Chapter 1 - I'm dead?!

I was just alive just now…

I was alive, I was going to school…

I was going to secondary school for the first time, anxious to meet new people. I got off the MRT, I saw my close friend, Nicholas, across the road. Out of pure glee and joy, I dashed across the road, to meet him.

But in the midst of that moment of folly, a sharp and piercing horn blasted through my ears, forcing my head to spin to its direction in pure instinct, and speeding towards me was a bulk of white, vaguely resembling a truck.

In a sudden split second, my world went black…

I felt cold… I felt lost… My mind was a buzz of activity, but seemed to slowly fade away…

What had happened to me? Did that truck crash into me? What is going to happen to me now?

Questions buzzed in my mind, for a period of time that seemed to last an eternity. Suddenly, all was silent…

………

Did I hear a voice? Where did it come from?

A small croaky voice danced into my mind, “After I knock the soul out, what do I do next? Oh ya, I inject the… OH NO! WHERE IS IT?!” At the sound of the shout, I flung my eyes open. Everything seemed normal enough, but why was I on the ground? Why was there a crowd staring at me? Nicholas was part of the crowd, staring at me with dumbstruck eyes with tears welled in them.

“Nicholas, what’s wrong, I’m okay now, you don’t need to worry anymore…”

In the middle of my speech, I realised that no one seemed to have heard me at all, and at the corner of my eye, I saw a monstrosity that was almost beyond description!

Next to me was a small imp-like creature with a stout bloated build and a noticeable overbite, and with skin of ruby red and blazing eyes. Crimson hair covered his scalp as well as parts of its back. On its back were also two tiny wings that seemed too weak to fly its owner.

The creature was staring at me with its fiery eyes, but with an expression that seemed to be on that of a nervous wreck about to be beaten up. What seemed even more strange was the fact that it was wearing a shirt that was tainted with what seemed like sweat and had the colour of a faded blue. At a corner, the shirt had the words “Grim’s Dreams” embroidered on it, which was the only part of the shirt that had seemed decent.

“Oh no! The soul has woken up! My boss’s gonna kill me!!” screeched the being, with the same croaky, crude voice that had woken me up.