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With his eyes closed, all that Tom could feel was something comfortable under him.
“Wh…at?” he slowly uttered as he carefully opened his eyes. He found himself in a room that was very different from his previous one. Just like his previous dorm room on the Green Light Lab, the place was futuristic and straight out of a sci-fi novel. But, unlike the place he was previously confined in, it had a bed, a more decorated desk, a private bathroom, and a door.
“I am definitely not in the lab anymore.”
As soon as he made that comment, his hands immediately went to his neck as he remembered what had happened before he woke up.
He remembered how tired he felt at the lab, how hopeless he felt there, and how painful it was for Noah and Ryan to be killed by the Green Ranking. He remembered how the lab had a plan of taking over the world, and how he couldn’t stand being a part of that place anymore.
But he also remembered how there was no way of escaping that place alive, and so… he finally remembered the rope around his neck before his eyes went dark.
“Is this… the afterlife?” Tom questioned as he finished recalling the previous events.
Tom always had the belief that the afterlife would be more complicated than simply ‘Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell,’ but that place was different from anything he could have imagined.
Although he was nervous and afraid, he knew there was only one way to find out about his current situation: exploring that new place.
With shaking hands, he turned the doorknob and opened his door.
“It’s now or never,” the young scientist stated, trying to give himself a bit of courage.
Out of the room, Tom found himself surrounded by a bunch of hallways. He couldn’t find any window yet.
“It’s probably some kind of maze,” he guessed, as he put his hands in one of the walls so he could follow it to the end.
As he carefully watched his steps in that new place, however, he noticed something a bit weird.
“Heartbeat?” he asked, as he put one of his hands on his chest. But it was not the only weird thing. “Sweat?” he spoke as he ran his hand over his cheek.
That brought many new questions to his mind. If he were dead, and probably a spirit… he shouldn’t have a heartbeat or sweat, right? He didn’t have a physical body anymore.
He stopped his journey and decided to test something else. He closed his eyes and put the palms of his hands on the nearest wall. As Tom closed his eyes, he tried crossing the wall, but it didn’t work.
“Am I still solid? But how?” he puzzled as he looked at his own hand.
So, even if he was dead, it seemed like he still had a physical body and vital signs. He just hoped he didn’t have to eat, because that place definitely didn’t seem to have a restaurant or a kitchen.
He was trying to think about a logical explanation as to what was happening, but he was too scared to think properly. Maybe his plan had failed, and it was all just a dream. Perhaps he still hasn’t died, and it was all just a pre-death hallucination. Or these hallways were just a way for him to relieve his life before finally passing away.
After walking, he had finally found a door. This one seemed different from his room. It was larger and higher, almost as if it led to a place where some kind of ceremony would occur.
At that point, he didn’t have many options, so he opened the door as his heartbeat got faster and faster.
Tom ended up being surprised once again because instead of a group of angels guiding him or demons to punish him, he only found a bunch of teenagers dressed in very peculiar outfits.
For a moment, they all just stared at each other with an awkward silence. Tom didn’t know who they were, and they didn’t seem to know who he was.
“Uhm, are you a part of Hope’s Peak Academy Welcoming Committee?” a girl with long blue hair and an outfit like a sailor asked.
The scientist furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
“No…?” he answered, with a bit of uncertainty. Maybe this was some sort of secret code at that institution. Either way, it was better not to lie in a situation like this.
“Then you are a student like us?” A girl with a red jacket questioned, visibly confused by his reply.
“I don’t… think so?” he replied, once again not certain. One of the students lost his patience.
“Is there anything you actually know?!” A Tall guy with a leather jacket shouted, leading Tom to slam the door shut out of fear.
Tom was so afraid of what might happen that he started running as fast as he could from that place.
Some of those teens he had met were clearly athletic, and he knew they would be capable of reaching him and attacking him in search of answers.
He was so scared that he ran the fastest he had ever run, gasping for air as he felt like he was in imminent danger. He was so desperate that he didn’t even notice that his feet weren’t on the ground anymore.
He only noticed something was weird when he turned around and saw wings, which came to an abrupt stop.
“My WINGS!” he exclaimed as he noticed that he still had his energy siren wings on his back. He stood in place for a while, just admiring his own wings.
That sight was enough for him to forget about the worry of being attacked by a bunch of angry teenagers.
At first, to test if they were there, he slowly caressed them, taking time to feel them again.
When he was completely sure they were actually back, he couldn’t help flying into the ceiling, dancing in commemoration as he managed to fly after so many years trapped in that lab.
He couldn’t help but shed a few tears as he landed on the ground, grateful he could use them again.
“It’s been so long,” he commented as he wiped his tears away. As soon as he did that, however, he noticed something weird on his side.