Death. What happens after it? What lies beneath the surface?
Poor Arielle Daniels stumbled through dangerous hoops to figure this out. She wakes in a new place--the Void--and discovers that what waits after death are layers, dimensions, and sadly...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As the door slammed shut, the ghost-girl slithered out of the living room and let out a lengthy sigh. "Ugh, thank goodness, they're gone." She floated upwards and peered out the large windows above the front door. "They're definitely gone, because their vehicle is driving off."
Arielle sauntered out into the entryway, but stayed at ground-level, focused on the chalk outline of herself. Benny and Kylie's absence—or presence, for that matter—meant little to her after the ghost-girl's revelation.
Had she died immediately? Had she suffered? Was she left there, bleeding out for hours, before she finally succumbed to her wounds? She couldn't remember, and she wondered how long it took someone... to die.
She claims I've been dead for months...
"We won't need to be as discreet now," said the ghost, lowering to Arielle's height with a smile. "At least, I won't. I don't think they can fully sense you yet. You're... a baby."
Arielle flinched. "A baby." She disliked the comparison. "And I died... months ago? How... is that possible?"
"Excellent question." The ghost shimmied over to the stairs and sat on the bottom step. Her head went through the faded tape, and the sight disturbed Arielle so much she had to avert her gaze. "When you die, you... go to sleep, at first. It's hard to explain, but your soul basically stays in your body as you... process your demise."
Lashes fluttering, Arielle whipped towards the ghost again, trying to ignore the tape slicing through her head. "Process my demise? Ghosts... the dead... have to process things?"
"Just because you're dead doesn't mean you're not human. You may not physically feel things, but... you still have emotions. Your soul controls those." The ghost spoke in such a nonchalant, lukewarm tone, it was as if she'd repeated the speech many times to many newcomers. She peered at her nails, disinterested despite having said Arielle's question was interesting. "So you sleep. The amount of time that you sleep varies from person to person, and I have no clue how that's determined. But when you wake... there are several options."
"Options?" Arielle gulped, not sure if she'd processed her demise, what with the shock she'd received when waking up. "Do we... choose where to go, or what happens to us?"
She remembered waking up, but she didn't remember being confronted with any choices.
"You don't choose, no. The... universe does." The ghost picked at lint on the short sleeves of her T-shirt, and lounged against the second step, crossing one leg over the other, dangling her foot. "I'm not clear on all the options, but I know for sure your soul either shoots over to the Soul Realm, or it stays stuck down here because you're not ready for... recycling."
The words chosen by the ghost weren't lost on Arielle. Process, choice, recycling—she had more knowledge than she let on, and Arielle wanted to eat it all up, no matter how frightening it all was. This was what she'd searched for, what she'd hoped to find out—what happens after death.
