Darkness Rising

CHAPTER [ 16 ] THE NOTHING

Loads of people claimed to have seen heaven when they died. Of course, those claims were hard to verify without any proof beyond words. But people seemed eager to believe. So, there were books written about the great white light and beautiful cities with crystal buildings and golden roads. People said they saw their loved ones calling to them, arms open and ready to embrace them. It all made death sound less terrible, less final.

Even the Gillard family believed in some heaven-like place. Although being actual servants of a god helped give their claim a bit more credibility in Lenore's mind. It was nice to think that her parents might be somewhere nice, waiting for her.

But now Lenore was pretty sure they lied about that too. She didn't see anything. There was nothing but darkness. Maybe the people who wrote those books were better people than her. They had gone to a good place while she was somewhere else entirely. 

Sure, she was a freshly made killer and murder wasn't something that most people (decent people) categorized as a good deed. However, Lenore thought that if someone or something gave her the chance to explain in full detail why she had done it and that it was, in a twisted way, an act of justice then maybe they might lessen whatever eternal punishment she earned.

Or perhaps this was because of her bargain with Kaiser and the corruption. Maybe that mess forfeited her a place in the great white light or whatever. The defiant part of her mind rebelled at the thought. Why should anyone hold those things against her? She hadn't asked to be sacrificed. As for the bargain, she had a reason for agreeing to it but suspected that any higher being might not look too fondly on that reason.

Then again, gods weren't like people. They might not mind any of the things that Lenore did. In fact, perhaps they didn't care what any of them did and were so far removed that all that awaited any of them was a great black void of nothing. And that meant she ended up precisely where she was always headed.

Only Lenore was beginning to suspect that she was still alive. How else was she thinking so clearly? She reached up and pinched her cheek, a stinging pain had her releasing the bit of skin she'd grabbed. Pain receptors were working. It could be a dream. This place did remind her eerily of the dreamscape she entered while on the edge of death.

But that was in her own mind and she had replayed repressed memories. She didn't think this place was hers. Frustration began to build the longer she floated or was it glided through the big, black nothing.

The last thing Lenore remembered was swallowing the Blessing and the wide-eyed horror on her Uncle's face. There was a strange high-pitch ringing in her ears then the whole world went dark. Was her body still standing in the dining room in her Uncle's manor? Cause her consciousness, to some degree or another, was somewhere else.

This must be some side effect of the corruption and the Blessing meeting. Maybe she lost her mind and was brain dead in the real  world. That thought only irked her more. If that was the case Lenore was going to be extremely disappointed. What shit luck that would be! 

As she thought that there was a ripple through the darkness like the skipping of a stone across a quiet lake. The ripple hit her body, sending a gentle and musical chime into her ears. It was the tinkling of far away bells. Lenore moved in the direction of the bells, hoping that it wasn't taking her farther from her body (wherever it was).

She followed the sound for a few minutes then a few hours. There was no growing tired, not physically anyway. When she began to wonder if she was getting closer or going anywhere at all, another ripple struck the surface of the nothing. This time a faint glow appeared over her. It was a small, flickering sliver of silvery light. A distant crescent moon that appeared to be amused at her current predicament.