Death is only the beginning, unless you are Nameless.
Condemned to spend eternity in Purgatory with the rest of the Between, Nameless is the most hated soul who never lived. After centuries of searching for a meaning to her dull existence, her answ...
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7
Ben
Travelling, as my new partner in crime had called it, was like free falling in fast forward. Flashes of colors blurred rapidly passed me as a rush of air whacked at my face. My stomach back-flipped with the adrenaline the speed brought. I didn't mind though. If I could free fall forever into a blur of nothingness, I would. I was vaguely aware of the screaming girl beside me who had clearly never experienced such exhilaration in all her boring life.
Purgatory, as Nameless had called it, was nice and silent and hadn't looked like there was much to do there. If the world I lived in was like that, I would have been greatly pleased. It was my dream to sit around and care about nothing, think about nothing, and just be. A life without running. But despite my incessant exhaustion, I loathed to quit anything, and quitting life was the ultimate sign of weakness.
I would not be weak.
The passing lights and the ear-popping whoosh of air faded as we slowed down until we were on a sidewalk in the middle of busy Brooklyn.
Exhausted didn't even begin to describe how I felt. Travelling... or dreaming... or whatever it was I did when I slept, took a lot of energy from me that I somehow managed to retain at the end of the day. Nameless had needed a lot of my energy to open that gateway... portal... or whatever the hell it was, and I was feeling like a piece of crap, a wavering air running through me every now and then that wrecked my senses.
Light headed and a bit detached from my thoughts, I stared down at my hands. They were a transparent, shadowy version of themselves. I'd never get used to seeing myself that way, all translucent. It just wasn't right.
Some sort of instinct was screaming at me to find my body, and find it quick.
I began tracing the connection I had to my physical body. A long silver cord manifested, protruding from my chest directly in the place my heart was – if I in fact had a heart in that form – and extended out into the city, fading away a few inches from me. I knew if I followed this cord it would lead me to my body, as it had many times before.
At the start, everything was trial and error with figuring out how this travelling thing worked. I didn't want to know how to use it, I wanted to learn how to prevent it, how to get back as quick as possible. Eventually, by focusing on my own aura, I was able to see the cord extending out to my body, and followed it back. I got further and further away from my body each time, something that always terrified me.
I started to walk, but slowed when I heard whimpering. My legging thoughts finally caught up to me.
Oh yeah! Nameless!
I turned around to find her knelt on the ground covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. God, this chick was going to be a pain.
"Uh, Nameless, you doing okay?" I asked, poking her with my foot.
