The darkness disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Waves of pain and adrenaline flooded Diego's body as the bolt of lightning hit his chest. He got up screaming and kicking, drenched in sweat. He was a panicked animal.
"Sir, I believe the 'patient' is up and about", a cracked and formal voice said outside of Diego's vision. There was something odd about it, something off.
"Yes, I've noticed. Hard not to with that scream", another voice answered him, this one more normal. Its owner seemed nonchalant, as if he didn't have a care in the world. If Diego's head wasn't a wild and confused mess, he would have been jealous, "He almost made me deaf on one ear. Can you remind me why it was a good idea to stop strapping them to the table?"
"Because as you might recall, it makes them terrified and uncooperative", the odd voice again. Every word it spoke send a shiver down Diego's spine, "Have mercy of the poor soul. Not only did he just die, now he also got struck by lightning. Personally, I think I'd be terrified".
"That's a good point. They still scream in my ear, though".
"Then Sir, I'd suggest you don't stick so close to them", the strange voice said with a tinge of playfulness.
"How funny", Diego could now recognize the other voice as that of man. Its owner clicked his fingers in front of the young man's face to get his attention, "Hey, look at me. Trust me, you don't want to look at anything else right now".
Diego was shaking with all that he was hearing. There was something wrong, and it looked that it was wrong with him. He obeyed, finding a man with an apron and clothes that someone would use in a workshop. He reminded him to the early depictions of Dr. Frankenstein in films, but unlike those depictions, the man's appearance remained composed. Despite the stains in his clothes and messy hair, there was a certain elegance to him. It was as if all those hairs sticking out where just where they needed to, despite their current location.
"That's it, very good", the man said before lending him a hand, "Let me help you sit down, you're still weak".
"I would gladly help you Sir, but I'm afraid my appearance might surprise him", the cracked voice said behind Diego's back. "Let's look at it as a test of your sense of responsibility".
Every time he heard that voice something screamed in panic inside of him, and yet, Diego's curiosity persuaded him to turn around. As soon as he tried to move his head, the man in the apron grabbed him by the chin and forced him to keep his eyes in place for an examination.
"What's with you today? Are you rehearsing for a comedy show?", the man studied Diego's eyes and teeth as he spoke. Was he a medic, or maybe something entirely different?
"Nothing of the sort, it's just my funny bone", there was something about that comment that forced a nasal laugh out of the strange doctor.
Diego's eyes bounced around the room, trying to understand what was happening and where he was. There were tools, machines, and equipment that you could find in a hospital lying around in disorder. It didn't look like a health center, the walls lacked the typical white color and that uncomfortable sanitized feeling that always permeated them. It felt more like a lab, either that or a workshop of sorts. Some of the things even had strange markings on them, or some gibberish that at a glance looked like a language he'd never seen before. What was he doing there?
"Where am I?", Diego finally asked. The fog inside his head was starting to clear. Did is voice sound different? "What happened?"
"Good, you can talk", the man said without passion, still observing him as someone would a prize horse, "I was starting to worry that I'd botched something".
"Botched something?", the young man was starting to panic, "What are you talking about? Is it the wound?"
"In a moment, first tell me if you can read what's there", the man said, pointing with his thumb to a poster with rows of letters in different sizes.
"Fine. The first row says house", Diego began to read, his eyes still adapting, and his patience running thin, "Second one is balloon".
"What about the third row?"
"I can't see it very well", the confused boy squinted his eyes to catch those furtive letters, smaller than those of the previous rows, "I think there's a U in there, maybe a D too".
"Close enough, it's probably the situation more than the eyes. I made sure those were good eyes", the doctor paused to consider something in his mind, "The good thing is that you can read".
"What are you talking about!?", Diego couldn't take it for another second and raised his voice. Why was he talking about his eyes, why were they examining him like some sort of experiment, why were they saying some many strange things about him? He was terrified.
"Sir, he's starting to get agitated", the voice spoke again.
"Just hand him the mirror and let's get over with this already", the man sounded more bothered than worried, "He's good to go, and I don't want him to end up breaking something".
"I do not envy him".
An arm hidden under the sleeve of a suit handed the mirror from behind the boy. It seemed like it was hanging around loosely, as if its owner had taken a size too big for him. Diego took the mirror, trying to stop his hand from shaking. For a second, he though he caught a glimpse of something he shouldn't have seen between the suit's jacket, and the white glove that covered the hand, something of a very pale shade of yellow.
"I suggest you get ready", the strange voice said again. It almost seemed it was speaking from inside Diego's head, "What you're going to see isn't pretty".
The young man was terrified, but he couldn't stop himself. He wanted to see whatever had happened to him. With his hands shaking beyond his control, he slowly raised the mirror to his face, every second imagining a new horror. And yet, he couldn't have imagined what he saw. His face wasn't his, it was a patchwork of skins of different colors stitched together, decorated with a map of suture marks. He was a real-life Frankenstein's Monster. He didn't even have his blonde hair, now it was a black mane as dark as coal.
"What did you do to me?", he asked. He didn't know what else to say.
"We brought you, not your body", the disembodied voice said before its hand rested on Diego's shoulder to comfort him, "We had to make a new one".
"I… I…", the young man couldn't put his feelings into words, "I don't even know what I am. Am I dead?"
"Yes, you were. While I would love to chat about the meaning of life with you, I've got work to do", the man spoke. He couldn't wait to get rid of the freshly baked revenant, he had a very profitable business to take care of, "Please, help him get outside with the client".
"At once, Sir", the strange voice said before helping Diego get up on his two feet.
The recently deceased looked at him, and all the colors of his face turned a single shade of pale. It walked and spoke like a man, but what was in front of him was anything but that, at least not anymore. It was a skeleton, dressed in a formal attire that reminded him of a butler's uniform, and outside of it his bones were open for the whole world to see. His spine was as straight as a column, and despite his cold and emotionless gaze, there was warmth inside his sockets. Diego couldn't say a single world in the face of that unnatural horror, but his eyes did the job just fine.
"The wonders of necromancy", the skeleton said with an elegant bow. He sounded happy, even amused at life itself. He looked back at Diego and tried to calm him, "Let's cover you up before you catch a cold. It's a brand-new world for you, and it'd be a shame to start it out sick".
The undead butler took the young man to a dressing room. He looked around, picking clothes that he placed on his arm while merrily humming a tune. Diego, for his part, was sitting on a chair trying to not freak out. Every time he looked at his new body, he found something new to worry about, like the copper plate that was poking out of his chest. The butler returned to his side and gave him his new set of clothes, promptly encouraging him to change.
"You're about to meet your new employer", the talking skeleton said while he helped Diego fix the collar of his new white button shirt. For a moment, he looked at him as a parent watching his son go to his first day of work, "Make sure you give her a good first impression".
"Thanks", the young man said meekly. Despite how just looking at the butler stirred a primal fear inside of him, somehow, he also felt safe by his side. He just had to avoid looking at him for too long, "What's this of an employer?".
"You're about to know, so try to get all those ideas in your head in order first".
Diego's mind was a storm of questions, doubts and fears. He didn't know where he was, what was happening, or why it was happening to him. He took deep breaths and followed the butler. The next room was an elegant one, that reminded him of all those gentlemen's club that appeared whenever a movie was set in London's past. The only thing lacking was the fog of cigar smoke, the smell of brandy, and a bunch of men with appropriately twirly mustaches reading the politics section of a newspaper.
The wooden walls were of a deep brown color, and a large carpet covered the whole floor. He felt the eyes of the people in the paintings locked on him, like birds of prey, as he walked across the empty tables to the only occupied chair. There, next to an amber lamp, a thin and tall creature was reading a newspaper, seemingly the economics part. Its size made the chair look minuscule in comparison, and it was clearly uncomfortable. As soon as it noticed the pair, it stood up and walked towards them with confidence in every step, despite the seemingly frailty of its body. Diego raised his head to get a good view of it, and he noticed that it was a woman.
"This is it?", She asked, disappointed. Her orange eyes studied Diego from behind a pair of round glasses.
"You did acquire him from a sale, Madam", the skeleton answered with utmost politeness.
"I suppose you're right", she sighted.
Despite her similarities with one, the creature wasn't human. Her face was of a pale color, more apt for a porcelain doll than for a living being. Her extremities were thin and long, the reason behind that frail look that she carried around. Just like the statue she looked like, there was an otherworldly grace to her, that her vest and shirt could only emphasize. Her hair was tied up, giving a clear view of her sharp and long ears. She walked right in front of Diego, towering over him. She loomed over him, forcing the young man to curve his back if he had any hopes of looking at her.
"He'll have to do", the creature said in a cold tone, "We'll be leaving now".
"Very well, I hope you're happy with your purchase", the skeleton said with a gentlemanly bow, "And I wish you good luck, young man".
Diego still felt lost and confused, and hearing how he had been sold to that strange being only kept him on edge. On top of that, some part of his brain was screaming at the indignity of having been given away on a sale, when he was definitely worth much more whatever she had paid. Unsure on how to answer, he nodded his head to the undead, who'd been kind to him. Diego looked again at that otherworldly woman. Was he now her property? With no other option and not knowing what to do, he sheepishly followed her outside the room. It felt like the strangest dream of his life. Necromancy? Talking skeletons? His face? Whatever the hell that woman was? It didn't matter how insane it felt, it was real. That's what the breeze said while touching his patched skin, and the feeling of the wall against the tips of his fingers. But he didn't feel the world around him the same way as before, there was something different now, even if he couldn't explain it.
Nothing made sense, but the echo of the woman's footsteps was the only thing that pointed out a path for him. But was that path any good? For all he knew, he could be a slave, and maybe it would be best to run away, even if he felt trapped inside a stranger's body. But run where? He didn't see a future in just sprinting around all that strange place and see if he could stumble into an exit. Right now, the only thing he could really do was follow that woman.
They walked together in silence, but Diego's anxiousness couldn't resist such quiet. He had many questions, and he needed an answer now.
"What's happening here?", he asked, "Everything I hear sounds insane".
"It isn't", the woman said in a cold voice, "You died, and I paid to bring you here, in that body. I need someone new for my business, and you fitted the bill. It's quite simple, really".
"Why me?", if it was true that he'd been allowed the privilege to cheat death, why him then, of all people? After all, it was the oldest desire of humanity, so what made him so special as to deserve it?
"There was no reason at all", the female creature stopped at looked him in the eye, so that he'd understand her words, "I paid for someone with skills suited for fighting and spectacle, and your spirit was within the necromancer's reach. If you'd died five minutes sooner or later, we might not be having this conversation".
Diego's heart skipped a beat.
He remained silent.
"I understand it's quite shocking, but you'll adjust eventually", the woman said, "Take it a day at a time".
He didn't answer.
The woman took the lead once more, and Diego kept in silence, trying to digest what he'd just learned. Not too long after, they exited the building to a large terrace overlooking a cliff. The cold wind touched the reincarnated youth's new skin, crawling with goose bumps, but it was different from the chill he'd felt as he was bleeding on the street. This one was a reminder that he was still alive.
He raised his head to look beyond the edge of the terrace, to see the mountains and forests, the gray peaks touching the sky, and the river that flowed through the countryside. It reminded him of the house his grandmother had on the country, in the small town where she'd grown up before moving to the city, and to where they went every summer. He saw the sea not too far away, and the city by its side, spewing faint columns of gray smoke that mingled with the clouds.
He turned his head to the woman, waiting for him next to a wooden black and red carriage. Something was starting to wake inside of him, giving him drops of strength, and as he looked her straight in the eyes, he asked a simple, yet important question.
"What now?"
"Now", the woman answered as she invited him into the carriage, floating above the winds, "We get down to business".
Diego accepted the invitation, and before stepping to the small platform that led him to the vehicle, he saw that it was being carried by a strange floating creature, with a faint resemblance to a jellyfish. He crossed the threshold and entered the carriage, sitting in front of the woman.
"Give it to me straight", he asked.
"As of this moment, you're under contractual obligation to perform the designated tasks for the duration of seven years. Failure to abide by the requirements of the contract will be answered with immediate legal action. I strongly recommend you avoid this", the stone-faced woman raised her hand to take a sealed envelope from her jacket, and gave it to Diego, "A copy of your contract".
"Don't I need to sign it first?"
"This is a special case"
The young revenant didn't know what sort of legal action he'd had to face, but he didn't need to be a lawyer to know that it'd end terribly for him, more so in his current state. He was in a strange land, with only the clothes so generously donated to him at his name. He took the envelope, but with what he'd just heard, the whole contract reeked of something he didn't like.
"So, I died and now I've got to look forward to being a slave?", his heart sank as he said those words, hoping to hear that it wasn't the case.
"Slave I such a strong word, and illegal, now", the creature said nonchalantly, "It's more like a job you're forced to perform. Besides, a slave would have been a terrible investment".
"Right", the young man said with cynical distrust. It sounded like semantics, more than a real difference, "And what are these tasks?"
"You'll be performing as a professional wrestler", she said without blinking an eye, "A heel, or villainous character, to be more precise".
"Excuse me?", Diego was completely dumbfounded. Out of all the things he'd expected, that was the very last one of them all. Even butler was above that, after meeting the talking skeleton. He hardly believed it even after hearing it so clearly, "You're telling me that I'm alive because you want me to be a wrestler?".
"Yes, it's a very popular and lucrative industry here. I understand if you're surprised, most have the same reaction. I've always wondered why it doesn't seem to be as a profitable venture in other places as it is here. Everyone loves wrestling, and its stars".
"Just to be clear, we're talking about people in tights fighting on a ring, grappling and doing flips and all those things in front of an audience, right?"
"That's exactly what I'm referring to".
"It's a lot to take in".
"You still have time", this time, the coldness of her voice had a hint of care, "I'd suggest that you use it to familiarize yourself with your contract and your duties, as well as our insurance".
The existence of an insurance was relieving, after all, no one paid insurance for a slave. Diego took a moment to think. It didn't look that the situation was as bad as he thought, but everything was still confusing. He wasn't in no condition to process all that was happening, but two things were clear. He was in an unfavorable position, and whatever awaited him in the future days could be anything.
As the young man was trying to untangle his mind, the woman knocked on the carriage's roof. The thing below them received the order and began to float away from the place Diego had been born for a second time. The boy surprised himself when he found he wasn't as shocked at this as before, though few things could be as shocking as a talking skeleton in a suit. In comparison, this was like boarding a helicopter, or a slow-moving plane.
"Introductions are in order", she said as she stretched her hand, "Dirtha"
Uneasy, Diego shook her hand.
"I'm aware of how hard this must be", Dirtha began to say, "It feels like you've lost everything, but you still have the chance to build something new here. Why don't you start by choosing a song on the radio?".
Diego looked at the ornate and bulky wooden device on the side of the carriage, taking more than half the carriage's height. The woman made sense, he was in a brand-new world, filled with unique experiences that he couldn't even think about. Their music seemed like a great place to start.
Dirtha turned the box on, and the young man moved the knob around, jumping from one emission to the next in search of something he'd enjoy. After some trial and error, he finally found it. It was a strange melody, filled with wind and string instruments playing a playful tune, a strange but familiar sound. He looked out of the window to that new world, as they slowly moved to the city in the distance.