A Flaw in the Cosmos

By Jco Sabellano
15 years from now…

I wasn't going to be here for long.

The months that I've waited turned to mere memories as time

seemingly accelerated to this day. I knew I was going somewhere but I don't
know what would happen to me when I got there. I started all this after all, I
think, the moment I tried to understand one the greatest wonders of the
universe

Life. Peope spend so much time trying to give meaning to it. Too much
of their time finding purpose. We focus our attention trying to know what it is
rather than asking where it came from, how it came to be. And this was
where my journey took a bit of a detour. I tried to find meaning, my purpose,
and answers, and so I did. But before that, let's go back to where it all
started. To how life itself... existed.

It was believed that when the universe came to be, life was created
through a consecutive, perfectly aligned chain of accidents that seemed
almost impossible. There were many who questioned this as to signify it as
the work of God, while others say we just got lucky. But there is one variable
in which we cannot take away from the equation. The variable … of
programming.

So the idea that a divine Being programmed the whole universe was
conceived. But still, we never could scratch the fact that somehow, there was
some glitch in the system. Was it possible that even He Himself could
commit a mistake in coding? All the questions I've asked, were now
answered.

I came to understand that the universe had plans for me.

As I sat here quietly on a park bench beneath the shade of an

overgrown tree, hearing the children laugh and play with their parents, who
wore smiles on their faces almost as they went by, I smiled to myself with a
growing pain in my chest as I lowered my head and eyed no particular thing.
I looked up and saw the clouds starting to cover the whole afternoon sky.
Rain was soon to come.

I looked beside me… and saw her. She seemed as though she too was
hiding some pain inside and covered it up with that smile I could never get
out of my head, the smile that gave me hope in times when I never believed
I had any. The smile that took my heart and kept it safe for as long as I could
remember. The smile that started it all. The smile... that would never be
mine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Clara. That was her name, or at least what I called her. I remembered
the first time our paths crossed, roughly two years ago. I decided to take a
break from my work and was now heading to the cafe across the street, right
in front of the apartment I was staying in. Rays of light shined against the
buildings as daybreak was now upon the busy city.

As I entered coffee shop, the sweet aroma of freshly made espresso in

the morning filled the room with a warm and welcoming feeling. While others
were busy with school and work, I just wanted to stay up for as long as I
could. Last night, I barely had any sleep...

With a full house, I had to go to the back of the room where only one
table was left available. I sat drinking my coffee when all of a sudden, I saw
her.

She was your average girl: tall, skinny, long haired and overall
beautiful. She wore shorts, a shirt with the British flag printed on it, and a
backpack. What seemed unusual about her, though, was that sparkle she
had in her eyes. Heavenly, if one might say. But what caught me was that
smile. She waved and I felt like I just woke up from a dream.

I looked around, confused.

"May I help you, miss?"

"It's Clara." She said. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing a
table. I just got here and didn't really feel like going out."

After what seemed like forever...

"Sure." I said. She sat down, and we both stared at our drinks.

The awkward silence broke after about two minutes when I decided to
muster up the courage to say something.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing much, really. Just thinking about this job I'm taking. How
about you?"
 "I'm just trying to stay awake at the moment." I said. "It's been a hell of
a night."

We talked for an hour or so. And as we sat there, exchanging glances

and expressing random thoughts, time itself didn't seem to matter at all. All
that was important was that very moment. But the more we continued, the
more uneasy I felt. Sweat formed all over my body as I became more
conscious of my actions, yet less aware of what was happening. I looked
around, and…

Every hair on my body stood. The voices of chatter and amusement

felt distant and far. I was all alone. But that wasn't what made me tense.
What made me tense was the fact that… I saw her.

She sat by the window. She wore the same jacket I saw her in the last
time we met. She stayed there, just... looking at me. Images of my past ran
through my mind so fast that all I could see were flashes of light drifting by
me like headlights of cars on a dark highway. I didn't know how long we
stared at each other until...

"Hey, you ok?" Clara asked and broke me free from my trance-like
state. But I didn't really know if I was ok.

"I have to go." It tried to push the sight aside.

"You ok, Jace?" She asked with concerned eyes, but I didn ’t know what
to answer.

"Yeah, I just... really have to go. Bye." I left without looking back. But I
still had the feeling that someone was staring at me. When I glanced to my
side, I caught eye of a man wearing a silver wrist watch. It was a great
watch, but what struck me was that glare he had at me. I closed the door
and made a run for it, not really knowing why.

When I arrived at my apartment at around seven, I went inside, pushed

the table of stacked books away, pulled back the dusty floor carpet, and
opened the concealed door which led to the apartment’s basement. No one,
not even the landlord, knew about this, which meant I had somewhere where
I could do my research in solitude.

I descended down the stairs and resumed my study. But as always, I

couldn’t find anything more than what I already had. And eerily enough, I felt
my time was running out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
 The park looked slightly dimmer now as I raised my head to the dark
sky. The sounds of laughter started to fade away as the family that once
occupied the space sensed that they were in for one stormy night. I directed
my gaze from the group and shifted my eyes to my right. She was still there.

She glanced at me with that cheerful look. She always did have the
knack for optimism, while I had an interest for other things besides
happiness. She always managed to surprise me in the moments where I
expected no one to care. And strangely, we always found ourselves bumping
into each other. I never knew if the universe fated us together, but then I
came to understand that it does things for a reason.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Three weeks after the incident at the café, I found myself sitting on the
very park bench I would be on in the next two years. The morning air brought
with it the warm vibe of the many summers in my home town. I was reading
a Dan Brown classic, Inferno, when a voice caught my attention.

"Hey!" I heard. I ignored it at first, thinking it was just some girl calling
her friend.

"Hey, Jco!" I jumped almost instantly. I cast an eye over my

surroundings trying to find her.

Just when I was about to dismiss the notion, someone tapped on the
shoulder. When I saw her, my heart just skipped a beat.

"Hi, Jace." she said, and I felt like I was dreaming again.

"Clara? How are you?!"

"Everything's great actually. I got a job at the cafe."

"You what?!" I was surprised at the fact.

"Yeah. That's what I was there for. I was in line for an interview and
they told me that they wouldn't take long. And that's when I bumped into
you. And not long after, you just left."

...

"Anyway, how do you feel? Is something the matter?" she asked, but I
didn't really know what to say.

"Are you hungry?" It was the only thing I could come up with.
 "No, not really." She said

"Well, I am. C’mon. My treat."

"Are you trying to avoid the question?" she grinned at me, so I had to
think of some excuse.

"No, just trying to avoid hunger. Hadn't had my breakfast."

"You what?" She looked surprised.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" She looked awfully
concerned. I thought it was cute.

So we went to grab some pizza . I brought my book with me and placed

it in my sling bag, but that wasn’t the only thing that came with us. The man
in the silver watch followed us the whole way.

---

We made our way to that pizza place called Greenwich and started
chatting about ourselves. As the talks progressed, I got to know more about
her, and she got to know just enough about me. We ordered some pizzas and
proceeded to the second floor to start the meal.

We sat down, and I had to answer a phone call from my mom. It was
embarrassing enough that she was in a hurry so I didn ’t get to leave the
table when we talked. When I finished, I apologized to Clara about it and
placed my phone on the table. We were just laughing when suddenly; I
heard a cry of panic.

“AAAHHHH!!!” it pulled my attention from our conversation to the

roadway and it frightened me to the extent that I jumped out of my chair.
And instantly, I heard a crashing sound follow it. I followed the sound to
where it originated. I dashed down the stairs, ran through the door … then
stopped dead in my tracks.

“What am I doing?” I realized.

What was I doing?

How could some random scream compel me to leave the second floor
and come down---
 When I saw what had happened, all line of thought was cut out from
my head.

She lay there, motionless in front of the truck. That last scream was all
she could make before getting hit by the vehicle. I walked slowly towards
her, her jacket now covered in blood and torn apart. I approached the blood
soaked figure, and I realized… it was her again… “Jco…” a whisper echoed in
the distance as I gazed upon her lifeless body in the cold night. “Jco …” it
started to get oddly familiar and somehow… it got louder.

“Jco?” I found myself staring blankly outside the transparent window.

“Jco, you ok?” Once again, Clara woke me up from my daydream, or
nightmare.

“Yeah… yeah. I’m fine” I wasn’t sure what was happening. One moment
I was down on the road, the next I’m staring at it through glass from the
second floor.

“What’s wrong?” she asked me as I tried to gather my thoughts.

“I think I just had too much to eat.” I said.

“Well, aren’t you going to stick around for some dessert? ” she asked
invitingly, but I had to decline.

“I’m sorry, I have to leave now. My mom called me about meeting her
somewhere five minutes from now. Thanks for coming with me, but I ’ll have
to excuse myself. I’m sorry.” I headed for the stairs.

“Hey! You forgot your…”

But she never got the message through.

As the evening progressed, I got back to my apartment and tried to

shake off the feeling that I was being followed. Before proceeding to my
work, my stomach gurgled as I went to the kitchen to find myself some
dinner. As I searched my fridge for anything worth eating, I received a knock
on the door.

Knock* knock* knock*.

I raised my head in wonder. Who would be visiting at this time? I

checked my watch, and it was nine in the evening, and all of a sudden, the
feeling of wonder instantaneously turned into fear as the question itself
became irrelevant. A new one ran through my mind. And now, it sounded like
sirens alerting my whole body.
 Was I followed here?

I slowly walked to the counter and took a knife. I hid it behind my back
and slowly made my way to the door. “Who’s there?” I said in the most
demanding and intimidating voice I could make.

“Oh, uhh, sorry, sir. I was just wondering if you knew a guy named Jco
Sabellano. I thought his address would be here.”

What the… “Clara?!”

“Jace?”

“Hold on, just… just give me a sec.” I ran back to the kitchen and
returned the knife. I was about to let her in when I realized that the door to
my study was still visible. I hid it up and went to greet her.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

We stood there, smiling at each other, then I decided to interrupt the

quietness.

“So, what brings you here?” I asked.

“Oh, you left your phone on the table where we ate.”

I checked my pockets and realize that I did.

“Plus, you didn’t have any screen lock so I took the liberty of finding out
where you lived.” She explained.

“Gosh, thanks. I hope you didn’t get in trouble or anything.”

“No problem.” She said. “Well, I guess I better get going now. See you
later, Jco.” She waved me and started going on.

I thought about it, and called out

“Hey, umm, don’t you live far from here?”

“It’s just a three-hour drive. I’ll just grab a cab.” I looked at my watch.
9:05.
 “It’s getting pretty late.”

She smirked at me and raised her eyebrow. “What do you suppose I do,
Mr. Jco?” she said sarcastically, and I didn’t really know what she meant at
the time.

“Look, all I’m saying is that it’s getting late and if you’d fall asleep in a
taxi and go missing the next day… I don’t know what I’d do.” I said.

“So, you’re saying that I should stay here for the night? ” she asked
comically and grinned.

“I could sleep on the couch.” I proposed.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” I said. “So now, will you come in? It’s getting cold and I don ’t
want you to get sick or anything.” She laughed, and I did too.

“Alright.”

I let her in, but as I closed the door and blocked any more coldness
from getting inside, I could have sworn I saw a silhouette of a man standing
by the tree across the street. I went in, pushed away the thought, and
readied her bed for the night.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I was always left in the dark, even until now where I knew everything I
had to know. What was coming for me was coming, I thought. The light's
flickered on and gave off a little spark, and the thought escaped from my
mind.

The night was cold. The clothes that covered me offered little warmth
from the unforgiving breeze that swept over me constantly. The park was
now empty, barren of any life besides me… and Clara. It ’s hard to believe
that at this kind of time, she would still be with me. It’s even harder to
believe that after all we’ve been through, she’s still smiling. The universe
held many mysteries but this was by far the most puzzling one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

After months of talking to each other, meeting up spontaneously, and

eating together, me and Clara became the best of friends. But there was
always a thought in the back of my head that kept pulling me away from her.
Every time we met, I would always have to cut our talks short and make
some random excuse to get out and go back to work. It was so frustrating
that at some nights, I cried myself to sleep not knowing what to do anymore.
I felt like giving up. But she would always do her best to make me feel better,
and I felt like a jerk, selfish and inconsiderate. I felt like she deserved more
and needed to know my real story. And so she did.

As we got to my place after hanging out, I decided to tell her

everything.

“Clara..” I stated as I made her take a seat. I made my way to the

table, my back facing her.

“We’ve been friends for months now, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She said.

“There’s something I haven’t been telling you?” I couldn’t see her, but
by the sound of things, I think she started to worry.

“Jco, are you ok?” There was a silence that followed that echoed
through the room, and all of a sudden, I was revealing the door to my study.

“Well...” I took the table and pushed it forward. “There’s something I

need to tell you.” I then took a knee and started pulling the carpet aside.
“You’re the only one that’s gonna know about this. ” I paused, and then turned
to face her. “So I need you to trust me.” She looked scared for a while, so I
got closer to her and asked, “Ok?”

She smiled and nodded her head.

“Ok.”

“It was a two years ago…” I said as I lead her down the stairs using the
flashlight on my phone. “I was 26. I went to this school to study medicine. My
parents wanted me to become a doctor and I did too. Psychology. That ’s what
I wanted to take up. And so I did. I met this girl one day. ” I paused, not
wanting to continue, but realized that I needed to.

“Her name was Megan… She was my first love. All those times that I
was busy, she helped me out and I guess I fell for her.”

“What happened to her?”

“One day, she wanted to come and talk at dinner. I didn’t know what it
was for. It wasn’t for a celebration, we were still months in the making, and
other than that we received nothing from the school if that ’s what you would
think. So I went.”

I had to stop to tell her the whole story.

“We had dinner. It was one of the nights I would never forget. ” I
clenched my fist and tried to keep the tear in my eye from falling.

“She wore her favorite jacket during that time, the jacket I gave her
after we reached our third month together. I picked her up and we went to
have dinner at my place. Then, she broke the news…”
---
“J…”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“I don’t know how to break this to you. I don’t really know how to
explain it either.”

I started to feel nervous. “What was happening?” I thought to myself.

“I got a scholarship at this medical school in California. I took this test

last summer and I thought I wouldn’t be able to pass it. But it turns out that …
I did.” She said, not making any eye contact at all.

“So…” I said in a tone that was new to me. It seemed like I didn ’t
understand anything and sounded like I didn’t care.

“I’m moving out.”

I froze.

“I thought about it really hard, and this could really help us.”

I was having a hard time grasping the situation.

“We could make this work, J. I promise. I’ll call you every day and we
can see each other during the holidays and—“

What came next frightened her and me the same. Something came
over me. I didn’t know if I was possessed or just downright stupid, but I said.

“It’s not going to work.”

My tone was cold as ice.

“But..”
 Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Look," I started, heart beating so hard I could feel it. I knew we would
get hurt, but I also knew that what I would do would be best for us. "I know
that we could try it in the first few months, but then we’ll just start to get
busy. Every day calls will soon turn to 5 times a week, then 3 times, then 1
time, then we won’t even have time to talk to each other anymore and we ’d
forget about each other after a few months and pretend like nothing
happened.” I said in the coldest voice I could, trying to hide the pain inside
my heart.

“But, J!”

“Megan.” I interrupted. “You can save yourself the pain and the
heartache if you just… forget about me.”
---
“She started sobbing. She pushed herself away from the table and ran
outside. And then…”

The lights started to flash in my head again, and it was as if I was there
in that very instant. Clara listened silently as I tried to keep calm in the
darkness that surrounded us.

“There was a truck. She was crying when she ran and she didn ’t even
notice it.”

The tears ran down my cheeks. I started to sob, and she held my
shoulder. I closed my eyes and wiped my face.

“So, the next years of my life were spent solely on finding her…” There
was a brief pause and warm air started to sweep in. Odd, I thought.

“What do you mean, Jace?”

“When I was a little...” I continued descending the stairs, “I always

believed there was more to life than just… this. I knew that after the
darkness, after death, there would be something more that the universe
itself could offer. Years of work and there were only two things that the world
suggested: That the soul would move on, or would take on flesh again.”

I flicked on the light switch on the side of the wall. The brightness
revealed every inch of every corner of the room. But more importantly, it
answered the question of what I was so busy on.
 Right in front of us was a cube shaped room. It was wide enough to fit
four master beds, but I decided to use the space for other purposes. There
was a table stacked with books of all the religions in the world, along with
scientific novels about the human consciousness, or as I liked to call it, the
soul. The wall was filled with every reference from every book I had there
that had a link to all things I was stating and everything I theorized.

“You’d leave me alone every time we’d meet… for this?” She looked
amazed at the sight of it, but there was this sound of sadness in her voice.

“I’m really sorry about that.” I felt ashamed.

“I’ve been trying to connect these things together to figure all of it out.
Look, see..” I pointed to a line from the religion Jainism. “The soul is
considered eternal and perpetual. And here. ” I pointed to another reference,
a scientific one. “Our body is constantly supplying cells and always changing.
However, our consciousness of who we are remains.” I said almost frantically.

“How about this?” She motioned to some boxes put on the side and
took some folders right out of it. “Oh, that’s just some stuff that came with all
the other research.” I said. “Mostly irrelevant. I noticed no links between that,
and this.”

She flipped through the pages of paper and read them randomly. “All-
seeing eyes of God… Prophets… Messengers… Revelations… Heaven…”

“See? Nothing much important.”

After each book and each mention, Clara went from skeptical to
unsure. She would try to believe what others would just push aside as
another stupid idea. But as the show continued, I never could shake the
feeling that we weren’t alone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain started to pour. The overgrown tree gave little but enough to
shelter us from the falling water. The slight breeze now turned to raging
wind, and I knew that something was bound to happen. They would either
reach me and take me away as they promised, or I would freeze to death on
this bench. All I could think of was the moment everything became clear. The
moment I knew my time… was up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
 After showing her my work, I was just in the kitchen readying ourselves
some spaghetti for dinner when unexpectedly, I caught movement in the
corner of my eye.

I surveyed my surroundings and thought Clara had maybe finished

getting ready for supper. “Clara?” I called out, hoping to hear her voice
nearby. But then I suddenly tensed up the moment she responded.

“Yeah?”

The voice came from the bedroom.

I checked if anyone would be there, trying not to make a sound. I was

in the living room looking for any signs of life. A thought came to me. The
warm air I felt down in the basement, what if someone came in when we
were down there?

But there was nothing. I started to dismiss the thought when I felt a
cold gust of wind past behind me. I turned… slowly… and saw…

“Megan…” My eyes widened as I saw her standing right behind me. The
air grew colder as my heart started to pound so fast that I could feel my
chest elevate and contract with every breath I took. I wanted to scream but it
seemed as though I was too frightened to produce more than a squeal. But
when I thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.

She started to walk towards me, and my feet acted reflexively. I slowly
moved backward, not keeping my eyes of her, but dangerously not paying
any attention to the unclosed floor door. I didn’t know what to do anymore,
so I just continued walking.. and walking.. and walking… and---

“STOP!” Clara’s warning caught my ears just in the nick of time. I

looked behind me and saw the heel of my foot reaching the opening in the
floor. But something was wrong. Clara wasn’t looking at me, but it seemed
that she was looking at something in the corner. When I adjusted my eyes to
the darkness in front of me, I soon came to realize that it wasn ’t something,
but someone.

Slowly, I saw the figure emerge from the dark. It was a man. There was
something oddly familiar about him, but I couldn’t tell. I waited for him to be
fully irradiated by the light. I saw something glint on his wrist.

It was a silver watch. I thought I saw it before somewhere, although the

thought always seemed to escape me. But still, something else seemed so
familiar about him.
 “I told you I would come here alone, Magnus.” Anger. It was the first
time I ever felt that from such an optimistic person. But I guess that after all
of this, I never truly knew her.

“I couldn’t let you do that, Clara. We stick together, remember? ” He

grinned at her, and for a moment there, I was considering punching off those
white teeth. “Plus, what if he tried to hurt you?”

“He’s my friend, Magnus. You of all people should know that! ” She
turned away from him and looked at me. She glanced at me with those eyes,
and I calmed down a little, but I still didn't know what was happening.

“Well at least now we know that he’s too attached to let it go.”

“You knew that and yet you almost killed him! What would you think
the Creator would do if he found out that we’d have to search the whole
Universe for another hundred years just to repeat the whole damn process
that took a millennia!?”

The whole room fell silent and Magnus was clearly taken aback, but he
still held that smirk on his face.

“So you think that what you’re about to do is going to solve all of this? ”
he asked, now looking serious and finally took off that smile.

“It’s the only way.” She said.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” He made his way to the door but stopped half
way.

“And kid.” I looked straight at him. “I hope you’ll know what you ’d need
to move on.” He looked over his shoulder and I realized at that instant what
looked so familiar.

His eyes had the same sparkle I noticed the first time I met Clara.
---

The spaghetti was now cold as we sat on the table to supposedly have
our dinner. But at this point, it was obvious that I lost my appetite.

“How are you holding up?” she asked me from across the table.

“To be honest, I don’t even know what’s going on.” I said

“Well, if you wanna know, you’ll have to eat. And I don ’t care if you
don’t wanna to, just do it. You’re gonna need the strength to keep up with all
of what I’m about to tell you.” She smiled at me again, but I was too much in
shock to say anything.

I thought about it, and I guess I had no other choice. I finished the
plate, and then we took a seat on the couch.

“So what happened back here?” I asked in an emotionless tone. I never

knew what to feel then. All I wanted were some answers.

“Ok. But before anything, I’ll just tell that you’re free to ask anything. I
have nothing to show to you. This would usually be easy with Magnus
around, but I this is something I needed to do on my own.”

I nodded, not really understanding what she said, but proceeded

anyway.

“So…
You probably already know about this, that when the universe was
made, it started from emptiness… and that emptiness was then filled by the
explosion of pure energy, generating everything we know, even life. But life
itself was considered impossible if it weren’t for the perfectly aligned chain of
accidents that connected with each other as the space began to expand and
grow and age."

I agreed.

"Scientists found out that all of this would be considered unthinkable if

one variable would be taken away, the variable of programming.”

She continued.

“So then it was. But the question still tugged at their minds that if there
would be such a thing in the world that programmed the universe, DNA, and
life itself, what would it be?

The answer? It was in one of the most religious references that

recorded the history of humankind from the creation of the world itself.”

“The Bible.” I whispered to myself.

“Yes. The Bible contains all the events that occurred from the very first
creations. And it also said that all had to be executed by a Being who is far
greater than anyone of us.
 The Almighty Being that created the very bodies we occupy right now.
Your race has called Him many names: Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha … But
we call Him by a much simpler, suited name. He is known as… The Creator. ”

I listened intently.

“He was the one who coded the very fabric of space and time. To Him,
there is no beginning, and there is no end. He is, has been, and always will
be, eternal.

The Creator's primary job was to ensure the balance of the universe,
to balance the positive and the negative. In order to achieve this, all
creations were to be split into two contrasting traits. Things like matter and
anti-matter. The yin and yang.

He knew that as time passed and His creations grew both in quality
and in quantity, He had to constantly monitor them. But because He focused
too much of His power on maintaining the balance, He could only do so as to
monitor it from His dimension, the Land of the Covenant. So He devised a
plan from the start.

He created divine beings called The Chosen Few, which you came to
know as the prophets, saints, holy messengers, or a most likely term,
Angels."

My eyes widened in amazement. "You're an Angel?" that could explain

the spark I saw in her. It was heavenly.

"Somewhat. The Creator made specific types for specific tasks. There
are the Perceivers. They are the ones who keep watch and study the changes
in the universe. But they do not make contact with the other creations. They
are unseen, but they're still there."

Creepy, I thought.

"So while the Perceivers keep watch, there are also those who interfere
in the lives of The Creator's other creations. We are called the Pryers. There
were those who came before us who you knew famously: Elijah, Jacob,
Muhammad, Daniel, Solomon..."

"And Jesus?"

"The Creator manifested Himself in Him. During those times, the

balance was shifting to the negative side, and He knew if He did nothing, the
universe would possibly end. It was the greatest act of love, which shifted
and returned the balance."
 "Woah." It was incomprehensible.

“So, there are two types of Pryers: The Keireins and the Acueres. The
Keireins interfere with the other creations on mainly a physical state. I’m
considered to be one of them. We’re just like normal people living normal
lives, but we’re capable of more, except for telepathy. And that ’s where the
Acueres come in. They’re not just limited to physical interaction. They can
read minds and play tricks on them, but for a reason. Remember that guy
back there?”

“Magnus, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s a Acuere. Acueres and Keireins come in pairs. This was
what the Creator programmed us to do. So wherever I go, he goes.”

That explains a lot.

"Now, to ensure that the balance remained intact, every time a soul
passes onor perform what we call the Passover, it had to be split into two;
one with a positive aura, the other with a negative one. This happens when
they reach the Midpoint Realm, or what your people call Purgatory. There are
two things that can happen when you’re in this dimension; you can either
move on and join the Creator in heaven, or you would become a Wanderer.”

“What’s a Wanderer?”

“These are souls who feel they need more time on Earth or any part of
the universe. They get reincarnated with no memory but the thought to do
what it is that they had to. It would mostly take them about five Passovers to
the Midpoint Realm to fully move on. But after that, they unite with their
other halves in the Land of the Covenant.”

“Ok, so let’s just say all of this is real. That there is a Creator and
watchers and Pryers or whatever you call them. But what does all of this
have to do with me?”

Silence momentarily filled the room.

”Jco, I don’t know how to put this lightly…”

"Then don’t. Clara, I’ve been through a lot. I can take it.”

She lowered her head. After clearing her throat, she looked at me with
tearful eyes.
 “Jco.” she said. “We’ve been watching you for a while now. Some
thousand years to be exact. You’ve been passing on and on, jumping from
world to world. But, we noticed something.”

She tried to find the right words, and continued.

”This is the reason Magnus made you see Megan whenever we met.
He, we, were trying to find out if she was the reason of why you’re you."

"What do you mean?" I began to feel more nervous.

"Every time you Passover, your soul doesn’t turn up in Midpoint Realm.
You’re constantly getting reincarnated without splitting your soul into two.”

”Are you trying to say that I'm some kind of rare being?”

"So to speak. We've encoutered others like you, but we tend to lose
them everytime they die. You're the one we've never lost track of. We've
studied you throughout the ages but found nearly nothing. Here ’s the thing,
though. There’s a possibility that you might shift the balance. To which side,
we still don’t know. Which is why we have to keep a close eye on you. If we
gathered enough evidence to prove that you're... you're... a threat, you
might get…”

"Get what?"

She was still looking away from me, and I was getting worried.

"I might get what, Clara?" I asked.

She rubbed what might have been tears on her face and looked at
me.

"You might get erased..."

I... what?!

“What are you trying to say?”

She took a deep breath, and let it out.

“The Creator thinks you’re one of the universe’s mistakes.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------
 I don't think I'm going to last long enough. The cold rain now soaked
my clothes, making me shiver even more. The evening wasn't going as I
thought it would. The raging winds may have slowed down to a breeze but
now it felt like a winter's night. I seemed to be fading away.

My line of sight grew darker and darker. Memories of past lives started
to play in my head. It was clear now, all of it. Every instance the answers are
revealed, every time the Pryers come close, whenever I get too attached to
these divine beings, I never let go. But in the end, it was them who never
could. I had to warn them, somehow. This was my purpose.

I turned my head and managed to make out her frame right beside me.
I had to tell her.

“Clara…”

But I was interrupted

"Jace." Tears flowed down her bright face as she moved closer to me.
“You need to remember.”

"But, I need to---" I wasn’t going to last long enough.

She touched my chest, and I felt like she was touching my soul,
marking something inside of it, something that wouldn’t be as much as
accurate, but enough to trigger a thought inside of me. And then, she said.

“When closest to death, the answers are revealed.”

The Creator and the others, they were too late. I could’ve told her, but
she was too blinded. But I knew that this would be better than getting
erased. Proof or none, the Creator wouldn't let me slip away again, but she
would. After that, everything went dark. I uttered my last words... for this life.

"I have to go."

To be continued...