Ansel sent a message to Heka. In the message he asked for time to meet.
Heka, let's meet again. There are many things I want to talk about. It's about your recovery, my Grandpa can do it. Tell me when your free time and where we meet.
After sending the message, Ansel waited anxiously for a reply from Heka. Every minute he checked his phone to make sure he had received a message from Heka.
The time he spent waiting for Heka's reply turned out to be much longer than he expected. Yet, despite his complaints and growing boredom, he continued to wait patiently.
"Grandpa, he hasn't replied to my message." Ansel said, frustration creeping into his voice.
"Let it go, now take your meals first." Mr McVeigh said gently, trying to divert Ansel's attention away from the phone that seemed glued to his hand.
Heka seemed to ignore the message from him. He sent a message at 01.00 pm and until 08.00 pm, Heka had not replied at all.
Although he was tired of waiting for seven long hours, Ansel clung to the hope that this silence was a sign, perhaps Heka was refusing his help. The thought brought him a strange sense of relief.
If Heka didn't want his assistance, then Ansel wouldn't have to worry or feel guilty about pushing himself into someone else's life. That idea alone made him feel unexpectedly happy, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Grandpa, he hasn't replied to my message yet. Maybe he doesn't want to see me? If he really doesn't want to see me, it means he doesn't need to do soul delivery." Ansel said quietly, his voice tinged with a mixture of disappointment and tentative hope
Mr McVeigh chuckled softly, amused by the lightness in Ansel's expression. It was clear that the boy was relieved by the possibility of not having to get involved in something so complicated and painful. "I'm glad you like to help others, but remember one thing. Not everyone needs some help. Sometimes the help we give will actually bring misery and suffering instead of relief."
"Okay, I will remember it." Ansel nodded thoughtfully, absorbing the wisdom in his Mr McVeigh's words. a newfound understanding settling in his heart.
For a moment, the room was quiet except for the soft ticking of the clock. He realized that what he had promised Heka was not to heal him. But, he gave a feeling of sadness that would be carried to death.
Probably, the Soul Delivery would only make Heka free from his relentless insomnia. For a while, the restless nights would cease, and a fragile peace might settle over his mind.
But Ansel knew, deep down, that this relief was only the beginning of a much darker journey. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, Heka's life would begin to change, drastically and irrevocably.
The light that once flickered in his eyes would dim, replaced by shadows that grew heavier with each passing day. His world would become darker, gloomy, and filled with tears that no one could wipe away.
Because Soul Delivery was not about giving, it was about replacing. It was a delicate, painful exchange. When you gained something new in your life, it always meant that a part of you had to be lost in return. The balance was cruel but absolute. Nothing came without a price.
That was life in the human realm. Nothing lasted forever.
Every beginning was shadowed by an ending. For every person who came into your life, there was someone else who would leave. It was the natural order, the cycle that no one could escape.
***
At 09:30 pm, Ansel lay on his bed, the soft glow of his bedside lamp casting a warm circle of light over the pages of the book he had bought some time ago, Castaways of the Flying Dutchman.
He read a book while waiting for a message from Heka. In his heart, he really hoped that Heka would decide not to meet him.
Hours passed, and the silence from Heka's side grew louder in Ansel's ears. Though it had been clear for hours that there was absolutely no reply, a gnawing bad feeling settled in his chest.
Something was wrong, or maybe it was just his imagination running wild. Still, he kept waiting, unwilling to give up hope completely.
Until 11.30 pm, he did not receive any reply. Ansel's eyelids grew heavy. The exhaustion from the day and the weight of uncertainty finally overcame him. Reluctantly, he set the book aside, placed his phone on silent, and let sleep pull him under.
Suddenly, he was woken up by a phone. He looked at the clock on the wall at 01.00. Because his eyes were so sleepy, he ignored the message. He didn't care who sent this late message, whether it was very important or not.
He would see the message the next day.
***
At 07:00 am, Ansel slowly opened his eyes. The morning sun was dazzling, streaming through the curtains and flooding the room with a golden light.
The brightness was almost too much to bear after a restless night, so he quickly covered his head with a pillow, trying to shield himself from the harsh rays.
As he lay there, half-awake, a sudden memory surfaced. In the middle of the night, his phone rang. He had felt too lazy and tired to fully wake up, but he had managed to reach for his phone, his fingers fumbling in the dark.
There were several messages that came in.
His heart skipped a beat when he noticed a message from Heka. He had been anxiously waiting all day for any sign of a reply, but he never expected that Heka had already sent a message during the night.
With trembling hands, Ansel opened the message. The words on the screen confirmed what he had feared and hoped at the same time
I'm busy and haven't been able to meet you.
Maybe next week.
I'll text you again.
The next step he had to take was the hardest of all: finding the courage to explain everything to Heka.
The weight of the truth pressed heavily on his chest, making each breath feel shallow and every word difficult to form. Although it felt almost unbearable, Ansel knew deep down that he had no choice but to say it.
Because he had promised to help him. He couldn't take back what he had said.
But that hope was intertwined with the darker, spookier side of Soul Delivery, a side that could terrify Heka to his core.
Ansel had wrestled with the decision and ultimately decided not to proceed with the Soul Delivery. It was too dangerous, too unpredictable. The risks far outweighed the potential benefits.
Apparently, Ansel had witnessed it far from what he had imagined. The reality of Soul Delivery was brutal and unforgiving.
When Heka received Soul Delivery, there would be a Bloody Marriage. The price he had to pay was too expensive for what he would get.
He couldn't help Heka negotiate with Lexus at all, so as not to pay a very high price. All he was able to see was that Heka was sobbing. In the end, he had to endure suffering for the rest of his life.
From the very first meeting, Ansel had sensed that Heka was not someone who smiled easily. His expression was often guarded, his eyes carrying a weight that few could understand.
Ansel feared that after what was to come, Heka's smile might disappear forever, swallowed by the darkness that awaited him.
The wedding, which should have been a celebration of joy and new beginnings, turned into a nightmare drenched in blood. What started as laughter and music quickly spiraled into chaos.
The air was thick with fear as screams echoed through the hall, piercing the hearts of everyone present. Tears flowed freely, some cried out in anguish, while others were frozen in shock, unable to release the sorrow trapped inside them.
At least what he saw was not Heka who became the bride. So, the pain wasn't that deep.
He tried to imagine what it would be like to attend such a blood wedding as the bride or groom. The terror of witnessing such a gruesome event could shatter a person's mind.
If they were unable to see or comprehend what was happening, they might be trapped in that moment forever, their souls fractured by the trauma. It was a fate worse than death. A living a lifetime haunted by mental torment, confined to the cold walls of a mental hospital, forever lost to the world.
The unease settled deep within Ansel's chest. He wrestled with a difficult question: should he tell Heka what he had seen?
And even if he did tell him, would Heka believe such a horrifying tale?
It was difficult because Heka was not a person who had a character that was not easy to trust other people just like that. Especially, with someone he had just met.
Then, he typed a reply to Heka. After that, he just had to wait for the day he met next and explained to him about Soul Delivery that would heal him.
Okay, there are many things I must explain. I really look forward to meeting you, because it's so important.
Ansel got up slowly, the weight of the night's restless thoughts still heavy on his mind. He shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen, the cool tiles chilling his bare feet.
Opening the refrigerator, he grabbed a bottle of water and took a long, refreshing sip. The cold liquid helped clear the fog clouding his thoughts, but the unease inside him remained.
Ansel leaned against the doorframe, watching quietly for a moment before speaking. "Grandpa, I will meet Heka."
Mr McVeigh looked up, his eyes calm but curious. He simply asked. "When?"
Ansel held his breath, feeling the weight of the days to come pressing down on him. The uncertainty was suffocating. "I don't know, maybe next week." he replied, turning away before the emotions could overwhelm him. He retreated back to his room, seeking the solitude he craved.
Right now, for the time being, Ansel just wanted to be lazy. He didn't want to think about the future or the difficult conversations that awaited him. He wanted to do nothing at all.
Yet, even in his idleness, a profound exhaustion settled over him, not just physical tiredness, but a deep weariness of the soul.
In his heart, Ansel wished for a simpler life. He wished he had been born an ordinary human, free from the burdens of being a shenmorta.
He longed for a life without the restless anxiety about the dark days looming ahead, a life where he could simply exist without fear or sorrow.