Chapter 7

Alessia slowly turned back and immediately, her eyes met with a man in a suit, staring directly into her eyes. Her eyes widened, he was the same man she had seen while walking in!!

“Do…You… You can see me?” she stammered and the man in suit nodded with a smirk. “Of course, I'm not blind” he said and she scoffed surprisingly, looking around again to see the people conducting the wedding without seeming distracted. “But one noticed me” she said, still so confused and the man smiled, nodding gently. “Yeah, just the same way they don't notice me” his reply surprised her to the core and she was forced to raise her brows, voicing out a ‘Huh'. “They don't notice you either?” she blinked and he only nodded, walking away from her. She was forced to follow him, struggling to catch up with his walking pace. “You haven't told me your name” she said as they settled on two chairs at the back. The man smirked, turning to her with an expression she couldn't totally describe.

“Are you concerned about my name or our reason for being invisible?” he asked and she gulped hard. “Both” she blinked and he smirked again, turning to the front. “I don't know my name” He replied and she scoffed before laughing gently. “Is that a prank or what? Who on earth doesn't have a name?” she asked and he made a creepy grin. “What's your name?” he asked, turning to her and she opened her mouth to speak but words failed her, her lips couldn't mutter a thing.

“My name..” she finally said and then, it dawned on her that she doesn't even know her name. She raised her head gently to lock eyes with the man and she bit her lower lip seeing him flash a creepy smirk. “You are Alessia” he said and she gasped. “Isn't that the name they referred to my lookalike as, just now?” she thought with widened eyes, looking down at her fingers before diverting her gaze back to him again. A thousand of questions were on her mind but she didn't even know which one to begin asking from. “How do you even know that?” she found herself asking, finally settling for one of the questions on her mind.

“I am the Timekeeper '' he said and she laughed again, finding every of his strange words funny and in fact, she was enjoying his company immensely. “Are we participating in a competition or what?” she scoffed, ending her laughter and the man turned to her, scoffing too. “It's not even funny” he scoffed again and her expression changed into a frown.

“I am what people call The grim reaper” he said, raising his voice a bit and her eyes widened. “What?!” she exclaimed and he nodded, flashing his usual creepy smirk. “But refer to me as Timekeeper, grim reaper sounds nasty to my hearing” he said and she could only stare like someone who has been brainwashed, trying to process his words in her head.

“Grim reaper?” she repeated, ignoring his warnings of referring to him as a Timekeeper.
“Wait..” she paused, looking around to confirm her reasoning. “Meaning, I am dead?” she turned back to him, widening her eyes and he shrugged. “Not really” he shrugged and she looked on confusedly, not understanding his words. “What do you mean?” her brows furrowed on their own.

“Your body is presently in coma, in the residence of a fisherman who found you in the river” the Timekeeper explained, without looking at her and all thanks to his words, her questions increased. “I jumped into a river?” she asked and he sighed. “A frustrating client this time” she heard him mutter under his breath. “Reply, did I jump into –”

“I’m not in the right position to tell you that” he raised his voice a bit and she batted her lashes like a doll, intending to ask another question but he spoke before she could. “You have the chance to return to life though” he said with a shrug and her eyes widened. “Really?” she smiled and closed his eyes in frustration. “Your questions are annoying” he whispered, turning to her and she tilted her head backwards.

“Everyone who dies is given a chance to come back to life if they successfully accomplish a mission but if they don't, they'll die and ascend to the heavens for a final judgment” he said and she mouthed an 'ohh'. Everything kept seeming strange to her. “That's amazing” she breathed. “Dad must have failed to accomplish his mission then, that's why he didn't come back to life” she muttered but the Timekeeper ignored her words.

“You have thirty one days to complete a task and if you do successfully, you'll return to life” he said.
“Just one task?” she slowly asked and he nodded. “Of course, I'll surely do it successfully even before thirty one days are over” she said and he smirked. “Quit feeling proud and stop assuming, you don't even know the task yet” he rolled his eyes and she frowned at his bossy tune. “Fine, what's it?” she finally asked and he breathed before finally opening his mouth to speak.

“You are to find the human your soul was intertwined with from birth” he released the most surprising words and her eyes widened. She had obviously expected a simple task but it wasn't even close to being easy. “What? That's too hard” she said, shaking her head and he chuckled.

“Exactly why it's just a single task” he said and she sighed. “Another option please” she breathed and he scoffed, wondering why she's that daft. “Is this an entrance examination or what? There are no options!” his last words echoed in her ears and her eyes widened again. “What? How am I supposed to complete such a task then?” she asked, quite stunned and to her surprise, he disappeared immediately. “Huh..” she voiced, looking around to check where he had gone to but he wasn't anywhere around. The only thing her eyes caught were the audience in the hall and the couples dancing at the altar side. “Where did he–” she was out short by his reappearance, right in the seat he was before. “And why did you leave?” she asked and he picked a shiny bracelet from his pocket, raising it up to her face. “To get you this” he said and she rolled her eyes. “You should have just called for it without leaving, I was quite scared” she said and he scoffed.

“I’m a grim reaper and not a magician” he said, turning her face to him. “Whatever” she winced, removing his grip on her head, she frowned. “And what's this used for?” she asked, collecting the silver bracelet from him. “You’ll wear it around you all through the thirty one days on earth” he said.

“And?” she raised a brow, anticipating his next words and with a sigh, he spoke. “It will cut immediately you complete your task”