The Other Side

Have you ever experienced darkness so deep that it was suffocating?

A darkness that was so all-encompassing that it clung to you so tightly that you weren't even able to see your arms?

That was exactly what I was experiencing.

The only light visible in the… wherever I was… were little motes, dancing out in the distance.

They fizzled into existence and danced out in the distance, like fireflies dancing in the moonlight as they drifted on a journey downward and then fizzled out again altogether.

Those motes of light were the only reason that I could see the two beings in front of me, creatures that made my head ache as if it were being torn in two.

They were silhouettes, somehow darker even still than my surroundings.

A darkness that was so visceral if I stared at them for too long I was sure I'd go insane.

The being drew closer and, somehow, I could make out the shape of a colossal hooded figure.

"Now then, that is not right at all," the hooded creature said, its voice came from nowhere at all and everywhere at the same time, "I was sent to collect the soul of an infant girl and yet… well, I would assume that you are a fully grown adult male human… most perplexing."

"Soul?" I managed to croak out, my voice breathing and crackling like the sound of dried leaves being crushed in someone's hand.

"The perplexing nature of your situation continues," the voice remarked, "A human who is able to generate enough Will to vocalise in the Chasm of all places?"

The hooded figure rushed forwards until it filled my vision completely. I knew it had been big, but its size now almost tore a hysterical laugh out of me.

The creature was… impossible big.

It didn't seem real.

No… it couldn't be real.

It stretched on and on for what felt like an eternity, and its width was just as immense.

"Don't… understand…" I croaked, unable to gather the strength to wheeze out a complete sentence.

"Please, you can do better than that can't you, little human?" The being said, almost dismissively, "Besides, I'm the one who should be asking the questions in this situation. Questions such as 'how did you come to be here?' and 'what did you do with the infant'?"

Throughout its pondering, I felt a surge of… something… pull on my very being from below.

I could only imagine that this was what a drink being sucked through a straw felt like, and I wasn't enjoying it one bit.

With a colossal force of will, I pulled back on the sucking force and somehow managed to rip myself free of the influence.

"And now you even seem to be able to resist the pull of the Maw itself," The hooded figure remarked, "wonders will never cease."

"Explain?" I managed to force out.

"If I knew what was going on I would… but no matter, I have other methods at my disposal to attain at least a modicum of the information we need," The figure said.

A vast tentacle of inky darkness split away from the creature, slicing through the motes of light that separated us so fast that it almost blurred.

I tried to dive out of the way, but whatever energy I had expended resisting the pull of whatever lurked below was clearly just too much for me.

The tentacle wrapped itself around me and squeezed tightly until… everything… just faded away….

.....

...…..

I was sat in the corner with my hands over my head, stifling the choked sobs that came unbidden from my lips.

I had always thought that I was destined for great things.

I had always thought that I was going to make something incredible of my life. Make people proud.

The body of the plane I was on shuddered violently as it ripped through another pocket of turbulence, gaining more and more speed as the engines continued to spin out of control.

I wasn't going to get the chance to make anyone proud. Not now. Not after this.

I'd always been afraid of flying. People went on and on about how safe aeroplanes were in the modern-day and age, but I'd never trusted it… and it looked like that lack of trust was going to be proven correct.

I could have escaped, the opportunity had been right there… and yet, I'd tossed it away.

Instead, I'd given the last remaining parachute to a little girl and her mom and sent them on their way to safety.

I'd sacrificed myself so that they could live.

And now…

The last thing I felt was the sudden jerk of motion as the plane hit the ground, and then nothing at all.

"Adrian Laskey, Date of Birth the seventh of March, nineteen-ninety-six, the date set out for mortal end, however, was the seventeenth of August, twenty-seventy-nine," The creature said as my memories faded and the darkness flooded back in. "In other words, you should not currently be deceased."

"Dead…?" I managed to get out, that did make sense considering the memory.

"This is not something that happens often," The creature said, "And when it does, we creatures of the in-between deign to make certain reparations, that is to say, we nudge you on a little further so you can live a life better than you ever would have before."

I wanted to ask more questions.

I wanted to try and figure more things out.

It sounded like I was about to be reincarnated but that was ridiculous. That was the sort of thing that only happened in bad online novels or manga.

And yet…

As the darkness began to press in harder and harder.

As the dancing fireflies of light began to flicker and fade away.

I felt it, deep down in the pit of my being.

The creature I had been talking to was telling me the truth, and I was on my way to another world!