If it were possible, Jasmine's heart would have been pounding against her chest. 

She couldn't forget everything. She couldn't forget her family and her life. She didn't even want the bad times to leave. Who would she be if all the people she knew and experience she had just left her?

Jasmine's breathing was heavy and she turned to run, and a force slammed into her chest, causing her to stumble back. 

"I hope you understand why I can't let you get away. Even if you don't know how to leave this place, it would be a pain to chase you around."

"It's against the law to hold someone against their will," Jasmine said, tossing a glare Marcell's way. 

"We don't play by those earthly rules here. We have a very distinct set, and what I'm doing follows them, exactly."

Jasmine tried stepping forward again, managing only one before the same force pushed firmly into her chest. There was no going anywhere. She was stuck right at Marcell's side. 

"Don't I get any time to adjust to this? You just showed me a guy who died from a drug overdose. He was living in his own filth. And now you just want to waltz me around this...this...office? And erase my memories completely? Why do you even have to erase them? Why can't I do this all while knowing who I am, who I knew, and what I did? How do you even know I'll be what you need?"

"They're always what we need after the memories are gone. What you've experienced holds you back."

"It doesn't hold me back. It makes me who I am!"

"And who you are is precisely what we don't need. We need someone who will ferry the souls to their doors and abide by our rules. Your experiences will only get in the way."

"So what? You want an empty vessel?"

"You could say that."

The smirk on Marcell's face was too much. Jasmine turned away, looking at the others sitting at desks, staring blankly at screens. It was like none of them even noticed the heated exchange. Well, heated on Jasmine's part. Marcell acted as if he did this on a regular basis. Maybe he did. Who knew how many new victims he pulled from their world and forced into this "life".

None of them appeared to have life. There weren't exchanges between them, unless it was strictly business. There was no gleam of happiness in their eyes, no look of contempt for what they were doing. They were just doing it. It was like they had no thoughts or feelings about their work. They knew what needed to be done and they did it. 

Souls were supposed to be the essence of you. Without the soul, you would just be an empty shell, and yet, these people seemed like empty shells themselves. Did they break the soul in order to get the perfect worker? If that were the case, then why not just use the soulless body?

"I think it's time to show you around a bit. You won't find yourself here much, if at all, once you've officially become a Bridge, but it's good to know the place nevertheless."

Marcell started walking, and Jasmine was pulled along by an invisible force. It was as if something connected the two. 

"These are the Tech workers. Their main job is to keep watch on the physical plane and to guarantee everything runs smoothly. The mark on your wrist is connected to this plane. You will be connected to us at all times, and when there is a soul that needs to cross, it will take you where you need to go."

"How?" It made no sense. How could the little crescent moon on her wrist connect her to that place? It didn't seem possible. 

"The same way you are unable to leave my side. You are connected. Do you remember the silver cord that connected your soul and your body?"

Jasmine nodded. It had been strange, that light that pulled her back in. She hadn't been sure it was real, but apparently it had been. 

"It's similar to that. We've taken that idea, and implemented it here. While the cords are invisible, and for the most part, you may go any distance necessary, you are still connected to this place. You may never set foot inside again, if that's what you choose, but you will still be connected to it, and you will still go where you are supposed to go."

"So you're keeping us prisoner." 

Marcell chuckled. "If you'd like to look at it that way, then I suppose so."

"I wouldn't like to look at it that way, but from what you told me, that's exactly what this place is. You're forcing me to become something I do not want to become, you're saying that I'm connected to this place, and at any time, you can make it impossible for me to leave, and that I will always go where you want me to. We are your prisoners. What's worse, you take everything that makes us who we are because it's inconvenient to have souls who know who they are." 

Jasmine had been ticking the points off on her fingers and she was seething with anger. She'd never been so angry in her life. Apparently all it took was her death.

The smile was gone from Marcell's lips, and a mask of indifference had taken it's place. 

"I see," he said. "Well, I think we will continue this tour after we've made you a little more ... cooperative. Richard."

One of the men sitting in front of a computer stood and walked over to us. 

"She needs the Bridge Sweep. Only keep what is necessary for her job. Everything else must go."

"Yes, sir." 

"You can't just do this to me," Jasmine shouted. "You can't just pass me off and have my mind wiped clean."

Jasmine could feel the transfer within her. She was no longer connected with Marcell, she was now connected to Richard.

The Tech started to move along and that same force took Jasmine with him. Her eyes held Marcell's. His face was blank, expressionless. He didn't care what happened. He'd done his job, and now it was up to the others to do theirs, and she was their job. 

Her shoulder made contact with the sharp corner as Richard rounded it, dragging her along. sharp pain shot through her shoulder, and she rubbed the spot until it subsided. 

As she was taken down halls, twists, and turns, everything appeared much the same. It was all plain. White, with no personality at all. 

Richard stopped in front of a door and keyed in a number. Apparently even on a plane where souls were the only occupants, security was still a must. 

The door slid open and Richard walked through, pulling Jasmine after. She knew struggling was pointless. There was no way she could free herself from the pull that connected the two. She was left helpless, and that frightened her. 

"If you would please sit." The Tech gestured toward the chair. Jasmine found the request odd, it sounded like she had a choice, but she was fairly certain there was no free will regarding the matter. Why would he phrase it like there were? 

It felt like butterflies had overtaken Jasmine's stomach. Why did she still have jitters like that when every other human feeling was gone? She still had her emotions. She still had everything that made her human. 

It occurred to her that was exactly what they were trying to get rid of. They didn't need someone full of emotion. They didn't need a person with humanity. That would only get in their way. Their business was in death and taking souls, having emotions would only get in the way of that job. Marcell had said exactly that, who Jasmine was would only get in the way. 

She'd heard the fear in that man's voice, the way he'd asked about his loved one. Dealing with that day in and day out would be difficult for someone with compassion. How would one be able to take them away? Jasmine knew she wouldn't be able to. Not for long at least. 

That was why Albert had taken his chance. Somehow, he'd developed a humanity. Somehow, what he did had started weighing on him, and he'd taken the one opportunity he'd gotten in however long. Could Jasmine really blame him for that? 

Yes. Yes she could, because he'd now put that weight on her shoulders. He'd taken away her chance to go through that door and find out what was on the other side. He'd taken her away from her family. She would never see them again, and she had a feeling that when she was done in that room, she wouldn't even remember them. 

Maybe it was a good thing. She wouldn't feel the pain of losing them, of being separated from them. But she would never remember her little brother. She would never know what happened to him, or her father now that they were gone. 

Jasmine shook her head slightly, bringing herself back to the present. She looked to the man who was staring at her expectantly. He was waiting for her to sit down. 

She felt the desire to turn and run. Her muscles readying for the dash, but she knew it wasn't going to happen. She would only get a couple steps and then that same force would stop her. The defeat welled up within. What was the point in fighting it when she knew the outcome? Maybe it would be better. She should just sit and do it. Take the plunge. She wouldn't have anyone to worry about, she wouldn't be asking what happened to anyone. She wouldn't remember them, and the pain of everything that happened would be gone. 

It seemed so easy.

Jasmine's feet moved slowly, leading her to the chair. She turned around and took a seat. Her body sank into it, and she leaned back until her back was pressed to the leather behind her. She tilted her head up and the bright lights overhead shown down on her. Her eyes didn't tear up like they did when the bright lights at the dentist blinded her, but then again, she couldn't cry. 

Richard walked around and touched something cold to Jasmine's temple. She let out a squeak and flinched, moving away from the icy cold. 

"When you're on this plane, you have all the feelings of being alive. You're not just a soul here. When you leave this plane though, is when you become less than alive. You can feel cold, pain, all those sensations like you used to."

He said it as if that explained everything, and began to touch her temples again, attaching objects as he walked around. The nerves grew within Jasmine. She couldn't see what he was doing, she had no idea what he'd just put on her. All she knew was that she would likely remember nothing when it was done. 

The finality of it was sinking in and her stomach sank. 

"Is it going to hurt?" Jasmine whispered. 

"Yes."

Jasmine swallowed hard. She hadn't been prepared for him to tell the truth, at least not that truth. She wasn't prepared for pain. Why couldn't it be easy, painless, a simple task that was done before she knew it?

Tension rose, and she was fairly certain he was getting ready to begin. 

"Can I not do this? Is there a way around doing it?" She knew the answer would be no, and she knew everything would be simpler without her memories, but she just couldn't bear to part with them. 

What about the time she and her sister snuck out to go camping with their friends the year before? What about when she was nine years old and found out that she was going to have a little brother? The day he was born and she finally had someone to look after? There were so many things that hurt to remember, but that she didn't want to let go. 

A switch flipped and a shock ran through her body. Jasmine let out a pained scream and she saw the images flashing behind her lids, as if they were a movie playing only for her. 

She was just a toddler, and it was their birthday. Her sister blew out the candles and it had caused Jasmine to throw a fit. The memory slipped away, and she couldn't remember it anymore. 

They went on like that. Little happy memories, some sad, some that had made her angry. Her entire life played over and over. Things she hadn't even known she remembered. Things she hadn't thought about in years. 

Everything that had been precious disappeared, and the pulsing pain continued to course through her mind and body. The pain had become too much that she couldn't even scream. It felt like her skull was going to split open. 

She was in her teens now, fifteen, and she'd just had her first kiss. It had been her first boyfriend, James Carter. He had taken her on a picnic, one he'd set up himself. They'd been out under the stars. It had been in his backyard, and her parents had dropped her off there, but it had still been the best thing anyone had ever done for her, and she'd kissed him. 

She could see her nerves playing out. The way she'd bitten her lip and looked at the ground. How she had looked down at his hand that was only a few inches from hers, and then her looking up to his mouth that had moved closer. The way she'd leaned in, and how he'd taken the invitation. 

It all slipped away. 

The late nights she had with her sister as they gossiped and prepared themselves for the adventures of high school. 

She was finally up to that day. She saw the car they were in, going down the road to visit her brother. The moment of the collision, and everything afterward happening in slow motion. Jasmine felt the small events of the day slipping away easily, but what happened at the crash site, was holding strong. The smell of gasoline, the bright sun and the breeze. The glass glittering on the road that had blinded her. 

The last thing she remembered was her sister's face. She'd been wondering where Aria was. She hadn't seen her. The confusion when she'd seen how Aria had been unscathed. It had been her soul, but still, seeing that glimpse had been what she needed. 

It was that name and that face that was refusing to leave. Her sister, her twin, the one person that had been with her, her entire life. 

Jasmine gritted her teeth and a strangled scream passed her lips as the pain in her head intensified. The image was tearing away from her. She was losing her sister again. She held onto the name. Her sister's name. The person she'd been able to tell everything to, but the face lost meaning. Those eyes that had once been so familiar, seemed to belong to a stranger. 

She had no idea who it was, why she was remembering the person. There seemed to be no reason for those eyes, that face, to be in her head. And just like that, it vanished. 

The invading pain stopped, but her head still throbbed with residual pain. It was like a throbbing headache that just wouldn't go away. 

Jasmine opened her eyes, seeing the bright lights overhead. She knew where she was, but she couldn't quite remember why she was there. 

The chair moved underneath her until she was sitting upright, she didn't even remember it laying flat. The door opened, and the familiar dark man stepped in. Those eyes, she remembered them. They regarded her carefully. 

"It's been done. She should be ready to go." Richard said. 

Their names came back to her slowly, as if they'd been buried in her mind. Buried behind what? 

"It's time to see what she knows," Marcell said. He walked over to Jasmine, his eyes locking with hers. 

"Do you know who I am?"

Jasmine looked him over silently. "Marcell."

"That's right. Now, what is your name?"

She couldn't read the look in his eyes. He asked her like he didn't expect her to know her own name. She tilted her head to the side after that thought. What was her name? She wasn't entirely sure. 

She knew the man in front of her, and she knew the other one as well. Her own name she wasn't sure about though. There was one other name floating in her mind. One that stuck out to her. She couldn't put a face to it though. It had to be her name then, if she didn't know who else it could go to, then it had to be hers. 

"Aria. My name is Aria." She said it as if she were sure, but inside, something didn't feel right. The name didn't seem to fit her. If it wasn't hers though, then who could it belong to?

"And what else do you know?" Marcell prompted her.

"What do you mean?" she pulled her brows together in confusion. 

"What is your job?"

It was a question she had a hard time answering. She could feel it at the tip of her tongue, she knew the answer, it just wasn't coming for some reason. It was like an itch she just couldn't scratch, but it slowly came back. She knew what she was supposed to do. 

"I'm a Bridge ... I'm supposed help souls cross through their doors."

Marcell nodded in approval and he dismissed Richard, leaving them alone. 

"Why are you asking me all of these questions?" 

"Just making sure that everything worked out well. Now, could you please sit back again, I need to make sure everything is properly ordered in there."

Marcell placed his fingers at her temples and she could feel the essence of him seeping into her mind. It was like he was walking through rows of bookshelves, making sure everything was exactly where it should be. 

Marcell made sure that what needed to be tucked away was, and that it wouldn't resurface like it had for Albert. He didn't need another Bridge jumping ship, leaving them to go through the process all over again. He wanted it to be the last time if he could help it. How would he explain to Death that he'd lost yet another one?

When he was satisfied, he took his fingers away, letting Aria sit up. The feisty, troublesome Jasmine was gone, and she'd been replaced by a much more tolerable Aria. That was someone he could deal with. Training her from then on would be a walk in the park without the memories of who she was. Nothing was left to stand in the way. She was the perfect, moldable clay, and if he had a say, she would become the best Bridge they had.