Paradise Among Metal

Chapter 15

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains ableist slurs and mentions of child abuse and sexual harassment and assault.

The doors of the sepia hotel whooshed open, and Lucy ran in, panting. A sepia man sat at a desk in the lobby, looking up at her in surprise.

"Do you know what's going on?" Lucy asked, out of breath. "This is Metal, and there's color everywhere."

She stumbled over to the desk and leaned against it, still catching her breath. "Do you have any water?"

"Meredith?" The man asked, peering at her over his glasses. Lucy tilted her head.

"Who?"

"You're - you're my daughter. Meredith."

Lucy shook her head, her bob cut swinging around. "No. I'm Lucy."

The man didn't seem to hear her. "The hospital took you from me back in Paradise, turned you back into a little kid. There was nothing I could do. The rules of Paradise forbade me for doing anything, but I tried to get you, and I was sent here as punishment. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm so sorry."

He rushed from behind the desk and hugged Lucy. Lucy patted his back, feeling awkward yet not.

She knew this man somehow. He had a familiar face, and his presence felt familiar. But for the moment, Lucy could not recall him.

The man gasped, pulling out of the hug. "You ARE Meredith! You have the three freckles right in front of your ear!"

Lucy smiled, her hand going up to her ear and brushing where the freckles were. "Yeah. I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. Well, actually I do, but not really."

The man smiled back. "That's typical. They must have wiped your memory in the hospital."

Silence stretched between the two. Lucy broke it.

"What did you mean when you said the hospital turned me back into a little kid? Was I a little kid before?"

"You were," the man replied. "When you were alive."

"Alive?" A knot of dread grew in Lucy's stomach. "What do you mean?"

The man sighed, rubbing his temples. A clock ticked somewhere in the lobby.

"Hate to be the one that breaks it to you, but this is an afterlife. You were murdered in the land of the living. I'm sorry."

The memory of Lucy's ward-mates being sliced into oblivion by the Paradise machine earlier that day surfaced in Lucy's mind, and she shuddered.

So that's how she knew about murder and death.

"You probably need a moment to process it," the man said. "I'll go get you the water you asked for. I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot you asked, haha."

He disappeared into the depths of the hotel. Lucy picked at the hem of her hospital gown, wracking her mind to remember how she died. Nothing came up, except for what she remembered when her ward-mates died.

"Did you know about this, Aradhya?" She muttered to herself, wondering if he could hear her. "Did you know I'm dead? Do you know who I was before I died?"

The man returned, holding a cup of water.

Lucy took the water and sipped it. The water left a metallic aftertaste, but she didn't care.