Afterlife (Afterlife Saga)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Yes…be mine… Electus..... The chosen, my chosen one,” it uttered before a huge hand plunged out from the purple mist and encircled his fingers around my arm, encasing my limb in strong flesh and bone. He used his strength to pull me forward and I stumbled into the fiery heat of darkness until a solid band of arms captured me into an embrace, holding me locked to a concrete chest of muscle. I screamed out in fright as my eyes came up empty in the black air, relying only on the strong touch of a male.

  Once my tired lungs had me gasping for more oxygen to produce any more sound, the arms around me tightened possessively, pulling me even closer as the words of a very authoritative male spoke of his dominance.

  “MINE!” He shouted out as I felt my restraint slipping away into an endless abyss and my body collapsed into the arms of my dark possessor.

  Chapter 2 –Visitor

  When I finally awoke my mouth felt like I had swallowed a ton of sand. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. Wow, it was six thirty in the morning. I had slept nearly twelve hours for once. I got up and got out of my pyjamas. Libby must have helped me to bed yesterday, because I was pretty sure I wasn’t wearing my pyjama's on the plane unless I really had lost my mind and these days it wouldn’t have surprised me.

  I found my baggy jeans, my warmest sweater and changed as quickly as humanly possible before the cold could fully register. It was so cold that I could see my breath and as I walked over to the window I noticed the ice that had formed around the edges, like tiny white spiders trying to make their way to the centre.

  The cold however still seemed to penetrate my clothes and I couldn’t stop shivering. I thought that the chattering of my teeth was going to wake Libby and Frank it was so loud. I grabbed the throw Libby had put in the chest and wrapped myself up in it like a small child.

  I went to sit at the window seat of my quaint little attic room and curled up to keep the warmth in like a cocoon. I stared out to what I had expected to be a green mass of beauty but instead I found something totally different than the picture I had encountered yesterday. This looked as if it belonged in some horror film. I imagined werewolves or some crazed beast eating tourists. The headlines “Campers Missing” came to mind. The forest was surrounded by the thickest fog I had ever seen, but everything was so still it looked more like a painting. This just enhanced the eeriness. The way the early morning light reflected off the fog made everything a dark gloomy grey.

  Then my mind started to think about the day ahead. I had to plan my days like a timetable, never giving my mind chance to think back to darker times. Sleeping hadn’t been a problem thanks to the sleeping pills the doctor had prescribed, which also helped with the nightmares. But it was times like now, when there was nothing physical I could do, nothing to keep my mind concentrating on, that it wandered back to the past.

  I spent a long time trying to control my brain not to remind itself what it had been through. It was like when you wake from a bad dream and you try to get back to sleep, you keep telling yourself not to think back to the nightmare but it pulls you like a moth to a flame. Gripping the edges of your mind with black hands made from the darkest fears any sadistic creature could contemplate. And none of it makes much sense why it does this. I call them self-inflicting minds. The minds that seem to like the hurt and dwell on bad memories. I had been battling with my mind for so long now I felt almost crazy lost, but the fear of a padded room kept me from speaking to anyone fully on the matter.

  I decided to read Jane Eyre. I had read this book a million times before but I just loved the story, the forbidden love of master and governess. The thought of nothing but this unstoppable force they held for each other, a love so strong that it could call out to one another between space and time. OK, a crazy wife held up in the tower did get in the way a bit, but show me a love story that didn’t have its ups and downs. I always skipped to the part of the story where they meet for the first time and missed the depressing childhood bit.

  I must have fallen back to sleep because I woke suddenly when a knock on the door scared me into not remembering where I was. I hated that feeling but I knew that it wouldn’t take my brain very long to get used to its new surroundings.

  “Good morning!” Libby said with a cheery bounce to her voice. She was always happy in the morning. This was another trait we didn’t share. I was not a morning person.

  “Hey, what you doing over there? Surely the bed wasn’t that bad?” She teased.

  “Nah, the bed was great, but the chair’s got a better view,” I smiled then noticed what was in her hand.

  “You’re an angel!” I said as I jumped up and took the hot cup of tea from her hands. I took a sip and went to heaven. It felt good, warming me up from the inside as it slid down to my stomach.

  “Mmm…nectar.” This had been my only request before moving here. My mum was going to keep sending me a good supply of real English tea. I already knew from my sister’s complaints that this was hard to come by as most Americans drank coffee. So this rule suited her just fine.

  “So what do you want to do today?” Libby said this with hope in her eyes. I think she had been starved of a good shopping partner for far too long.

  “I’m easy, if you want to drag me around the shops, then that’s cool with me,” I said trying to sound as if I meant it. I didn’t take as much pleasure in shopping any more, but it made my sister happy.

  Her blissful face stared back at me and then glanced to my long sleeves. I instantly knew what she wanted to ask but she stopped herself at once, not wanting to upset me by asking difficult questions.

  Ever since the incident I hadn’t shown any skin on my arms. I just couldn’t bear the questions that would follow. And pity was not what I needed. So I kept my scars concealed at all times, it was bad enough for my eyes to have to see them as a constant reminder. At least in this cold place I could get away with it, with no questions asked. It was quite normal for everyone here to be wearing lots of layers to protect them from the bitter temperatures. So I would fit right in.

  “It’s fine, people won’t notice,” Libby said after reading my thoughts.

  “Thanks,” I said with a sad sort of smile that matched my very pale face.

  “Right, what’s for breakfast?” I said with loads more enthusiasm than what was needed. I was over compensating again for the melancholy in my voice earlier.

  “Umm, cereal, sorry I do need to go food shopping.” I giggled thinking that my sister’s idea of food shopping consisted of a quick rundown the frozen food section. At least if I went with her then I could get some actual ingredients.

  “Cereal is fine, and I wouldn’t say no to another cuppa,” I said giving her a cheeky grin.

  We had finally made it to Evergreen Falls mall before lunchtime. Libby took quite a bit longer to get ready than me. Of course, thanks to my new views on my appearance, I hadn’t needed to apply make-up and my long hair was always pulled back and tied up in a secure clip. I used to dress and look quite different, making the same effort as Libby did. But now I just wanted to fade away into the crowd and not draw any attention to myself.

  I had wanted to cut my long blonde hair short but this had been one promise I had made to my mother - never to cut it. She loved my hair, calling it her golden fleece. It was something I used to be proud of too, but all I wanted to do now was hide it away. So it spent every day knotted up into a big thick twist, instead of how it used to look, long and thick, golden blonde waves down to my waist. Libby used to say I looked like a surfer chick when I wore it down, even though I had never been surfing in my life.

  The mall wasn’t as small as it had looked from the outside, having all the usual shops from shoes, sportswear, formal wear and a funky looking alternative shop. Libby knew I loved shops like this so she automatically crossed to the other side of the mall, knowing I would want to go inside. It had all the usual stuff you would see in a shop like this, Goth, rock, punk and Emo. But the reason I liked these types of shops weren’t for
the clothes, although they were cool. No, it was for the fingerless gloves that Goths seemed to love so much.

  I walked over to the accessories and looked at my options. Libby didn’t look comfortable in a shop like this, but that was because she was a complete girlie girl. We had always been different that way. I liked the alternative look, never really following a fashion. Just wearing what I liked whether it was “in” or not. My favourite look had always been my pair of faded jeans and a fitted T-shirt. But now I was looking for a way to wear some of my short sleeve t-shirts without having to keep my jacket on.

  I picked up a pair of black and grey striped long gloves that could be classed as sleeves. They didn’t have holes for your fingers to go through but just a hole for your thumb, the rest of the material came down past the knuckles. This suited me just fine, the longer the better. I already had a few tops with sleeves like this. The thumb hole had always been a sort of comfort to me, like knowing that with my thumb securely in place, no one would ever be able to see the scars from my past.

  I grabbed another couple of pairs, one in plain black and the other in white and made my way to the counter.

  The girl behind the counter was tiny and almost elf like. She was skinny thin, as if you breathed too hard in her direction, her bones would shatter. Humans were so breakable after all. She wore all black, which made her bright pink hair stand out like a loud beacon, screaming for attention. The dark make-up around her eyes didn’t make her look as fierce as she had intended. She still looked very friendly as she smiled at me. The girl took my items with spotty black covered nails and rang them through the till.

  “Your new here, aren’t you?” She asked in a bouncy, friendly voice which didn’t match her appearance.

  “Yeah, I just moved here, yesterday in fact,” I said trying to disguise my strong, thick northern English accent.

  “Wow and you're English!” She replied. Damn it! I was going to have to work on the accent thing.

  “Yeah, my sister lives here too.” I indicated towards the door, where Libby was stood waiting for me.

  She looked at Libby and did a double take. Not ever imagining us as sisters, but we would have made unlikely looking friends too. We were very different, like chalk and cheese. The only thing we had in common were our figures. We were both five foot three with small frames and slim builds, which we had inherited from our mother along with our curvy top half.

  Libby hadn’t minded this so much as she did like to be admired, but not in a vain way. She wasn’t a big head by any means but after a long childhood of being picked on for the way she looked, she finally started to get her confidence back when her body matured. And she was a head turner. I didn’t really mind this either up until recently. I used be quite comfortable with my body, but now I just wanted to hide it away in dark clothes.

  The rest was completely different. She had natural curly, fire red hair and instead of the normal fair skin she was naturally tanned with a lightly freckled nose. This she got from our father. She had the most beautiful green eyes that looked more like jade stones or some deep lagoon you just wanted to jump into on a hot day. They gave a lot of insight into her character and her feelings.

  I, on the other hand, was naturally blonde and very pale. My eyes were a boring grey/bluish colour that looked more like the sky when there was a storm coming. They were big but the only thing about them was that they were framed with thick eyelashes that Libby would have given her right arm for. But that wasn’t the most outstanding difference between us. It was our clothes, which showed our difference in style.

  She was wearing a tight dark brown pencil skirt with tights and boots, which made her legs look great and the tight red sweater showed off her beautiful hourglass figure. When she had come down stairs, she had looked ready for a catalogue shoot not just a shopping trip at the local mall. I could see now why it had taken her an hour longer than me to get ready. Even when I used to make an effort it still didn’t take me as long.

  I was just wearing my usual comfy fitted jeans, a black long sleeved top and my scruffy flat baseball shoes that had seen better days. And of course no make-up what so ever. Luckily I did have fairly nice skin, even though deadly pale wasn’t the most attractive feature about it. I always looked as if I had just come from my crypt and didn’t care about the sunlight rule. Even the bright lights of the mall didn’t help. If anything they made it worse, reflecting off it. I shied away from the thought, getting embarrassed as this Goth girl studied me.

  “My name's Rachel Jane Thomas, but everyone calls me RJ!” She held her hand out waiting for my response.

  “I’m Keira...Umm Johnson, but everyone calls me Kaz.” We smiled at each other as we shook hands. I hated telling people my full name, always holding my breath until it came out right.

  “Are you at the college here?” I asked hopefully, as it would be nice to know at least one person before I started.

  “Yeah, I’m going to be a freshman in a couple of weeks.” Result! I thought enthusiastically. Ok, I’d better keep this going, just keep talking, maybe she would give me her number.

  “Great, me too, just wish I knew the area better.” I said hoping she would get my hint.

  “Well let me give you my number and we could meet up some time. Hey, have you been to club Afterlife yet?”

  “No, is that the one on the outskirts of town?”

  “Yeah that’s the one, loads of my friends go there, it will be a good place for you to meet some more people.” She was already writing down her number on my receipt as she had put my things in a bag ready for me.

  “Give me a ring tomorrow and I’ll let you know which night we're going there. That way I can introduce you to my friends.”

  “That will be great. Ok, well I'll ring you tomorrow then.”

  “Cool, nice meeting you Kaz.”

  “Yeah, you too.” I made my way to the door and turned to wave only to find her already on her mobile phone chatting away. I could have sworn I heard her mention my name.

  The rest of the day was more fun than I thought it would have been, and we even got chance to do some food shopping.

  I decided to make my famous lasagne. Libby looked lost following me down the aisles as I looked for all the ingredients I needed. I also picked more food for the rest of the week, already having some idea what I was going to cook. Libby just looked happy at the thought of not having to cook anymore and I say cook in the loosest sense of the word.

  By the time we got back to the house it was already getting dark, but if anything the falling night seemed to enhance the beauty of the surrounding scenery. I had really wanted to go exploring but that would have to wait until tomorrow. Although I wasn’t scared of the dark, I knew the idea of walking around a place I didn’t know would be a stupid idea. It was just so peaceful. If it hadn’t been freezing cold I could have sat out, staring at the mountains for hours. They fascinated me. Every time I looked, there was something different about them, the colours, the shapes and the smells of the air seemed to change with them. Just then the wind picked up and Libby looked impatient at me while I lingered.

  “Sorry, I’m coming,” I said rushing to the door with arms full of shopping bags.

  “I'll put the dinner in the oven, you go and relax.” Libby said with a wink.

  As we had lost track of time I had agreed to save the lasagne until the next night, and as I hadn’t prevented Libby from buying any frozen meals, that’s what was on the menu tonight.

  We had lunch out at the mall so I was still full from my burger and chips, or fries, as they say here. The girl at the counter had looked truly confused when I ordered; thankfully Libby had come to my rescue.

  “You nearly ended up with a bag of crisps,” she had teased.

  After our mammoth shopping adventure, Libby had taken a long detour to show me the town and although it wasn’t big it had taken longer than we had expected, taking the long roads winding in and out of the wilderness. That’s when I gave in to burri
tos from a packet, Frank’s favourite apparently.

  I carried all my bags up the two flights of stairs. I had done well today, ok well everything I had bought was a shade rather than an actual colour but I bought some warm tops, all long sleeved of course. I had bought a new pair of jeans, two sweaters and most importantly, a warm black jacket. It was a long coat down below the knees with a warm interlining and had long sleeves that were more like gloves as they had a hole you could put your thumb into. It had a big hood that hung nicely when down and above all it looked water proof which was a must as Libby had told me how much it rains here.

  It was fully dark outside my cosy window by the time I got out of the shower and dried my hair. I pulled on some warm sweat pants and an old t-shirt that I was using for pyjamas and a chunky woollen throw to put round my shoulders. I had put my long fingerless gloves on as soon as my arms were dry. This was mainly for my benefit, along with others. I hated any reminder of the incident, so therefore tried to hide any evidence that would remind me of the hell I had experienced.

  My sister’s face, whenever she saw my gloves, was one of deep sorrow and regret. She tried to hide her feelings but I knew her too well although I appreciated it all the same.

  I decided that I was tired enough to get some sleep without the fear of dwelling on the past. I had to confess that the shopping trip had taken it out of me, which was always a good thing.

  I had already heard Libby and Frank go to bed so I tried to tiptoe downstairs to get a drink before bed. I didn’t want to put the light on in case it woke them, which made getting down to the kitchen all the more difficult in the dark.

  I was just about to knock into the cupboard at the bottom of the stairs, when a sudden flash of lightning lit up every window in the massive hall illuminating my way. Of course it also scared the life from my bones and I froze, too terrified to move, with my hands clamped around my mouth so as not to scream. Then it came five seconds after the light, the loudest bang and crack of thunder I had ever heard. I put this down to the location, as it must have echoed off the mountains because it seemed to go on for what seemed like minutes. I remembered something vague from my childhood, about for each second after the lightning strikes, that the waiting for thunder represents a mile. So therefore the storm was five miles away. This was somewhat comforting.