Generation Gem

Inbetween

I woke up, stretching my arms and yawning widely. That was the best sleep I had gotten since I had graduated. It was dreamless, peaceful.

There were no dreams about authorities hunting me down or trying to hurt my friends. Everything was still and calm.

I looked around me, taking in my surroundings. My bed appeared to be a huge, squishy white mattress that felt like foam and went on as far as I could see. Above me, I could see only mist and occasional ocean blue sky when the mist cleared for a second. I stood up, feeling wobbly on the mattress, like I could fall at any moment.

As I looked down to steady myself, I noticed that my dress was the palest pink. It was long and floaty, like it was blowing in a breeze that wasn't there. It had delicate little shoulder straps. It was very pretty, but something seemed off. Something was out of place.

I gasped as I realised it wasn't the dress at all that was throwing me. It was me. I held up my hand in front of my face, gulping as the bright sparkles glittered off my arm. As well as the sparkles, I had a see through quality. I didn't look like a diamond. Diamonds were silvery and somewhat menacing in their own way.

I was translucent and glowing. I was floaty and soft, a reassuring, peaceful aura about me. I didn't know what was happening to me. I closed my eyes and tried to launch into the air, seeing if I could fly. When nothing happened, I was even more confused.

I walked along the squishy white foam, unsteady with every step. What happened now? It seemed pretty certain that I was dead. That I would never see Jamie and my friends again. I felt a tear fall down my cheek, but when I went to wipe it away, I couldn't feel my face. After walking for what seemed like hours, a twisted stair case appeared in front of me, sparkling gold. I couldn't see where it led to as it disappeared in the mist, but maybe I could find someone or something up there to tell me what was going on.

As I put my left foot on the first step, I heard a swoosh behind me.

"Cassie, don't walk up those stairs."

I turned around, shocked to see Drew in front of me. He looked different from when he had been in the Diamond Generation. He looked more healthy and glowing, somehow more at peace. His light blue eyes, nearly identical to his sister's, glistened in the mist.

"Drew? What...wha... where are we?"

He put his hand on my shoulder, smiling kindly. It was funny just how much he looked like Mel, the only difference was he had shorter hair and was very muscular.

"You are hovering between life and death. This is our in-between port."

I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head. I looked around me once more, not seeing anything but Drew and the staircase that I still had my hand on.

"So... I'm.... I'm not dead?"

He shook his head, dropping his hand down from my shoulder.

"No. But if you walk up that staircase, you will be. Walking up those stairs means you will never go back. You won't be alive anymore Cassie, you will be gone."

I frowned, feeling more confused than I ever had.

"But Drew... I...I want to go up the stairs. I have to."

He nodded in understanding.

"I know. But you have to fight it. Your whole being wants to go up the stairs, you think that you belong there. But you don't. Fight it. You still have so much to do in The Generations. You can't leave just yet."

I glanced up the staircase again, desperate to see the top. To see something other than mist. Despite his words, I still had a firm hold on the golden banister.