His Final Redemption

*Loosely inspired by the manga/anime "Rurouni Kenshin" by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

HIS FINAL REDEMPTION

         “So… I‘m dead.”


         The hooded figure in front of the man nodded slowly, never once revealing the face beneath the dark cloak that shrouded its whole body.


         The man formed a bitter smile to himself as he remembered the feel of hot lead in his chest, the burning pain, and the ultimate darkness that claimed him afterwards. He always wondered how it felt to die, but now that he experienced it, it wasn’t as scary as he previously thought.


         He scoffed at that notion and lifted his head, allowing himself to look around. The place was substantially different from his image of The Afterworld — he always thought it as a gloomy, somber place where people lined up in either dread or confusion, waiting for their Final Judgment. But this place… there was nothing but sands here, a lonely desert in the middle of nowhere. No people lining up, no gloomy sky, no cries and screams — it was pretty much him and the veiled creature in front…


         … A demon, perhaps? So he was going to Hell after all. Of course, it was only befitting of him after what he had done… wait. What had he done? The man frowned and tried to remember. But no matter how hard he raked and rummaged through his brain, he still couldn’t recollect his memory.


         Ah, but did it matter? He knew where he was going anyway, to that fiery pit of despair and darkness — the place he convinced himself he belonged to. He winced at the thought of burning eternally in Hell, but he knew he deserved it. With a weary and defeated sigh, Jonathan Wales finally settled his eyes upon the creature and said to it, “I’m ready to go.”


         For a few seconds, there was nothing. Then, Jonathan heard the hooded creature spoke for the first time, its tone sluggish and raspy, “No… you are not…” It then pointed past the astounded man and added, “You are… still tied to… the world…”


         Jonathan creased his forehead and wondered to himself. What ties could he possibly have to the world of the living? He didn’t know, his mind was fuzzy and he couldn’t remember a thing. All he could remember was how he died and that was all. And even if he had something important while he was alive, surely it wouldn’t matter now if he couldn’t remember it, right?


         — That was what he was going to say to the creature; but before he had a chance to utter a single thing, the hooded figure spoke again, “Go… resolve it…”


         All of the sudden, there was a strong pull; and Jonathan felt himself being harshly hurled backwards. He didn’t even have the time to panic as his lungs were sucked out of air and his whole muscles numbed. His sight was a blur, and it seemed like his other senses were dulled as well. But after only a couple of seconds, there was a halt; and his senses returned to him once more. After trying to calm his erratic heartbeat, he braved himself to crack open an eye he unconsciously shut…


         The sight of a pier of some sort greeted him, which he would’ve thought as the world he once lived in if it wasn’t for the fact that it looked and felt so surreal — the sky was flooded with murky mists, and it was too silent. The air didn’t feel too different, actually, but there was a certain tightness in it, an unconscious warning to the man. It was certainly… too unnatural.


         He was beginning to get wary and tried to figure out what would happen next. He held his breath and waited with morbid anticipation… but after a while, it seemed like nothing was going to happen. He let go a relieved sigh and darted his view to his left and right, hoping to find that hooded figure so he could get out of this place.


         Finally, he noticed some blurry silhouettes of people from afar. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus, but all those mists obstructed his sight. He debated over walking nearer to them for a while before deciding to give it a shot. After all, why fear of anything if you were already dead? With that thought in mind, he covered his head with the hood of his shirt and went closer.


         With each step, their figures became clearer, and he could hear some voices — laughter mostly. Of course, it must’ve been the children who were laughing. Ah, he could see them now… there were two boys, both with wide grins plastered on their faces. They were accompanied by two men — their fathers? Yes, they must be their fathers. Hm, strange… they all looked so familiar to him. In fact, that man with a hat looked like…


         His eyes went wide as realization dawned. It was Jonathan himself! And the boy who held his fishing rod was none other than his son, Tommy! How could he… how could he forget about him? He watched his other self trying to teach his son how to hold the fishing rod, and a pang of sorrow hit him. He never got the chance to see his son when he died.


         Then he suddenly remembered what the hooded creature told him. So… was this the reason why he couldn’t move on? Because he wanted to see his son for the last time? A sad smile played on his lips. Finally, he had resolved it. With this, he could move on at last. He was sure his beloved wife would take a good care of Tommy. From now on, he would always look upon his son from Heaven…


         …


         … Heaven? But why would he go to Heaven? Shouldn’t he be in Hell instead? But then again, why —


         A sense of dread instantly washed over Jonathan. No… there was something else… His son wasn’t the real reason he was still tied to this world... There was another reason… A terrible reason… But what…


         All of the sudden, he had the urge to turn around and face the other man. His heart started beating faster and faster, and he could hear his own ragged breathing. After what seemed like eternity, he finally came face to face with the mysterious man. As he noticed his blue eyes, his slightly crooked nose, and that small dimple near his lips, a surge of memories hit him in torrents and he fell on his knees.


         He saw flashes of rapid events in his mind: him in his undercover uniform, men in suspicious black suits, then gunshots — lots of them. A chase, then another gunshot. His memory started to unravel one by one. Then he saw his partner and best friend, Greg Smithton, his mouth gaped and eyes wide with disbelief. Blood poured out from the wound at his heart and he collapsed, eyes staring open in a perpetual look of shock…


         The memory abruptly ended there, and Jonathan clutched at his hair and cried, “Oh, my… Smithton… what have I done…” He remembered everything now. He was on duty with his partner to investigate a group of suspected drug dealers. A chase broke out, and they got separated in the middle of it. The tension was high, and Jonathan became anxious after awhile. When he heard noises behind his back, he didn’t think twice before he turned around and fired…


         … only to find out that he had shot his own partner. The look of shock on Greg’s face was apparent, and it was a sight that haunted him forever. While he was left staring at his dying comrade, he heard another gunshot and felt a burning pain in his chest. Then… there was darkness.


         “Smithton… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Jonathan repeated over and over again, hands still clutching at his hair.


         Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to the smiling face of Greg Smithton. The latter opened his mouth and said with a kind tone, “ Let it go, John.”


         “But I killed you!” Jonathan bellowed, hot tears running down his cheeks. “I killed you, my own comrade, I made you lost your dreams! Your family! How can I just forget and let go?!”


         The other was silent for a while, then he looked straight into Jonathan’s eyes and gave him the answer he had been looking for, “I never blamed you, John, no one ever did. If there’s anyone who blamed you, it is yourself.”


         Jonathan was taken aback and asked in a weak voice. “You’re saying that… you forgive me?”


         Greg laughed and slapped his friend’s shoulder lightly. “Are you deaf or something?” he said, humor returning, “how can I forgive you if I never blamed you?”


         As soon as the words left his mouth, a blinding light flooded the place and washed away all doubt and misery Jonathan felt. And when he felt the familiar tug on his body that signaled his time to go back, he suddenly felt no more fear to the fire of Hell. With a peaceful smile, he closed his eyes and waited for his grim Judgment.

~***~

         The hooded figure smiled when it realized that the man it was in charged with had finally managed to severe his tie to the world. It sighed and discarded the cloak, revealing a beautiful figure with a pair of dove wings. Now, all it had to do was to wait for the man to return so it could escort him to Heaven…

~ THE END ~

*Word Count (According to MS Word): 1,592 Words.