Newborn Eyes

Hurting Soul

I open my eyes from the shock to find myself standing on something white and fluffy. I look around at my surroundings, realizing I'm no longer in the garden. The whole place is completely white and looks like it reaches on forever. I look down to figure out what I'm standing on. It almost looks like a cloud. "Where am I?" I say, hoping Tyler is able to answer.

To my dissapointment, he doesn't respond but a scroll pops up in front of me. I take it out of midair and read the following words: "Leave before you fall."

What? What does that even mean? Fall? Where am I going to fall to? I'm not able to answer before the cloud underneath me disappears. So that's what it meant by falling. I scream as I fall through the air and into a dark hole in the ground. I land hard at the bottom of the hole on what feels like solid rock. Well that hurt! I stand up slowly, hoping nothing is broken. I turn around as it looks like I am in room with a series of tunnels leading into darkness. Since I have no where else to go, I head down the tunnel to my right. The tunnel is so long and I've been walking for a long time that I wonder what everyone back at the house is thinking. Do they know I am gone? As I reach the end of the tunnel I see a horrific sight. There are skelotons that are alive and walking around and ghosts that are flying right through the walls. One almost flew through me! In the middle of the room is a pit of lava where the ghosts are dumping corpses!

I start running back down the tunnel. No! I don't want this! I want to live! I have to get back to the house! I stop for a second to catch my breath and think of a way to get out of here. I close my eyes and focus on the house. I think about the garden and my room and pray that this takes me out of here. I finally open my eyes, hoping that I'm not surrounded by ghosts to find myself looking up at Tyler's face. "What are you doing!?" I yell.

"Jeeze," he yelps as he takes a step back, "You don't have to yell! You passed out just like I knew you would. Luckily you weren't out for long."

"How long was I out for?"

"Just like a minute. It was nothing."

"It was nothing!" I yell, "I was in hell! Like literal hell! There were ghost and skeletons and tons of corpses! Oh god the corpses!"

I bury my head in my hands as Tyler stares at me, confused. "What are you talking about?" he asks, "Start from the beginning."

"I was on a cloud, maybe I was in heaven or something, and then I got this letter that said "Leave before you fall" but I didn't leave so I fell down into hell where there were the ghosts and skeletons and corpses."

"Are you positive that is what you saw?"

"Of course! I'm not crazy! I'm telling the truth!"

"I know, I know you're not crazy."

I look at him, confused, "Wait, what? You believe me?"

"Well yeah, I mean I know that's what you saw. I read your mind, looked at your thoughts."

"Wait that's your power? You can read minds?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't ever mean to pry into anyone's business so I don't do it often."

"So did you hear everything I was thinking earlier? When we met?"

"No, NO! Of course not! I only use my power on people when it's absolutely necessary. I would never look into someones mind without their consent."

"But you just looked into my mind without my consent!"

"I know, and I'm sorry but I had to see if you were losing it."

I stare at him in disbelief before asking, "Can I stand up now?"

"Sure just take your time, you may feel dizzy"

Tyler stands in front of me as I get up. I grab my head in pain as the dizziness kicks in. I sway a little before grabbing onto Tyler's arms to steady myself. "Careful, careful." he says gently.

He takes me over to the table, where I sit down. I stare at him as my head throbs painfully. He has a red bump on the right side of his forehead. "Did I do that to your head?" I ask, pointing at the bump.

"This?" he says pointing to the mark, "No this was when my brother and I were jousting yesterday."

I stare at him, confused. "Long story," he says, "Back to business, we should get you to my dad. He should know how to handle what you saw."

"How to handle it? Was this something that I wasn't supposed to see and now you're going to erase my memory?" I retort.

"Okay calm down" he says holding up his hands in surrender, "We're not going to erase your memory. We just need to check to see if this is your power."

"If this is my power? Falling from heaven into hell?"

"Come on," he says grabbing my hand, "My dad can explain this better than I can."

He helps me up and I take his arm as he leads me down the hallway. I feel like I'm about to fall and I clutch Tyler's arm harder. "Easy, you're still dizzy," he says.

Yeah no shit! No, I'm just clutching onto your arm because I want to feel your muscles. Please!

We continue down the hallway until we reach a huge marble door. Tyler knocks on the door three times before it slowly creaks open. We enter into an office with a high ceiling and a huge crystal chandelier. In the back of the room there is a wooden desk with papers strewn across the surface. In the chair behind the desk there is a man of about 40, staring at us expectantly. "Father, I would like to introduce you to Constance. We changed her into Xena yesterday." Tyler states.

I step forward timidly and reach out to shake his hand. "Ah yes I remember you. The stubborn girl." Ty's father says.

I rip my hand away and open my mouth to respond before Tyler stops me and steps forward. "Father, we were wondering if you could decipher a vision that Constance had. It's very interesting."

Interesting, that's one way to put it. Tyler explains my vision to his father and asks him if that is a power that the Xena have, seeing into heaven and hell. Tyler's father ponders this before saying, "I have heard of some Xena having powers like these but there is one problem."

"What problem?" I question.

"Well you see there have been other Xena who have visited heaven and hell like you did, but they were only there to get their power. So, if I am correct, since you ended up in hell last before awaking, I'm assuming that your power will have something to do with fire or the dead. Once you get your power, you will never be able to visit heaven or hell again. I am hoping for your sake that your power is fire related. The last Xena who had powers of death went crazy and they either died of suicide or are now kept in a psych ward. The government did not tell me what happened to her, in the end." Tyler's father explained sadly.

"Well then I have a fire power! I have to have a fire power!" I respond, freaking out, "I am not going to go crazy, I am not. I just need to find my power, I just need to go back to hell."

I squeeze my eyes shut as Tyler and his father yell at me to stop. Their voices are drowned out as I focus on finding the light behind my eyelids. I spot the light on the right side of my vision as I am shaken awake by Tyler. "Please tell me you didn't make it into hell?" he asks insistently.

"No," I answer, frustrated that he stopped me, "but I wish you would have let me."

I shove past him and storm out of the room. I am getting this power whether they like it or not!