Terror. A dimension mirroring the living one--but morphed to reflect the imagination of its Overseer. And the current Overseer... has refused to relinquish her power for centuries, tormenting her souls--"terrors"--into becoming... zombies.
Arielle f...
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"Okay, so," Benny cleared his throat, "I'm dead, you're dead, Arielle is dead. And this place is Terror. But it's basically Hell, right?" He sneered up at the basement ceiling. "I mean, there's fire everywhere. It's like how everyone describes Hell among the living. Not that I'm super religious, but... I'm not sure you can convince me otherwise."
He rambled on, spewing out his random thoughts, but if Jade was listening, she didn't show it. She'd located a rickety chair on the opposite end of the room, and perched atop it, her head lowered between her knees. All her careful grace and that sexy sleekness of her voice had evaporated, leaving place to a depressed, mourning girl.
Upon seeing her like so, Benny clamped his mouth shut.
Wow, I'm an ass. She discovers her best friend is dead, and here I am hammering her with questions.
He hesitated to walk up to her and offer her comfort. Nowhere, in any of the files Benny had on her, had he read about her personality. He had a snapshot of her, a few paragraphs Arielle had written in a journal, and he knew she'd been very rich. But he didn't know her. Despite his initial attraction to her, her revealed identity changed everything.
And in truth, this woman, this sword-wielding, zombie-killing version of Jade might not be the same as the one Arielle had known during her lifetime.
So who was this Jade?
"I'm sorry," he said, as he settled for a quick reassurance from afar. He didn't want to get too close in case she turned volatile and blamed him for delivering the bad news. "I should watch what I'm saying, it's always been a problem. I'm too blunt—"
"—I explained this to you, right?" Jade whipped her head up, and her eyes were rimmed with red, having lost their amber, gem-like hue.
Benny blinked at her. "Explained what? About Arielle?"
Jade flinched at the name, and swiped a hand over her eyes, rubbing away the tears she'd been trying and failing to conceal. Benny caught a few tear streaks down her cheeks, but pretended he hadn't seen them. "My poor Arielle." She puffed out a trembling breath. "But no, the whole Hell thing. I told you, this place is a parallel universe. Another dimension. It reflects parts of the living world, but doesn't bleed into it like the Void does."
"The Void... bleeds?" Benny shoved his hands in his pockets. "I didn't go there, so I have no reference, nothing to compare to."
"You're not missing anything." Jade strung a few fingers through her hair, as if to untangle it, but there were no tangles. Each strand was smooth, tame; perhaps it was a tic, something she did to calm herself down. "The Void is all black and white and gray. Depressing as shit. Not that this place isn't depressing, too, but at least..." She glanced into her lap and sighed. "Well, at least there's color."
Benny searched around the area for a chair to sit on. His legs were sore, and his abdomen ached something fierce. Why did his wounds still hurt if he was dead? It made no sense.
