Maggie shivered against the cold steel she found herself laying on. How did it ever happen that she ended up in this predicament in the first place? One minute she's running through the corn field with her little brother, the next she wakes up in this cell God only knows where. From what she could tell in the darkness, her little cell wasn't very big, perhaps even just the size of her own body. She called out loudly, but her voice quickly bounced back to her muted by the close walls.
"Don't panic, Maggie...don't panic," she kept telling herself over and over. Then finally a door above her head opened, the bright sliver of light blinding her while the bed she was lying on was pulled out in one smooth motion. She tried to get up, to shield her face from the intensity of the light, but her body wouldn't move. "Don't panic...don't panic..." but her breath was speeding up, eyes darting around trying to finally focus on something; anything to get a sense of where she was and what was going on. At last, she caught a glimpse of a robed figure moving nearby. The room, upon inspection, was neutral whites and blacks for the most part, sterilized and unwelcoming. A noise in the direction of the figure caught her attention just as it started moving closer to her. A bright light flicked on over her head, once again removing her ability to see well. As the figure approached, she realized it was coinciding with the strange noise, a noise that reminded her of her daddy's chainsaw.
Metal glinted in the spotlight, "Okay...panic!" she told herself almost out loud. The strange figure came into view, blocking some of the light. The eyes were bulging, made of some kind of glass, or perhaps protected by it. Yes, a mask, Maggie couldn't tell what the creature looked like under the mask, the changes in bright light going quickly to shaded darkness as the figure moved in and out of the light shining down on her face going too fast for her eyes to fully adjust one way or the other. Suddenly, the glinting off metal came again, this time she caught what it was. It was indeed some sort of electric saw, and it was hovering over her chest. Screaming, Maggie tried to get up, to stop the figure from planting the saw deep into her chest, but her screams seemed to fall on deaf ears, the machine cutting through her breast bone like butter.
Out of nowhere, someone was holding her hand, calling her name. "Maggie...Maggie look at me. You're going to be fine, just look at me, it doesn't hurt, you're just scared." Panicked, Maggie searched with her eyes for the source of the voice and comforting hand she now held. Finally she met the eyes she'd never forget; crystalline blue, clear as the best diamond with more facets than could be counted in a lifetime. His face was equally as beautiful, with smooth skin the color of ivory, chiseled in just the right spots and full kissable lips. Maggie got lost just looking at him; watching his expression turn from concern to a soft, reassuring smile. "See," he said with a light, airy tone, "You're fine."
Just then another voice with more grit and a slight bit of venom in the tone spoke out from somewhere past her vision, "Figures you were right here the whole time. Do ya know how difficult it was to find ya?" The beautiful one before her eyes spoke again, "Oh hush you old curmudgeon, it's not Maggie's fault, you know that." She was confused to say the least, letting her eyes turn back to the strange masked creature who now had his hands inside her chest cavity, but Beautiful was right, she didn't feel a thing. All she could feel was his hand still holding hers, and the cold...but it wasn't the table, no, she was cold, her body felt like ice. The grumpy one spoke again, "Ya fine whatever Max, can we just get her and get outta here? You know I can't stand watching the autopsies."
Maggie's eyes went wide. "What?! What did he mean, watching autopsies?" she demanded of the one called Max. Closing his eyes with a long sigh, Max shook his head turning to speak to Mr. Grumpy behind him, "Really Ron? You know how hard it is for them to accept the news when they get stuck like this." Max returned to look down at Maggie, his hand squeezing hers tighter, in support as he tried to explain in the most tactful way possible. "Maggie, I'm afraid you're not living anymore. Ron here and I," motioning with his other hand back at the still unseen Ron, "we go searching for lost souls once the body has been claimed by death. You see, not everyone finds themselves detached right away. Do you understand?"
"Uhh, you mean, I died?" she was panicking again continuing on rapid fire with the questions, "How can I be dead? I was just running through the field with my brother. I don't even know how I got here. And how come I can't move? Why can't this guy here me? Why can you?" she was on the verge of tears just as Max reached up to stroke her hair gently like a loving parent might soothe a child middle of the night from a bad dream. "Shh. All things will be answered in time, but first, let's get you up and moving again alright?" He smiled warmly again at her, and she couldn't help but feel it fill her being. Placing his other hand under her neck, Max helped her lift her head, and to Maggie's surprise, his arm went right through her body, her spirit form lifting out of the dense, heavy, dead mass of cells now. She stared down in awe as Max continued to help her up and off the medical table. Blinking she looked down her own form. It didn't seem any different than before, the same clothes she'd been wearing to play in the field with her little brother. Holding her hands in front of her face, there was a smoothness to her skin now, even to the eyes.
She tried to turn her head and look back on her corporeal body, but Max's hands were suddenly over her eyes, blocking it from view. "You don't want to see that, trust me." turning her back around and leading her off to another part of the room, "Come, Maggie, time to go home."
~End Scene~
