The Other Side

Episode 4

The gatekeeper was excited to have another failure in this supposed quest. She knew the exact test to make sure Julie never gets a second chance. And she was excited to drop the bomb. But first, the sacrifice must be made.
“Joan, are you ready?”

Joan nodded and took front to meet with the gatekeeper.
“What’s this…? Where are you taking her to…? Joan where are you going to na…?”
Joan hushed her and turned to the gatekeeper.
“Get on with it and stop making me nervous, and Julie don’t fail me…”

The gate keeper thrilled and let down her whip. The next minute Joan was reduced to dust and left Julie speechless.
“What…what happened…? What did you do to her?”

She questioned, trying to conclude that all she just witnessed was some trick.
“To send a soul back, a soul has to be sacrificed, there has to be balance. A soul, for a soul”

The gatekeeper explained but Julie had not gotten her point yet.
“Wait, you mean Joan is….”
“Joan has been wiped off existence, even her memories with the living has been wiped out…she knew the prize she has to pay”
“So I can go back to the world now…?”
The laughter that spurned her words was one that irritated her.
“Not so fast, there is a prize to pay”
Julie didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“But Joan just…”
“What Joan did, is the sacrifice, what you are going to do, is the prize”
Julie was about to probably utter an objection when the gatekeeper took her hands and appeared right in front of Jack wilshere’s balcony, where he drank himself to stupor.
“You remember this man…?”
Julie hissed with disgust.
“Yeah, he is a fraud, can you imagine, he wanted to trick me to feature in a cheap advert. Just so he can earn millions and then pay me some trash, I don’t do stuffs like that…I mean, I am worth much more”

The gatekeeper nodded in disgust. She could still sense Julie’s pride. And she was certain it was one of the reason she would fail, and then she would eventually kill two birds with one stone. She got Joan and in 30days time, she’d get Julie.

“Yes, yes…of course. But do you know that because of your actions, he lost his mother…and his contract?”
Julie eyes went wide, so he was telling the truth, she just realised.
“Let’s listen to what he has to say”
Julie had noticed he was muttering something, but he was inaudible.
They went closer and she could hear her name.
“Julie, you bitch, I should have killed you myself”

She withdrew immediately with a gasp.
“Of all the people you’ve hurt, Jack is the person you hurt the most. And trust me, he hates you even more than the person who murdered you”
Julie was getting an hint of what her prize might be, maybe she would apologize to him or something.
“Julie, in 30days time, your body would be found by a group of wild hunters, and once it is found, you have no business with the land of the living anymore”
Julie was getting impatient.
“Ok can we skip to the part where I pay the prize? Do I have to give my eyes out or what…?”
The gatekeeper was not surprised at her abash response.
“Simple Julie, you would have to fall in love with Jack within 30days…”

When Julie actually thought she just heard the worst, the gatekeeper had to top it up with the impossible.

“And you have to make him fall for you too”
It was like the moment stopped. And for the next 5minutes she remained quiet, searching for a possible answer. Suddenly she realised the impossibility of the supposed prize.
“Oh my God… It’s impossible, the guy hates me! What kind of prize is this? Or is this another trick…?”

She laughed nervously, which didn’t go well with the gatekeeper.

She noticed the stern reaction of the gatekeeper, it slowly dawned on her, she was going to fail.

“Please ma, can you rethink this? He hates me…for a normal person, it takes more than a month to even get to like a person… It rarely happens to love a person within a month. And ma this is a man that wants me dead, he hates me”

The gatekeeper simply watched as Julie ranted with her plight, pleading for another way around this prize. Of course she knew this was impossible, and it was just as she planned.
“I guess you are not ready…”

She let down her whip to reduce Julie to dust.

“Ok ok, I am…I’ll give it a shot”
“Alright, go on”
“What’s your name?”
It was a totally absurd question to ask, but she wanted to know.

“Hmmm, I’m Bernice… I wish you good luck”

Bernice, the gatekeeper dropped and turned to go.

“Wait! Where are you going? I would need a body to win his heart. How can I approach him as a ghost, how can he love what he can’t see, it’s impossible”

Bernice stopped to laugh again, Julie rolled her eyes and waited till she was done.
“So? Can I have my body back now…?”
“There is no body to take young lady. Jack wilshere must love the ghost of his worst enemy, within 30days”