The Soul Keeper

The next few days passed in a similar manner to the previous one. Doctors would come, take my blood or have me undergo some scans. Then, agents would arrive and have me repeat my story over and over again. 

In the end, I became convinced of one thing: They suspected me of something. I wasn't sure what their suspicion was, or how they had come to that conclusion, but after retelling my story over and over again to a handful of different people over little more than a week, I was now sure.

Though, being sure of that didn't really help me at all – I was still stuck here in this hospital.

"Good morning," A familiar voice sounded as glared at the ceiling with a bored expression. It was once again, none other than Inspector John. And of course, his boss tagged along as always.

"More like afternoon." I sighed. 

Miss Mueller chuckled. "That is true." She pulled one o the two chairs in the room close to my bed and made herself comfortable. "So…" She said, looking at me with a slightly more serious expression. "The test results finally came in. All of them."

My ears perked up. I pushed myself up to a sitting position as I focused my attention on her.

"You are physically fine." She said as she tapped on her tablet. "Too fine, in fact." She added after a moment of hesitation. "Your muscle structure is naturally very weak, and your strength is diminished, but your heart, lungs and liver are all fine."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad." I couldn't help but smile.

"Wow, he finally smiled for real." Inspector John said with a grin. Miss Mueller laughed. "That is true, and it makes me happy." She glanced at the tablet again. "But hold your horses."

My smile disappeared. "Is something else wrong?"

She fiddled with her ear-length black hair. "Well… I'm not sure. The brain scans and everything else did turn up an abnormality," She glanced at me. "But none of the doctors can tell what it means. As far as we know, it's not harmful to you, so you probably don't need to worry too much about it." She glanced at the door. "I will have one of the doctors with the proper expertise explain it to you in more detail later."

I nodded. "I'd appreciate that." Her words had put a damper on my mood. What could this 'abnormality' even mean? 

"Aside from that," Inspector John spoke. "We do have some more good news."

My ears perked up. Had someone woken up?

"All parties we were looking for have been detained and are being questioned as we speak." Seeing my empty gaze, he continued. "That means we can arrange for your return home sooner than we expected."

My eyes widened. "I can go home?" I asked in shock as a smile began to spread through my face. "Really?"

Miss Mueller smiled, but her voice didn't quite have the same enthusiasm as mine as she spoke. "Not immediately of course, but in less than a week, I assure you." She glanced at her tablet. "Now, there are some complications, naturally." 

My heart sank. A week was a long time and those 'complications' didn't help me feel any better either. 

It soon turned out, however, that those complications were all related to the legal process that had been going on this whole time. After being asked to show up in court when called upon, Miss Mueller went on and on about how and why they were charging the people who caused this incident in the first place.

My knowledge about legal affairs was limited already, so most of her words meant nothing to me, though hearing that the PORTAL project was shut down for good did make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Sweet revenge was all I could think.

Miss Mueller left in the evening, leaving Inspector John behind. The tall, tired man sighed and glanced out the window. "Your family will be notified tomorrow in the morning. We will arrange your transportation to there." 

"Thanks," I mumbled. I couldn't help but be excited about going home. I had missed the green fields and starry skies. And home. God I'd missed home.

"I'll leave you to it then," Inspector John said as a nurse came inside with my dinner in hand. "Enjoy your meal." 

I chuckled and thanked him. The food was bland as always, but at the very least, I felt somewhat full. It didn't take me long to fall asleep, despite only listening to Miss Mueller, the day had been quite exhausting.

My sleep was plagued with nightmares. Scenes of battle, screams of agony, the smell of blood and smoke, the taste of death. 

I woke up, panting and sweaty. I don't know how many times – enough to make me feel more tired than the day before.

I climbed out of the bed with the first rays of sunlight and washed my face. Looking at the mirror, I almost laughed. I looked like a dead man – black circles around my eyes, a pale face, and a dead gaze. 

After breakfast, Inspector John dropped by as usual.

"You look awful." Were the first words he said as soon as he stepped inside the room. I shot him an annoyed glare. I didn't need him to remind me of that.

"Oof, someone is grumpy today." He mumbled, averting his gaze and sighing. "Noted." 

"Please," I said, shaking my head. "I didn't get a wink of sleep." I glanced at the rather thick binder in his hand. "What's going on?"

He placed the binder on the nightstand and pulled a chair closer. "Stuff you have to sign. But we can take of that later. Why didn't you get any sleep? You have to tell us if anything feels off." His gaze focused on me as I shook my head. "Kai, we need to know everything." He insisted. "What's wrong?"

"Everything!" I finally spoke. "Everything feels off!"