2 No life, No way out

It was so very cold, and so alone.

Laying there in the darkness and void, a figure of a male could be seen. His body pale and transparent, emitting a bluish hue lighting up the surrounding nothing around him. The boy's short black hair waving gently behind his head, like a slow breeze on reeds. The body gently drifted into the black, his figure and face expressing nothing, but a transcendent peacefulness that exudes throughout the void.

" I feel so light. Where am I. Who am I." Grant tried to open his eyes, but there was a disconnect. Like his body didn't know the concept of eyes; therefore, there were no muscles or tissue to command, leaving Grant even more confused. Now he tried moving his limbs, thinking and picturing in his mind what a body looked like. With great concentration, and all the focus he could muster, an image of a finger slowly started building.

The image was like a sketch at first, than an outline, and soon the form started to be filled in. The image started building on top of itself, wrinkles from skin begin forming, then a knuckle, topped off by a fingernail. As if on cue, right after the finger was built a hand formed, appearing in his mind like ink absorbed in paper.

Recognizing it right away, a word popped up in his mind. " Hand, this is a hand." After those words entered his consciousness a surge of energy struck through his being. A picture of a body washed into his mind's eye like a tidal wave. The image was not just a body, Grant knew that face, knew that body, that was him.

This whole endeavor mysteriously left Grant feeling unbelievably tired. The image in his mind solidified and started to be more concrete till exhaustion over took. Grant finally found himself. With sudden realization, he said to no one in particular," Shit, I think I'm dead." Soon after he blacked out.

Time was something immeasurable in this place. By the time Grant woke up again, he entirely lost track of how long he has been here since his first thought in this place.

Grant grasped his hand into fist, then slowly started to spread his fingers out fanning them back and forth. Grant could now move. " Oh wow, you don't know what you missed till it's gone." His hands reached up to touch his face.

His eyes at last fluttered open as he gazed at the unknown. Looking down at his own body he started waving his arms back and forth while making sure all the important bits are still attached.

" Alright, whew, that is at least one thing I don't have to worry about. Although, it is a little bit worrisome that I can see through my arm, and I'm... glowing?" Looking around at his surroundings he came to a sound judgement, " I seem to be the only thing in here, and Jesus is it dark. I think I'm literally the only light source, which is one of those statements I never thought I would ever have to say."

" Okay, let's make a check-list. I'm most likely dead, explaining the weird right now, check. I seem to be, you know, conscious. Cool, there is an afterlife, although I have to say it's a bit dull and empty, check. I'm still Grant, I think, and I still have my memories." At that moment the memory of the night he died seared into his brain.

" Oh god, Tara. Shit, shit, shit! Is mom and Tara alright!? I have to get to them, I have to make sure they are alright."

Grant tried to stand up, but he was only successful in flipping himself end over end till he came to a stop. " I almost forgot where I was for a second. How the hell am I supposed to get out of here, I can't even control where I'm going."

With determination and will power, Grant ground his teeth together and transparent veins popping out on his muscles screamed with all his might

" MOVE, GODDAMMIT!"

His body as if it had a mind of its own streaked across the darkness like a shooting star, his body pulled along by his waist, while his bottom and top half bent back almost into a V shape. Grant immediately started getting nauseous from the force of the speed and had, I guess, "ghost tears" flying out of his eyes. Grant fumbling for the words after a few seconds screamed, " Stop, Stop,stop,stop,stop."

Right on cue, he halted in place, jerking his body back to an upward position. Grant immediately curled over and started dry heaving, since he was dead, he naturally had nothing to throw up, but crap how could a dead person still have motion sickness.

Wiping his mouth out of habit, Grant started to get ready again to move, this time no shouting.

" Alright, let's take this slowly. One figurative step at a time. I can successfully launch myself at the speed of light, so maybe I can, you know, start at 20 miles an hour and build from there."

I've got the feeling of it down, now it's just the control. Grant whispered quietly, " Move? Pleaseee?" Starting off slowly, Grant started to float forward, slowly building speed.

" Alright! I can get used to this, then I can build back up. However, let's decide the navigation here, hmmm, where to go?" Grant started looking around, after a while seeing that there was nothing not even a marker of a sort to go on, he felt a little lost. " Okay…, Since I'm travelling the abyss, might as well just pick a direction and go with it. How about that way?" Grant pointing out to a random direction, then gently floated on.

" I can get used this, Ha Ha, I now have the power of flight." As soon as his overconfidence shattered his cautiousness, Grant sped forward at a tremendous speed.

" Noooooohhh…" Grant blinked off in the distance.

After what seemed like a couple months, Grant finally had a sense of control and was rocketing through the void with ease. The only downside is there was absolutely nothing in here, no sound or sight of something, no exit sign, just an absolutely vast and empty space. Grant was starting to think a different approach was going to be necessary.

" I wonder if there is something I'm missing, if not, I think I'm trapped in here." That thought right there was just unacceptable to Grant, he could not help but try to get home, any other action to Grant was just pointless.

As vast as this void was, Grant couldn't help but think that he was always at the same place, no matter what motion or force he felt, being surrounded by nothing left his senses feeling confused.

While in deep thought on how to escape this craptastic place for the one hundredth time. A red like meteor the size of a bead slammed into his being. Flipping violently through the nothing, Grant had finally found something, or more accurately it found him.

After finally stabilizing himself, Grant looked down in bewilderment watching this red seed of some sort latch into the center of Grant's spirit body. An overwhelming feeling of warmth, which Grant has never felt in this cold dark place, started to expand in and out, almost like it was breathing. As much as Grant was scared of this little bugger that had invaded him, it actually gave Grant a sense of comfort.

The seed started small, but as if it just found the food it so desperately needed, tendrils started whipping out and lashing for more space. The comfort Grant felt was now gone, and in its place was the most intense pain imaginable.

The pain attacking Grant in waves had him huddled in a fetal position, leaving him gripping his arms so tight that he might just pierce through his skin entirely. After all his interaction with the void and the darkness so far, to just be replaced with this searing pain felt so unfair.

His soul was on fire. Burning up his existence, wanting to leave Grant with nothing.

Through the ebb and flow of the pain, a thought kept surfacing in his mind.

" Was this how I end?"

With whatever scraps of existence this afterlife had thrown to him, it now wants to take that away from him too. I feel indignant. Along with the pain, anger started to swell within Grant.

" This is bullshit. I was happy with my life, now the universe wants take my life, take my family, and take my existence, with no goddamn parting gift. The balls on this one. How about no? Where is my goddamn input, where is my choice?"

Grants spirit was now flaking away leaving cracks like highways traveling through his body slowly breaking him apart. Grant was scared now, sure there was the unending pain, that I can't even deal with, but now I'm disappearing.

The inevitable hit Grant like a ton bricks. With as much energy as Grant could muster he screamed.

" Fuck You!"

A burst of energy, like a wave exploded out of Grant. " Who gave you permission."

" I don't care if it's god, the universe, or the devil, show yourself coward! I WILL NOT BE DELETED!"

Grant was struggling to get up, his legs almost already gone and dissipated. His only fist raised into the void as if pointing someone, he promised, " First I'm going to dig this shitty thing out of me, then I'm going to escape this place, find my family, and tear that bastard who stabbed me apart with my bare hands."

In the distance a speck of golden light was shining, as if taunting Grant, who was in dire straights. A notion came over Grant at that moment, " This had better be for real, and not just some hallucination." Forgetting about the plan to rip out the the small red object in his chest Grant shot through the void going faster than he ever thought possible, his body still breaking apart, burning up leaving only half his face and a upper torso. The light still so far away.

Grant knew this was his only chance, make it or don't, there is no try. Moving this fast was like pouring gasoline on a fire, it only accelerated his demise. Time as meaningless as it was in this place, was running out for Grant. Now with barely anything left of grant, but an eye and a seed, the light was still out of reach. He let it all out at this point, better to burn up then to fade away.

Grant's eye blinked its last movement and saw its last image, then crumbled. Before the last speck entirely dissolved, That golden light that was growing ever bigger along grants suicide run, encompassed that paltry speck of grant. With chaotic force that couldn't be contained within the light started vibrating wildly, thruming sounds started building to a crescendo. Like pressure cooker, there only one thing for this light to do.

Explode.

A flash encompassed all, spreading its light throughout the void, and then, just as suddenly contracted, blinking away into nothing again. The light was gone, the seed was gone, and Grant was gone, as if all never existed in the first place.

Grant leaped out onto the floor of a room, hyperventilating he quickly scanned the room he was in. "The posters on the wall look familiar, that laptop on the floor is mine, I think. My bed, my television, my bookcase, my room."

" I'm home?" Grant started patting down his entire body from head to toe. " Holy shit, I'm alive. Oh wow. Oh thank god. What a messed up dream to have, what the hell was that all about?"

The sun was pouring through the blinds hitting Grant on his neck, making him give a sigh of content knowing whatever nightmare that happened was now over, a new day.

Picking himself off the floor Grant finally relaxed while he sat on his bed. At that moment his door opened.

" Oh, your up already. Well c'mon you little demon, I've got breakfast ready, wakey wakey eggs and bakey." She smiled to herself while walking away, leaving Grant's bedroom door open.

Grant got out his bed staring at the spot where the hallway connected to his room, utterly confused.

" I think this is my house, but who was that woman just now?"