Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 17

"Leo had seen Tia Callida in action; she liked knives, snakes and putting babies in roaring fires. Yeah, definitely let's unleash her rage. Great idea."

{LOUISE}

It was a bit like waking up after a long, long sleep. But I knew I hadn't been sleeping.

I was dead.

At least I knew I'd died. I'd heard about dead people, in movies and books, that thought they were still alive, and stayed around to haunt places. But I wasn't going to haunt Naia and Leo. That would put a serious damper on the relationship. And they clearly liked each other. I may have even been around to see them date, if I hadn't been so oblivious with my ridiculous crush on Leo.

So this is how James Carstairs felt... he used to bug me, but now I understood what he'd gone through. Poor guy. It was a sucky feeling.

Anyway, I'd somehow traveled to a waiting room of sorts, like a dentist's, after I'd... died, and stayed around to look after Naia and Leo for a while.

Dying had been weird. And my life hadn't flashed in front of my eyes like they say it's supposed to do. It was nothing like I expected. Of course, I'd expected to possibly die in my sleep or something...

⋆⋆⋆

I had smiled, and then inhaled, and my breath rattled. It was scary, breathing in like that. Especially at sixteen. I think that was the scariest thing about dying. Except that one moment when your breath leaves you, and you can't breathe, and then your heart stops beating, and your chest feels empty, you feel cold, so cold...

And then you're still. Absolutely still.

And that is what dying is like.

I had watched Leo and Naia sit in shock, not moving or making any noise at all. It pained me to see them like that.

And then Naia had let out a sob, and the two of them had started to cry, and then Naia started to say how it was her fault. I remembered that moment. I'd wanted to scream to her, "no! It's not!" But I couldn't. I couldn't interact with them in any way.

So I had watched as Leo tried to convince her it wasn't. But Naia had said, "she warned me... she warned me this would happen..."

"What was she on about?" I had wondered. I'd watched as Leo had pulled her into his arms, and how they'd cried together.

They'd fallen asleep in each other's arms. And it hurt to watch them. Not because I'd wished I could have slept with Leo like that, but because seeing the two of them like that, just so sad, was too much. I couldn't watch them anymore. And then I looked down and saw my body. It was terrifying, seeing yourself from another's perspective. I never realized how thin my nose was...

Then, as if an invisible string had attached itself to me, I had somehow been pulled away. I found myself travel through the corridors of the Labyrinth, not in control of myself. Then I'd passed through a wall of rock, and I saw that I was in Hollywood. More precisely, the entrance to Hades.

And then I had ended up in the waiting room.

⋆⋆⋆

I looked around, and saw a bunch of other pale, sad looking people. Some were moaning, and others were silent. Some of them looked plain confused. They were all gathered around that room.

Where was I? I wondered. Not aloud. I wondered if I could still talk. I hoped I could. Probably not with the living, but hopefully the dead were half interesting and not all geeks...