Courting Death | Book 3

O N E

O N E
Funny Things

INSTEAD OF THE blinding glow in which I had expected to be greeted with when I faced death, I was instead met with an overwhelming total darkness. There wasn't a single soul in sight, and when I dared to take in a much-needed breath of air, I felt as if my lungs were suffocating me as punishment. I was in a void, without a single piece of furniture or a single element of nature. 

I was alone.

My body's immediate reaction was to let my heart race, to force my heart to pump blood through my veins in extreme speeds. The world was silent, and whenever I tried to scream, it felt as though my lungs were being compressed even further than before.

"Relax, angel," a voice soothingly said. "You'll be safe. You're with me now. Just follow my voice, Addison. Follow my voice and head towards the light."

Though that source of light was non-existent, I followed after it, trailing foolishly into the world of the blind. As the darkness was unforgiving, I found myself tripping over imaginary stones, flying across steps and bumping into walls. When I finally found a small spark of light, I allowed a small soundless sigh of relief.

Shining like fireflies glinting against the night, the light was a mere festival sparkler, glinting against the black background. There wasn't a handle to the sparkler, yet it was shining and sparkling like a single firework in the night. My mind blanked for a second, all that is to my knowledge was to follow the light. Other than that, my mind had a blank space. Memories of my life from before were all wiped away, all erased into a clean slate. All of which I could remember was meeting my end and a pair of silver gray eyes melting into my own gaze.

"Follow my voice and head towards the light."

My fingers reached out, grazing against the heat of the light as feeling rushed through my fingertips. The light trailed down my fingers, flowing as if relocated in my bloodstream before visiting every muscle and every fiber in my body. When the glow hit my heart, I was jolted awake, body swerving forward so quickly before I was stopped by a pair of hands held against my shoulder.

All at once, the scene in front of me changed. I was no longer in a black pit of nothingness. Instead, my eyes trailed after the familiar furniture placed in my room back in Hell's castle. A fine layer of dust had settled against most of the surfaces, and with heaving shoulders and heavy breaths, I examined the rest of the room.

"You're okay, Addison. You're alright." The familiar voice in which I had heard from before said again.

One by one, images of my past began to filter into my mind. Memories of my childhood, images of every single birthday I've ever had, and the clear significant moment in which pain had shot through me when I had jumped in front of a poisoned arrow to save Dimitri's life. All of it slammed into me, jamming themselves forcefully into the nerves located in my mind.

"Oh god," I muttered, hands reaching up to touch my face frantically. "I'm dead!"

"I see you're awake," another crudely unamused voice sounded from a distance away. When I turned to the direction in which the voice had come from, I was greeted by the blank and stoic face of Fabian.

He was slouched against an armchair, an arm hanging lazily against the armrest while his left leg dangled from the other. Left arm raised higher up to rest against the backrest, Fabian's eyes were closed shut though he looked furthest away from asleep.

"I was starting to enjoy the peace and silence," he commented.

"Ignore him, Andy." This time, Dimitri was the one that had spoken.