Hello! This story is not connected to anything else I've written here. I don't know whether I'll continue this story or not, but I wanted to share it anyway. If people like it, I'll continue it. Enjoy!
My life was great. My parents and friends loved me. I had good grades and probably would've been in honors. Most of the time I was drawing, my passion. The people I knew said I was good. They said I had a bright future. I loved my life.
Then It ended.
How was I supposed to know of the creature in the lake?
The creature grabbed me by the leg while I was swimming and pulled me down. Down to the bottom of the lake. Let's just say, I wasn't breathing when my dad pulled me back up to shore.
The next thing I knew I was in a new world. The Afterlife. You know, where you go when you die? I've been living here for almost 45 years now. Age-wise, I'm 12. You see, when you die, you age way slower, and when you turn a certain age (30, I think), you just stop aging altogether. My name is Alex, by the way.
My death was okay, I guess. it was normal. Until things began to change.
I woke up with a start. Remembering that day was always the worst nightmare I had. That creature with glowing eyes still haunts me.
I got out of my messy bed, deciding I would make it later. My roommate, who was also my best friend, Lena Fettan, was already out of bed. Not surprised. She was always an early bird.
Lena was my age. She had been shot at age 8 during a bank robbery. She’s proud of her death. Because of it, the robbers, who were very dangerous, were caught. She was kind of a hero in the living world for a little bit. They’ve probably forgotten about her now though.
I absentmindedly rubbed my gills. Why do I have gills? It’s my quirkin. You get one after you pass away. It’s connected to how you die. I drowned, so I got gills. Lena has impenetrable skin because she was shot. Suddenly, I remember what today is. It’s the sorting. I looked at the clock. I had 10 minutes.
I rushed around, brushing my hair and putting on my clothes. I almost forgot my newsboy cap. I got on my chopper bike and rode to the area where it was being held. It was in the middle of the town. I got there in the nick of time. I couldn’t see well, but I didn’t care much. The sorting isn’t very edge of your seat material. It’s mainly just waiting, hearing a job being shouted, then more waiting.
I saw Lena out of the corner of my eye and went over to her. “I was wondering when you’d get here,” Lena whispered to me. “Well maybe if you woke me up,” I said. “I tried! Honestly you're such a deep sleeper,” Lena said, pretending to scold me. It just turned into both of us quietly laughing with each other. “You guys should be quiet. You don’t want to be thought of as weirdos,” a male voice said from behind us. I turned around. It was Nick. The trio to me and Lena's duo.
Nick was a big rule follower, which sometimes made him kind of boring, but he was still a nice person. He had been eaten by a wild animal when he was 8. Now he’s our age and one of the youngest grim reapers. Yeah, like the ones you read about in books that guide people to the afterlife. I looked up at the stage in the middle of the town square. Well, it’s not a square, actually. It's a circle. So I, Lena, and Nick call it the town circle. Just wanted to point that out and see if anyone cared.
A group of kids walked onto the stage. The oldest looked 10 and the youngest looked 7. With them walked a guider. Guiders are people who help the newly dead get used to their new life here. "Alright everyone," the guider said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I am Mary, and I will be overlooking this ceremony." She looked at the kids and asked them something. the kids raised their hands eagerly. Mary pointed to one and he went up.
The kid looked around 9. He looked kind of like me, except more modern. I lived in the 1970s, and I still dressed and acted like it. This kid was not from the 1970s, I could tell. But other than that he looked fairly similar. He fidgetted with his hands, something I did a lot as well. I could feel his nervousness radiating off him. Poor kid, I thought.
"First up, Zack," Mary announced. The kid kneeled down. In front of him were his options.
The ceremony is where you get your job. Objects are placed in front of you. The one you choose will tell you which job you get. Because I'm helpful like that, here's a little cheat sheet.
Grim reapers: find and make sure a person dies: scythe (Nick's job)
Dream Senders: give people good/bad dreams: a pillow (My job)
Hunters: like policemen, they go after the wanted: metal bar
Guardians: guard the entrance to the afterlife: bowler hat
Weathers: control the weather: lightning bolt (Lena's job)
The kid I now knew as Zack looked at the objects curiously. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed an object. That object happened to be a pillow. That meant he would be a dream sender, like me. I didn't want to be unhappy, but I was slightly annoyed. I hated having to teach the newbies.
The rest of the ceremony was normal. Zack was the only new Dream Sender. I sighed and looked at my friends. "Well, I'm going home. Want to relax a little before work. Catch you on the flip side!" I started to walk away.
"What are you gonna do," Lena asked, running up to me. I shrugged. "Read maybe?"
Lena laughed. "You are such a dork." I smiled. "You just realize that now?" Lena rolled her eyes. I went back to our home and looked at our bookshelf. Sadly, I read all of the books we had. "Excuse me?"
I turned around sharply. It was Zack. "Why the hell are you here," I asked. Zack looked down. "they sent me here. They told me I would live with some other kids." I calmed myself down and gave the kid a little smile. I took his hand and shook it. "I'm Alex. Welcome to your new home."
I gave the kid a little tour (not that our home was very big) and showed him where he could sleep. "Thank you, sir," Zack said. I waved him off. "Don't call me sir," I said. Zack nodded. I looked at the clock. Work time. "Follow me," I told Zack.
We went to the building where I worked. Technically, I could work anywhere. My job didn't require much. I just needed silence.
I walked with Zack to an open area. "This is so cool," Zack said. Some dream Senders shushed us. I sat down crisscrossed. Zack sat next to me. "How does this work," Zack asked. "It'll just come to you. I promise," I said. I closed my eyes.
I was in an older man's dream. I looked around and almost gasped. On the table were a bunch of different guns and other weapons. The man was humming as he cleaned a knife. He was facing the other way, so I didn't see his face. I turned around and saw something I wish I hadn't.
It was a girl's face on a poster. That didn't bother me. What bothered me was the knife sticking out of the girl's forehead. Like this man threw it at her face. The girl looked my age. I went over to the poster. It was a movie poster for some movie called "The End." On the bottom was a name.
Jordan Pensie.
This man was going to kill her.