Velridge looked different when you were dead.
The colors were colder, the lights seemed tired, and every shadow whispered like it had something to confess.
I followed the cat through the rain-drenched alleys until we reached a massive glass building that shouldn't have existed. The Bureau of Supernatural Misconduct stood right in the center of the city, invisible to anyone without a death certificate. I suppose that made me qualified.
The cat leapt up the marble steps as if it owned the place. "Try to act natural," it said.
"I am a walking corpse with glowing eyes," I replied quietly. "Define natural."
The cat ignored me, its tail flicking with mild irritation. Inside, the lobby smelled of wet paper and burnt coffee. Everything was too clean, too white, too clinical to belong in Velridge. Rows of strange blue files hovered in the air, shifting and whispering like they had opinions about me.
Behind a silver desk sat a woman who looked like she hadn't blinked in years. Her nameplate read CLERK-9, which did nothing to make her more comforting.
"Identification?" she asked, her voice flat.
I placed my hand on the glowing scanner. It beeped once, then flashed red.
"Deceased," she said calmly. "Please proceed to the complaints department."
The cat snorted. "He's not here to complain, sweetheart. He's here because your department killed him."
For the first time, Clerk-9 blinked. Twice. Then she pressed a button under her desk.
The elevator doors at the end of the hall opened with a hiss.
I looked at the cat. "That was subtle."
"Subtlety is for people who can still die," it said. "Come on."
We stepped into the elevator. It didn't have buttons. Instead, a single voice whispered from the ceiling. "Name."
"Elior Vane," I said.
There was silence for a long moment, then the voice replied, almost confused. "Record conflict detected. Elior Vane is marked deceased. Twice."
"Yeah," I said, "about that."
The elevator dropped. Not smoothly, not gracefully — it simply decided gravity was a suggestion. My stomach rose to my throat, and the cat dug its claws into my shoulder.
When it stopped, the doors opened to a floor filled with floating desks and papers that rearranged themselves. Agents in black coats moved between shimmering walls, carrying sigils and glowing data slates. Every face looked tired. Some looked hollow.
At the far end of the room, a man in a grey suit waited. His eyes were sharp, his smile sharper.
"Well," he said, "if it isn't the Bureau's favorite ghost."
I recognized him immediately. Deputy Director Corren Vale. My old boss. The man who signed my death certificate.
"Still alive, I see," I said.
He smiled. "Barely. You, on the other hand, are an impressive clerical error."
He motioned me closer, and the cat leapt off my shoulder to explore. I stepped forward, feeling the hum of magic beneath the floor. Every step I took, the lights flickered like they were unsure if I was real.
"I need to know who did this to me," I said. "Who brought me back."
Corren's smile didn't fade, but his eyes shifted, calculating. "You shouldn't be here, Elior. You were not meant to wake up."
"Yeah, I gathered that between the shadow trying to murder me and the cat giving therapy advice."
He leaned closer, voice low. "You want the truth? Your case file was sealed. Level Omega clearance. That means not even I can open it."
"Then who can?"
He glanced at the ceiling as if expecting someone to hear. "Only one person. The Auditor. And if she finds out you're walking around again, she'll erase you properly this time."
"Erase me?" I frowned. "You mean kill me?"
He shook his head slowly. "No, Elior. I mean erase you. No one will remember you ever existed. Not even your cat."
The cat, now sitting on the edge of his desk, yawned. "That sounds inconvenient."
Corren's expression darkened. "It is more than inconvenient. It is absolute."
The air between us felt colder. I didn't know if it was the magic, the fear, or just the realization that I had come back to a world that didn't want me in it.
But one thing was certain.
If someone had the power to erase me from existence, then they also had the power to bring me back.
And I was going to find out why.