Stars Down Under

Where I Am

A man stands above me.

Light blond hair cascades to contrast dark eyebrows, beautifully overshadowing pale green eyes. My eyes skim over a straight nose, both sides reflecting a natural contour, with lips so full my mind begins to race. His face complete with prominent cheekbones that shine, nearly eclipsing a chiseled jaw.

The man purses his lips before leaning down to my ear.

"I love you, B." Each vowel echoes with a deep intensity. "Please come back."

Shoulders rise, and along with them, a stranger's face.

The light blond hair is now mussed into discrepant waves. The beautiful eyes are now drowning in a sea of anxiety and grief. The straight nose is now blotchy and red where a beautiful tan once rested. The full lips are now chapped and devoid of color. The shining cheekbones are now dim. And the jaw they cast a shadow over now shakes slightly.

My mouth struggles to iterate a word, a sound, anything to restore this man's hope.

Yet my lips refuse to move.

So no sound emerges.

And the man slowly begins to fade.

I woke up clutching my chest, feeling the staccato beat of my heart racing against my palm.

In... and out... and in..., I coached myself through deep breaths, trying to regain a normal heart rate... as well as my sanity.

"Are you okay?" I whipped around to see a girl.

"I'm fine," I shook my head a bit as I uttered the words. "Wait- who are you?"

"I... I'm Kiera..." Her dark waterfall of hair shone underneath the light as she threw it behind her shoulder.

I began to assess her, trying to place her age.

The girl's dark hair was pin-straight and hung to her waist. Her pale skin glimmered and her bone structure was highlighted under the light.

But her eyes were the thing to entrap my mind. Dark green pooled around her pupils, seemingly outlined by a dark turquoise.

"Bryn," I smiled broadly, trying my best to send off a warm vibe.

"Where are we?" Kiera's smile was diminished as soon as she began to speak.

"The... Underworld?" I tried the word and braced myself for a freak out.

But she showed nothing other than a twitch of the eyebrows. "Underworld?"

"Yeah," I shrugged before looking around my new surroundings.

The space was barren, aside from a queen sized bed and dresser. A small window hovered above a desk, illuminating the room more than the lamps were.

"This is your room." I turned to see Genevieve striding into my abode.

I turned to Kiera, or rather, where Kiera had been. I looked around, trying to find her, but she was gone.

"The library is downstairs but you probably wont have much time to visit. If you do, however, we have had our authors write many books and you might even find some depicting our ancestry and other things you might want to know." Her silky voice spoke monotone, as if she was reciting these lines from memory.

"What?"

"Well, it's best to jump right into the introduction, don't you think. Speaking of which, Lucifer decided it best for you to start your work soon." Genevieve walked over to me and pulled a pamphlet out of seemingly nowhere. "Here are some choices for down here, but the majority of it will take place up there."

"Up..." I pointed at the ceiling. "There?"

Her dark curls bobbed as she nodded. "Yes, and you have scheduled meetings with me every few weeks to see how you're doing."

I nodded... I had thought the underworld was desolate and lazy.... But I nodded anyways, being proved wrong in the process.

"Do I get other clothes?" I questioned, trying to regain some sense or regularity with this conversation.

"Of course!" Gen's eyes lit up and I could've sworn their normal dark green had bubbled into a frothy moss color. "One of my hobbies is designing outfits so feel free to ask me, I can get you anything."

Hobbies? I thought. They have hobbies in Hell?

"Great." I nodded slightly, she began to leave my room when I said. "Could I maybe get some leggings and skinny jeans and converse? Maybe like sweatshirts or crop tops with that?"

The only response I received was a clipped smile, before the door slammed shut.

A/N I'm sorry for the long wait and crappy chapter! Like, Vote, follow, and comment if you have anything to say! Anything, at all! I take constructive criticism really well and think it would help loads!