Too Broke For Afterlife

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Oh my god.

Removing that old stone plate was way harder than expected and I wonder how Walter deals with it considering his arms are closer to resembling spaghetti than actual limbs.

I'm not trying to say that I'm well-trained, you couldn't spot a bicep on me even if you used a magnifying glass but compared to Walter I definitely won when it comes to genes.

I am now looking into a pitch black hole, a few stone steps seem to lead down into the dark.

All my brain cells are telling me that this is wrong and dangerous. What if someone sees the hole and calls the police? Or what if closes it and I end up being buried alive? That seems like a horrible death and would probably send me straight to Hell.

I mean, Hell doesn't scare me after I've seen it with my own eyes but I'm not ready to die just yet. There are still mysteries I want to unravel. After what I heard from the ghost, this story might go deeper than I thought.

Speaking of going deep, I take the first step and then the second. I make sure to walk carefully, the stone seems quite slippery due to the cold mud covering it. Breaking my neck while robbing a grave would be hardly less upsetting than suffocating. 

Luckily, the steps lead into the opposite direction of the grave so I can be sure that I won't bump into any coffins or bones. 

"Hello?" I shout.

I'm out of luck, I don't get any response.

What if the ghost was pranking me? What if she lured me here just to mess with me?

No, Walter has to be here somewhere.

I reach the end of the stairs and have to continue slightly bent over as the ceiling is too low for my average 5 foot 9. I guess people in the 19th century were really short.

No outside light reaches this secret place underneath the soil and so I'm left with only my hands to make out where I'm walking. Sure, I could use my phone's flashlight but I'd rather save the battery. And maybe it's actually a good thing I can't see right no-

"F*ck!"

No, this time I did not trip but I ran face first into a stone wall. That's not much better.

Maybe I should start going to the gym after all, my coordination is horrendous.

That's what coordination is, right? Balancing and stuff? I don't f*cking now.

My hands explore the cold wet stone until they find an irregularity. A gap deep and wide enough to grab it. 

Wait, could this be a door?

I try pushing it but it won't move.

Then maybe I have to pull. What genius idea.

I press my fingers into the gap and start pulling and pushing.

"Come on, you bitch!" That's all I can press out. But it's working, the wall moves and immediately light streams into the earthy corridor.

I try to not look around as I might stare into the face of spiders or other insects. Or have a rotting skull inspect me.

"Here, let me help you."

I almost scream when a hand appears from the other side and pushes the door into the right direction.

I carefully peek around and look right into Walter's face.

"This thing is a bit wedged but it should- Oh god."

When he sees me, he freezes. His mouth drops open.

"What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

I look down at myself. And only then I notice that I'm still wearing the black cloak and the garlic around my neck from earlier.

With all the stress and excitement I had completely forgotten about that stuff. I wonder what the man with his dog thought when he saw me. Maybe that's why he started laughing.

"Are you hunting vampires or something?"

"You know, I actually was but...no, I'm the one who should be asking questions! What the f*ck are you doing here?"

I push Walter away and step into the room.

It is a mausoleum indeed. With the only difference being that a big machine has taken over the middle.

"You gotta be shitting me."

I slowly take a step forward and examine The Materializer.

"What is this thing doing here?"

"I built it."

I swirl around to Walter. "You did what? Why?"

"I'm going to explain everything in a second. Why don't we sit down?"

Walter pulls a plastic chair out of the corner but I just stare at him in disbelief.

"So this is what you've been doing these past few months? This is what I've been scanning all these books for? So you can recreate this monster?"

When Isabella and I had been trapped into the machine by Lucas it was hands down the worst moment of my entire life. Maybe because that entire life was about to end.

It was bad enough to look at the blueprints back in Peru. And then I had to face it again in Hell.

I don't want to have to see this machine ever again.

"The Materializer is our only chance to save Earth."

"Bullshit."

"No, it's true! We can't fight from here. We have to travel to the source of the problem."

I shake my head. "But not like...this."

Walter looks at me. For the first time, his eyes don't shy away.

"There is no other option. Do you not remember what Satan told you?"

"I do but…"

But he is right.

<<<

Stan was looking at me with thoughtful eyes, his head resting on his hand.

I had been waiting for a while for him to say something but he seemed to struggle with finding the right words.

After another while, he cleared his throat.

"I'll try to make it simple. Outside of life, the world is separated into three entities. Hell, Heaven and Afterlife. When you die, you get sent to Afterlife, they are sort of the traveling agency and decide where to send you to. If you go to Hell, your soul gets materialized and is being used as power for the fan. Got it so far?"

I nodded to show I'm understanding his words.

I have been to Afterlife. And now I've also been to Hell. That leaves only one place.

"When you get sent to Heaven, things go a bit differently. You can imagine Heaven as an infinitely big city. Here you have the chance to continue your life for a little while until it's time for you to say goodbye. Then your soul will be sent to Hell to be materialized as well."

This is where I'm lost and I think it shows on my face. 

"Basically, Heaven is designed to be a stopover, a short-term addition to your life. All life ends sooner or later, there is no infinity and in the end you'll go to Hell. Or at least that's the plan."

"What do you mean?"

Stan's face hardens as he looks outside the window again. A few imps drive past in one of the golf carts.

"When we dispose of your soul, the KP you still carry with you goes to Death, a good friend of mine. And the being with the most karma has the most power."

"Death is...a person?"

"Sort of. They don't have a soul, unlike me, so person is a bit unfitting. That's why I used being."

"So where is the imbalance? Why are you not getting enough souls?"

Stan nods, his eyes narrow as he looks into mine.

"I don't know the exact reason as I can't leave Hell but I have a guess. You see, Heaven is led by a mayor. My guess is that she somehow managed to make people stay in Heaven forever and is harvesting their karma."

"But why would she do that?"

A psycho woman that runs Heaven. Could this already be considered blasphemy? At least it felt like it.

"Like I said, the more karma, the more power. Climate change and humanity being in danger is one problem. But if we let her continue, maybe she one day will have more power than Death. And that would be the real catastrophe."

I sank back into my chair, overwhelmed with all this information.

Let me summarize it quickly: Death is a person. Heaven is run by a corrupt mayor. And if we don't stop her, she will take over the world? That is if the world still exists by then. Because the more souls she keeps in Heaven, the hotter our planet will get. 

"And that's why you're sending your army to Earth?"

Stan raised an eyebrow. "What army? No, I can't do anything. That's why I needed to talk to you."

"But I was told that you're using The Materializer to kidnap people and turn their bodies into shells for your demons. That's why we have to stop you."

The devil shook his head in disappointment.

Then he took a long look at me.

"I'm not the one you should be fighting.. The true evil lies in Heaven."