Eternal Darkness - Book One ✔

Chapter Twenty-One

I'd always wondered what a non-vampire infested world would be like to live in. Since I was little I'd had this image in my head of people smiling and laughing, walking down a bustling street at night, eating and drinking shamelessly. There would be no rationing of food, no curfew at sundown and no fear to sleep at night.

People would go out without having to wonder if they'd make it to see the sun rise again. I had wondered the same thing when I'd been strapped to the machine that had drained me of my life. I really thought that my life would flash before my eyes, like I've heard Dennis say it did, but it wasn't like I could ask him now. Or maybe I could. Perhaps all dead people end up in the same place? I could be reunited with my mother and my two best friends.

It all seemed so wonderful if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want to leave a certain vampire behind. Over time he had gone from being just another one of those bloodsucking fiends to a friend and confidant to someone I'd grown to love.

Yes, I loved him. I was quite positive of that. There really was no mistaken it for anything else other than that. Love was a strange feeling to have inside you. It consumed ever fiber of your being, which would have been quite uncomfortable if it weren't for the fact that it felt so damn good.

It surprised me how death wasn't unpleasant at all. It was rather peaceful with the feeling of being caressed by soft pillows and blankets. I wasn't in pain like I'd been in the final moments of my life, which was a relief to discover. I felt lighter than before as well, as if I could tread on sand and not leave a footprint behind.

I found it peculiar that I was still feeling like this after knowing I was dead. I didn't think you'd feel anything after passing. I didn't think you could think after dying. I guess you could; it was the only explanation for me to be thinking about this right now.

I'd felt my heart stop and then everything blackened around me and now I was here. Wherever here was exactly? I couldn't see anything, which made me wonder if my eyes were even opened?

A nagging sensation was spreading from my stomach and up through my throat, itching and clawing with invisible nails. I wanted to make it stop, but how? Unaware of my own actions I lifted my hand and wrapped it around my throat.

Also, when did the afterlife smell of semi-charred cotton fabric and wood?

The sound of someone shifting position about ten feet away reached my ears, but it was so hyper-tensed that it was like it was happening only inches away from my face. How could death be so noisy? It was like I could hear everything going on around me; the bustling of someone showing stuff around fifty yards away, the buzzing of a fly trying to escape from a spider's web and the crickets outside chirping as night crept upon the world.

Then I opened my eyes.

Everything was so bright I had to squeeze them shut again. Second time around was a little better, but the brightness of the overhead light felt annoying against my irises.

The afterlife definitely shouldn't have cracks in the gray ceiling.

Then it finally dawned on me – I wasn't dead.

A quiet intake of breath felt odd as my lungs expanded with air; I could taste the staleness of the room I was lying in on my tongue. Exhaling wasn't as satisfying as I remembered it to be. The air left my lungs and past my lips, yet I felt no different than before.

The dust motes swirling around in the air above me captured my attention and I watched as they danced in the light.

A rustle of cloth against skin made me turn my head to the right and I saw a person sitting in a battered and scratched chair up against a brick wall, his chin resting on top of his clenched fists, watching me with wary eyes.