Ethereal Beings

Chapter Four: The Inbetween

Nancy's body couldn't handle the strain of her mind being pulled in different directions. Her subconscious self had been ripped away from her conscious state and placed in the Inbetween, and for now her mind was too fragile. Nancy's physical being, still seizing in Mr. Girton's classroom, was the result of her being unable to cope with the pressure of the transition from the Physical Realm, into the Inbetween.

In the Inbetween, everything fell silent. The pulsating light shining from within the gateway was still. Nancy began to sob, her cries echoing through the bleak landscape.
"You had better get used to it here, girl." An unknown woman stepped out of the shadows and stood before Nancy. Like the man who had just Passed through her, this woman also appeared to be a hologram of sorts, her silhouette glistening and transparent. She was dressed in a black gown, which draped down to the floor, and she was adorned in jewels. The woman's hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and she wore a beautiful headdress. The headdress was laced with black feathers and a crow's skull formed the centrepiece, with the beak resting in the centre of her forehead. Strings of black pearls and diamonds fell from the edges of the headdress, framing the woman's slender face.
"W-who are you?" Nancy's words shook as she wiped her tears away to see the woman.

"Who am I?" The woman cackled, "I am the Goddess Nephthys, but my common name was Alice Lexus. Who are you?" Nephthys pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Nancy.
"N-Nancy," the girl, feeling inferior by miles stammered, unable to speak clearly. She recognised the name of the Goddess from her mythology textbook, pretty sure that Nephthys was the Egyptian Goddess of Death. Her role was to shepherd souls of the deceased from the Physical Realm to the Afterlife.
"You're probably a little confused as to why you're here. I was also scared the first time I was brought to the Inbetween. It can be a daunting place, after all." Nephthys sighed. "I've been following you for a while now, and your time has come."
"What? What do you mean?" Nancy's expression twisted further with confusion.
"I mean, my girl, that you had better familiarise yourself with this place and get used to it pretty quickly!"
"Why? Why am I here? I'm just Nancy. I'm just a normal girl!" She shakes her head in denial of the events playing out before her, tears rolling freely down her cheeks.
"Well, Nancy, I hate to break it to you, but you are a Goddess. My predecessor, to be exact. This realm, the Inbetween, is yours now. You will no longer use the name 'Nancy'. From now on, my child, you are the Goddess Nephthys."

The words don't quite register in Nancy's head, and seem like a foreign language to her. "What?" She wipes her eyes again. "I-I can't. Why m-me?"
"Nancy, you were Chosen because of your strong affinity with both nature and death. I know that you feel most comfortable when surrounding yourself with the wonders of the natural world. Did you not sense my presence in the graveyard you like to spend your time in? In the bathroom the other day?" She pauses briefly, gauging Nancy's reaction. "How about the alleyway when you were walking home from seeing – what's his name again? Ah, Lucas. As I have previously said, I have been watching you, my dear."
Nancy is in shock, her mind trying to filter through the information, trying to make sense of it all. "What is this place?" Nancy's voice trembles, and the Goddess can hardly hear her.
"That is why I am here. I am here to explain all of this to you and make sure you will do well as the next in line to the Afterlife." The Goddess walks towards Nancy, her hand stretched towards her. "Walk with me." The two walk into the vast darkness of the Inbetween and Nancy is no longer afraid, Nephthys guiding her along the way.

"You are the next Goddess of Death. You must guide lost souls which appear here, in the Inbetween, to the Afterlife where they shall settle eternally. You experienced it earlier with that young gentleman who Passed through the Gateway." The Goddess shakes her head, the corners of her mouth curling up into a crooked smile. "I imagine you had quite the sore head when he Passed Over, what with an injury like that! Poor sod died of blunt force trauma to the skull..."

Nancy nods to herself, overwhelmed, trying to take in everything Nephthys is saying. "Why did he come through that... that portal thing? Why did he appear to me? Why did I feel the pain of his death?" Nancy had so many questions, her mind was racing to keep up with Nephthy's pace.

"Child, you act as the Gateway to the Afterlife. You are the connection between here and there. Without you, souls of the deceased would be trapped here, in between reality and fiction – life and death. When they pass through you - when they touch you - they release the kinetic energy from their last moments. This is known as Passing Over, and their soul passes through yours into the Afterlife. In the case of that gentleman, it was the energy from the trauma to his head which manifested itself as what I can only imagine as being a sharp pain in the back of your skull." She raises an eyebrow as Nancy nods slowly, raising her hand up the back of her neck.

"As for that portal 'thing'. That is the Gateway from the Realm of the Living, into the Inbetween. We Ethereals call it The Transition Gate. Souls move through it when it is their time to Pass Over to the Afterlife. As for that white light radiating from it? I have heard humans refer to it as 'the light at the end of the tunnel,'" Nephthys shakes her head and scoffs, "I've never understood that expression. I'm not sure why Transitioning is compared to a tunnel...?" Her words trail off and Nancy laughs.

"This has to be a dream, right? You aren't real. You can't be real." Nancy points a pale finger at the Goddess, tears forming in the corners of her eyes again.
"It's okay, girl. I'm real and you need to accept that this is going to be your life. You must not abandon this place, otherwise souls will not be able to Pass Over and they will remain here forever. It will get easier, believe me." Nephthys offers Nancy a small smile of sympathy. "As for now, my dear, my time has come for me to join the other souls. May I?"

Nephthys opens her arms outwards, offering the young Goddess a hug. Nancy accepts and steps forward into the Ethereal being's embrace. As their skin comes into contact, Nephthys whispers a goodbye before she fades away into the darkness. Unlike before, with the man, there was no pain when Nephthys Passed Over. In fact, Nancy felt a warmth as the former Goddess left the Inbetween, as if she was at peace.

Nancy's mind snapped back into the Physical Realm, her seizures halting as she does.

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When Nancy awoke, she was in the hospital, with numerous doctors and nurses surrounding her. She was wearing a hospital gown and seemed to be hooked up to at least 3 monitor, wires and cables coming out of her body in various places.

Nancy had always hated needles and her first reaction when she became conscious was to tug at the tubes poking out of the top of her hand, pulling the needles out with them. She winces in pain, looking away from the blood and gore, but continued to pull at the wires originating from her wrist. The doctors, who were stood at the foot of her bed examining her patient notes and talking amongst themselves, turned around to the sound of multiple alarms. The alarms being triggered by the wires and needles being displaced from Nancy's skin. One of the nurses rushes to her side, "no, no, sweetie!" She grabs Nancy's hand, applying pressure to the now bleeding wound.

Nancy begins to cry, "I want my dad. I want my dad!" She kicks the sheets off herself in protest, fighting to get out of the bed but too weak to do so.

"It's okay, darling. We'll get your hand all fixed up and then your parents can see you, okay?" The nurse coos, her voice soothing and was the last thing Nancy heard before passing out again.