I traversed several city blocks before I realized I had lost my surroundings again and was back in the grey, featureless space where I had begun my death. At first, I worried that would make tracking the scent harder, but I didn’t seem to have any trouble. It was as if everything else simply melted into the background and only the destination I was focused on mattered. After searching for a short time through the mist, I finally saw a shape materialize in the distance. It started off as just a blurry form, but as I drew closer, I realized that it was a man standing alone and blinking uncertainly at his surroundings. I paused to study him. Nothing about his appearance was especially remarkable. He was older, average height, with greying hair and a rumpled suit. And he was definitely the source of the interesting smell. For a moment I considered the possibility that it might be a cologne of some kind, but that didn’t fit.  As I said, smell didn’t even properly describe the sensation. Still, whatever it was, it was coming from him. Curious, I walked closer and as I drew near, he called out to me,


    “Hello, um, excuse me, do you know where I am? I seem to be a bit lost. I can’t really see anything in this fog.”


    “Who are you?” I asked, warily.


    “Connor,” he reached out a hand. “And you?”


    “Mara,” I almost took his hand, but hesitated. “Do you know how you got here?”


    “No, I don’t. I can’t seem to remember…” he trailed off, looking out into the fog. “In fact, I shouldn’t be outside at all. I am not supposed to be out of bed; I haven’t been able to walk more than a few steps in months. Though, strangely, I am actually feeling fine, right now.”


    He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then took a deep breath. I swallowed hard. I didn’t really want to be the one to break this news, but could I really just leave him standing here like this? It seemed so cruel.


    “In fact,” he continued. “I can even breathe without coughing. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to take a full breath, I had almost forgotten what it was like.”


    He took another gulp of air,


    “It’s incredible! Ever since the cancer, I haven’t…”


    He kept talking, but I couldn’t keep listening. I had to say something before he got any more excited about being ‘cured’. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to go about broaching that topic, delicately. So, instead, I just sort of blurted it out,


    “I’m sorry, Connor, but I am pretty sure you are dead.”


    He paused, turning to face me,


    “What? That’s crazy. Why would you say that?”


    “Because I’m dead too,” I sighed.


    “No. No, that’s impossible. My wife she’s… my daughter is getting married in 2 weeks. I can’t be…” he frowned deeply. “It doesn’t even make sense. You saw me breathing, just now. If I was dead, why would I need to breathe?”


    I sighed. Finn had said most people weren’t so accepting. And it was a good question, I had wondered that myself, in the beginning, but it wasn’t a terribly difficult trick to figure out.


    “What happens if you stop?” I asked.


    “What?”


    “Stop breathing. What happens?”


    Connor paused, hesitating for a moment before he took an exaggerated breath, puffed out his cheeks and made a show of holding it. I watched his face as seconds passed, then minutes and he slowly learned the obvious: we didn’t need to breathe, or blink or do anything else the living did, we simply continued making a show of it, out of force of habit. Connor’s eyes widened with each passing second until finally his shoulders slumped and he opened his mouth again.


    “But… but I can’t be dead. Not now,” he sat down heavily on the ground and dropped his face into his hands.


    “I’m sorry,” I knew I had already said that, but what else was there to say?


    “What do I do now?” he asked.


    I wasn’t sure why he thought I would have an answer to that question. I sat down next to him.


    “I’m kind of new to this, myself,” I shrugged.


    “Oh,” he turned back to look at me with new eyes. “I kind of thought you were… you know, the grim reaper or something.”


    “Not exactly,” I replied. He didn’t need to know I had been offered the job but turned it down. “I’m actually recently dead, myself.”


    “I’m sorry to hear that. I just don’t know how this could have happened. My prognosis was good, things were improving… But I guess anything can happen. Fucking cancer. You want to know the worst part?” he turned to me.  There were so many more things I wanted to do, before I died. So many things I wanted to see. I wanted to walk my daughters down the aisle. I wanted to meet my grandchildren. My wife and I, we had so many plans for our retirement. I can’t believe that none of it is going to happen, now. It seems so unfair.”This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I nodded. Connor paused, studying my face,


    “But, perhaps I shouldn’t be complaining. I had a good life, with people who loved me. And when they eventually die, after a hopefully long and happy life, I will get to see them all again. You look… so young.”


    “Not that young. I’m 27,” I corrected.


    “27?” he laughed. “That is very young. About my youngest daughter’s age, in fact. I’m sorry you never got a chance to see more of life. Were you sick?”


    “Me? No. My health was fine. Until it very abruptly wasn’t.”


    “Then how did it happen?” he asked. “Or is it rude to ask that?”


    “I don’t know,” I replied. “On either count.”


    “Really? How can you not know how you died?”


    “Do you?”


    He thought for a moment,


    “I guess not. Huh. I assumed it must be my illness, that I died in my sleep or something.”


    “That makes sense. Nothing in my life was so… obvious. I worked a boring, dead-end job, didn’t do anything risky, didn’t really have any enemies. My shitty fiancé was cheating on me, but I am pretty sure he didn’t do it. I suppose…”


    I felt it before I saw it. The hunger. The demon materialized out of the fog, its undulating body gliding hypnotically across the featureless landscape. Somehow, I could tell that it was focused on Connor, moving slowly but inexorably towards him. What was it doing here? I realized after a moment that it must have been drawn to him, the same way I had. It had come to claim him. I jumped to my feet,


    “Ok, Connor, I think we should move.”


    The older man caught sight of the demon, and his eyes widened.


    “What is that?” he gasped.


    “Don’t look at it, let’s just walk this way.”


    I led the way deeper into the fog, trying to lose the demon like I had last time, with Finn. But this time, it followed, trailing us, gaining just a little bit with each step. Finn had been right, we had had nothing to worry about from the demon, but Connor was another story. It was drawn to him, to his scent, to his sin. And if it closed the distance, if it touched him, he would be damned. Just like me.


    “Let’s go a little faster,” I advised, picking up the pace.


    We wouldn’t get tired; we could run for as long as it took to lose the creature. Except that we weren’t losing it. Every time we sped up, so did it, matching our pace effortlessly. It didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, but there also didn’t seem to be any way to escape it. It was close enough now that I could hear the wet rippling of its body as it vibrated behind us.


    “What does it want?” Connor asked, fear in his voice.


    “You,” I replied.


    “So, what do we do?”


    I didn’t reply right away. I had a suspicion about what I was supposed to do. But I had refused, still refused to do that. Like I had asked Finn, why would I? Except… I realized now that I wanted to do it. Of course I felt sorry for Connor, and I didn’t want him to be trapped here like me. But this went deeper than that. That smell, that hunger. I wanted to consume his sin. Desperately. The demon on our heels felt like a rival scavenger, come to claim my meal. I needed to feed quickly, before it tainted him. That desire unsettled me. I had refused. I wanted to keep refusing. But maybe just a taste wouldn’t hurt. And really, wasn’t it the right thing to do? To save this man from my fate? Of course it was. Really, it would be wrong of me not to. Just this once.


    “I think I can help,” I said. “I just need you to trust me.”


    He nodded, frightened enough he would do whatever I said. It seemed he felt that hunger, too. Or perhaps it was merely instinctual, the way that prey could sense a hunter.


    “Alright, well,” I wasn’t sure exactly how to do this, but I could at least mimic the one time I had seen it done. “Take my hand and… think of the worst thing you have ever done.”


    Connor hesitated for only a moment, then he grabbed my hand. The connection was immediate, eager even. I could feel the memories and emotions flood into me, though they were too fast and muddled for me to discern what any of his regrets actually were. There was darkness there, yes, but there was also life mixed in. A reminder of the things I had been starting to forget, in this dull, grey place. As I drew from him it was like every burst into color. Even the grey mists around us seemed to simmer with a certain iridescence, now. It was… intoxicating. I glanced over at Connor. He had changed, too. He seemed less substantial, somehow, as if I could see right through him. But even more obvious was his demeanor. Since the news of his death the man had been forlorn, as you would expect, but now a peaceful smile lit his face. He seemed perfectly content, happy.


    “I feel so light now,” he said softly.


    As I felt his hand tug against my own, I realized he wasn’t being metaphorical. His feet no longer touched the ground, and he was beginning to drift upwards, held back only by our clasped hands, like a balloon on a string. He stared upwards, somewhere into the mists obscuring what passed for a sky in this place.


    “It’s so beautiful,” he murmured. “So perfect.”


    “What do you see?” I asked.


    He turned, but barely seemed to see me, anymore.


    “It’s perfect,” he repeated, then turned his gaze upward again.


    The flow of feeling from Connor had stopped and it appeared that my job was done. Whatever the next place was, he seemed to be ready to depart for it. He opened his hand, releasing his grip on mine, now the only thing holding him back was me. So, without any other ideas about what to do next, I released him. As I watched, he drifted lazily up into the mists, slowly fading from my view. Just before I lost sight of him altogether, I heard him say,


    “Thank you.”


    And then he was gone. Turning back to the demon, I saw that it had stopped several paces back. With Connor gone, it seemed to have lost any motivation to move further. It paid me absolutely no mind. Uncomfortable in its presence, I turned to walk away, but a voice from behind stopped me short.


    “So, I take it you understand, now?”


    I turned to see Finn striding out of the fog, walking past the demon without any real concern.


    “I think that we should have another talk,” I replied.


    “An excellent idea,” he grinned, seeming more animated than he had been the first time I met him. “Follow me.”


    He walked in the opposite direction of the demon and once again, I followed. I suddenly needed many more answers, because despite his conjecture, I didn’t really understand anything.