The White Harpy

Chapter Three

Zeyda couldn't understand where she was. Everything was silent. Opening her eyes she saw nothing but darkness. She felt as if she were lying on something cold, and hard like ice, only it was not wet or slippery. She reached to her side and ran her hand over the surface.
'It must be granite. Or marble.' She thought as she slowly used her elbows to raise herself up into a sitting position. She blinked a few times, however it did nothing to clear the darkness or allow her eyes to focus at all. She got to her feet looking left and right.
The darkness remained.
"Hello?" She called. Silence answered as her voice seemed to echo. She took a step forward.
"Hello is anyone there?" She called louder. Again she was only answered by a persistent silence.
"I died. I fell and now I'm dead." She stated aloud to herself trying to push away the darkness as she slowly began to walk. She fixed her eyes on the ground realizing, suddenly, that she could clearly see herself. Her own hands, her own feet clearly. She looked around hopeful, but again was met with only darkness. She sighed and stopped walking before she sat down.
"Nana always said that wherever I am God can hear me so maybe if I pray maybe he will send someone to help me." She said aloud again to herself.
"God, if your there I know I've been rude to you lately, but can you send someone to help me? Could you tell me what I am doing here?" She called out loudly.
No answer.
A few more times she repeated her plea. Finally after what seemed like days, but had probably been only a few hours, Zeyda grunted in frustration, rose and began to run.
She didn't know how long she ran, however it seemed she was getting somewhere. Distantly she could hear a soft lilting music. It wasn't quite in her taste, however it was a sign that perhaps, someone else was here. Wherever here was.
Distantly glowing figures could be seen. One day at a desk, while the other Stood next to a golden colored gate. Zeyda couldn't help but mentally scoff thinking about pictures she had seen during life that depicted something similar to what was before her.
She quietly approached the man sitting at the desk. He looked roughly in his late 60s perhaps older as he wrote vigorously on paper after paper.
As she opened her mouth to speak he barked out at her.
"Name?" He demanded as he looked up. Zeyda struggled to keep a straight face as she looked into the eerily bright blue eyes. He looked like a slightly younger version of Albus Dumbledore.
Mentally she chuckled as she replied.
"Zeyda Vane?" She said tilting her head. A piece of paper appeared out of a large stack.
"21. Premature death. Died of a head injury while working. Alright go inside. Joshua open the gate." The man stated flicking his wrist at her in dismissal. The man called Joshua, immediately opened the gate and gestured for her.
Zeyda stared at the man confused before she shook her head.
"No." She stated simply.
It seemed like suddenly everything was silent again as both the man Joshua and the man at the desk seemed to completely freeze. The man, who Zeyda now suspected was god, slowly raised his head.
"No? Child do you know who I am?" He asked looking at her.
"God I am suspecting." She responded.
"Yes. These are the gates of heaven my dear. Now please I am very busy. So if you would please proceed into the gates my angels will.." He began slightly exasperated.
"I said no. Look I mean no disrespect sir, but I died prematurely. You said so yourself. I wish to go back to my life. I should be free to choose." Zeyda stated gently looking him in the eyes.
God looked at her as if she had grown a fifth head.
"What ever possessed you to believe you had a choice? My son did not have a choice upon his death and neither do you. Now either proceed into the gate or remain in the darkness of limbo." He stated simply. His voice was not irritated nor angered merely fairly and respectful. Zeyda stared at him. She had always thought God would be a sweet jovial man, indeed he was not. She understood he had a lot on his plate, but to not even consider how she felt about her own premature demise? She sighed and shook her head turning away.
"I appreciate it sir, but I can't pass on." She stated before she jogged back into the darkness without waiting for an answer.
She jogged for an uncountable amount of time before she slowed to a walk. She proceeded to then do a fast walk before jogging again. Silence prevailed. The darkness stretched on. She slowed back to a walk and slowly plopped to the ground. The darkness continued and the silence with it.
"Well now what do I do?" She said aloud playing with her hands.
"Well you could always call on Lucifer." A voice spoke from the darkness. Zeyda whirled her head around. She saw no one but felt that she probably was not alone.
"Call on a narcissistic lunatic to help me in exchange for my soul so he can kill me a few hours from coming back to life JUST to get my soul?" She asked incredulously before she laughed.
"Right because I'm definitely going to go barter my soul for a chance to live just to turn around and die again." She snorted getting to her feet. She made a mental note that she wasn't even remotely tired.
"God wasn't what you thought he was. Maybe Lucifer isn't what you think he is either." The voice replied slightly farther away now.
Zeyda thought about it shrugging. It was worth a shot.
"Take me to him?" She said, but it sounded more like a question
"Follow the music." It whispered before going silent once again.