Chapter 5

“Give me...your soul.” It hisses in a dark voice. Jennifer is frozen with fear as the Soul Reaper walks toward her, arm stretched out. She quickly breaks eye contact and runs. She can hear the creature running behind her, chasing. Its breaths are raspy and quick, and they are getting louder as it closes the distance between the two of them.

Jennifer quickly rounds the corner, ready to yell a warning to the group of people she saw when she came down the stairs. When she sees them she is horrified. They all look the same as Kyle did. Their flesh is a deathly white. Vacant eyes void of life stare off. Large claw marks are burnt into their chests. As she gazes at them more Soul Reapers emerge from the darkness.

“Give us...your...soul...give it...to...us.” they all hiss at Jennifer, slowly walking to her, crawling over the empty shells that used to be people. “We want...your soul.” She runs to the stairwell and quickly unlocks the doors. Prying them open she runs in and slams them shut on the Soul Reapers. Her situation becomes more grave as she remembers the doors cannot be locked from this side. Terrified she turns and runs up the stairs to the third floor. She can hear the doors on the second floor swing open. The hissing and clawing of the pursuing Soul Reapers echoes in the stairwell. She gets to the third floor and tries to open it, but it is locked on the other side. She frantically begins pounding on the door and screaming.

“Let me in! Oh God let me in! Open the doors!” Her prayers are answered when the lock clicks and the doors are open. She looks up and realizes her prayers had not been answered, only her nightmares. Several windows are shattered and many of the creatures climb through. A terrified co-worker had opened the door, trying to escape, but a Soul Reaper quicky grabs her before she can get away. Gripping the woman by the throat in one hand the creature raises her high and lunges its other hand, digging its claws deep into her chest. The smell of burning flesh instantly stings Jennifer’s nostrils. The woman begins to scream, horrified, Jennifer turns away and begins running up the stairs once more.

She can hear the scratching and clawing as the other Soul Reapers make their way up the stairs after Jennifer. Their hissing and heavy breathing echo loudly, the sounds fill her ears, driving her into a panic.

“Soul!...give it...to us...your soul!” Their haunting voices cry out after Jennifer. When she gets to the fourth floor she bypasses the closed door, continuing her ascent to the roof. Her running comes to an end when she arrives at the service exit to the roof. She quickly pushes the door open and falls out onto the rock covered ground. Getting back up she slams the door shut, but again to her horror, the door cannot be locked from her side. There is no where left for her to go.

She runs to the other end of the roof and looks down. Even from up here she can see Soul Reapers moving amongst the thickly fogged streets. The sky is completely darkened with thick clouds, horrified screams fill the air. Yet, everything is deathly still. Jennifer suddenly becomes frantic when she hears the sound of the service door swinging open. She turns around, several Soul Reapers emerge from the darkened hall onto the roof. They looks about for a few seconds before they spot Jennifer. Stretching their arms out they slowly walk towards her.

“We want your...soul...give us...your...soul...give it to us!” They hiss and snap as they walk to her, arms stretched out. Jennifer looks at them in horror, backing up until her foot reaches the edge of the roof. Looking behind her there is nothing but a straight five storey drop onto the broken streets below. She looks back at the Soul Reapers that are only a few feet away from her.

“You will not get my soul.” Jennifer says quietly. With that said, she casually falls backwards off the roof. Wind whips past as the building roof quickly recedes from her. Everything rushes by in a sickly blur, her lifespan suddenly measured in seconds. Slowly closing her eyes, Jennifer accepts her fate. Within moments everything ceases, there is no more wind rushing, no more weightlessness of free falling. There is no pain either, no fear and no worry. Only consuming darkness.

---

Suddenly a light pierces her vision, everything is blurry, and familiar voices can be heard somewhere far off. Someone is leaned over her, repeating her name.

“Jennifer! You there? Are you all right?” The familiar voice belongs to Kyle. Jennifer’s vision becomes clearer. She is laying on her back on a carpeted floor, staring up at the tiled ceiling of the office. She slowly sits up and looks around. Kyle and Chris are both standing over her.

“Well it looks like she’s finally awake. You scared us for a second there, didn’t think you were gonna wake up.” Chris says in a relieved voice. Jennifer slowly stands up and puts a hand to her head. She has a pounding headache.

“I...I...what happened?” She asks, confused as to what is going on.

“Well, we had a small earthquake, but I guess one of the ceiling tiles came loose and landed right on your head. Knocked you out cold, we’ve been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes now.” Kyle explains. Jennifer looks around and notices that the power is not out. She quickly makes her way to the office window and looks outside. The sky is clear and bright and the city streets are in one piece.

“You sure you’re ok?” Kyle asks. Jennifer thinks to herself. Was it all just a nightmare? She looks at Kyle and remembers his lifeless pale features. Remembers vividly the horrors she witnessed.

“Yeah I’m fine, just...” Souls...give us “...just bad memories.” Jennifer says in a shaky voice. She slowly makes her way out of the office and walks down the hall in a daze. Kyle and Chris watch her leave, worry apparent on their features.

Was it really just a nightmare? Jennifer quietly thinks to herself. The faces of the eyeless Soul Reapers and the faces of those with their souls ripped from their body flash in her mind. Or was it something else? She continues walking through the office halls, twisted memories filling her head, drowning out everything else.

Even though bright sunlight shines through the large windows, everything is dark and sordid through her eyes. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she walks on, her thoughts forever tainted by the horrors she was put through.

The End...

- Nothing is more terrifying than the human psyche, when pushed far enough, capable of creating horrors far beyond that of which the mind should endure.