What Waits Beyond Death's Door

Chapter 1

"Lady Sharpe!" The villagers yelled as they all watched Edith aiding Alan in the thick blanket of snow with worried eyes. She was being suffocated with so many emotions it felt like someone was pushing their steel toed boots onto her heart, slowly adding pressure as the time went by. Time... her sense of it seemed to vanish, while it felt like only seconds it was actually almost five agonizing minutes for Alan. When they finally reached the charcoal, rusted Allerdale Hall gate Edith passed Alan to a small group of the post office workers, she had no idea how they knew to be here but she suspected it was because of Alan. As they went to get in the carriage Edith did not. She couldn't, there was something that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Edith slowly turned back in the direction of the mansion and tears pricked her eyes as she could faintly see a figure in the doorway. It stared at her for a few seconds then ever so slightly turned and shut the old creaky doors. "Lady Sharpe we must go!" Someone ushered her and she quickly turned around and got into the carriage, making sure to sit next to Alan who was fighting for consciousness.

"Oh Alan I'm so sorry this is all my fault." Edith sobbed as his face got paler and his grip on his wounds loosened. "You should have never come. You should have left me to die!" She cried out. She longed for Thomas even though he had done so many wrong things: he let Lucille kill her father, he let Lucille poison her, he let Lucille touch him so intimately even though she was his sister, he let Lucille almost kill her and her childhood friend, and what she hated most was how he let Lucille kill him. Alan snapped her out of her thoughts when he started coughing so hard he brought up blood. They needed to get to the hospital now but the carriage was going as fast as it could in the snow storm.

"N-no I...had to. I love y-you Edith." He stuttered out as his voice was faltering. Edith knew he loved her already. She had always noticed his liking towards her but she could never return it. It felt wrong. They were more like siblings in her eyes.

Finally they arrived at the hospital and Alan was rushed into a private room to get stitches while Edith just limped in despite the protests from all the nurses. She only had a scratch on her cheek and her damaged ankle which she was sure she had sprained it more if not broken when she was fighting to the death with Lucille. But she couldn't feel the pain, her body was so numb. "Lady Sharpe right this way." A young woman who was dressed in the usual nurse attire said and Edith staggered after her while trying to ignore the slight pang in her chest when the nurse had said her former husband's last name. "The doctor will be here when he is done with Mr. McMichael I believe they're almost done."

"Yes thank you very much." The nurse nodded and then pulled the curtain closed seperating Edith from the remaining resting quarters. She looked around her quite small 'room' there was an old cot in the corner, no sheets, & a waste basket. Edith decided to sit on the cot, careful not to damage her ankle more considering she was already tired of limping. A weird sickly feeling came over her as if she were about to puke and she quickly moved to the waste bucket. She took several deep breathes before she emptied the contents of her stomach into it, which wasn't much.

"Lady Sharpe are you okay?!" The same nurse from before rushed in and pulled Edith's messy hair back from her face for her. Edith was about to answer when another wave of sickness hit her and she vomited again. Edith made sure she wasn't going to throw up again before slowly making her way back to the cot and sitting down. "Is there anything you need ms.?"

"A cup of water would be nice please." Edith whispered as she lay against the not so soft pillow and closed her eyes as she remembered sneaking up from the lower level of the house only to have Lucille chase her into her and Thomas's room.

"Yes ma'am I'll be back and bring the doctor." She said then rushed back out the curtain. A few moments the sound of two pairs of footsteps could be heard as they rushed to Edith. She sat up as the nurse rushed in with her water, the doctor trailing behind her. "Here you go ma lady." Edith took the glass from the nurse and greedily drunk all the water. Her throat still hurt but it wasn't nearly as bad.