Undead Romance (Male Lydia x Reader)

Chapter 3- The Aftermath

Adam is surrounded by sand and rocks, but the rocks weren't normal instead of gray they were a purplish color. The sky was a mix of different shades of blue and there is a hue that makes the color pop out more than they originally are. Adam looks surprised since he doesn't believe what he sees with his very eyes.

"Barbara?...Y/n?" His voice echoes strangely. He runs off a little in the distance and calls again from there.

 Meanwhile, somewhere not far from them, you can see a worm/snake-like body coming out of the sand. The body is decorated with black and white stripes and follows the voices, it hears.

"Where are you?" Adams continues yelling looking for the girls until he sees the body coming out of the sand in his direction. He stares at it until he was suddenly jerked up to safety by Baraba who grabbed him and without her knowing saves his life or what is left of him. Barbara stares at him, wondering what he has been at since it was already dark outside.

 "You saved my- uh- life... or whatever..." Adam weakly stated without seeing Barbara and Y/n's faces. 

"Two hours."

"Huh?"

"That's how long you were gone," Y/n says since she has been keeping time while her mom has been pacing around. Adam ponders on what Y/n said. The girls lead Adam into the living room.

"Anything happen while I was away?" Adam questions since in those two hours he has been gone, a lot can happen. 

"Yes, it did. Yes, it did. I made a couple of small discoveries."

Barbara stands by the mirror over the hearth mantle and on the mantle is Barbara's prize collection of porcelain horses and a single photo of Y/n as a baby. Adam and Y/n come to stand on each side of her. They look into the mirror, and there is no reflection of them. Barbara picks up one of the horses and trots it through the air. What they can only see is the reflection of the horse trotting mid-air.

"There's that and there's this." Y/n says holding an old brown book. On the cover is a picture of a pink woman holding hands and a man wearing blue looking at the sun setting. She passes the book to Adam as he reads:

HANDBOOK
FOR THE
Recently
Deceased

"Deceased. We don't know where it came from." Barbara says with a questioning tone. 

"Look at the publisher." Adam looks at the publisher and it reads:

Handbook
For The
Recently Deceased
Press

Barbara finally admits what they all fear hearing. "I don't think we survived the crash."

   ~~~

Y/n is in her room, looking at all of the stuff in boxes with a sad look on her face. She walks to her vanity where she has the letter stating she is accepted to go to one of the best schools in the state, and then she looks up to the paroled picture of her and her parents when they went out on a picnic just a couple of days ago.

She walks and lays on her bed, her hand reaching for the stuffed bunny she had found when packing. Holding the bunny close to her chest, she started thinking about what her life could have been if she didn't go with her parents or if the dog hadn't crossed the bridge.

In her parent's bedroom, Adam is in bed reading the handbook. Barbara is going through the routine she had been doing every night when she was married and had Y/n. 

"I don't like situations like this. I hate it when I'm not in control. So just tell me the basics." Barbara says. 

"This book isn't arranged that way. What do you want to know?" Adam scans the page he stopped on looking for anything that would help.

"There are a thousand things... Why did you disappear when you walked off the front porch? Is this a punishment? Are we halfway to heaven or are we halfway to hell? And how long is this going to last?" Barbara vents off wanting to know why this has to happen to them.

Adam gets frustrated when he starts flipping pages looking for anything that would them. "I don't see anything about "Rewards and Punishments" or "Heaven and Hell". This book reads like stereo instructions!" Adam gets up to show Barbara what he saw. "Listen to this... 'Geographical and Temporal Perimeters... Functional perimeters vary from manifestation to manifestation.' This is going to take some time."

Barbara paces then trip on her wallpaper rolls that were laying on the ground and kicks them. "I knew I'd never finish the great room. Adam, we just can't stay in here forever!"

Adam walks to the window. "Maybe we should set up a normal routine." Barbara looks at him like he's nuts. " I mean, let's try to nail down something in our lives. A regular schedule. We can keep track of time and go on with our projects up here in the attic." She shakes her head, exasperated, and flops down on the bed. "Oh, God, maybe this is all just a bad dream."

A somber look comes across Adam's face when looking at his wife. "I'm afraid not, honey."

~~~

Below where the house is standing, you can see a little hideout where something has been living for a while. On a table, you can see candles lit, a bottle of beer, and ad papers with the multiple words "Betelgeuse" on them. Next to the table is a person sitting on a chair reading the 'Afterlife' newspaper and muttering about how high the percentage of sandworms are high. When flipping to the next page, the person sees a picture of the Maitlands welcoming them to the afterlife. It intrigues the person making them think about how to make them hire them.

~~~