Chapter Text
As you pull off your shoes, you look out to the city in front of you.
You can see everything from up here. Each individual light flickers in each tall building, each symbolizing a stranger and their daily life. They stand out more with the contrast of the late-night sky above, which is surprisingly clear tonight. The twinkles resemble what stars probably look like; living in the city, you never really get a chance to see them. A cool gust of wind blows past you, moving the front pieces of your hair along with it, partially obstructing your view of the city below.
It really is beautiful.
The wind sends a shiver down your spine, eliciting small goosebumps on your arm which you pay little mind to. Honks and beeps of cars below take up your hearing, but it isn’t necessarily annoying. It isn’t that loud considering how far away from them you are.
Having now slipped off your shoes, you take small steps towards the edge. The concrete is cold underneath your toes. As you step closer, you feel your heart speed up. You don’t understand why. Eventually, you reach your destination. Your toes dangle off the edge, daring.
You look down yet again from your apartment and notice all the places you frequent during your life.
You recognize the convenience store which you visit every day when you come home. The store owner recognizes you and greets you with a smile every time. You recognize the street signs, which you always seem to stare at from outside your apartment’s window. Something about them is so mesmerizing. You recognize the bright, LED billboards always displaying some new, trending promotional item. This time, it advertises a new movie for an anime you somewhat keep up with. They always make it hard to sleep.
You take off the hair tie holding the rest of your hair in place. It flies out of your hand and into the stream of air, going across the city, probably eventually turning into another piece of litter that plagues your city. Your hair comes loose, pulling behind your neck to expose your face to the moon above.
Time slows. You begin to pick your foot up—your right foot. Slowly, daring to continue. The gusts mock you and your seemingly afraid state. What is there to fear? Your knee slowly contorts, its bent state straightening so that your foot is dangling off the building.
It’s time.
You close your eyes. Slowly, your weight shifts from the back of your left heel to the front. Slowly, it pries free from the cold concrete, until it is no longer touching it at all.
Then, the wind. It howls past you.
You wonder how much longer this is going to take.
Your question is then answered.
It’s so cold.
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At first, darkness. Empty void. Nothing. No thoughts, no feelings, no senses.
Then, a light. Slowly growing.
Is this heaven? You didn’t expect to make it there.
The light grows brighter, taking on a more yellowish hue.
It’s so bright.
You keep your eyes closed.
Sound, next.
Something unfamiliar to what you were used to in the city. Silence. All you knew your whole life was beeping, honking, yelling, and crashing.
Not just silence. Wind, less aggressive than you last heard. The sound of metal against metal. Not as loud as a car crash. Almost like two tin cans dropped against each other. Not loud enough to bother you, it seemed to be a bit further away.
Then, the smell.
Putrid.
You thought the smells in the city were bad. You thought you were used to them. But this… the smell of mold, rotten food and clothes, and dead animals all at once. As if every sketchy alleyway in the city got combined into a single perfume.
If this is what heaven smells like, you’d much rather be in hell. Maybe you really are in hell after all.
The physical feeling. Wherever you are, it must be an interesting place. You can’t really tell what you feel under your palms. Is it dirt? Sand? Or a mix?
The afterlife isn’t like what you expected it to be at all.
“Yo, Zanka, check this out.”
A man’s voice. He sounds like a young adult, maybe in his 20s.
“Dude, I think there’s someone over here.”
The man’s voice gets louder. You can now hear his footsteps. Whatever shoes he’s wearing, they must be heavy-duty. You can hear him crushing things with each step. Some plastic, then some metal… it’s hard to keep track. There’s actually two different sets of footsteps, now that you concentrate. The more distant one seems more refined compared to the somewhat scruffy manner of the closer one.
“Are they alive?” The other one, who you assume is the “Zanka” guy, responds. His voice sounds a bit younger, but not by much. He speaks in an accent, but sounds a bit calmer than the other.
“Come check it out. These clothes…”
By now, the first voice is much closer, you assume probably right next to you.
Is this heaven? Or the afterlife, or something?
A million questions race through your head, despite you typically being a lightheaded person. Moreover, you want to open your eyes. But, it’s so bright…
Reluctantly, you force your eyelids to peel apart. Your corneas are bombarded by a harsh glare. It takes you a second to adjust. Above you, leaning over, is a tall, blonde man. He has big earrings and funny shaped eyebrows that curve like some supervillain.
You try to find your voice, words, or anything, but nothing comes out. You stare dumbfounded at the man, utterly hopeless. Who knew heaven would be such a hassle?
You slowly drift out of consciousness again. Your vision clouds and your body grows limp until everything returns to black again.
----
Light. Again.
Damn, how many times is this going to happen?
This time, it’s a little bit less harsh. The light is less yellow than before and more blue. The smell seems to have disappeared and been replaced by a more calming aroma of jasmine and lavender. Instead of dirt, you feel a soft, plush cushion.
Opening your eyes hurts less this time. Above you is a lightbulb attached to a ceiling. Luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it) there is no man looming over your defenseless form.
You’re able to crane your neck and head around this time to get a better observation of your surroundings. You seem to be laying on a bed, in a room filled with more similar beds. All are vacant excluding yours. You are alone in this room as far as you know.
As your consciousness restores, you feel more physically capable. You sit up, your weight shifting onto each of your hips. For some reason, you’re still wearing the same clothes that you wore when you died. They aren’t the most comfortable, but they function.
You’re starting to suspect this isn’t heaven.
If that’s true…
Where the hell am I?