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...
An ominous, ear-piercing screech came from upstairs. "Come oooooooon, Arielle... clock is ticking!"
Arielle shuddered, losing a bit of strength and allowing the wind to shove her backwards once more. Her arms shook and her shoulders ached, as if she'd been driving into a wall of steel for the past hour. But it had only been a handful of minutes, and she was running out of time.
"I... cannot... give up," she said, gritting her teeth, clenching her fists, and resuming her war with the wind. She scrunched her face up and squinted, sucking in the surrounding energy as Penelope had taught her to. It filled her insides, wrapped around her bones and strengthened them—but would it be enough?
Her temples throbbed, her neurons were on fire, and she had trouble concentrating, yet she pushed. And pushed. And pushed. Eventually, she realized she'd made her way to being a few inches from the first step. Her eyesight was still foggy, and she couldn't feel her upper body from all the shoving, but she permitted herself a moment to smile. She was overcoming the agony, defying the odds, not letting anything stop her.
She was doing it for Stella; to reach this petrifying piece of crap that had terrified her into leaving their ghost-hunting trip. The one who had likely prompted her to make the mistakes leading to the house fire. Stella had traveled on to the Soul Realm, and she'd never get a chance to be face to face with the spirit that caused so many issues during their voyage, who had bullied them and rendered them paranoid. So Arielle would confront Penny for her.
And she was doing it for Jade. Because this monster had traumatized Jade in her childhood, and again in her teenage years, and Arielle had no doubt she'd played a role in her later death. And then this demon had the nerve to come back to traumatize Arielle and taunt her, because she loved Jade. So now, Arielle was doing this, pushing her boundaries, because of that love. And because no matter what Penny said, Arielle would never be able to confess that love to Jade.
The wind died down, though the barrier remained in place, see-through and sparkling, resembling a thin waterfall separating the entryway from the stairs. Arielle flipped around for a glimpse of Benny's corpse, and she realized she was doing it for him, too. He hadn't deserved such brutality, such horror. All he'd wanted were answers about the afterlife, and his insistence got him and his partner killed. It wasn't fair, and Arielle loathed Penelope and Penny for their involvement.
Was he in the Soul Realm? Or was he lying there because he was destined to stay in the Void, and waiting to wake up as Arielle had been not that long ago? A part of her yearned to linger and watch him, be there to welcome him once he woke, ensure he steered clear of Penelope and especially of Penny. But what use would she be to him if Penny swept down and ripped her to shreds?
No use at all. I have to get upstairs.
An eerie, elongated humming sound came from the middle bedroom, fluttering through the balcony railings and down the steps, hitting Arielle square in the face. It was the gloomiest tune she'd ever heard; deep, raucous and unruly, distorted and disturbing.
She covered her ears, but it penetrated through her skin and got into her head.
"Arieilllleeeeeeeeeee..." it hammered inside her skull, "come ooooooon, your time is running oooooout." It was mocking; like a child blowing raspberries and daring another child to play dangerous games with it—games they'd get punished for.
"Ugh." Arielle groaned as she stretched her arms out and slid them through the windy waterfall barrier. To her surprise, nothing stopped her, nothing barred her progress. A cool, almost comfortable wetness coated her arms, as if she were truly passing under water. Wincing, she tugged the rest of her body through it, expecting pangs of pain or a harsh resistance.
But nothing happened. On the other side, her bellyache didn't cease and her migraine didn't diminish; but she saw clearly. She saw the creaky, creepy stairs looming before her, each one a step closer to Penny and her truths, to Penny and her guilt. She saw the possibility of escaping this hellish torment and somehow convincing Penny to let her stay here, or to let her join her best friends in the Soul Realm—
"Wait." She paused, her foot hovering over the second step. "She said she'd lied.Right? She'd lied... so are Jade and Stella in the Soul Realm?" She whirled around and gawked through the gusty fountain of water, her gaze fixed on Benny's corpse. "Is he in the Soul Realm? How can I trust anything that witch says?"
Another morose moan meandered from the room, and its vibrations raced over Arielle's flesh like tiny critters creeping up and down, tickling her limbs.
Penelope had been so certain, had assured Arielle her friends had crossed on; but she had a deal with the devilish Penny. Surely that deal included lying to Arielle, convincing her that her friends were safe, gaining her trust to better trick her. Had Arielle been the target this whole time? Penny said it was random, and she wasn't special. But was she the soul that Penny had been after from day one, and Jade and Stella were only puppets, pawns on her chessboard?
But why? What had Arielle done to draw such attention? Everyone around her died—was that at Penny's hand? Some sick game she played to torture Arielle and make her ripe and ready for an afterlife of literal terror?
Arielle rolled her shoulders, cracked her knuckles, wiggled her toes in her shoes. "I'm going to figure this shit out, and if that means standing up to that malicious beast once and for all... I'm doing it." She returned to the steps and sucked in a deep breath as she proceeded upwards. "I'm doing it for Stella, for Jade." She gulped. "And for Benny. Someone has to talk this bitch down and tell her souls aren't hers to snatch."
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