When You Die

Chapter Eight

7:36 AM, floor 45 of Death's Penthouse, April 24, 2019

"I see you've discovered my roof." Emma Mulberry said behind Ada. They were standing on the stairs of an incredibly modern and high-tech living space. "This is incredible! You have a whole forty-five floor building all to yourself! It even has a fancy name, penthouse. How incredible is that?!" Ada had woken up in the penthouse feeling very rested.

Emma laughed. "Yep, it's pretty cool. But it can get lonely sometimes. Ada, how do you feel? We finished re-installing your memory, but we left your memory from when you got... er..."

"Kidnapped." Ada finished. "I remember it."

Emma nodded. "Good to know it worked." After a moment of silence she said, "so, I have a bunch of police officers trying to locate your captor, Bill Herdel."

Ada nodded. "That's good. Do you have any idea where he went and how he disappeared?" Emma shook her head sadly. "No, we don't know where he went, but we are almost positive that he Jumped. It's almost impossible to Jump in the heart of the city. It's too densely populated. If you were to attempt to Jump here, then you are in huge risk of being lost in the Void."

Ada raised her eyebrow quizzically. "Jump? Void? You need to fill me in."

"Jumping is the act of jumping through space, and- or time. That's why we're really worried. We keep tabs on every person who is in the afterlife, so most of the time it's pretty easy to track someone down. But when you Jump, you can be virtually anywhere in time and space. And the Void is basically a space of nothingness where your mind and body shuts down."

"Wow, he really could be anywhere." Ada sat down, suddenly dizzy.

"Yeah. Ada, when we were doing the operation, we noticed something on your hand. Do you know what it is?" Emma asked. Ada looked at her hand. The burn, somehow was very neat and precise. She could very clearly make out the figures on her palm. "I really don't know. At that-that man's house," she said with a shutter, "I had a vision of some sorts."

Emma crouched down beside Ada and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Can you explain, Ada? Try to remember every detail you can, even if it seems unimportant."

Ada sighed. "I was just sitting in the locked linen closet- that's where he kept us, when my head started pounding, and I saw a really bright light, then I was in this room... I don't know how to explain it."

Emma nodded and got up. "Here, maybe we could try this." She walked over to a wall and tapped it with her finger. "I need you to focus on right when your head started hurting, then when I give you the thumbs up, you are going to think back to this exact moment. It's very important that you must think back to this specific moment in time. We are both going to go into your memory."

Ada got up too. "Yeah, sure, okay." Emma started typing into some holographic image that had come out of the wall. She reached into the wall, and pulled out what looked like a small cookie jar. She reached out her hand a grabbed Ada's. "I need you to hold onto my hand tightly. We are traveling through time, and it can be very jarring, especially the first time." Ada clenched her hand tightly.

Emma reached her hand in the cookie jar until her whole arm was somehow enveloped in the jar. There was a small, hollow click, then a moment of silence. Suddenly, they were whirled into the cookie jar, and they were gone. It dropped to the ground with a metallic clang!

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9:43 PM, 4514 Magnolia Street, April 12, 2019

Two figures clad in black were hunched over a cherrywood box. The one on the left spoke first in between sniffles. "I really miss her, Cece. Right now, she'd be lighting up the room, telling us about her latest adventure, and..." she stopped with a sigh. The woman next to her spoke to the box in a deep, gravelly voice, " goodbye, my love."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Oh, that must be Lauren!" Sarah said, and went to get answer the door. Cecelia walked slowly to the kitchen to finish her apple strudel. It was raining, after all. Sarah came in with her friend, and introduced her to Cecelia. "Cece, this is Lauren, one of my friends I invited." Lauren shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs., Ms..." She trailed off, looking at the very prominent outline of a ring on Cecelia's ring finger.

"Collins. Cecelia Collins." Sarah said quickly, plastering a smile on her face. "Yep, that's her name, Cecelia Collins."

Meanwhile, her sister had gone white as a sheet. When she noticed the two women looking at her, she just nodded. Sarah clapped her hands brightly. "So Lauren, how are you doing lately? Do you have any fun plans for the summer?" Lauren nodded, happy that the awkward moment was over. "Oh yeah, well I'm going to visit my family in Boston, and then..."

They talked about their summers until the all the guests had arrived. "Well, thank you all so much for coming; it means so much for me that you took time out of your day to honor my... my lovely niece." Sarah said, her voice shaking. At this, several of the people in the room lowered their heads respectfully. "To honor the memory of Ada Mata Collins, we will eat her favorite food ever, made by her loving mother, apple strudel." They all clapped, and one person even said "Hear, hear!"

When the strudel was dished up, Cecelia slipped away from the guests. She walked down the hallway and ducked into the room which housed Ada's ashes. She took a small doll out of her pocket and gave its faded blue and silver fabric a soft kiss, and whispered, "Ada, I know you'll hear this. I need to talk to you, soon."