2 Thrown Back

Everywhere she looked it was dark, no matter how far she ran or screamed there was just black in front of her. She couldn't tell how long she had been there or where she actually was. Somewhere inside of her she had realized that she had died but could not accept her unexpected end. Beyond her death she was confused where she was - heaven, hell, or the "other." What was she to know when all that was surrounding her was pure darkness with no one else to guide her.

A sudden heat made her look down towards her hands. 'What is this...' The strange feeling took over her body as a slow shimmer started to emit off her body. The glow was faint but gradually increased before blinding her. The quick escalation made her shut her eyes involuntarily to protect them from the glare. As soon as she did this she felt her body fall into the abyss. She could no longer open her eyes to even see what was happening, she lost complete control of her body as she dropped through the space.

The fall felt endless till her back roughly crashed against the ground. Pain spiked up from her back as her body lay in contact with something. Her lungs felt tight as she forgot how to breathe. It felt like her brain was not connecting with the rest of her to remember what it needed to do. It seemed ironic that as a dead spirit she would have to be worrying about her breathing.

Wiggling her toes and fingers she attempted to regain feeling in her limbs while coughing slightly. Each time she moved she felt slight resistance but felt unnatural.

'Was it supposed to feel like this?'

As she continued to struggle she felt a sharp pain in her head before a burst of air flew through her lungs. Her body jolted forward as she gasped for air. She tried to control her breathing before she thought to do anything else. Once her breathing went back to normal she opened her eyes and instantly closed them due to the harsh glare of the sun.

'Wait the sun?!'

Her eyes immediately reopened and her mind was immediately thrown into shock. It felt like back to back surprises and her mind could not process what was real or not. First she had died but now she was in her old bedroom from when she was alive. She was sure that she had died in the fire and from then on could only see darkness surrounding her.

If that was true, why could she see her old bedroom now?? Was this heaven?? Shifting in her position she glanced down to her body to confirm what was going on. Pinching her arm she felt a spark of pain from where she held on.

'What the hell!'

The pain felt too real for this to be a dream. Gripping the sheets in her hand she rubbed her hands against the soft texture. No matter how she rubbed she could feel every action clearly in her body. Jumping out of bed she moved forward to run towards her mirror when her body collapsed onto the floor. Her sore body resisted the quick actions, she felt like she had gone through hell. Every muscle screamed in pain as she tried to move. Willing up the strength she held onto the bed and got up again. Taking slow steps this time she made her way towards her floor length mirror. Standing in front of it a small scream left her mouth from her reflection.

'Is this me?!?'

Her hands rushed to her face and probed her skin. The mirror copied all her movements and she covered her mouth in fear. It seemed so real, everything that was happening felt like she was alive again but she could not bring herself to believe it.

'This must be a joke, this is a daydream or heaven. Yes....this must be heaven....' In her reflection she could see herself just as she was before she died, the only difference was that she looked slightly younger. She was murdered when she had just turned 23 but in the mirror she looked 21-22 at most. 'What was going on?!!'

A sharp knock resounded behind her as she turned to look at her door. The knock continued as fear crept up inside her. The entire time she had been in darkness there was no other person around her but now she could hear a knocking sound from the other side of the door. She took slow steps towards the door and held onto the knob as her fingers trembled. As it knocked again she flinched from the sound before working up the courage to voice herself.

"Who...who is it?"

The minute she spoke the knocking ceased and her anxiety increased. Despite her posing a question no one answered.

'What if this was not heaven but hell instead? Could the person behind the door be a demon? Or even....God?' Her train of thoughts was cut off by the knob in her hand turning to open the door.

In a rush to stop the action she held onto the knob of the door but the other person was stronger than her. Her hold was easily overwhelmed and her fingers hurt from how hard she tried to grip it. The knob continued to turn and was pushed open aggressively forcing her to move backwards. She took a couple steps back from the impact and looked back up to see someone enter her room. The instant she saw who it was her body was filled with a mixture of rage and fear. Her body slightly shivered as she tried to reign in her emotions. Countless memories flooded her mind as it ran like film, scene after scene. The ending of the film being her tragic end, even if this was a dream her body could not forget the feeling of death and her hatred. Her fingers clenched into her palm as she watched the man smile at her as their eyes connected.

"What are you looking at? You're acting like you've never seen your big brother before."