1-Death Comes When You Least Expect It To

Miles slapped his thighs as he roared with laughter.

"Are you serious? You died because of a flower pot falling on top of your head? No way!"

Lucian Silverstein sighed in exasperation. "Says the one who died earlier than me."

"Oof! That hurts." Miles feigned hurt but continued laughing until only the sound of wheezing could come out of him.

Even Lucian found his death ridiculous. Now that he was in heaven seeing his buddy who died five years ago, he had no choice but to accept it. There was no way to return to his body, which was most likely incinerated or buried under six feet. He had no family to mourn for him because he was an orphan. Apart from Miles, there were few friends close enough to remember him. Perhaps living in heaven with Miles was tons better than being alive.

"But you know what, Lucian? I don't think you should be here yet." Miles smirked at him. "Lucky chap got something in store for him."

"What? What do you mean? I think I'm pretty much to ashes. Where can I go to?"

Lucian was confused. Was his time not up? Miles shook his head with a knowing smile. He clapped his back, and Lucian's vision shooked. He tried a few blinks to get over it, but it seemed his eyes could no longer focus on Miles.

"It's time to wake up, buddy... Until... Time...."

Wait...

Lucian tried to speak, but even his lips felt like lead. He wanted to tell his childhood friend so many things, but his damn eyes and mouth were so heavy. He tried to convey how hard those five years were without MIles and how glad he was to see him again. His thoughts cut off as soon as his vision darkened.

~~~

Well, that was what happened a few days ago.

Lucian Silverstein sat at the edge of his bed, deep in thought. He hadn't left the room. Lucian had basically self-confined himself to this place while coming to terms with what he had just woken up to.

One moment, he died. The next moment, he was up in heaven with Miles. Then, Miles clapped him in the back so hard that he was awake.

The issue was not him thinking he hallucinated meeting his dead friend in heaven. He was pretty sure that was real. Heck, heaven was real now that he had seen the real deal.

No.

It was where he woke up to.

At first, Lucian woke up with a horrible thirst. It was akin to a dry, scratchy feeling in his throat like he had spent many days without drinking water. So without thinking, he grabbed the glass on his bedside table and downed it in one gulp. Then, he glanced at what he was holding with a thought about why it was a wine glass instead of a regular drinking glass.

Immediately, Lucian threw it out of his hands with a gasp of shock. It was because the glass contained blood but he tasted it to be as sweet as honey and as refreshing as fruit juice. There was no way it was tomato juice because the liquid clung to the sides of the inner walls of the glass. And he had a prior experience with blood five years ago.

As the sound of glass shattering registered in his ears, a massive barrage of information assaulted his mind.

"Urgh...!"

Lucian moaned as he felt like his head was being smacked repeatedly by someone. There was a persistent stabbing in his mind as image after image entered. Beads of sweat appeared while he witnessed memories of someone's life that were entirely not his. The pain came and went away in a few blinks of an eye. Lucian's body trembled as he went through his newfound memories.

"No way!"

He scrambled to his feet as he tried to look for a mirror. As he searched, he became increasingly aware that the place he awoke was not at the hospital, at his home or anywhere familiar. However, finding a mirror was more important. Lucian did not have to look any longer as he found one hidden in the depths of "his" wardrobe.

As he gazed into the mirror, he could finally come to terms with his supposed reality.

Eyes as red as blood, long wavy hair as white as a sheet of bleached paper, and fangs so sharp that they could pierce through the skin. Actually, Lucian pricked his finger against one of his fangs. He watched as his skin regenerated back, leaving dried blood that he only had to wipe away.

"No way...."

Lucian stood up as he glanced around "his" bedroom.

A western medieval setting. Red and gold furnishings around the place. A queen-sized bed with a huge bed frame. Decorations and paintings so abstract and ancient but convey a sense of solemnity. And outside the window, hung the bloodless moon. The place where the night never falls.

There was only one place Lucian Silverstein could recognise.

He has awakened as a character in his favourite game "Night Falls".