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Dante shook his head "Do you feel the same way around other people as you do around me?"

I shook my head "No"

We stopped in front of the Observatory The door was norht it was propped open with a book Dante glanced around,the door click shut behind us

The lab was dark, and I had to feel ht Above us, the night sky was clear and blue through the glass ceiling

I looked around, and then at Dante "It’s so different at night"

Dante liftedat the stars through the roof

"How did you know you were dead?"

"It tookwhere I ith no way of getting home I wandered around soure out what had happened I asked about my family at the local hospital They sent me to the police, who told me there had been a crash I was the only one from my family who had been found They checked me into the hospital I stayed for a week I felt like part of ht that was justthe loss of ry, and when I forcedMy body temperature was far below normal A rare circulation condition, the doctors said, but I knew they didn’t have a clue That’s when I realized so

"So I left My parents’ bodies were found, butI had no desire to contact anyone I knew, except for her In fact, I had no desire at all Only the feeling of an absent desire I could remember that once I had felt happy, felt alive, but I couldn’t actually feel it again, if thatmy sister would help fill that void So I searched for her For weeks Months Years, I guess Since I didn’t need to eat or sleep, I’d just walk for days at a time In the meantime, I found work I enrolled in schools but dropped out when I realized I wasn’t interested in what anyone was teaching Years passed, and I noticed that I wasn’t aging--at least not in a norrowing older In fact, the rest of my body was abnor, so I kept to myself I didn’t want to become a freak show or a science experiment But I did my own experiments to learnnot to touch a hot stove And it was easy to be alone, since I had no urge to date or make friends I was, in essence, a shell

"Eventually I went back to the hospital, knowing that there had to be so lot, there was a flyer stapled to a telephone pole It read, ‘For Questions of the Existential Nature’ Beloas an address At that point I was co about all of the unexplainable proble, and sent it to the address A feeeks later, Professor Lu me to visit the Academy She said it was a school that specialized in existential questions, and that they ht be able to help me with ‘my condition’ She didn’t explain what that meant So I went, partly because I wanted help, partly because I was curious That’s how I ended up here"

I turned to hi at his profile as he stared into the sky "And you’re looking for your soul?"

"I’h I don’t want to kill anyone That’s what I’ve been researching at Gottfried Another way to live"

"But if you kiss me, you’ll kill me?"

"Yes But I won’t kiss you"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I can choose Just like everyone else"

In a way he had a point I suppose anyone had the capacity to hurt another person; it just depended on the choices they ard?

He tookit over his chest

I held it there, but nothing happened

"Listen to it"