"What is a Bridge?" Jasmine asked looking up at the tall man.

Marcell held his hand out and Jasmine placed hers in his. The mark on her wrist burned slightly as he helped her stand. When Marcell removed his hand, Jasmine scratched at the mark. The burning subsided. 

"We do not have time for explanations. I must take you in. There is much that needs to be done before you're ready."

"Ready for what? What about my mother and sister? I can't just leave."

"They're both dead. Their souls have moved on. The Bridge helped them pass before marking you."

Jasmine's body froze. They were dead? That couldn't be possible. They couldn't be dead. Why was she still alive if they weren't? Was she even still alive?

"Am I alive?" Jasmine found herself asking aloud.

"Yes and no. Your body was still functional when the Bridge found you. Not by much. It was weak enough to allow your soul to leave with the presence of the Bridge. It's the only time the mark can be passed on. Now I said there was no time for explanations. Let's go."

Marcell held his hand out again. This time, Jasmine was not as quick to take it. There were thousands of questions buzzing through her head. There was too much that she didn't know. She didn't even know this man. How was she supposed to trust him to take her somewhere? How would he even take her anywhere? There were no other vehicles besides the other car that had caught on fire. 

Sirens sounded in the distance. Apparently the authorities had been notified somehow. She looked around for another car. Someone would have had to call in the accident. She didn't think anyone had been in the area.

"What about the person in the other car?" Jasmine asked. Anything to stall. 

"Dead as well. Now please take my hand. There is much to do."

"Where are you going to take me?"

"Somewhere with others who can help you."

"How are you going to get me there?"

"Take my hand and you'll find out."

That wasn't really an answer. Jasmine bit her bottom lip her eyes still glued to the destruction on the road. 

"Do you promise to answer all questions I have if I take your hand?" Her eyes broke free and found his. 

He nodded once and Jasmine took a deep breath before taking his outstretched hand, Marcell's fingers touching the mark on her wrist.  

In the blink of an eye they were somewhere else. The mutilated cars were gone, the sirens that had been closing in were just an echo in her ear, and she looked down at rows and rows of desks. Everything was a bright white. The walls, desks, chairs, everything white. Only the people bustling around broke the blinding monochromatic scene. 

"Where are we?" Jasmine whispered. 

"This is our office of sorts. We aren't anywhere. At least no where in the physical realm. This exists beyond that plane of existence."

"How is that possible? How does it exist outside..." Jasmine trailed off. 

"We are on a plane of existence only souls can reach, but only certain souls know how to reach it."

"Then how am I here? I'm still me."

"When you grabbed my hand and I touched the mark, your body was left behind, your soul thrust from the confines of the mortal body."

"I don't understand."

"Your body is back on the mortal plane right along with the others."

"I'm dead?"

"Far from dead. You're a Bridge. While you've shed your mortal body, your soul will keep living on. However, you will have a specific job, tasks you will need to perform."

"And what exactly is that?"

"To go to souls no longer able to stay in their body, and help them cross through their door."

"Their door?"

"Yes."

Jasmine turned to overlook the people below again. She watched as one of them disappeared. He just vanished into thin air. Her mouth went dry, and her eyes wide. This had to be a dream. This couldn't be happening. She wanted to wake up in her warm bed, go down the stairs where her mother would be making pancakes and her sister would be sitting at the table, drinking her daily dose of orange juice. Her father would be reading the newspaper with his "#1 Dad" coffee mug sitting next to his hand. She could almost smell it now. 

There was an ache in her chest. Deep down she knew it wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to wake up, and she was never going to see her family again. Her mother and sister were dead, and her father would be alone in the house. Her little brother. She would never see Alec again. 

How would their father tell him? Their father was always busy with work. He wasn't able to make it to the hospital as often as they did. 

Jasmine's chest swelled and she knew the tears weren't too far off. She was surprised they'd held off this long.

She could feel Marcell's gaze on her, and she felt like turning away. Jasmine didn't like the thought of him seeing her cry. But the tears never came. 

"We can't cry," he said as if he was able to read her mind. "We do not have the same bodily functions we once had when we were in our bodies. We can still feel emotions because they came from within our soul, but the functions that went with those emotions, such as crying, are gone."

"What else can't I do?" A fire rose in Jasmine's stomach. Everything had been too much. Too much to handle. 

"We do not eat or drink, we cannot interact with people, only souls, and our interaction with objects on the physical plane is minimal."

Jasmine didn't say anything back. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She didn't understand anything that was happening. 

"What if I don't want any of this?"

"I'm afraid it's out of your hands now," Marcell said. 

"What do you mean it's out of my hands? If I don't want to do it, then I won't do it." Jasmine's voice strained. She was holding back her anger. How dare this person tell her it was out of her hands. 

"The decision has been made for you. We have a balanced system, and it must remain balanced. One Bridge has been lost and one must take the place. You are the one to take that place. That is what this mark means." Marcell's thumb touched the mark on her wrist. 

Jasmine pulled her arm away, cradling it against her stomach. She didn't want him touching her. She wanted to go home. She wanted everything to go back to how it was. She wanted to be with her family again. She didn't like anything this man was saying. 

"There are a few things that must be done. You will be taken through our base. This is where everything begins and ends. We are all Death's workers, and we each have our assigned tasks. We have our Techs, Guides, and Bridges. I will take you on a job so you can see what will happen when you are assigned to your own."

"This is too much."

"It is at first, but it will become easier with time."

"I don't want it to become easier." Jasmine's frustration had been rising. She never liked things out of her control. 

"Come with me."

At his words, Marcell started moving, and so did Jasmine, though she wasn't consciously doing so. Her feet moved along with his. Somehow he was guiding her. 

"Find me a soul please," Marcell said to the floor of workers. Within seconds he was given a location. 

In the blink of an eye they were standing somewhere new. The place was musty and dark. It smelled as if the windows hadn't been opened in ages. 

Marcell guided her through the rooms, and as they navigated further in, the smell shifted causing Jasmine to feel the gag reflex spring to life. Apparently nothing would come of it, but that didn't make the smell or feeling any less awful. 

It smelled like rotting food and urine. Heaps of clothes scattered the floor, boxes of pizza and takeout sat open. 

"You couldn't have taken me somewhere better?"

"You don't get to pick and choose your assignments. You go where you are needed and you ask no questions."

After a few more moments of Jasmine suffering through the smells around, Marcell glanced her way. "You have no need for oxygen. You do not need to breathe. It will be difficult for you to learn to stop the habit though. You can try holding your breath if it bothers you that much."

Jasmine closed her mouth and held her breath. It didn't feel uncomfortable like it would have if she were still in her human body, though it was a strange feeling not breathing or smelling. She wasn't sure if she would continue to do this, though it was a handy trick. 

They went into another room and found the body they were there for. As they entered, the soul emerged from the body laying on the bed. The man was disheveled and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked about the same as the man lying on the bed next to him. 

Why did he look the same when her sister had looked completely normal?

She wanted to know the answer, but Marcell was already talking to the man. He was explaining what had happened, or as much as he knew at least. It wasn't hard for Jasmine to guess what had taken place. The man's body was surrounded by small packets. Some had powder spilling out of them, some contained pills. There were used syringes lying about, and, allowing a small sniff, the smell of alcohol was thick. 

The man had most likely overdosed on drugs. She wondered if he'd been alone the whole time, or if someone had been with him. Someone who'd been scared when something started to happen and ran off so they wouldn't be caught. 

"What do you mean dead?" The question brought her back to their conversation. It sounded similar to what Jasmine had been saying and thinking earlier. It was probably the same reaction most people had when they heard the news. 

Marcell was talking calmly. He was trying to explain everything to the man, trying to coax the man into taking his hand. 

He was asking about someone, an Annie. He hadn't been alone then. Someone had been with him. 

"I don't know of any Annie. I'm sorry, but you're the only one here," Marcell said. 

"But I need to know if she's okay." The man's hands started twitching and he looked around. 

"We'll make sure she's okay," Marcell promised. "But I need you to come with me. It's time to move on."

"I can't leave Annie. What if she needs me? What if she comes looking for me?"

The desperation in his voice had Jasmine's heart breaking. He obviously cared about this Annie. It was sad to think she didn't care as much for him. She didn't know that though. For all she knew, Annie hadn't been there with him to begin with. She felt for the man though. He was lost just like she'd been. She hadn't known what happened to her mother and sister. She hadn't wanted to leave without them, but she'd been dragged away. 

"She may be waiting for you. Come with me and we can find out." Marcell held his hand out, an offering to the man. 

He looked down at his body, a small whimper escaping. He slowly held his hand out, placing it in Marcell's. They'd moved yet again. They were surrounded by nothingness. The only thing around besides the three of them, was a door. 

There was no wall attached, just a door standing up. It looked old and worn. Tan with the color of the wood peeking through. 

"This is your door," Marcell said. 

"What do you mean my door?"

"Every soul has a door. It takes you where you're supposed to be."

"Is it heaven? Is Annie there?" 

"She might be. There's only one way to find out."

The man's eyes glazed over and he started stumbling toward the door, wasting no time before he turned the knob and stepped through. As soon as it closed behind him, the door vanished and they were surrounded by the nothingness. 

"Where's my door?" Jasmine asked quietly.

Marcell was quiet for a moment. 

"You don't have one."

"What do you mean I don't have one? You just said every soul has a door."

"Every soul does, but once you become something more, you no longer have access to that portal."

"So what do I get? What do we get?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"If you move beyond this, then you cease all together. No one knows what happens once a soul steps through that door, but we don't get that option."

"Don't get that option? You're saying that monster took everything away from me? I no longer get any choices at all, I'm run by this...this death thing?"

"You serve Death and all Death stands for. We obey all rules set by Death, and do our part to make sure the souls find the way to their door. That is your job now, and it is what you will do."

"What if I refuse? There's obviously a way out of it. That Albert guy got out of it. I saw him do it."

"You saw him cease to exist. His soul was eliminated. He disobeyed the rules and he was punished for it. Bridges are supposed to help souls cross through their door, they are not supposed to mark them. He knew this and for that he was punished."

"What if I do the same thing?"

"You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you won't even know it's an option."

Jasmine blinked at the man standing in front of her. How could he possibly be so sure what she would and wouldn't do? She'd seen Albert's face. He obviously had wanted out of this. He'd been desperate. He'd resorted to pulling in someone knew just so he could escape. He knew what was coming for him when it happened, and still he'd chose to go through with it. Did Jasmine really want to be a part of something someone else had been that desperate to escape?

"But I do know it's an option."

"When it's all said and done, you will remember none of it. You will only remember what you saw here today. You will remember the process we went through. You will know what your role is, you will know the workings of this job, and that is it. Everything else will be gone. This talk of leaving will disappear. Your human connection, the one that got in your way while that man was talking, it will all be gone."

"What do you mean?"

"It will all be erased. What will remain is only what we deem worthy of remaining."