Chapter 1. DID I DIE?

"Ooh...my almighty God...I pray that you heal my son. God hear me thou. Heal my boy. Heal our sorrows, God."

You can hear my mom praying next to me as I lay in the hospital bed. The fact that I can hear my mother's rambling and see nicely suggests that I'm at least somewhat brain-dead. I believe I had an accident a few days ago. A vehicle smashed into my car as I drove home from work at about 8 p.m. the last time I recall. I'm not sure how I ended up in the hospital.

"Hey, mom," I tried to speak but my voice was not coming out. It was like my vocal cords were pretty damaged.

"I'm sorry, Chase, but you cannot speak. Your vocal cords are damaged. Badly. " My mom said. She had been staring at my lips, moving.

"You can't move or use your legs ever again. That bastard destroyed you. He almost killed you, honey." My mom said. She was right as I could not feel my legs or my hands at all. Fuck! I was physically dead.

"What happened to me? That was the question in my mind, but my mouth could not say it. The only thing that came out of it was a distorted voice. It's like something was stuck in my throat.

"I'm so sorry, my baby." My mom said. She looked tired and pale. I swear she had not slept since I got into that damn accident. I wanted so badly to comfort her but remember I can't speak. I can't even move my hands to caress hers. I felt so useless.

A few minutes later, my body started shaking. It's like I was having a seizure. My whole body was trembling.

"Doctor." My mother yelled at the top of her lungs. She tried to calm me down by grasping my waist, but I pushed her too far.

Soon after, doctors and a nurse entered the room.

"Mom get away from him." One doctor said.

"No. He's, my boy." Mom said. I looked at her, and she was crying.

"He's having a seizure." The other doctor said. I was right about having a seizure.

"He's dying." The nurse said, looking at the life machine beside me. I bet it was dropping. I could not see it through.

"No no.... don't let my baby die." That was the last thing I heard then my whole body went still. I think I just died.

****

A few seconds later, I woke up in a foreign environment. I was entirely nude and perplexed since I was standing up, and my arms felt normal. I glanced around, and there were people all over, odd folks, however. I put my hands between my legs to hide my penis. The entire area seemed greener and brighter than typical.

"Mom! Mom." I started screaming. The place was freaking me out. And ooh! My voice was back.

"Your Mama is not here." An older woman told me. She had grey hair, but her face looked much younger.

"Am I in heaven? Did I just die?" I asked the older woman.

"No." She spoke.

"Hell? "I asked nervously.

"You're not in hell either." The woman commented. "Come on, I'll help you get ready!" she said. After saying this, the woman got up and began walking. Walking slowly next to her, I managed to conceal my penis. As we made our way down the corridors, we were greeted with smiles and waves. Despite my lack of waves, the older woman kept waving back at them all.

"C'mon smile. This is your new family." The woman said and chuckled lightly.

"What?" I asked.

"I'll explain everything after you get dressed and fed." She said and walked inside the big white house.

I walked after her. Inside there were people who looked like servants. Some had overalls. Some had aprons.

"Robby, show Chase where to shower and give him some clothes." The woman said. Shit! How does she know my name? I asked myself.

"Um... It's your tattoo." The woman said as if she was reading my mind. She was staring at my chest where I had tattooed my first name.

"Um... Yeah. It's Chase." I said and chuckled lightly.

"Hey. I'm Robby. Come with me." A young guy said. He was about seventeen.

"Give him some food after he's showered." The older woman said.

"Yes, Lorna," Robby said before we disappeared into the stairs that led us to other rooms.

"Room 113," Robby Said and walked inside. I followed him. "This will be your room. Not yours alone though. It's my room too and Derek's room too. You will know him. He's chubby and cool." Robby continued talking.

"Here is our public bathroom. You can shower in here brother." Robby said.

"Brother?" I asked.

"Yes, brother Chase. We are all a family here. Did Lorna not tell you?" He asked.

"Anyway, here is a new towel," Robby said and handed me a white towel. I had noted this one thing, everyone was either in black or white and so was everything else.

"What the hell is with black or white colour?" I asked.

That's the colour of our theme, duh. The words of Robby sprang to mind. "You may take a shower now. Everyone is eagerly awaiting your introduction." Robby chimed in, too.

"Introduction?"

"Yes. No more questions now. Go and shower. I'll find you some clothes." Robby said and walked away towards the closet. I stormed into the bathroom and opened the water. I stood under the shower crying to memories of my mom in the hospital and me.

A few minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom, wrapping the towel around my waist. Robby was sitting on the couch, scrolling through a phone.

"Here are your clothes, brother." Robby pointed to black pants and a black collared shirt on the table.

"My name is Chase, and I'm not your brother," I said furiously, grabbed the clothes, and then moved to dress up on the other couch.

"No hard feelings," Robby said.

As I put on my clothes, I avoided eye contact with the voyeuristic youngster. When I was finished, I walked up to a wall mirror and looked in it for the first time. My skin was more radiant and supple than I'd ever imagined. Except for the collared shirt, I looked great. Even though I worked in an office, I'm not too fond of collared shirts. Because my father owned the firm, I was saved because I didn't have to obey the company's rules.

"Can I get another shirt? One without the collar?" I asked.

"No. Not now. I only have those but you can tell one of the tailors to make you some." Robby said.

I walked and sat next to him.

"What is this place? Why I'm here?" I asked curiously.

"This is called Side B. The other side from the real world."

"What?"

"The real world is siding A and so this is Side B."

"Why am I here? "

"You are here because you died," Robby said and chuckled sheepily.

"I died?" I asked, and Robby nodded his head.

"But I was just talking with my mom not long ago at the hospital. I didn't die." I protested.

" You cannot be on this side if you are not dead. You die to come here. You are so dead, Chase." Robby said and laughed.

"At the hospital, I could not feel my arms and my legs and I could not speak. My mom said that my vocal cords were badly damaged. How did I heal?" I asked nervously.

"Once you land on this side all your problems go away. You become a whole damn new person. You become stronger and gloomy. You will no longer get sick here or die again." Robby explained.

"So, are you also dead too?" I Asked

"Yes. I'm dead in the real world but on this side, I'm so alive." Robby said and laughed again sheepily.

"How can we be here if we are dead?" I asked curiously.

"This is a place where we ascend after death. It's a world for the dead only that we are alive." Robby said, and before I could even resonate my next question, someone knocked on the door and walked inside.

"Whoa! Chase this is our roommate, Derek. Derek this is Chase the new dude. He arrived just a few hours ago." Robby introduced us.

"Hi Chase," Derek said and extended his hand to mine.

"Hi Derek," I spoke.

"Anyway, the introduction meeting begins now. You should be out in five." Derek said and walked outside.

"Let's go, or we will miss the favourite seats and snake soup," Robby said, already walking towards the door.

"Snake soup!" I exclaimed

"Yes. It's the best soup served at the introduction meeting. Everyone loves it. I know you will love it, Chase boy." Robby said as we walked downstairs.

"I'm not drinking any snake soup," I mumbled to myself.

****