Soul Census - War of Shadows - Book 1

Chapter 3.4: Window Room

Earth Date: 25th of February 1348 CE
Location: The Window Room, Soul Sphere

Zarad was certain that he would be bored and lovesick from this assignment, but since entering the Soul Sphere he had a euphoric feeling that never left him. He loved and missed Aloli, but it did not haunt him as it did in the Spirit Realm.

Thinking back, Zarad also noticed an unusual thing about himself since accepting the halo from Freya-- he now felt time in a very human way. He senses the seconds, the minutes, and the days pass one by one.

Perhaps the transformation into this angelic form was more material than ethereal... more human than spirit. Of course the halo was silent on the subject, so all he could do was guess.

As he floated through one of the empty passages, he yearned for some companionship. There was no one to talk to... well, except for his halo.

The halo acted like a spirit object, explaining things he encountered as he went exploring. Unfortunately, it was always unprompted and never predictable when it would decide to talk. Even when it did speak to him, it was always instructional-- not a true companion.

One thing it did excel at was being a taskmaster. It sent him through many interesting rooms in the Soul Sphere. Each room had some esoteric purpose. The Wave Room was a place to move and recalibrate energies. The Book Room a library uses to manage karmic records.

Only the Window Room really held his interest. It was a special place that allowed him to witness entire Cycles. Watching souls progress through lives, fulfilling karmic contracts and the drama surrounding the completion of their destinies... it was hard to resist.

Zarad left the corridor and finally passed into The Window Room.

In the center was a circular hallway that spiraled up through countless levels into a seemingly endless tunnel. The ‘windows’ lined the walls of the hallways. Each one was a portal that peeked into the lives of incarnate spirits... every incarnate spirit in the entire universe.

A constant hum reverberated around him, emanating from the windows. There were other wonders in the Soul Sphere, but the Window Room made him feel less lonely, and with it came the exciting possibility of finding Aloli in her new life.

Not all of the lives were from Earth, some were non-human lives on alien worlds. These alien lives were radically different from Earth-life, he tried to avoid gazing at them for too long as they were incomprehensible.

On the other hand, every human life he saw he obsessed over-- trying to find that one window into Aloli’s current life. He wondered how much time had passed since last seeing Aloli.

He was not even sure how much time had passed since becoming the Caretaker, but it felt like at least a couple of months... how many more months before I see her again?

Zarad levitated, following the spiraling window walls up the tunnel. Each window had a liquid-like membrane on its surface that rippled with waves as the images of each life scene unfolded beyond it.

Next to each window was a socket with a clear, elongated crystal embedded into it. The halo had told him that the crystals kept the portal a one-way view of the world on the other side-- he could see it, but they could not see him.

Zarad stopped at a life that showcased the apparent last moments of a dying man, laying on a bed in his home, surrounded by family members. As he stared, the halo narrated the scene for him-- telling him the man’s name, Willis Grant, along with the names of every person in the room and their relation to him.

It told him about the man’s illness, about his wife Priscilla that despite her tears, was having an affair with their next-door neighbor. And how she was gratified that he was finally dying so that the adulterous couple could now travel the world with the riches left behind by the deceased husband.

Despite the dramatic details, the whole thing was planned in the Spirit Realm prior to incarnation.

Priscilla did not know it yet, but her lover was plotting to kill her after they marry to keep the riches for himself. All of this to achieve karmic balance for all the actors involved. Zarad could not help but think back to what Freya had insinuated-- how the journey for karmic balance was not the true way to the Presence. All this planning, effort and pain... could it all be for nothing?

Zarad watched Willis expire and his soul leave his body. His spirit looked like any other in the Spirit Realm, except for what looked like a translucent umbilical cord anchoring him to the physical body. Willis floated around the room, looking at his physically dead body, and then at his new ethereal form.

As he roamed around, Zarad could see that the umbilical cord became thinner and weaker, as if stretching to the point of breaking. He also noticed that the crystal key next to the portal window became illuminated when Willis passed.

Willis looked at his family, one-by-one embracing all of them with his ethereal tentacles-- except for Priscilla. Zarad could see the man’s energy patterns flutter with anger as he stared at his cheating wife and her false tears. Willis tried slapping her, but his spirit hand simply passed through her.

Zarad noticed that the cord attaching him to his body was quickly thinning out. The halo explained that the cord was not visible to anyone, not even Willis. It was the bonding force between a spirit and its host body.

“How could you do this?” Willis yelled. “How could you!”

While he was yelling, Zarad noticed a strange thing happen. The room began to shake, knocking pictures and decorations off the walls. Family members screamed and looked around in distress.

Realizing that he was creating the chaos, Willis went wild-- flailing his tentacles all over the room and yelling obscenities at his wife.

The environment seemed to react to his motions. Objects in the room began to fly in the air, hitting family members. Some of them darted out of the room in panic, except for his wife.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Priscilla said.

“Yes!” he yelled, even though she could not hear him. “Yes it’s me you damn bitch!”

Rather than feel threatened or afraid, she just gave a smile, even as a picture frame bounced off her head, smashing to the floor.

“Hurry up and die,” she whispered. “Just die already.”

Willis stopped flailing and the room stopped shaking. Zarad could sense this was not the reaction he expected from her.

“No,” he said. “No I’m not going to die...”

Willis went to the bed and laid on it, mimicking the position of his physical body.

“I can’t die yet...” he said.

At that moment Willis spun his spirit, rolling it into his body. Willis’ body convulsed, gasping for air. A couple of family members rushed to his side.

Zarad notice that the light from the crystal key faded out.

After a few seconds, he stopped gasping and calmly sat up in the bed... giving his wife a long look.

Priscilla forced a fake smile.

“Hubby!” she exclaimed, rushing to his side.

He put a hand out to keep her at length.

“Don’t you ‘hubby’ me, bitch...”

Zarad could not help but smile. Karma works in mysterious ways.