Chapter Twenty-Four

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His room is huge— it's basically like a penthouse

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His room is huge— it's basically like a penthouse.
"Wow." I can't help but say.

"My name's Carter. And yours?" He turns and faces us. Runs his hand through his hair. Crosses his arms.

"I'm Juliet and this is my friend Brooke." I reply, not really focusing on anything but the shiny countertops and large windows that display the city.

"What are you ladies after?" He sighs, sitting on one of his barstools that sat next to a marble countertop.

He has definitely had similar people come to his place before. Like Brooke said, I am just a number to him.

"My brother, Nick Miller, died a week ago and he's not here. He's in The Underworld. My mentor Stacy said that she was certain that he belongs here. We believe he was misplaced." I tell him. I practically memorized what I was going to say.

He leans his head against his arm and his elbow balances on his counter. It's charming, the way he's sitting like that. "I know your brother, Juliet. Stacy told me his name after I asked her. His case seemed interesting and Stacy is the most organized person I know. If she's sure that something is wrong, it would be smart to look into it."

I don't know why, but I trust this guy already.

"So I glanced at the attendance list for every single stage one. No Nick Miller. I looked at the list of people who had just recently died. Nothing there either. Then, I looked at the list of anticipated deaths. Those are just people who got into car accidents and stuff who are in the hospital waiting to pass away, sort of like you two." He smirks and my eyes widen.

"How did you know?" I ask softly, feeling the scar on my wrist.

"Stacy told me you were on the list. I also saw the little flame on your hand and the orange in your eyes because every person has an element of their death in their new eyes. Mine are blue, from freezing to death for example." I look at Brooke, who has a little speck of gold in her eyes. He's definitely right, I just never thought about it like that.

"Anywho, back to the list of anticipated deaths." He laughs at himself. His confidence is almost contagious, and his smile just adds onto the presentation.

"I checked the file for the past few days. Nothing. Then, I checked on last week's report. His name was on there. He died a week ago and was supposed to come here. His name wouldn't have been on there if he wasn't meant to come here."

"What does that mean then, is he definitely in the Underworld?" I interrogate, looking back at Brooke, who doesn't really seem to take much interest in this conversation.

"There are two scenarios that could have happened. One: he died and was misplaced into the Underworld. It hardly happens, but it could be possible. Two: your brother was hospitalized for something serious and was pronounced dead for a few minutes and during those exact minutes he was 'dead', Brooke glanced through the viewing portal. Once she was done, he came back to life. Both are incredibly rare, but there is a one in a million chance of those two events occurring at the exact same time. I'm afraid your brother is most likely stuck in the Underworld my friend."

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