“Mom, Dad, I’m right here!” Alice yells until her throat burns, but her parents cannot hear her across the streets. They have been searching for her the past two days. Their hair is messy, and their eye have dark bags. Her dad always cares about what he wears, but he does not even try today. The burn of desperation engulfs her mind as tears run down her ghostly pale face. She lowers her hands in despair because she knows they can never see her again. No one can ever see her again.
All Alice knows is that she died two days ago when somebody knocked her unconscious at the dark alley near the school. Alice does not know how she died. When she woke up, she saw the killer had disemboweled her heart. Looking down on her injury, the crimson red blood dripped onto the tips of her shoes, but there was no pain from the open wound. She could remember, however, that her kidnapper emitted a strong smell of candle smoke, just like the votive candles that at the church where her family goes every Sunday.
As Alice wanders the streets, the urge for revenge swells like a snake within her; it sinks its fangs into her mind, and its venom courses through her body. “I need to know the truth,” Alice mumbles quietly.
Running back to her house with nervousness and anxiety, Alice wonders if everything is alright at home. Alice sees her mom kneeling on the ground, praying, and asking where her daughter is. Her mom’s complexion is paler than paper. Alice wants to help her mom get up, but she does not dare. It is as if her feet are weighted down with prison chains. In the living room, her dad talks with the police and demands an answer from them while her little sister weeps in the corner, holding the toy Alice gave to her as a birthday gift. The hot liquid pours from her eyes and flows down on her face. She does not know if it is tears or blood anymore. The instinct of running away strikes Alice. She has no choice but to run away, and Alice realizes she is truly alone.
“Hey, you! It’s quite rare to see someone here. My name is Ren. What’s your name?” A strange, upbeat girl asks Alice. She has long, silky hair and tiny freckles on her youthful face. Alice thinks this girl must be younger than her, around sixteen years old or so.
“I’m Alice. You can see me?”
“Of course. I’m also a similar 'thing' as you. Why are you here, anyway?
“I died. It’s ridiculous, right? I don’t even know who killed me. I need to find the truth!” Alice grinds her teeth as she speaks.
The two girls sit in the park and slowly warm up to each other. Talking to Ren about her situation, Alice feels more at ease. Ren has no memory of death, but Alice can see that her heart was gouged out because Alice has the same wound. Through their conversation, Alice learns that they are in a place called Limbo, a place that is neither Heaven nor Hell. A human that died with regrets or doubts is sent to Limbo, where they have three years to reconcile their feelings or tend to their unfinished business. However, if they do not complete it, their soul will become a wanderer when the time is up, unable to reincarnate for eternity. Wanderers have no future, forced to be nothing but the forgotten ones in history.
“I have no memory of my life because my time is almost up. But I will help you, Alice,” Ren quietly mutters into the silent, lightless night.
Alice and Ren begin to walk towards the church where her family goes because the killer had a strong smell similar to this church. The church was built many years ago. The dim light in the hallway and the howling wind make them feel extremely uneasy. Walking through the old building, Alice feels that something is not right. This feeling continues to swirl in her mind, like a whirlpool engulfing a small, helpless fish. As the girls sneak into one of the rooms, Alice sees Father Vincent, a young and dignified man, who is always the children’s favorite. Alice adores Father Vincent as well because he listened to her problems, empathized with her about the troubles she could not tell her family. He was something like a friend and a mentor to her.
However, today Father Vincent is different. The inexplicable difference in his expressions confounds Alice, and her feet refuse move.
“I will stay here and investigate, I feel something is not right,” she says to Ren, who nods in silence as they wait for Father Vincent to walk outside. As he walks away, the girls begin to look for clues around the room. At the bottom of a drawer, Alice sees Father Vincent’s diary to God. There is nothing eye-catching about his journal, but Alice has seen Father Vincent carrying it before. They begin to read what Father Vincent has written. Everything is normal, until their eyes find the last page. Every word strikes their minds like an ice-cold glare that pierces through their bodies.
“Dear God, I only need one more heart, only one more. To complete the ritual for the upcoming Blood Moon. For eternal life, let’s cheer.”
At that moment, both Alice and Ren know who killed them. Demonic cries begin to fill up the room. The thirst for vengeance has filled both of their hearts, taints their hearts with a color darker than the void. All Alice wants to make the murderer suffer, suffer until the end of the world.
The girls begin to look for Father Vincent down the hall and search in every corner of the immoral place. Fighting against her fear, Alice swallows her bloodthirsty feelings and frantically continues to look for Father Vincent. Finally, they find Father Vincent in the library, finishing a book-keeping task. The glimmering desk lamp lights up Father Vincent’s kind face, emphasizing the softness and gentleness in his eyes. But the girls know, behind this mask, is nothing but a monster. Both Alice and Ren are ravaged by their anger. Suddenly, Alice has an idea.
“Ren, go notify the police. We need to get him arrested for what he did! Police can’t communicate with us, but they can see your message.” As Ren turns around the corner, tears run down Alice’s face. She can never turn back now.
When the police arrive at the church’s library, all they see is Vincent’s body, with his heart ripped out. His pupils are opened wide with the shock and horror at what he saw before he died.
Alice blocks Ren’s view of the scene and asks her friend one final question. “Ren, we can go on now. Let’s live a happier life next time. Deal?”
“Deal. Maybe we will see each other again.” Ren hugs Alice.
“Maybe.”
But Alice knows, there is no next life for her. The path she has chosen has no future. She has to pay for killing people, and she cannot be happy. Slowly, she will become nothing but a forgotten one in history.
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