1 Chapter 1: Prologue - Tear Cafe

I wished for death.

It all starts with excruciating pain. Black flowers combust out of your eyes, mouth, nose, and blow out holes into your body, flowing out like a leak in a dam. The process is silent, it's the victim who makes the noise, with deafening shouts of sheer agony. Soon, the body crumbles into dark jet-black ash, and all that's left is a pool of flowers, ash, and blood. All in a few seconds.

I can't control it, and I wish I could stop it.

Time moves forward continuously, and the past is constantly weighing one down. It should not be like this. The past should not be a burden, rather, a decision-maker for the choices in the present moment. All to enforce the wanted future.

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A thin bright yellow line sits on top of the towering skyscrapers, the only warm color in a deep dark blue sky. The sun's going down, it's getting late. Cloud-like puffs come out of my mouth as I exhale.

The weather's a tad bit too cold for this autumn season. Flashing neon letters contrasts this gloomy city's atmosphere here. One of them is the one I take notice of, "Tear Cafe", the bright illuminated sign reads. I walk into the lively cafe, and a lightly caramelized nutty, milky aroma floats gracefully into my nose, as I inhale deeply, appreciating the smell.

Looking around I see a busy, but peaceful cafe full of students, the only thing falling into my ears is a clicky-clack noise, from laptops on every table- but one. I order a mocha coffee, one of my favorites, and sit at the last available table. I take out my laptop and place it on the clean, almost sparkling, birch table. Then, I open my laptop. One of the hinges on the laptop is loose, from an unlucky tripping incident, so I open it slowly. The white light from the screen flashes, it's on. But it's the last thing I'll see for a while.

I hear an ear-breaking metal scraping noise, and the fog around me thickens and thickens, till all is charcoal black. Then silence. No more clicky-clack noises, and no more light. I must've fainted for a while because waking up, I felt my muscles stiff and aching.

Around me there is nothing. Nothing at all. I don't see anything, and I pry my eyelids open further, checking if I was closing my eyes. I desperately try to run around, what if I'd lost my eyesight somehow? That'll be a pain. Just then, I see something, proving my theory wrong.

In front of me, a white glowing screen appeared and startled me. My reflection on the screen had a young boy with near golden eyes and thick messy black hair with a dazed look stuck on his face. My own reflection was staring right back at me.

Wondering what this neon white thing is, I reach for it, but my hand passes right through. To be frank, I'm confused, duh. Black letters fade into my sight, and rearrange themselves on the top of the white glowing rectangle to form the words "Theo Tryl". That's my name. Theo Tryl. I never liked my name. It doesn't flow off the tongue.

Am I in a psycho dream or something, or is this the afterlife? I never thought they used names in the afterlife, seeing how common having the same name as others is.

Before I could think of another possibility, the black world I was already used to flashed white, over and over again, and the only dark thing during these flashes were the thick bold words "The Game Has Started. Transfering Now." which were close to my face.

I've played lots of games, I love games. But right now I'm not enjoying it as much.

I'm a little scared boy in a teen body. Images flash through my head, a blond-haired girl swinging with me in a lonely park, an adult, my dad, coming home tired, and my brother punching me in the face. Though some memories are unwanted, I still worry, unable to accept leaving.

The flashes ended with a flash brighter and whiter than the sun, which engulfed my body. Rubbing my eyes from the strain, a lush green scenery takes its place in my eyes. With a vast blue sky, and green grass tickling my ankles, I realized I was in a grass field. Still tired, I looked around for any sign of life or something that could help me, anything at all.

There was nothing but grass around me. Squinting my eyes, I took notice of the other trees all around me, surrounding me, though far away. I'm surrounded by trees. The bright yellow sun rises above the trees, just managing to press its warm light on my face. It's beautiful, but where the hell am I?

And I still haven't gotten the mocha I've ordered... Maybe that's why I'm so tired.