Infinity

Chapter 19: Afterlife

The white hurt Jake's eyes badly. He knew it was the beginning of his end. He was dying, and he knew it. Even though he wanted to turn around and go back to reality, he couldn't.

The white glowed less and less, making the burning that was hurting his eyes less painful. He finally was able to open his eyes and see his surroundings. Jake found himself standing in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. He knew he was in the sky though. He stood on a solid white surface. Behind him was a giant patch of white, which seemed to last for miles and miles. Jake then noticed he was standing at the bottom of a staircase. Instead of typical stairs, though, they were clouds. They lead to a yellow gate, where Jake knew his afterlife would be. The decision was clear now; there was only one way he could go.

Jake started to take the first step, putting one foot on the cloud. It was weightless under his foot. It seemed as if he was floating on thin air. Jake then put both of his feet on the first cloud. He expected to slip through the step, fall from the sky, and meet his fate... somehow. Instead, he stood solid on the puffy texture. Then he stepped onto the next cloud stair. One by one, he bounced up the cloud stairs, to the yellow gate.

He was one step away from his fate. Jake took a deep breath, telling himself to get it together and just do it. He started to put his first foot on the final cloud stair... when something grabbed his foot. He was yanked away from the gate and was dragged down the stairs, smashing onto each stair. He didn't feel any pain though, because of the softness of the cloudy texture. Jake found himself back at the bottom of the stairs.

He turned around to find a giant hand. That was what had dragged him down the stairs. It gestured for him to follow it... follow it into the white behind him.

"No, this is my fate," Jake growled. He started up the stairs again. Then the same thing happened. The hand grabbed his foot when he was halfway up the stairs and dragged him down again. Then it would ask for him to follow it into the white. Then Jake would reject again and start to go up the stairs again. The pattern repeated many times.

"Fine, I give up!" Jake groaned after several attempts of trying to go up the stairs. "This is my afterlife, my fate, but you obviously don't want me to go! Look at me, I'm yelling at a hand. Maybe I am crazy." That was when a voice boomed across the sky.

"Your afterlife has too many secrets," the voice hissed. "That means your future and your life still have more in store for you. It's not your time. Go with the hand, continue your life, and you'll see what I mean."

"My afterlife has too many secrets...?" Jake repeated. "Am I... am I finally being set back free to reality?"

"Not quite," the voice answered. "You'll find out soon enough what I'm talking about." Then everything fell silent.

Out of nowhere, the giant hand swooped under Jake and grabbed him. It carried him into the white blankness. Then the hand disappeared, as if it was magically taken away. Jake started falling from the sky. He had no idea how high up in the sky he was, where he was, or if he actually was falling. All he knew was that the hand had let him go, and he was escaping his afterlife.

Rose faced fate with the same hand when she tried to walk up the same cloud stairs to the yellow gate. She had the same purpose as Jake; to go to her afterlife. The hand refused to allow her to go to it though. The voice also told Rose a very similar reasoning to the hand's actions.

"Your afterlife is designed from the secrets of your life," the voice boomed. "Your future is holding too many secrets for you to be able to continue on in your afterlife. Obviously, you have much more in your life to do and solve. Don't you have a friend... Jake?"

"Jake!" Rose exclaimed, surprised that the mysterious voice knew about her best friend.

"Yes, he is waiting for you," the voice continued. "You must go with the hand, like he did, and go with him. You two need to save humanity. Your future is waiting for you." Rose nodded, as she allowed the hand to take her into the white.

The hand let go of her. She was free falling too, like Jake had. Soon, the white background began to magically paint itself with life. The sky appeared with a baby-blue color, puffy white clouds, and a blazing yellow sun. The city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A formed right in front of her eyes, with buildings, people, and more. She knew she was in a dream, but she was nearly convinced a couple times that it was reality.

The same thing happened to Jake. The white he was falling in began painting itself with life. Los Angeles also appeared in front of his eyes, but he was not in the same part of the city as Rose. Even though he saw people, buildings, and the sky, just like Rose, he spotted something she didn't. Dublekas B and C were walking out of a store that was close by. Dubleka B noticed Jake as he quickly ran off.