The Island: Afterlife

I

The sky was red.

That was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. Why...? I couldn't find the words to complete that question in my mind. Where... Am I? For some odd reason I couldn't explain, I reached my right arm straight up and clenched my firsts. I slowly opened my hand and turned it over to stare at my palm for a while before slowly lowering it back to the ground and only thinking of nothing as I continued to stare at this red sky.

I don't know how long I was laying there. It must have been a while though since the question thrown at me indicated it.

"Hey! How long are you going to stay there?" A female voice yelled at me.

"Huh?" I used my elbows to prop myself up and got up to a sitting position.

"You're slower than most. No surprise since the way you died seemed to be more painful than most."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow at her statement. It threw me off guard.

She approached me and knelt down to make direct eye contact with me. Her brown eyes stared at me with sympathy and pity as she delicately brushed my left hand. The wind softly blew her short brown hair and almost tickled me. "It's okay. These are memories that are better forgotten."

"Who...?" I couldn't finish the question.

"My name is Rose. Well, that's what they called me when I was alive." She got back up and dusted off her knees. That's when I noticed that I was sitting on sand.

I glanced to my left and noticed a lake. In the far distance was what seemed to be a large group of trees. "When you were alive..." was all I managed to say.

"Yes. When I was alive."

I looked down at my left hand and noticed traces of red on the sand. Blood? I slowly turned over my hand and saw a wound.

It was a gaping gash on my left wrist. It looked deep and fresh. The dried blood was still red and overflowing the open parts of the cut. I could only gasp at the sight and cover my mouth with my right hand.

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I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't.

I knew that they would be angry if I did this. I gripped the blade in my hands and tears slowly started to form in my eyes.

"I'm sorry." I brought the knife down and slowly dragged it across my wrist.

My vision was slowly becoming blurry from the tears, but I didn't bother to wipe them away. I set my hand into the tub of warm water and watched as my life was draining away. The red clouds that came from my wound merged into the clear water and slowly turned it from pink to a dark shade of red.

It didn't hurt. I could hardly feel the sting of the cut. Probably because I'm already dead.

Drowsiness was overcoming me and I wasn't fighting it. I leaned my head over on my shoulder and closed my eyes, begging for it all to end.

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Sudden tears were falling from my eyes. Some fell onto my black shirt and other rolled down my cheek onto the top of my neck. I lifted my right hand up to slowly brush them away and took a deep breath.

"Do you remember?" Rose asked me.

I opened my mouth to speak and hesitated for a bit. "...Yes," I almost whispered. The tears weren't stopping, but I wasn't hyperventilating yet. I turned my head to the side so Rose wouldn't see some of the tears.

She walked knelt down in front of me and stuck her hand out. "Here."

I quickly wiped the tears off my face and accepted her help up. She didn't let go of my hand.

"I won't ask you any questions. Just know that you're in a different place now. Those things can't hurt you here."

I wanted to reply to her. I tried to speak, but instead sobs escaped my mouth and I used my left hand to cover my mouth. I remembered about the blood and removed my hand.

Rose's voice stayed stable. She didn't seem too fazed about my sudden change of emotions or my appearance. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" She began to walk. She didn't let go of my hand so I was slowly following her footsteps while trying to accept everything around me.

"I-I..." I was stuttering. Rose stopped and turned her head around to look at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Was I a disappointment?" As soon as those words left my mouth, new tears started to form in my eyes. I knew she couldn't answer that question for me. I just wanted some sort of comfort, if she was able to give me any.

She let out a small sigh. "No... I don't think you were." She turned her head back around and proceeded to walk again. I followed her like a lost puppy.

I didn't observe our surroundings much while walking. The only thoughts going through my head was what my family thought. What the others thought. What everyone else thought about what I did.

I could almost picture the scenario going on.

"She was a bother anyway."

"Choosing the worst way to go... a weakling."

Maybe that's what they were thinking. Of course. I'm an idiot that chose this route to get out. Why did I? I'm a stupid, weak brat that couldn't handle the pressure and chose the easy way out. I don't deserve to be here. I deserve to be truly dead. My soul or whatever I am right now shouldn't be at this place. I should be in hell for being such a bother. Such an annoying person.