Non-art book

Afterlife Oneshot #1 - RP

Okayokay
This was a role play that happened with RainbowDrawz a while back... so I wrote it into a one shot

Basically Rainbow revived Gradient so he became Arin again :)

TW: suicide

-

He woke with a start.

The sun warmed the clearing he lay in. He felt grass against his palms and neck. A gentle breeze stirred his hair, and he brushed it out of his face as he slowly got to his feet.

Where the hell am I...?

He turned his head, but suddenly jumped. There was someone standing there, staring at him. Her eyes were visible, but her mouth was hidden by the blue-purple-pink striped mask that covered it. Her skirt was the same color as the mask. She had a cobalt-blue jacket with a grey shirt underneath as well.

He yelped, stepping back in surprise. "Wh-where- who- WHO ARE YOU?!"

The girl seemed surprised by his reaction. She held up her hands, a signal of non-aggression, and the blue ears that stuck from her hair flattened and angled back. "Woah, relax!" She seemed to smile in a friendly way under her mask. "I'm Rainbow, nice to meet you, Arin! We... are currently in the middle of nowhere..."

The man, Arin, tilted his head. He decided not to question how she knew his name. "Uh... okay... this is weird..." He decided to focus on another question. "Then... how did I get here?"

"I revived you!" Rainbow replied casually. "Oh, yeah, you died- for a while, actually-"

The response startled Arin as much as it perplexed him greater. "What?!" He bit his lip. "Please tell me you're joking-"

Rainbow sighed. "Sorry, but... I'm not joking." Her hidden smile returned. "On the bright side, at least you're here now!"

"I-I guess that's true..." Arin stammered. He looked at one of his hands, as if expecting it to be somehow still dead.

Rainbow paused for a moment before continuing on. "Anyway, what do you remember last? Being a ghost and haunting people-" She covered her mask where her mouth would be, for the statement had slipped her tongue. "Oh no-"

Arin tilted his head. "What? N-no... I remember running through the forest... at nighttime... someone was... chasing... me..." His breathing shook slightly as the memory arose, running for his life through thickets of flora as his pursuer came closer behind. His hands trembled as he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to chase it away. "Oh god, oh god-"

Rainbow, realizing what the statement had triggered, rushed over to comfort the disoriented Arin. "Hey, it's fine! You're alright! Someone was chasing you and must have stabbed you." Under her breath she added, "And then chaos arises-"

Arin, however heard it. He looked at Rainbow, again, more confused than he previously was. "What...?" His gaze darkened as he asked, "Did... did I do something... bad after I died?"

Knowing she couldn't keep this answer from him, Rainbow exhaled. "I guess you could say that. You killed me several times and went on a murder rampage under this ghost named 'Gradient'..." She chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "I know I'm the least best person you would ever want to speak to about this..."

Arin stared at her, eyes wide in disbelief. He took a shuddering breath, hardly able to process what Rainbow was telling him. "I... I killed people??" The realization weighed in his conscience, and he felt his heart sink. "Oh no... oh, god, I-I'm sorry, I-"

Tears came quick, and Arin broke down. He collapsed to his knees, guilt for the deeds his spirit had committed postmortem.

"Oh..." was all Rainbow could say. She shook off the shock of Arin's response and said, "It wasn't your fault at all! Don't say that- I mean, I killed people, too- but the point is that it wasn't you, and you shouldn't feel guilt for that."

Arin didn't respond. He sat there sobbing, muttering to himself, "I'm a monster, I'm a monster-"

"Hey, don't be sad," Rainbow comforted. "At least you're back here, alive! You can live a new life, without killing anyone! And, you know, maybe you could even figure out who killed you."

The statement seemed to cheer Arin up at least enough to allow him to calm down. He sniffed, and looked up at Rainbow.

"O-okay," he said shakily, "I'm... I'm never gonna forgive myself..." Slowly he stood up, wiping his tear-streaked face. "But... maybe I can try." He forced a smile.

Rainbow smiled under her mask. "Well I forgive you, now that I know the real you, which doesn't seem like murderous ghost. Now you can live a good life!"

Arin smiled, relieved at the statement. "Thank you, Rainbow."

"No problem, Arin!" Rainbow said, "Have a good life!"

As Arin walked away, he couldn't help but hear Rainbow's voice as she said to someone he hadn't seen previously, "Addie, you have no idea what you've just given me..."

-

"Monster!"

The voices, the voices... they rang in Arin's head like church bells. Screaming, pained, agonized screaming. Eyes looking up at him, terrified, pleading, begging for him to... to keep them alive... to not kill them...

But he did anyway. And it filled him with wretched glee.

His head pounded. It was the middle of the night, full moon high in the sky outside. The peak of these nightmares - these memories - was upon him, and nothing could be done to stop it.

Go on.

I cannot be contained in this body forever.

His own voice rang in his head. Only psychopathic, demonic, lusting. He had killed people, Rainbow had told him, under the name Gradient. This must be him speaking to him now, this postmortem, deafening ring that longed for his death.

We are two.

Now we must become one.

Arin couldn't take it anymore. The nightmares had been repeating every day for the past month, ever since Rainbow had brought him from the dead. His feet moved without consent, his hands clutching his head and his teeth clenched tightly. He brought himself to the kitchen, and yanked open a drawer.

He fished out a knife.

Do it.

He gripped the handle.

DO IT.

He barely registered the knife plunging into his own chest. He gasped, sputtering out blood that reflected bright red in the silver moonlight.

A sudden agony, a pain more overwhelming than even the past month's bringings, caused a scream to escape his throat. He could barely breathe, but what he could was ragged and heavy, as if his lungs were obstructed enough to make each and every inhale near impossible.

And suddenly the pain was gone as he dropped like a stone to the floor, silent, his eyes staring upward.

Unseeing.

Lifeless.

-

He observed his hands, silver in the glowing moon. Almost immediately they blackened, fingertips curving into twisted claws as he curled his hands into shaking, excited fists. A grin spread across his face, black teeth like a shark's twisted into a devious smile. A demonlike tail, the tip broken and shattered, lashed in excitement as his spectral feet hit the ground without feeling.

Anyone else, well, they'd be asleep as their spirit left them, only awakened exactly one month from their death. But him? He was already one with Limbo, and no connection time was needed.

As he spoke, his voice sounded much like that of his living self, only with a different demeanor. More like that of a gleeful serial killer in a horror movie.

"Finally...

"Feels good to be Gradient again..."

-

That took a turn :,)