"Sofia? Sofia? Sofia...!"
She opened her eyes, for some reason she felt very sleepy and as if she had slept for too long. She saw the dazzling sunlight and a young man sitting in front of her.
"Lucien?" She said. She saw Lucien who was looking at her with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?"
"What is-"
Her words stopped when she began to notice the strange sight around her. An asphalt road, cars around it, people standing and looking at it with strange faces, a motorbike lying in the middle of the road and a pool of blood.
"Thank God you're awake. I was really worried about you!"
Lucien hugged her body tightly, his back trembling. She could feel his fear.
"W-what happened?"
"We had an accident!"
"Accident?"
"Yes, you're injured. The ambulance will come soon, so please hold on!"
Lucien held her face in both hands, he looked so panicked and worried as if he was holding back tears. In fact, she could see the remains of tears in the corners of this man's eyes.
"Are you crying?"
She smiled, she didn't know why she felt so happy. Lucien cried because he was worried about her. This was the first time she felt that Lucien truly loved her.
"I'm so scared! I'm afraid something bad will happen to you. I'm really sorry. This is all my fault. If only we hadn't left earlier, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"No! This is not your fault! Please don't blame yourself. I'm fine, as long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."
Her tears flowed without her realizing it. This feeling, this situation, this sadness, she felt as if this had happened to her. But there was something different, yes, something that felt painful.
She touched Lucien's face with her hand. She really wanted to tell this man that she loved him so much.
"I don't want to die, Lucien. I don't want to die. I don't want to go to a place where you are not there. I want to live, I want to always be with you, I-"
She sobbed, she knew there was something different about what was happening now. She saw Lucien's face in front of her eyes, who was looking at her with bitter eyes.
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die...!"
"What are you saying? You're already dead!"
She opened her eyes when she heard an unfamiliar voice. It was dark, she was surrounded by eerie darkness as if there was not the slightest light shining into this dark room.
A small speck of light floated in the air right in front of her. She felt short of breath, difficult to breathe. But strangely, there was no air for her to breathe. This place seems without air.
The point of light slowly enlarged, shining very brightly to form the form of a human in a white robe whose face was illuminated by light.
"Who are you? Where is Lucien? Where is he?" She asked panicked when she realized that Lucien was not nearby.
"Like I said, you were dead, Sofia and now here you are."
"Dead? What do you mean I'm dead? I'm still alive! I even had time to talk to Lucien and he hugged me, he-" she stopped when the small memory of how Lucien hugged her while crying made her feel that something was wrong.
"Impossible, that's impossible-"
"Now it's time for you to go, I'll take you!"
"No...! No way, I'm not dead, I don't want to die! I'm still alive, I'm still alive...!" She screamed hysterically. Panic and fear filled her soul, which was still too young to die.
The white-robed man stretched out his hand, she stopped crying and turned to look at the man's face which she couldn't see clearly because of the light shining on his face.
"Don't be afraid, life on earth is only temporary. Eternity is in heaven. You will go to a place where you don't have to feel afraid and cry."
"Lucien,"
"Hmm?"
"There's no Lucien there, right?"
"Lucien?"
"No, I don't want to go to a place where Lucien isn't there. No, put me back in the world! I don't want to die, I don't want to go to heaven. I just want-" her tears flowed harder. There were no more words she could say.
She was dead and how could she accept such a bitter reality like this? She was still too young, on the day she died, she had just celebrated her 18th birthday. She still wants to live longer.
"What's the use of regretting? You're lucky because you still have the chance to go to heaven. Do you know how many people can't go to heaven because their sins are too many? You would never hope to go to that place, Miss. "
She pondered, trying to understand the situation she was facing. She looked at her two hands which she could still move. Strange, doesn't someone who can still move her hands mean she's still alive? But why did she die?
"You'd better just give up, we don't have much time. I have other duties and I can't wait for you any longer." Said the man.
"I just want to be with him, I just want to be with Lucien. Return me to the world...! I want to live...!" She screamed and cried hysterically. She couldn't accept the fact that she was dead.
At a dark crossroads, she saw a man wearing a black robe standing, laughing sarcastically as he watched the tears fall in her eyes. The man was holding a stone which he threw into the air and casually caught again. The man was just silent and didn't say anything, but for some reason she heard a man whisper in her ear and say.
"Shall I show you how to return to the world?"
She immediately stopped crying and for some reason the sound sounded clearer in her ears. The man then spoke again as she became interested in what the voice was saying.
"If you're interested, come to me! Don't follow that man because he will take you to a place where you won't be able to solve all your problems."
"W-what was that? What did you say?"
"I can make you come back to life, so you can take revenge on the man who killed you."
***