𝕒 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕
Juliet Miller leads a normal life with her family as a senior in high school. Just before she graduates, however, she dies.
She wakes up in a whole different world in a room that is completely foreign...
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When I wake up, Colton is still asleep. I can't tell how early it is, but I find myself stuck in a pattern of falling back to sleep and waking up a few minutes later. I don't know what else to do, I'm not comfortable going outside and risking coming in contact with the family that I hardly know, so I just stare at the ceiling waiting for him to wake up.
The problem with sitting in silence with my thoughts to keep me company is that I think about things that stress me out. I can't stop thinking about what Brooke is doing at this moment. If she's worried and stressed about me, then that would be horrible because I don't want her to suffer. If she was living her life in the Afterworld normally, it would be like I wasn't even important in the first place.
I wonder how training is going, how Tanner and Jack are doing with me being gone. I assume that the fact that I might never return to them is harder to deal with than being away from me. I worry about it too, being trapped in the Underworld like Nick. But as I get to know Colton, it eases my nerves. I trust that he would handle the Underworld pretty well.
I wonder if Nick even knows what was going on. Does he even know he's in the Underworld? Does he know about the Afterworld? Does he have any hope of getting out? Has he aged at all like people do in the Afterworld? I probably won't even recognize him ten or so years older, so that would make it much harder to find him. He would have to recognize me first because I look somewhat similar to when I was alive.
I also wonder what could possibly be so bad down there, in the Underworld. Maybe it isn't horrible and Colton was lying to me. That sounds like something he would do, make me nervous for absolutely no reason.
I know all of the pure souls are sent to the Afterworld, but where is the line drawn? What separates a pure soul from an impure one? I know serial killers and stuff are obviously sent down there, but how bad do you have to be to be sent to the Underworld? I mean Colton almost got kicked out of the Afterworld for covering up a scar.
"How long have you been awake?" Colton asks in a raspy voice.
"Not long." I reply flatly. I feel trapped in a negative mindset.
I hear him pull the covers off of him. "What were you thinking about?"
I'm surprised by the question. "When I was in the Afterworld I missed Earth so much. Now that I'm here, I hate it. I can't believe I miss the Afterworld. I guess it is as perfect as they say." I sit up and watch Colton get ready.
He laughs at my comment. "You are just in a bad part of Earth. The Afterworld, it's not perfect. It definitely isn't. You'll understand when you become a stage three."
My curiosity increases. "How so?"
"Even in the nicest places lurks corruption." He remarks, which sparks an interesting topic. "Earth is corrupt. The Underworld is corrupt. The Afterworld is corrupt. Corruption is inevitable anywhere you go. Some places have less than others." He explains while tying his shoes. I begin to put my shoes on, though I'm unsure of where he's planning on going.
