The ground is cold, hard and damp beneath me, but I’m not in any pain which is odd because I clearly remember being stabbed; the blood, the pain all of it. Not that I’m complaining about not being in pain it’s just odd, that’s not the only thing that's odd, the ground I am laying on feels strange. I should be laying on a combination of dirt and snow; mostly snow, but I’m not it’s too hard to be snow. Rubbing my fingers against it, it feels like cobblestone, cobblestone that wasn’t well maintained. The air around me smells wet and not in the good way like how the air smells after it rains. No, this smelled musty and decaying. I had a feeling I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Then as if my thoughts had manifested a strange voice said, “You’re not supposed to be here.” I sit straight up and look around. Standing before me is a very tall, hooded figure, but that was the only description I can give; there were no facial features, and I couldn’t tell if it was man or woman, nothing just tall and hooded. “You don’t belong here.” it spoke again; its voice was strange both young and old, feminine and masculine, deep and high, raspy and smooth all mixed together to create one voice if that makes any sense at all. “Where exactly is ‘here’ and who are you?”

“I am Death, and this is the city of death; one of the many realms of the underworld.”

“How did I get here…am I dead?”

“No, you’re not; someone made a mistake; the link to your body has not been severed. You must return to your body.”

“Ok, uh how exactly do I do that?”

There is a shifting in the energy around us, a gust of wind and suddenly a girl appears. She is kneeling in front of the cloaked figure in a show of respect. She is wearing a dark green cloak with gold trim, beneath the cloak she had on a navy blue dress and a long sleeve dark gray shirt underneath, brown leather gloves and black leggings and brown leather boots. She has long blond hair and green eyes. “You summoned me lord?” She said her tone nothing but respectful.

The hooded figure moves to stand in front of the girl; then its form began to shift; a celestial glow enveloped it and, in its place, stood a female Native American girl; her ink black hair was so long that it fell to about her knees, her skin was a beautiful unblemished bronze color. She looked ancient yet ageless, where she could be as young as 13 or as old as my grandmother. She was well endowed in the bust department; that’s when I realized something she was completely naked. My mind was screaming to look away, but I couldn’t. I was somehow to captivated to do so and then without thinking I said “Wait, so death is a girl?”

The Native American girl laughed; her voice was melodious. “I actually identify as non-binary and I can take any form I wish male, female, young, old and any race that tickles my fancy…” as they spoke their face shifted going from male to female, young to old and every race under the sun before settling back into the young Native American again, “this form is just my current preference.” they concluded before turning back to the other girl who was still kneeling. “Amaya this human soul needs to be guided back to her body in the living realm; I am going to open a portal to take her there in Summerland; you must guide her there; do so and I will consider shortening your probation.”

“With all due respect I am not a babysitter for wayward souls.” Amaya said sounding slightly annoyed

“Would you rather be demoted?” they didn’t raise their voice, honestly; they didn’t have to, the power that emanated from them was intimidating enough.

“I apologize; I didn’t intend to question your authority.” Amaya said easily cowed by the embodiment of Death themself.

“You are forgiven; see to it that she returns safely to the living realm. Make haste the portal will not stay open for long.” then with a flash of light and gust of wind the embodiment of Death was gone.

“Come on we better get a move on before the portal closes and your trapped here forever.” Amaya said standing up and walking away. I get up from the ground and have to jog to catch up with her. As we walk, I take in my surroundings; it looks like a ghost town ravaged by time. We are passing by an archway with a giant bell, standing beneath it is a black robed skeleton pulling on a rope attached to the clapper of the bell. When I saw it, I gasped in shock and fear walking closer to Amaya who rolls her eyes. “If they scare you, you’re not going to last here…don’t pay them any mind they are underlings; either low level spirts that refuse to fully cross over or Reapers who have been stripped of their status and rank.”

“Are there a lot of them here?”

“More than you may think; but just ignore them; if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you…like spiders.”

“Yeah, I’m not a big fan of spiders either, so can we get out of here, please.”

She gave a nod, and we continued on our strange journey. We passed more skeletal figures; some turned their heads as we passed staring at us with their empty eyeless faces. I tried to keep my gaze down focusing on watching where Amaya’s booted feet were going. We came to an ornate gate Amaya gave a push and it creeks as it opened. Beyond was what looked like a stone hallway. Amaya strode forward and I fallowed. As we walked through the hallway, I can hear many whispering voices and I could even catch what some of them said.

“I should have told him about the baby.”

“I should have apologized.”

“I wish I had visited my grandparents more.”

“I shouldn’t have broken her heart.”

“I should’ve taken that family trip I was always promising.”

“What is this place?” I asked.

“The Echoing Halls of Regret; many humans have regrets about something or another when they die; those regrets end up echoing here for the rest of eternity.”

“That seems really sad.”

“That’s because it is sad, to a human anyway.”

“It’s not sad to you?”

“I’m a reaper; and when you spend enough time severing links that ties the soul to its body not much fazes you anymore.”

Every time Amaya spoke to me it sounded like she was upset or annoyed at having to speak to; or explain things to me. “I’m getting the impression that you don’t like me.” I said.

“I don’t.” she said and honestly, I was a bit offended; she seemed to notice this because then she continued, “I don’t dislike you, but I don’t like you either...I’m just indifferent to you and if I sound unfriendly it just because I’m frustrated that I’ve reduced to … this, but if it gets me out of probation sooner than I can tolerate anything.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what are you on probation for?”

“I actually do mind you asking… let’s just say I made a stupid novice mistake that cost some people their lives.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that so opted to say quiet and I tried to ignore that echoing whispering of regret all around us. Finally, after what felt like ages, we reached a door.

Amara opened it to reveal a thick forest. The tress looked dark and foreboding and I could hear faint wailing; a keening of profound sorrow and as I stepped into the darkness of the trees, I felt melancholy and grief like I had suddenly lost everyone I loved. The further I walked the greater the feeling became until I ended up collapsing to my knees sobbing. I didn’t even know why…why I felt so much sadness all of the sudden; it made no sense, but it didn’t make what I felt any less intense. I hear Amaya curse nearby “Damn it!” she said kneeling in front of me. “Look at me human, you are letting the sorrows of this forest get to you, but you must fight it, or you will be lost to it forever, so you need to get up and keep going.”

“I…I ca..can’t.” I choke out through my tears.

“You can… you must.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not giving up on you.”

“No... I mean…why do I…feel… like this?” it was difficult to speak through my sobs, but I somehow managed it.

“It’s this place; we are currently in The Forest of Despair; it provokes sorrow and the longer you are here the stronger the sorrow grows until you feel hopeless...you can’t give up and let the forest claim you.”

I knew she was right; somehow the truth of her words penetrated the haze of anguishing misery. “I am going to need some help.” I admitted.

Amaya signed and reached her hands out to me; I take them, and she helps hoist me to my feet. She puts one arm around my waist, and she positions one of my arms across her shoulders.

“I won’t allow you to stop walking or fall down again.” she said, and we continued our trek through the forest.

Eventually the trees opened up to be a field of tall grasses, not green and vibrant, but the color of old parchment, swaying in a wind that seems to carry a sigh of disappointment within its currents. The air feels thick with untapped potential of paths not taken and passions not pursued.

Wishes that never came true fall like ash and cover the ground, crunching under foot like black snow.

Forgotten hopes shimmer in the air like a heat haze. There are illusions shimmering in the distance the ghosts of dying dreams best left undisturbed.

“Where are we now? I asked.

“The Fields of Unfulfilled Dreams. Woe betides the traveler who lingers too long, for the Field feeds on longing, whispering promises of second chances while stealing the strength to pursue them.”

As we traversed the land spectral figures, shimmering with the faint glow of forgotten desires, drifted through the barren landscape, their mournful eyes reflecting the emptiness of a future that never came to pass.

“Is there any place here that isn’t like…depressing?”

“Our destination Summerland isn’t so bad; in fact, it’s the closest thing to heaven I have ever seen, but that’s because it’s like heaven adjacent. There’s a bridge there that appears sometimes; apparently heaven is on the other side, but I can’t say for sure reapers can never get past the halfway point. To us whatever is on the other side of the bridge just looks like really bright light.”

“If it’s that nice then I can’t wait.”

“For right now let’s just focus on our next destination.”

We eventually come to what looks like a wall of shimmering mist so thick that you couldn’t see what lay beyond it. I thought I caught glimpses of shadows moving within it, but they would disappear just as quickly as they would appear so I couldn’t tell for sure if what saw was really there at all.

Amara strode confidently into the mist and since she was still holding onto me, I had no choice but to walk in beside her. The mist was thick like fog or smoke, and I couldn’t even see a few centimeters in front of me; if it weren’t for the fact that I could still feel her arm around my waist and my arm across her shoulders I probably would’ve lost track of Amara. Her presence was a comfort to me; without her I would have felt isolated, alone and afraid.

The mist began to thin, and we were in what appeared to be a valley.

There where people wandering aimlessly around us; then one began to approach us.

“Look down; don’t meet its gaze.” Amra warned.

“Why?” I asked yet averted my eyes to the ground all the same.

“We’re in The Valley of Lost Souls; if you meet their gaze you become like them; wandering in the mist aimlessly forever; lost in this place…come on we need to keep moving.”

We eventually made our way through the valley, and when it opened up, I could see what looked like a city ahead, but then tall walls rose up all around us.

“We need to turn back.” Amara said, but then a wall rose behind us blocking our path. “Shit!” She cursed.

“What now?” I asked thinking out loud.

“This is The Labyrinth; it appears at random; never in the same spot. It’s designed to keep souls trapped inside.”

“Are you saying that we’re never goanna make it out of here?”

“No, I’ll get us out just keep sticking close; if we get separated you will be stuck here forever.”

“What kind of things are we going to encounter in here?”

“Not a clue; I don’t know anyone who has ever made it out before.”

“Oh, perfect that’s super reassuring Amaya.”

“Nobody ever said this was going to be easy and I didn’t sign up for this; trying to help Humans is what got me into this mess in the first place.” she said as we began walking.

“What do you mean?”

“Reapers are given a book with names, dates and times, along with a cause of death… there was this girl Lucy was her name. She was 16 years old; young and vibrant. She was walking to her car after going to the movies with some friends when an older man who; unbeknownst to Lucy had been stalking her; approaches her. She doesn’t know this man so when he asks her out, she refuses. He was supposed to kidnap, rape and murder her, but I couldn’t bring myself to let her die that way; she didn’t deserve that, so I quickly wrote down the man’s name and time and the cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage. He died instantly right in front of her. She was really shaken up by the whole thing.”

“Near death experiences do that to a person.” I said.

“Well, she wasn’t paying good attention while she was driving; ran a red light and crashed into a car with four teenaged boys. She died on impact; two of the boys did too; the other two died later in the hospital. So instead of one person dying, six people died. If I had just done what I was supposed to, those boys would be alive today.” she told me as we walked.

“There’s no way you could have known that; and at least that man is dead so he can’t hurt anybody.” I reasoned.

“It doesn’t matter, and I knew changing the course of events would have ramifications; it’s that whole butterfly effect thing, you know one little detail and everything is changed.”

We are quite for a long time after that.

“Amaya, if it’s any consolation I am grateful to you for guiding me through this place.” I finally say breaking the oppressive silence.

“I suppose you’re not the worst soul I could be stuck with for a while.” she replies.

I smile at her, and she smiles back.

“You look really pretty when you smile; you should do it more often.” I say.

She just stares at me awhile with a bewildered expression before she replies “Thanks.”

“You are acting like you have never been given a compliment before.”

“I haven’t; not on stuff like that anyway.”

“Well now you have.”

“You have a nice smile too.”

“Aww, thank you.” We started laughing for some reason, honestly it was probably all the tension that had been hanging over us the entire time just taking its toll, but it felt good to laugh right now.

As we continued on through the Labyrinth, I thought I saw something; like a shadow that I could barely see in my peripheral vision; darting in and out of sight and it made me nervous. There was a high-pitched yowling sound that echoed around the tall walls.

“What is that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I really don’t want to find out.”

The shadow continued darting in and out of sight and every few moments we could hear the yowling, and it seemed to be getting louder… closer. We quickened our pace a little every time we heard it. Suddenly a black furry creature bounded down in front of us; Amaya and I both screamed clutching onto each other. My eyes were closed in fear until I hear a curious sounding “meow?” I open my eyes to find a black kitten sitting in front of us with its head tilted staring at us, its eyes wide and full of wonder and attentive inquisitiveness.

“A cat? Are you seriously fucking with me right now? We are practically jumping out of our skins over a cat.” Amaya complained loudly.

“Actually, I think it’s only a kitten; it’s too small to be fully grown.” I say walking up to it and holding my hand out and after giving an investigative sniff rubs up underneath it before going over to Amaya and winding around her legs. “I think it likes you.” I say to her.

“Well, it really shouldn’t.”

“Too late; cats choose who they want to like and get attached to and you see that thing it’s doing? Winding around and rubbing against your legs? That’s how cats show affection.”

Amaya kneels down and scoops up the small fuzzy creature. “I suppose we can’t leave you here, can we?” She said to the cat.

“Certainly not.” I agreed.

For some reason having the kitten with us made the Labrinth seemed less intimidating, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to navigate. After the seemingly endless twists and turns and after hitting multiple dead ends, we somehow managed to make it to the exit and so we entered the next leg of our journey.

We were walking toward what looked like a great city with lots of skyscrapers and big buildings; a sign read ‘Welcome to The City of Shadows’.

“Alright this should be the last leg of our journey.”

As we walked, I noticed the multiple shadows milling around some looked something close to human, others could be animals, others were indistinguishable, but I tried to ignore them. I just wanted to get home at this point. It didn’t take long before I could see bright light ahead and I ran towards it, running out into a vibrant field with filled with flowers of every color and shape and the sun felt warm on my face. The black kitten leapt from Amaya’s arms to frolic among the flowers.

“It’s like a perfect summers day here.” I said.

“That’s why they call it Summerland; now come on time to get you back to your body.” said Amaya leading me to what looked like a shimmering hole in the fabric of the universe filled by a swirling vortex of color and wind.

“So, what do I do?” I asked.

“Just walk through and the link to your body will just draw you right back in.”

“Will, it hurt?”

“Well, that depends, what do you remember before ending up here?”

“I was stabbed.”

“Oh, sweetie I’m pretty sure you will probably feel pain.”

“I’m not looking forward to that and having to deal with my PTSD again.”

“Actually, the PTSD will probably be gone; coming here is kind of like hitting a reset button for some things.”

“That’s a relief actually.”

“By the way, if you are able to see things that you weren’t able to before, then don’t be surprised.”

“What kind of things?”

"Just things… you know what it doesn’t matter you won’t remember this conversation anyway; or any of this really… trust me that’s for the best.”

I wanted to press her for more answers, but decided against it.

“So, this is goodbye?”

Amaya smiled at me. “No, it's just until we meet again.”

“I guess I'll see you then.”

“Hopefully not for quite some time.”

I gave a nod, took a deep breath, and stepped into the portal.

I feel pain; it’s the first thing that registers; it’s coming from the right side of my stomach near my belly button and radiates outwards.

I am lying in something warm and soft… a bed, if I had to guess its most likely Draya’s bed.

I open my eyes which took way more effort than it should have. I can feel a pressure on the side of the bed and turn my head to see Draya; she’s in a chair but is slumped over onto the bed asleep. I smile it’s a rare thing to see Draya asleep; she doesn’t tend to sleep very often; mostly because she no longer requires sleep and can only feel mental and emotional fatigue, but given the hell we just went through it wouldn’t surprise me if she was exhausted. Draya’s head is pillowed on her arm, her other arm is outstretched her hand gently clutching mine. I curled my fingers around hers and give it a squeeze.

That simple act seems to jolt her awake.

“Sarah, you’re ok oh thank God!”

“What happened?” I asked my voice a little hoarse and weaker than I expected.

“What do you remember?”

“Stabbed.” I answered.

“Yeah, you were stabbed by Hanna, but Elijah stitched you up and with the vampire saliva it should be completely healed up by tomorrow morning.”

“How long… have I…been out?” I said have some slight difficultly speaking for some reason.

“A day.”

“A day?”

“Yeah, I’ve been so worried that I was going to lose you, you can’t keep scaring me like that anymore or I’m going to have a heart attack.”

“Not possible… you’re a vampire.” I said.

“I don’t care, you just…I can’t bear it if I lost you okay.”

“You won’t…death cannot stop true love…”

“All it can do is delay it for a while.” she finished the quote from The Princess Bride.

I smile at her.

“I just hope we never have to put it to the test.” she said.

“Me too…I love you.”

Draya doesn’t say anything and just pulls me into a hug.

I gasp because for the second time in my life I see Shaylyn is standing in the background smiling this time she is wearing a simple white button up shirt with a black knee length skirt and knee high stockings with black leather shoes

She puts her finger to her lips in a be quiet sign.

“What’s wrong?” Draya asked when she heard me gasp.

“Nothing, I just pulled my stitches a little.” I lied; I blink, and Shaylyn vanished.

I sure as hell did not hallucinate that.

THE END...TO BE CONTINUED

Another cliff hanger...well sort of. The next chapter is super short and is mostly just there to set up the next chapter and give a bit of information; the title is The Spirit I See, The Love She Lost. It’s finished now I just need to edit it. The reason this took me so long is because my beloved has been in the hospital and for a while it was looking super grim, but he has improved a lot and hopefully will be able to go home soon.

Sorry for any spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes it's not my strong suit

I would like to dedicate this story to my boyfriend who is currently in the hospital recovering from a very bad infection seriously he almost died; his heart stopped twice!

I love you baby now always and forever !!!

💜🖤😍🖤💜