Between the Wor(l)ds - English Version - A Linkin Park FanFiction

Prologue - Awakening

Authors Note

Hello there guys!

Some of you might already know me and/or might actually be responsible for this: The English translation of Between the Wor(l)ds, a 34-chapter-long Linkin Park story, as I asked you over on Instagram if someone would be interested in reading it.

Before reading, I have to apologize. For all the mistakes you're about to discover, for my English, and first and foremost, the plot. It's (technically) not a happy story (though most of it is funny) and you'll soon find out why... (In fact, this is based on an Anime called Angel Beats! in case anyone knows it...)

Another thing I have to apologize for is how out of character everyone is at the beginning. But it eventually gets better and I hope you enjoy the journey!

Also, this is not a Bennoda-fic (I don't apologize for that), but now enough of that, have fun Between the Wor(l)ds!

He lay there still on the sidewalk next to an empty street, the streetlights shining in a yellowish light. The last rays of the setting sun were still visible on the horizon yet most streets felt like tunnels right into eternal darkness.

Only the main road was a broad strip of light, with not a single car driving and disturbing the silence that was unusual for a city like Los Angeles. Only the wind that found it's way around the houses and took crumpled newspapers and bags with him slightly broke the silence.

And then he slowly started to regain consciousness, opened his eyes as he felt the terrible ache in his head, his whole body and finally the emptiness in his brain, his soul. He got up carefully, cautious not to move too fast as this would probably lead to more pain that he didn't intend to feel. As he was looking around, he couldn't help but feel like he knew the streets and yet it felt like he'd never been here before. It was as if someone erased everything he used to know. Not just this street, but more importantly how he'd come here, why he had lain on the ground. And first and foremost, who he was.

"Hey, you!"

He turned around in surprise to search for the origin of the unknown voice, finding it in one of the narrow, dark alleys, a shadow standing there and indicating him that he should be joining him, whoever he was.

An order he intended to follow, lacking any alternatives as he carefully put one foot in front of the other, regaining some confidence in his own body with every step that brought him closer to the shadow. Especially since the pain he'd felt before was gone as if someone has erased it just like his memories.

"Who are you?", he finally asked with a raspy voice as he stopped some meters away from the silhouette, slightly scared of the unfamiliar sound of his own voice and at the same time relieved that at least his body seemed to be fully functional.

"Hide!" The shadow repeated his gesture but he still couldn't make any sense of it so he just stood there and watched, waited.

"Why?" The emptiness in his brain made it nearly impossible for him to form one straight thought, not speaking about following anyone's orders that didn't make any sense in first place.

"Because of her!" The shadow pointed down the street, leading his glance to a young woman, she couldn't be older than twenty, who was standing there barefoot on the cold concrete, dressed all in white.

"Who is she?", he asked confused, causing the silhouette to step out of the shadows for once.

"The enemy." The man was around twenty, a bit shorter than the recently awakened and wore wide pants, heavy boots and a jacket in which he kept something he couldn't really identify but guessed it was a weapon of some sort - especially since he was holding one in his left hand as well. There was bitterness in his glance as he raised the weapon at the girl that was watching one of the newspapers floating down the street.

"But she doesn't look dangerous at all, why would you want to kill her?!?" He looked at the man with a certain amount of disbelieve as the man seemed pretty convinced on putting a bullet in her head any second.

"I can't kill her." And with that he disappeared back into the shadows, indicating him that he should better follow his example. But he didn't move, felt like he was frozen, as the girl met his glance and started walking up to him.

"You are new around here." Only now that she was standing right in front of him, he noticed that he had been holding his breath, not sure what to expect from her. But from this close she appeared even less dangerous than before. She was way shorter than him, fragile, her skin almost as pale as her dress and her brown eyes reminded him of the ones of a scared deer.

"What is here?", he finally dared to ask, fighting for the words to come out of his mouth, convinced that the pain he felt in his throat every time he spoke would eventually disappear.

"In Los Angeles." Her voice was steady, stronger than he'd expected it to be. "Or rather in LA of the Dead, to be a bit more precisely."

"LA of the Dead?" He couldn't hide the surprise in his voice as he finally came to realise what she'd just told him.

"Oh, so you don't know that yet?" She popped her head to one side and watched him in amusement. "You are dead."

"What?" He stared at her in disbelief as he just felt too, well, alive to be dead. She probably wanted his attention and therefore told him a lie. It just had to be a lie! "I don't believe you."

"Believe me or not, but you can't change the way things are." The amusement on her face disappeared leaving space for a slight look of anger as she waited for his next move.

"Prove it to me", he finally demanded and something within her came to life, as if she'd just been waiting for him to say those words.

"I can't kill you because you are already dead", she said without any further explanation.
But the man in the shadow had told him something similar. Which probably meant that the girl was dead as well, and the man? Was he dead too? No, it had to be a lie, a trick played on him by someone who wanted revenge. If only he could remember how he'd gotten here. If only he could remember...

But before he had the chance for any further thoughts the girl stabbed him with a knife, right into the spot on his chest where his heart was supposed to be beating. He couldn't explain himself where she'd gotten the weapon from, all of the sudden. Maybe from a hidden pocket in her dress or she'd held it in her hand all along, just waiting for him to say the wrong words. And that was when pain took over his thinking and the world around him turned black once again...