Nothing is Forever

Chapter 18 - Alive? - Loana Brieson Wang:

 I wake up in a damp, dark, and musty place, confused, expecting death to come for me at any moment.

Is this what death feels like? I think to myself as I rub my aching head. I feel so weak, barely able to move my body and unwilling to look around and see where I am. Wait. My head is aching, and I can barely move. Isn't it supposed to be perfect here? My body shouldn't be hurting in Heaven. And if I'm really in Heaven, why is it so dark? Does that mean...? There are only two options. Either I'm in the other place or I'm alive. Against my better judgment, I choose to believe the latter.

With much difficulty, I manage to get up. When I look around I have to slap myself at what I see.

"Vic? Lex? D?" I say, perplexed and scared. I furrow my brows as I meet each of their sets of eyes with my own. "What are you doing here? How are you alive? Liss saw you guys dead, and I saw you dead with my own eyes Lex! Am I going crazy? Holy crap, what's happening?" I continue rambling until the three of them get up and hug me.

"We're alive, and so are you," Victor says to me. I look around in shock, and only one word can escape my lips.

"How?"

"We don't know. Just like you, all of us woke up here after we sustained wounds that should have been fatal. But look, none of us is hurt at all. The only other person we've seen said we'd get answers today, because you were the last one he was expecting," Alexandra tries to explain to me, but it just ends up making me more confused.

"What about Lissa?" The others look around at each other, unsure of what to tell me.

"We don't know, we hope she made it, but there's no way to tell," Davis finally answers me, his voice unsteady.

"We-" I'm interrupted by the door slamming open.

"Follow me, and you'll get answers." a child's voice says. A translucent kid stands at the door, waiting for us to move. The four of us look at each other, unsure. "Now!" he screams, and the four of us jump up, scared. We follow him out of the dim room and into a brighter one that has four small chairs, and one big one which looks more like a throne.

"Okay, so I'm sure you all want answers." The four of us nod at what he says, still unsure of what is happening.

"Well, I'm one of the kids from the cabin. The ones that have made your lives... much harder than they had to be. I never much agreed with the way that my... brethren, if you please, did things. They're too harsh and uncaring. So, I went to the trouble of saving you four. You don't seem like bad kids, just ones in the wrong place at the wrong time." He looks at the four of us, waiting for us to say something, but we don't. He sighs and continues on. "I didn't bother with your other friend, because the children, all except one, are males, they never accepted females. Especially ones related to Ryan and Lauren Kiang. And frankly, neither do I. I never liked those two, and I didn't want to go to the trouble of helping Lessa, or whatever her name was." The four of us look at each other, appalled at what this child was saying.

"So you're saying, that we can go home?" Alexandra asks, her voice somewhat hopeful. The child starts to laugh, a booming, haunting laugh.

"No, of course not. Keep in mind, you've had your funerals, you come back, everyone will be confused and scared. You'll cause an uproar, and we can't have that happening now, can we?" The four of us look at each other once more, confused at what we were saved for.

"Then why did you save us in the first place?" I speak up, annoyed.

"Well, for payment for saving your life, you will be my servants forever," I stare at him, my expression saying 'seriously?', contemplating if he's kidding.

"You can't be serious," Victor scoffs.

"Oh, I am, and if any of you try to go against me, you'll die like you should have before I saved you. Do we have a deal?"

I look at my brother, Alexandra, and Victor. What do we do? I mouth to them.

We accept, what else can we do? We'll get out eventually.

I look back at them, and then back at the kid. I look back at my friends and they give me tentative nods. I open my mouth and one quiet, unsure word leaves it.

"Deal."