When she unexpectedly dies, Mackenzie Bowen lacks the paperwork she needs to pass into The Beyond. To avoid sitting in a waiting room for centuries, Mack is paired with Leon, a miserable Reaper, and hopes to either undo her death or earn her spot be...
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Leon navigated our path back through the station easily. Rather than take a train from the surface-level platform which, I noticed, would travel off into another shimmering portal like the one we passed through when we arrived, we stepped into a service elevator with an additional level. In silence, we sank beneath the gleaming façade of a station and into the underground. I couldn't help but feel fear constrict my spine like an icy serpent. It was natural to associate up with Heaven and down with Hell. Being at the station's lowest level made me wonder if Leon intended to make good on his threat and send me straight to the underworld if it meant I was off his hands.
We stepped out into a cavernous tunnel with two separate tracks. The curved walls and ceilings were clad in narrow white tiles, and the concrete slabs were cold beneath my bare feet. The only people waiting on the platform wore suits in various monochrome shades which ranged from white to black. They paid us no mind and stood stoic as they waited for the next train to arrive. We stood side-by-side in silence for barely two minutes before it slid into sight, the headlights gleaming as they cut through the dark. The wheels screeched against the rail as it came to a halt, the doors aligning neatly with the painted markers on the platform edge.
Leon placed his hand against my back and guided me to the nearest pair of doors. I'd forgotten to check that it was the correct train as it'd pulled in. Jane had said we needed the Seraph line. I needed to have faith that Leon was familiar enough with the transportation systems of the afterlife to get us safely to our destination.
Our selected carriage was empty, and I wondered if that was a conscious decision on Leon's part. It was probably easier for us to sit in isolation than to deal with potential stares and questions from other travellers. I had so many questions about what was waiting at the end of our journey, but I knew better than to ask. He sat so rigidly. The tension was clear at every angle of his body and the lines of his face. I couldn't stand another explosion of anger like the one in Jane's office. All I could do was stare straight ahead at the black bricks which passed the windows. The only breaks in the monotonous sights were the few stations that we passed through. Whenever we stopped, I made to stand from the chair. The only time that Leon moved was when he placed his hand on my arm to keep me from rising.
The stations all appeared the same, and I soon lost count of how many we passed through before we arrived at our destination. Leon touched my elbow. I jumped. Wordlessly, he approached the automatic doors, and I trailed behind him, swaying as the train slowed and stumbling when the driver applied the brakes. The Reaper stepped down first and didn't wait to see if I'd followed. I did, of course. After what I'd seen in the station, I wasn't going to risk getting lost and burning up like one of those poor souls who'd lingered too long.
The passengers who'd waited at the station for the train took our place in the carriage. The doors swiftly closed, and it disappeared back through the tunnels without a second thought. Rather than another lift, it was an escalator which awaited us as we left. I stepped up behind Leon and together we were conveyed up into the gleaming atrium of an office building caught in time. Like something out of the seventies, the doors were lacquered beige, and the floor was tiled in cool linoleum.
