlike pieces, like the ears of a wolf, stood on his head in a well, sexy and messy way, perfectly adding up to his evil face. His olive arms were crossed over his chest and he looked away as soon as I looked up.

“Cover yourself with that jacket,” he said plainly and as I was about to say something, he walked away. “I’ll take you to the nearby city, but from there you’re on your own.”

I carefully put on the jacket, which was longer and warmer than expected, and stood up.

I wiped the tears off of my face and took a deep breath.

Then, I followed him to his horse.

Next up: Chapter 2 Unearthly City
See you on the next page!

[pic origin: http://konseptual.com/2014/04/noragami-review/]