Fate's Exchange (Twisted Fate, Book 1)

Chapter 3

Black is death. It holds no light and bears no sound. It exists as a void, a reminder of how small you are against the universe.

Inside the darkness swirling around me, I felt... nothing. Weightless. Cool. Like I was floating in the upper atmosphere, where clouds held more weight than the wisps they became farther below.

For all the pain and dread that led to this moment, dying itself happened in an instant. A single breath, and then, like the sun setting on an evening sky, I was gone.

It would be a lie if I said I'd never thought about mortality. Of course, I had. But whenever I imagined my death, I pictured a stormy day, the universe sending a sign to mourn my passing. Instead, it was an ordinary day. No storm, no cosmic grief, just silence, as if the universe didn't care.

I thought I'd feel sad but instead, I felt... content. Part of me knew that probably wasn't right, but it was real. Every breath I had taken, from the moment I was born until my heart stopped beating, had led to this. And maybe, just maybe, my death meant something. The police would piece it together, link my death to the Elixir students' attacks. Strangers I'd never meet might finally be safe. People they'd already hurt would find closure, and I would matter.

Images surfaced in the dark, flickering like a movie I couldn't pause or control. Too quick to follow, but familiar in the glimpses I managed to see. My family. My friends. All the memories that I had taken sixteen years to build.

This was my life.

The flashes slowed, reshaping into crude black-and-white scenes like an old silent film before the inclusion of sound. The stages of my life played. Childhood in the only home I'd ever known. My parents, the ones who called me their "miracle baby." School, friendships gained and lost, until just one true friend remained. The triumphs, the failures, the dreams that would never happen now: prom, college, first love, everything I dreamed of having or doing but would never be able to experience... all gone.

Then came the last week of my life. The images dragged, moving painfully slow. Sound and color filled them with brutal clarity, breathing new life into the experiences. Every hateful word echoed. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut, but how do you look away from images inside your own mind?

The humiliation replayed: being grounded for the first time, being ridiculed in the lunchroom, a bloody nose in dodgeball, failing quizzes I never understood. That was only Monday through Tuesday. Now, I am forced to relive it, scene by agonizing scene.

What had I done to deserve this?

The montage shifted, slowing to a crawl, showing my final breath. The Elixir students passing pipes, vodka, pills I hadn't seen while I was still alive. They didn't even notice I was gone. Their ignorance baffled me. Part of me longed for their screams when they finally realized I was beyond saving. It was cruel, but I wanted them to hurt, to feel even a fraction of what I had without the relief of the numbness I had in the end. Maybe that pain would force them to change.

I'd never see it.

The visions froze when my body failed, like a film reel with no more footage to play. Was it a grace period? Could I have been saved in those last moments? I didn't know.

Either way, it wasn't long enough.

I needed more time.

My whole life collapsed into minutes. Moments skimmed past faster than they were experienced, like the snap of fingers. Even the most horrifying events slid by as mere flashes strung together. Life, death, everything in between... just images on a reel.

With my last thought, I understood the truth: my life felt unfinished. The lightness disappeared, replaced by a heavy weight pulling me down, so that if I could feel my extremities to move them, it would be too great an effort. The darkness fell again, pulling me back into nothingness as I waited for whatever was next.

A/N: What do you think? I don't know if I want to keep this chapter or cut it... 

As always, what song meets the vibe of this chapter? I'd love to have a reader's playlist and be introduced to new music!