Dead or Alive, Lonely or Loved

[4] Elysium

3: Elysium

            I found myself seated in the middle of the room while the guy in black as walking around me.  I felt like he was measuring me up like a lion would to a prey.  He pulled Madge aside and whispered but I could hear them.

            “I sense pain from him, are you sure he well?”

            “Yes, my lord, he told me he was sore but well enough to leave his room,” Madge said in a respectful manner.

            “I see, he managed to survive the crash and the water, I was afraid I could have been too late.”

            ‘So it is the river man’ I thought surprised.

            The guy chuckled, “River man, that is a new nickname,” the man straightened up and turned towards me.

            “I am Prince Kale, and you are in Elysium.” He said powerfully.

            “Elysium… your majesty?” I added quickly.

            “Underworld?” I asked stunned.  “Hahaha, you can stop with the jokes now, haha very funny,” I laughed,

            Madge and Kale looked at each other with a somber expression.  Kale grabbed my upper arm and gently pulled me up and rushed the red curtain that covered a window.  He pushed the drapes aside and I gasped.  I saw a landscape that was dark green with ominous trees some with leaves and some without.  There was mountains in the distance, but the thing that shocked me the most was the sky, it was blood red, there was no sun no blue sky just endless blood red sky with black clouds drifting slowly forward.

            “Welcome to Elysium,” Kale said.

            “Am I dead, is that why I am here?” I blurted out near tears.

            “You are a wraith, Andy.  I come to understand that wraiths means demonic ghost in the human world. However, you are neither living or dead, but both.  What is what a wraith is.”  Kale said closing the drapes.  “Come, walk with me,” it was an order but a suggestion as well.

            I took a deep breath and walked along side with Kale.

            “You see the wraith, is both living and the dead and Elysium is part of hell but not the horror type.  If you placed your hand over your heart, you won’t feel it beating, but yet you walk, breathe and remain warm as if you were still living.”

            I felt my chest and what Kale said was true, my heart was no longer beating.

            “So I died in the water,” I said mainly to myself.

            “Yes, you did,” Kale said.

            We walked in reasonably silence.

            “Don’t despair just yet, being a wraith also comes with choices,” Kale added and continued, “Like I said you are both dead and alive, the choices are you can return to the mortal world as completely alive, you can remain here in Elysium for eternity.”

            “Can I go to Heaven?” I asked.

            “That would have been a choice but you killed yourself, and Heaven is no longer an option. I’m sorry.”

            I nodded, “It was my choice and by rights I have to suffer the consequences,” I said softly.

            “You have choices, yes but you must complete what you failed to do in the mortal world.  No one knows what that is, only you.”

            We stopped walking and I saw that I was in front of my room.

            “Do not worry, Madge will take care of whatever that you need.  For now, rest.”

            “I don’t know if I can rest, with my mind running 100 miles per hour,” I complained softly.

            Kale leaned really close and breathed, “Rest,” and kissed my forehead.

            His soft cold lip pressing against my forehead and I felt a power seeping into my mind and I let out a soft moan and slumped against him my eyes drooping.  I felt arms around my waist lifting me and I floated into unconsciousness.