The Glass Dagger (Afterlife Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “Do you tell the whole village as a collective to save time or tell them one by one in order to save lives?” he prompted him and Theo knew what he was getting at.

  “You said it yourself, there is strength in numbers but by addressing each person individually, then you remain in control of those numbers and instead are not overpowered by it.” Theo’s eyes widened now knowing that he had heard what he had said to Ena back in the club but instead of calling him out on it, he decided to ignore it.

  “I get it. People would see you guys and freak and if that happened on a big scale then it’s harder to control.” Which made him wonder if that wasn’t what he was doing now? Had he brought them each to their own dream world to explain one by one what had happened? People often reacted badly when faced with things they didn’t understand or felt were out of their control. It was after all, human nature…which brought him back to his own nature and the last question…

  “So what does that make me then?”

  “That you will find out in time, for I don’t yet know.” This wasn’t exactly what he was expecting to hear after all that had been said.

  “What do you mean… are you telling me that you don’t know?!”

  “I am not in control of this Theo, I am here, along with my people, to simply guide you through it and teach you the ways of our world. Three of your friends have merged with their chosen souls already and will soon learn what they have now become and in doing so, will take their place among our people…just like you will.” Theo snorted a laugh and said,

  “You seem sure of yourself.”

  “I have to be, for that is expected of a leader, but that is something I can see you are already figuring out for yourself.” The shadow nodded at him and for some reason Theo felt his face get hot.

  “I didn’t ask for them to name me that.” he said, feeling as though he needed to defend himself in some way.

  “True leaders often don’t ask to lead but simply step up when it is asked of them. They chose you Theo for a reason, just as the Gods did…that reason only you can answer when the time is right.”

  “Well some leader I am going to be when I can’t even touch people.” Theo muttered knowing that he would hear and secretly hoping that he had a solution.

  “I think you will find there are greater benefits to being around other ‘Freaks’ as you put it.” The headmaster said with the slightest bit of humour in his tone. Meanwhile Theo’s heart was racing with the possibility. Could it be true, could what he was implying really happen?

  “You’re telling me that they wouldn’t be affected?” he said, his voice clearly full of hope.

  “That’s what I am telling you, Theo. As I said, my world is a horizon full of possibilities brought to you with every sunrise...all you have to do is want to live each day within it, leaving this world behind.” The shadow confirmed, nodding behind him back at what Theo was already considering as the ‘fake world’. Theo thought about what he was saying and knew that it wasn’t really a hard choice to make. Live a ghost of a life in this fake world or be a ghost living in the life he offered in his real world…in this Afterlife of his. No, it wasn’t a hard choice to make at all.

  “Alright, so where do we start?” Theo said walking closer to the man, this Dominic Draven, who was not only headmaster to his new school but also now it seemed like a mentor for his new life.

  “In your case, a simple leap of faith is all that is needed.” Hearing this from the shadows was when Theo had to question his mentality. He looked to the concrete below him and the drop he knew would kill any man…any man without wings that was.

  “You want me to jump?!”

  “No…I want you to find your freedom.” Theo looked back at the man and for once wished he would step away from the shadows. He wanted to look into his eyes to find the trust in them he need to see but maybe that was all part of the test? Theo didn’t know and nor was he likely to ever know, but the one important thing he did know was how he felt in his heart. It was how he felt in the lightening of his lonely soul and finally seeing a future he could see himself being a part of.

  It was everything he ever wanted.

  So he walked closer to the man and said,

  “Then I guess I will see you on the other side, old man.” Then he turned with a smirk when he heard the disapproving groan at being called old. But before he could comment he ran straight for the only world he had ever known…

  And jumped straight out of it.

  8

  Death Talk

  Thankfully Theo felt himself landing not on solid concrete as he expected but instead what felt weirdly like water. At some point during his flight off the rooftop he had flipped around to see the shadowy figure above standing at the edge watching him as he descended into the unknown. If he hadn’t known any better, it would seem as though this new headmaster of his wanted to be sure that his student got to where he was going and was concerned about him. And stranger still for Theo, it was a comforting sight to see that, for what felt like the first time in his life, he had the constant he had been craving. Someone who had seen even a small part of his life through something as important as this…as important as life, death and now what felt like his rebirth.

  Consequently, when his body crashed through the water he let the waves his impact had created crash over him and wash away the last shreds of his old life, knowing he was going somewhere better…or at least he hoped. Then he did something that went against the grain of his soul and let himself sink down once more into the black abyss without a fight, one that had already seemed to have claimed a part of his life. And the sad part wasn’t actually dying. No, it was letting go and killing a part of himself that he had never fully understood to begin with. To an outsider this might have seemed as though he was giving up, but if you knew the true character of this young soul, then you would have known that wasn’t even possible, for Theo didn’t know how to give up on anything. But learning to let go and trust in another’s words was another thing entirely and it seemed like dying for a second time was to be the first lesson he learned.

  And learn he did as he let the Afterlife take him.

  “Hey guys, he’s awake.” He heard a girl’s voice say, one that he was instantly familiar with. Ena sounded relieved and again it felt strange to have so quickly accumulated people who cared about what happened to him. It brought him a warmth he couldn’t explain or one he wouldn’t have admitted to have even if he tried.

  “Why did that strangely feel like I was being baptised into becoming a member of some supernatural cult or some crap like that?” he said as he raised himself up and in doing so feeling a sinking weight in his belly that was causing sickly bile to rise in the back of his throat.

  “Ten dollars says he pukes.” He heard Zane predict and he looked up to see Ena smack his chest and say,

  “Just because you decorated the floor with plane food doesn’t mean he will.”

  “Yeah well, no wonder, I mean who serves chickpeas for breakfast!” Zane argued making Theo want to laugh, especially when Ena argued back sarcastically,

  “Oh yeah, and a cheeseburger would have made all the difference?”

  “It’s a known fact that pickles stabilise the excess acid in a stomach”, Zane said with such conviction that Theo couldn’t help but mouth the question, ‘Is that true?’ as he took Zane’s offered hand to help him up further, to which he replied on a whisper,

  “Hell if I know, but it shut her up didn’t it?” This made Theo grin before coughing back a laugh.

  “I be sorry for trying and killing you but you be fine now?” Ivan asked him in that soft unique way of his which, combined with his colossal size, was a complete contradiction to the frightening power he had displayed back in the club. Speaking of which, this made Theo take a closer look around the room to see which fantasy world he had woken up in this time. He shifted off the couch he had been lying on and after double checking his legs wouldn’t collapse like he feared, he walked over
to Ivan and slapped him on the back before saying,

  “No worries big guy, the horned demon bull thing was sick.” Of course, the second the words were out of his mouth he knew he should have thought better of it because the poor guy just looked even more confused than ever.

  “He means you’re cool, man.” Zane translated for him with both of his thumbs up as an extra measure of reassurance. Theo then had to wonder how long it would take the gang before they finally understood each other and for some reason this thought brought a small grin to his lips.

  “For me it was like taking the Red Pill,” Zane said and this time it was only Theo who knew what he meant by that.

  “Think Keanu Reeves wearing sunglasses, a long black jacket and kicking too many asses to count,” Theo said to the group and it was no surprise when only two faces showed recognition.

  “Seriously dude, we have some major media updating to do on your medial temporal lobe and lesson number one will be cult classics for sure!” Zane said causing Ena to look at him as if he had just grown another head, one that wore glasses and spoke the language of super geek.

  “What?” Zane asked when noticing her gawking at him in shock.

  “Oh nothing, just didn’t figure you even knew how to use a brain, let alone be able to name bits of it,” she said sarcastically and instead of taking offense to the remark Zane just nudged her shoulder and said,

  “Don’t let this handsome, cool cat exterior fool you sweetheart, there’s a genius waiting to break free under the surface of it all.” Ena chuckled, looking him up and down and replied,

  “What, under all that paint splatter and floppy hair? Don’t make me laugh.” Zane caught up with her as she started to walk away and said,

  “I think you will find this is called natural style…” he said referring to his hair before he continued with,

  “And I do believe you will find that those are two traits that the good Leonardo da Vinci and I have in common.” Ena laughed once more without humour and said,

  “Oh yeah, ‘cause I hear that he was such a style guru back in his heyday.” This was when Theo thought it best to intervene before these two cranked it up a notch and started cracking their knuckles.

  “So, I take it you all had the same awe inspiring ‘go on and kill yourself’ prep talk from our new headmaster then?” Theo asked looking around the room and trying to figure out whether or not they had just been magically transported into some posh English stately manor house from the 17th century. I don’t think he would have been surprised to find this being the case, considering how his day was going or if a butler named Jeeves walked in right now and asked if they all wanted some freshly drained blood tea.

  “Uh, not exactly.” Janie said looking to her worn dirty trainers and kicking her toe against the highly-polished floor for something to do. He looked to Ivan who just shrugged his shoulders in a way that told him he either didn’t understand or like Janie, obviously hadn’t had the same experience Theo had before he woke.

  “And you guys?” he asked looking to Ena and Zane, who out of the rest of group most likely had more to offer. Although it was only Zane who had any useful information for him as Ena just shook her head in response.

  “Nope, afraid to tell you this but looks like you were singled out dude, as the rest of us just got that crazy green haired chick in our dreams and trust me on this, you definitely got the better end of the deal as that girl is straight up, grade A, bat shit cuckoo and neither of us are sure if it’s in a good way or not,” Zane said scratching the back of his head as if that helped him in figuring out the answer to his own question about the girl. Theo could very much believe it as from the little time he had spent in her company, he himself wasn’t sure whether to shake her or just pat her on the top of the head for being so damned cute.

  “So, let me get this straight…you guys still don’t know what’s going on or why we are here?” Theo asked but one look at each of their faces and he didn’t need to hear their answers spoken aloud. It was clear that little Miss Pip was great at putting you at ease with her colourful presence but not so hot on actually explaining the important stuff. Suddenly Theo had to wonder why it was that he had been singled out? Was it because his new headmaster had seen that he had been appointed leader of the group and thought it best to allow him to explain to the others? Or was there some other reason he didn’t yet know about?

  “And I gather that by that look of dread that you know a great deal more than we do and as our newly voted president of this insane asylum, its left up to you to explain it to us,” Zane said folding his arms and leaning back against an elaborately carved sideboard that looked as though it once belonged to some royal dynasty and not the rickety old school desk Zane was treating it as by casually using it to prop up his body.

  Theo didn’t know how long the others had been awake before him but he guessed it was obviously long enough to be more accustomed to their lavish surroundings than he was.

  “So, you’re telling me that this…this…?” Theo struggled at this point not really knowing what to call her.

  “Fruit Loop?” Zane said but Theo ignored that name in favour of another one, supplied helpfully by Janie,

  “Miss Pip?”

  “Yeah, Miss Pip…you’re telling me that she didn’t tell you guys anything?!” he said, his voice thick and dripping with disbelief.

  “Oh, she said stuff alright,” Zane commented sarcastically rolling his eyes before Ena jumped in.

  “Let’s just say that her version of events was mainly focused on reciting the lyrics of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to describe what’s happened to us and then asking us questions like what our favourite superhero was and explaining that with great power comes great responsibility.”

  “Yeah, total rip-off of Spiderman by the way and as if anyone would pick his powers anyway, half of which were ‘Invented’ by a super nerd and don’t get me started on wearing spandex…” Ena smacked her forehead and whispered,

  ‘Give me strength’.

  “Dude, seriously?” Theo said looking at him thinking this was so not the time to geek out on them. Zane threw his hands up and said,

  “What, you’re telling me the crazy chick is the only one who gets to talk nonsense at a time like this?” To this question, Theo and Ena both shouted ‘Yes!’ as Janie kind of nodded shyly, whilst poor Ivan just looked as if he had been dumped on a different planet altogether.

  “Okay so now ‘Super Geek’ over there has got it all out of his system, are you going to explain what the Hell is going on or not?” Ena said getting impatient and Theo couldn’t say that he blamed her having experienced that same frustration not long ago on a rooftop.

  “Okay, so do you want the long-winded sugar coated version or the quick and painful…”

  “Just rip off the band aid, Man,” Zane said interrupting him and for once Ena seemed to agree with him. Theo decided that he couldn’t put it off for any longer and he suddenly knew how hard it must have been for anyone in a profession that frequently had to give bad news. So he blurted out the only two words that came to mind.

  “We died.”

  “Wow, brutal much?” Zane said shaking his head in what Theo knew was conflicted disbelief.

  “Uh...come again?” Ena said raising an eyebrow and putting a hand to her ear as if she hadn’t heard him correctly. Theo closed his eyes momentarily and held the bridge of his nose with his fingers as though he could feel a headache was about to explode there any minute.

  “This isn’t happening...I mean how can it when we are all here...are we supposed to be ghosts or something?” This time the disbelief came from Janie.

  “I am no ghost,” Ivan said joining in and adding to the weight on Theo’s shoulders.

  “No, you’re right, you’re not a ghost...”

  “Well duh dude, I could have told you...” Zane said interrupting him, so Theo returned the favour by saying,

  “We are Demons or Angels.” Surprisingly this actually ma
naged to shut Zane up as his only response was a spluttering sound before his mouth dropped open in shock. Ena shook her head a few times making her black bob swish around her face before she said,

  “That’s not possible.”

  “I’m dreaming...please God, tell me I am dreaming like last time,” Janie said cryptically, looking up at the ceiling as though she was expecting to see the big man himself.

  “I think you will find you’re asking the wrong guy there, Janie.” Zane said with a bitter tone and when she shot him a confused look he looked down to indicate Hell.

  “That’s not funny, Zane!” Ena shouted when it looked as though Janie was close to tears.

  “And it wasn’t meant to be, Ena!”

  “I no understand,” Ivan said and Zane rolled his eyes and said sarcastically,

  “Big shocker there.” Theo could see everyone was close to losing it and he knew it was left up to him to try and calm the situation before it really started to get out of hand.

  “Look, I think we all just need to calm down and take a minute to...”

  “To what exactly?” Zane asked now turning his attention to Theo.

  “Yeah, what are we supposed to do Theo? You want us to take time out and think about this logically...is that it?!” Ena said and Janie bit her lip before saying quietly,

  “Come on guys, don’t fight.”

  “I don’t know Ena, how about we turn against each other so that we each have to deal with this alone...sound like a good plan?! Anyone?” Theo shouted looking at each of them in turn, daring them to argue with him. He could feel his cool on the edge of dipping into the realms of being pissed off enough to walk out of there and say enough was enough. But at the core of his heart he knew that he couldn’t do that, no he had already allowed himself to start caring about this bunch of misfits, so he knew he couldn’t abandon them now.