The Heir of the Fallen

Chapter 8

Adelaide

7 Months Later

Her final breath came at home, surrounded by those she truly cared about. Due to the most unfortunate circumstances, her relationship with her parents was stronger than ever before. Ms. Rose was there. Sophie, Spencer, Jasper. She was not liked by many, but few dearly loved her.

"Time of death, 4:02 pm," their private, in-house doctor declared. All that was heard was soft weeping, as the small group of six clung to each other, remembering the life of Adelaide, Addy, their daughter.

By the time Adelaide woke up, she was standing in a small, sparsely lit room. The atmosphere was calming. There was warm lighting coming from wall sconces, which were littering the walls around the room.

A small smile graced her face. By this point, she knew she was dead. She just had no idea what was to come next. Looking down, she was wearing the dress she was buried in. It was a long, maxi black dress, with small diamonds scattered throughout, giving it a night star effect. She had short capped sleeves, and her hair was down, cascading around her shoulders, reaching her middle back. She was barefoot, which she had requested. It just seemed wrong to force someone to wear heels in death. She had heard somewhere that the outfit you wore for your funeral was the outfit you would wear for the rest of the afterlife. She didn't know how true that was but did not want to take any chances.

Looking around the room, she saw two plush, leather chairs, and what looked like a giant screen adorning the wall across from her. Adelaide thought it looked like an intimate movie theater, one of those that were made to resemble those theaters from the 1920s era, when movies were first starting to populate everywhere. She briefly wondered what would be playing on the screen, before she heard a knock. There was a door to the left of the screen, on the opposite wall. The knock was soft as if meant to not startle her.

"Adelaide?" A voice said from the other side. "My name is Letum. May I come in?" Adelaide, knowing that since she was dead and knowing she had already endured the worst consequence possible, also knew she had nothing to lose.

"Sure." Why not?

A tall man entered, and he caused Adelaide's breath to stop. The man before her was beautiful. He had nearly floor-length silver hair with a matching silver duster over silver slacks. He wore a gold band around his waist under the duster and a black vest underneath the band. His chest was visible from the deep v of the vest, and from what she could see, his physique appeared to be sculpted by the gods. When he walked in, she could see his most striking feature. His eyes were topaz colored, a warm amber hue glittering throughout his irises.

"Adelaide?" His voice stirred her thoughts, and she realized she had been staring at him. His hand was held out. Blushing, she hoped she hadn't been drooling. It was the most prepossessing sight she had ever seen.

"Yes, sorry," she stuttered, taking his hand. She inhaled sharply, not expecting his cool touch.

"Sorry about that, I run a little colder than most, being Death and all," he smiled, letting go of her hand. She tilted her head, but he seemed to just gloss over that comment without an explanation. "I am sure you have plenty of questions, would you like to sit down?" He asked, gesturing to the two oversized chairs in the middle of the room.

"Okay," she said, before following Letum to the seats.

Letum rotated his chair so it was angled a little more towards Adelaide's, rather than directly next to her. "So, to start, what are you feeling right now? Do you know what happened, where you are?"

Adelaide looked at him, wondering if he was the Dead's therapist. "I feel... okay, I guess? I know that I died. I do not know where I am, or what this place is. I did not have many expectations of death, and what awaited me afterward."