Annabelle

[Otto's POV]

Jack had taken Otto to a beautiful little valley. It was surrounded by mountains and a gentle stream ran through the middle.

"Wow!" Otto gasped in amazement while she tried to take in as much of the beauty as she could. The tall grass was full of pretty little, ready to start blooming flower knobs, birds were tweeting and the setting sun coloured everything in warm hue's of yellow.

In between the flower-filled patches of tall grass, there were little paths snaking from side to side, connecting five beautiful little chalets.

In the middle of it all stood a big wooden inn and on its porch, there was an old lady sitting in a rocking chair with a sleeping newborn baby in her arms.

"Good day, Annabelle," Jack greeted the old lady when they arrived at the inn. "How is little Sophie doing?"

"Good day, Jack," the woman in the rocking chair, greeted with a small bob of her head. "Sophie's doing fine. Looks like she'll drift off peacefully. She's really close too."

"But isn't the baby already sleeping?" Otto asked in a confused tone. This caused Jack and Annabelle to look up at her simultaneously.

"A new recruit?" Annabelle asked Jack with a smile as she nodded towards Otto. "Right on time too. We can use all the help we can get with all the kids running around."

"She's still a kid herself, mind you," Jack replied to Annabelle.

"I am not a kid! I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much!" Otto snarled at Jack with an angry frown. Something about this boy was rubbing her the wrong way. She decided to ignore it for now and turned to Annabelle. "I'd love to help, but I won't be staying for long. I expect my boyfriend to come and get me any second now."

"Still in denial, is she?" Annabelle asked Jack in a conspiratorial tone.

"I think so," Jack said. "Honestly, I'm not sure. She's a strange one, this one."

"In denial of what?" Otto asked even more confused now.

"You're dead, sweetheart," Annabelle said without further ado. "And that boyfriend of yours probably isn't coming."

"What?! No that can't be... why would you say that?" Otto asked, feeling betrayed. "I'm not dead. I can't be. I still have my whole live ahead of me."

Annabelle shared a glance with Jack and said: "There is only one way into heaven though. And that's by dying."

"Heaven?" Otto shrieked so loudly it startled the sleeping baby which immediately started crying.

Annabelle started soothing the baby, but when it looked like little Sophie was inconsolable, she got up and went inside, successfully granting Jack and Otto a little peace and quiet to talk on.

"Heaven, Nirvana, The Promised Land," Jack explained once Otto could hear him again. "Whatever you like to call it, it's here."

"The Field of Reeds?" Otto asked after a while. Her comment had Jack staring at her in surprise.

"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a very long time," he mumbled as he took a seat on the porch steps. He suddenly looked as white as a sheet.

"Are you ok?" Otto asked doubtfully. He didn't answer as he seemed to be lost in thought, but when Otto's stomach made a loud grumbling noise, he looked at her with big disbelieving eyes.

"Was that you?" he asked, blinking in surprise as if it couldn't have been.

"Sorry, I guess I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since midday," Otto said embarrassedly, her cheeks a bright red.

"Hungry?!" Jack asked as if it was the most impossible thing he'd ever heard. "You really are alive!"

"Well, yeah... That's what I've been telling you," Otto said annoyedly, even though she didn't see how being hungry could serve as proof to be alive.

"But how?!" he asked incredulously. "How did you get here?! Nobody arrives here alive! Nobody!"

"I don't know," Otto mumbled. "One moment I was reading in this Book Of The Dead with Alex and the next thing I know, I'm here."

"You have a Book Of The Dead?!" Jack asked like an excited little puppy.

"Well, technically it isn't mine," Otto said embarrassedly. "It's Alex's."

"Who is this Alex you keep mentioning?" Jack asked. Funny, he looked slightly miffed for a second.

"I told you! He's my boyfriend and I expect him to come and save me any moment now!"

"Wait, wait. He has a Book Of The Dead AND he's coming here?!" Jack asked, his brows raised so high they nearly vanished into his hairline. "I don't think you realise how impossible the fact is that you're here, not to mention that someone else would follow you."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Otto said, feeling smug. "It's not impossible for Alex, because he can use magic."

"Magic?" Jack echoed in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but your friends tricks and illusion won't be of any use to get here."

"What?! How rude! He's not a magician," Otto said, feeling the urge to slap Jack on the shoulder, but decided against it. "He really can use magic!"

"Uhu, of course he can," Jack said in a way that made it clear he didn't believe her at all and then sighed. "I'll have to take you somewhere else if you want to eat. There's no food here. Wait here for a second. I'll go inform Annabelle that you're coming with me to eat."