Short Notice

Oakley's Perspective

"Crap."

Caspian then proceeds to poof. Like, he was gone. Nothing.

I guess it makes sense, I was in Hell after all, but I still don't like or appreciate this. I just want to live again. How much effort do I have to put in to get myself back alive? Well, apparently, it was a lot. Which sucked even more.

Anyway, now I was left with nothing but a bit of dust that Caspian left, and that ominous door that Jaylinn had went through. Maybe I could get to her through it. That could work I guess. Didn't have many other options, and I wanted to make sure she was alright.

I slowly aproached the door. It looks terrifying, even though I had no idea where it went...I guess that's kind of the thing that made it terrifying. The only thing I know about this door is that it apparently leads to Jaylinn's worse fear. I'm so excited.

I reach for the handle, only to see...nothing. It was pitch black. There was nothing around. Not even crickets, which is kind of the sound for nothing. I look around as I close the door behind me. There wasn't that much to see, obviously. But I was more scared of what could be lurking in the darkness than just straight up darkness. Imagine a killer, demon, whatever you think is scary, waiting for you to turn your back. It then slowly approaches you from out of the darkness, only to kill you. If that doesn't give you the chills, it sure gives me them.

But the thing was, as much as this was already terrifying already, my greatest fear is being entierly alone. Having no one. Nobody to help, nobody to even look your way. Autophobia, as some call it. I never really thought about it until my brother died. He was the only person who kept me calm. He always helped me. He was my only friend in life. Maybe I can see him one last time, since I'm dead. He'll definitely be in Paradise though. I guess I'll have to get there first.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I have to make it out of here alive before I start thinking too much about what's next. Or I guess whatever happens in here, since I'm dead.

I felt really scared. I didn't think a pitch black room could make me so scared. I really don't care if it's just dark, but when I don't know what's around—that's way, way worse.

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and started moving forward. I look at the beautiful scenery of nothing, as I tried my best not to have a nervous breakdown. It's harder than it sounds.

I had been walking for a good few hours. It was one of the worst things in my life, and the worst thing that had happened in my death so far. Torcher doesn't really make me feel the greatest.

I look and see something I didn't expect. I was really hoping I could find something like it, but I was losing hope so fast...
What I found was light. Like, actual light. It wasn't just darkness for once...There was something there...!

I run desperatly towards the light. Finally something to be excited about. I don't know what it is, but it's as if it can solve all my problems. That's the best feeling I've felt these past few hours.

I finally see what it is. It's—it makes me cry. Or at least, I'm holding back tears. Not of happiness, though. It hurts.

Jaylinn is stitting hapily with a boy I don't know. I shouldn't judge so harshly right away, but I couldn't help it. The boy was wearing the same thing as Caspian, so I didn't really have high hopes for what was to come.

The worst part is that I feel so, so jealous. Of course, even after I confess my love to her, she still won't give me a chance. I'm still not good enough. That's the worst feeling I've felt all day. Worse than dying, worse than being watched. I was alone again. Right when I thought we were actually going somewhere. It wasn't her fault, I understand. She might not even like the guy. But I couldn't help feeling a pit in my stomach.

I fall to my knees. Not on purpose, but because I had no choice. I couldn't stand. It hurt too much. The pain was literal. This never happened when I was alive, obviously. I assume this was just another way to torcher me. Make my love life literal, or I guess my feelings for her, and the pain when she doesn't like me back. This just added to my anxiety. I backed away, because I didn't want to be caught. I didn't want her to see me like this.

But the boy ruined my plans.

His yellow eyes started glowing for a second or two. "Who's there?" He demanded, standing up fast. I didn't make a sound. Or at least I tried.

Caspian had done the same thing a few hours ago with Jaylinn, so I knew he would find me anyways. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up, but it didn't hurt. I don't know if he did that on purposefully or not.

Jaylinn got up, approaching me slowly. "Who is it?" She asked the new guy. He just shrugged.

"Could you, like, I don't know, let go, please...?" I asked him as coldly as possible. Or I tried. I'm not good at that kind of stuff.

"Oh...sorry." He muttered, letting go as fast as possible. I brushed off my arm in annoyance, but at least this guy knew when to stop I guess.

"Oakley...?" Jaylinn asks, coming towards me. I nod my head, although I'm pretty sure she didn't see it. It was still dark.

She hugged me. Like, she wrapped her arms around me. I was dumbfounded. Even though I assume she's a hug kind of person, it still surprised me. I returned the hug with hesitation. She's so warm. I don't want to let go. But if I don't she might think I'm like a perv or something, which I didn't really want to happen, believe it or not.

"Where...how did you get here?" She asked, letting go of me. Or I guess, backing out of the hug...Whatever you do when you finish a hug.

"I, uh, walked around aimlessly for hours, haha..." I say awkwardly, fumbling with whatever I could find. It was my sweater in the end.

"Oh. That must've sucked..." By now things were getting more and more stupid. I just wanted to run back into the darkness. As much as I liked being around Jaylinn, I couldn't handle this. This was a whole new level of embarrassing myself in front of my crush.

"Uh, hi..." The new guy said, stretching out his hand towards me. "Asher..." He says, in the most monotone voice imaginable. As he looks at me with those sad eyes, he for some reason reminds me of my brother. Maybe it's his jaw line, his eyes or something, but I just saw it for some reason. Although the mask he was wearing really didn't let me get a good view of him.

"Oakley," I give my hand in return. Asher doesn't really seem like a bad person, but that doesn't mean I like him. I still don't trust this guy. Like, Caspian's a douchebag, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who kind of thought he was nice at first. Just a bit useless, I guess. Nope. That's not what happened at all. I didn't want the same thing to happen with Asher.

I let go of his hand, taking a step backwards. Asher points behind me in distress I guess and I swiftly turn around. There were piercing eyes following me. They were neon purple, and they definitely didn't look friendly.

"So, um, what do we do now...?"

Hi. Cringe warning. This is one of my least favorite chapters. I didn't really have any plot points other than I wanted Oakley to meet Asher I guess. It's very fast paced, sorry about that. I just didn't really know how to end it. It was getting a bit long, and I want to make all of the parts somewhat consitent, so you can ignore the chapter if you want. Anyway, I want to make animatics for this story, which will give you the characters backstories, since this story won't really do that. Those will take awhile, along with my pride month book. So the updates for this book will be quite slow, but I'll try to get one out every few days. Maybe those ones will be better than this one.
(Hi. I just finished editing. Took like, two hours...at least now it's not as bad, but it still sucks, so...)