“…And that old boy was your last surge of energy. That was a chance for you to see what you are leaving behind. Do not be fooled, you are on your way out and there is nothing that can be done to change that. That is the bad news, the good news is, there is way more to this life than you are at this current stage aware of, and I have been tasked to help you remember the possibilities. They may sound strange but down the line, they will feel as old and comfortable as your favourite shoes. It will sound strange, the path that I need for you to take and maybe even impossible but I promise you, there are countless souls and bodies walking those paths as we speak and you might find that down the line it starts to feel very familiar, and that it is not that strange after all. The possibilities are endless and there are no limits on those paths.”

Alviana tried to get up but realised he couldn't move. He tried to respond but found that he could not do that too. The darn cold! He was freezing. Gretchen. Gretchen can help. The button, press the button, and summon the nurses.

“In a matter of minutes, the cold will be gone. You will not be feeling anything at all and that is because your body would have ceased all its functions. Every single organ would have closed shop, you do know what that means, right? Yes, old boy, you will be dead. Ringing that bell won’t help much. Your nurses can’t help you now. I advise you to enjoy that cold; it means you are still alive, in some sense at least." He said that and stood up and started pacing up and down by the side of the bed. He was quiet for a while and all Alviana can do was follow him with his eyes.

“It doesn’t have to be the end, old boy. The Horowitz? They sure did you wrong, they set a chain of reaction that messed up everything for you. Are you able to just let it go like that? That spiteful old woman in your house? You have no idea what she has done, do you? Whatever you may suspect, it doesn’t reflect half of it. Your money? You can get all that back. Every single lost opportunity, regret, and mistakes can be rectified, at least in your case. I am here to give you a chance to do that over again. A chance to redo it all and rectify your life’s mistakes. You can outsmart all those assholes. You can have even more than you lost, you can exact revenge on those fools. This is your one chance to get it all back again. Doesn’t that sound good?”

The man suddenly stopped pacing, he came over to the bed and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Old boy, you can be invincible, untouchable. I am giving you an advantage over life itself! A chance to outsmart the sucker. All these unanswered questions you have pushed to the furthest recesses of your mind, I can assure you they have answers. Someone knows something, I know who but I cannot tell you, I can lead you to them though. Every single one of them”

He made sure that he emphasized the last sentence.

“Alarik. We all know what happened to him. Some of us know it is not about the what, but about the whom.”

At the mention of Alarik, the man had Alviana’s full attention. A seed has been planted and the man perceived it. Admonishing himself inwardly for not having started there, he would have been out and away from this choking stench of death in the room. But now, he knew the exact button to press.

“He was what, five when he was found?” Asked the man.

Alviana attempted to raise himself once more and once more it resulted in a failed attempt.

“You are not able to do that old boy. But you will find that you can speak now. I will help you with this.” Alviana did not miss the spark in with man’s eye. He was sick and dying but he was cognitive. He only wished he still had that surge of energy from earlier. He watched as the man carefully loosened his oxygen mask and pulled it over his head, then gently laid his head back on the pillow.

This was their second encounter within a short period of time, and he had just said he can talk. He decided to test it.

“Who are you?’ asked Alviana. His voice was a bit hoarse but audible enough.

“Old boy, there isn’t time for that. You will get to know me very well after the necessities have been dealt with. So I will get to the point, the offer on the table is life. You get to live the same life you have lived up to this moment. The only difference is that now you hold all the cards. Not fate, not destiny, not a higher power, but you. You decide every turn of your life. With all of your memories intact! You cannot go wrong. Incidents will occur as they have but you can delay them, and some you can even prevent. The only thing that will remain the same, are the people in your life. It is the same life, after all, just the chance to do it over, your way this time!”

“How long do I have to decide?” Asked Alviana trying his best to mask his suspicion. He saw the spark in his eye; yes he has many answered questions. He was tired of being sick and bedridden. And Alarik. Everything else, everyone else didn’t matter. How many times had he wished to go back to that moment? How he had cried in private every chance he could get, how he had begged the gods to give him a chance to fix that? To no avail. Time had moved on and the gods failed to grant him that wish, he had no choice but to also move on to the next injustices imposed by him and others unto him. Life continued and it did give him chances to deceive as well as to be deceived himself. Were the gods planning all along?

“You have now and only now to decide.”

The change of countenance did not go unnoticed by Alviana. He had lived his life for negotiations, and he could feel the fire starting deep inside him. He was getting warmer and his visitor was obviously getting unnerved by certain questions. “What do you get from this? If I choose to go back and re-do my life what do you get out of it? And what happens if I choose not to go back?”

“Don’t you think you are pushing the line a bit here? You are the one on the deathbed. A dying man with regrets as big as Mount Kilimanjaro, with literally minutes of life remaining. Are you going to waste those few precious minutes trying to haggle?”

And that is when Alviana knew the man had a stake in this too.

“Answer me and you have my word that I will give you my decision right now. I have already made a decision but I need to know what is at stake for you. I am not an imbecile and I am not afraid of dying. That is a path that every mortal soul must travel. My soul made peace with that fact a while back. But you, you have something reliant on my accepting this ridiculous deal of yours. What is in it for you?”

“No one is that accepting of death! Certainly not a shrewd and cunning person like you. I am a messenger, a mere messenger executing a task. I do not have to explain myself to you, but if you accept this offer you will get to learn more about me, and no, I mean you no harm. And that old boy is all I can tell you besides the fact that your time is almost up. Deal or no deal you are about to die and as it seems like I am failing at my task, I shall bid you adieu and go report my failure, while your wife prepares for your burial.” And with that, the well-dressed stranger stood up and prepared to be on his way.

Damn you thought Alviana. Damn the gods as well for being so cruel.

“Can I have one more day?” Asked Alviana. He knew the man was walking away, or maybe he was not but what has he got loose?

That stopped the man in his tracks. It took him a few seconds to turn around. And the smirk confirmed to Alviana that he had just made his day.

“I cannot promise…

“Then I choose not to accept the offer. I choose death. Now if you will please leave my house.”

“Let’s not be hasty now. Twelve hours. You can have twelve hours.”

“With a sober mind and one more surge of energy as you have called it?” He figured he had gotten this far, he might as well go for broke.

“Good old Alviana Bleue back from the grave. As you wish but twelve hours from now, you and I are taking a ride.”

“I need to say goodbye to my grandsons.” He knew exactly what to do.