Page 33 of Endless

"Okay." Her brows furrow and she opens her mouth to say something else but snaps it shut, waiting for me to continue.

"Two years and five weeks ago in your time, I laid eyes on you for the first time to reap your soul. You were lying in a puddle of blood, and you looked so weak, barely hanging onto your human life. Your mother rushed in to try and save you, but she was unsuccessful."

I hear a sharp gasp as her eyes widen. She is piecing together everything she knows about me and why she can see me now.

"You have been a soul in my realm, on your path to fulfill your purpose since the first moment I saw you. I carried you here and placed you in the hospital that you woke up in after the incident. Everything you have experienced since that bathroom floor has all led up to today when you fulfilled your purpose."

"You're going to have to pause here for a damn minute because I have some questions."

"I will answer any questions you have."

"Has this all been fake? Carson, Lexi, Thorn Grove? It's all made up?"

"No, they are also souls on their own individual journeys to fulfill their purpose. Every interaction you had with them was genuine. Everyone here is a human soul, aside from me. TheOthers make the rules regarding purpose, but it is my understanding that certain souls are meant to cross paths and interact with one another as tests. It is how they separate the pure souls from the impure ones."

"But nobody knows they're dead? Nobody is old? Why are there so many others going to a fake college?" she questions.

"It would be hard to test the purity of a soul if they knew they were dead and being tested, would it not?"

"I guess."

"Once I leave the soul on their path in my realm, all memories of their death are forgotten. In my realm, their age is based on what is required to fulfill their purpose. Most of the time, humans experience major growth and development between the ages of 18 and 30. It's why that age is so common here."

I push a stray piece of her hair behind her ear, and she leans into the touch. Good. I haven't scared her away. I was worried this would be too much for her.

"Once a purpose is fulfilled, the angel or demon appears to take the soul from here. They are the official representatives of each, good and evil. God and the Devil are in command, but their angel and demon both have access to my realm.”

“Balance,” she says.

“Yes. As far as the college goes, this is not the only area of my realm. This is just one corner. There are other towns, islands, forests, boats, you name it, and it's an available option here."

"Kellan..." she trails off, and I think this is it. This is when she decides it’s all too much for her.

"Yes?"

"You're telling me there's an endless number of places for me to live, and I've been living with my ex-douchebag at a college where everyone bullies me? Why did you let me stay there?"

I reach out and hold her hand in mine. "I couldn't reveal this to you and risk The Others taking you from me. I know that was selfish of me, and I’m so sorry, pet. I intended to show you my true form and figure out the rest, but that plan went to shit when I appeared in your bathroom, and you realized it was me."

"That's your fault! You could have appeared outside the apartment door or something."

"Hmmm. I suppose I could have," I admit.

Her body visibly tenses. "Anyway, back to Carson. Please tell me I don't have to go back there. Tell me I can stay with you now, that I don't ever have to see any of those people from Thorn Grove again."

"You do not have to see any of them again. We can go wherever you like. If you'd like to stay near this cemetery, that can be arranged. Or we could curate a place together that we can call our home. Wherever or whatever you decide, I will be by your side." I've never sounded so hopeful in my entire existence. I never desired a home for myself, but a home for us sounds perfect.

She breathes out a sigh of relief, the tension leaving her body. "How long do people usually stay here?"

"It varies. It could be a matter of moments, years, or decades. There is no real sense of time here, only the illusion of it. Time ends when a soul's life ends. How long someone is here directly relates to fulfilling their purpose."

She sits on those words for a moment before her eyes meet mine. "How long have I really been here? It feels like it's been two years and five weeks, but is that how long it's really been?"

"There is no appropriate answer to that question. What I can tell you is that every moment of not being with you was pure torture."

"What do you mean?" She seems a bit thrown off.

"I told you before, I was drawn to you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. I wasn't joking. I had to bring you here and watch from a distance for so long. Time works differently for me. As I’ve already said, there is no start or end. The only reason I even came out of the shadows when I did was by accident. I was terrified of messing with your path. I thought if I did, The Others would take you from here sooner. I got a little too close to you the day we met here, and well, you know how that day ended."

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