Chapter One
You are hereâ¦
Â
Iâm looking down at the ground, which isnât really the ground at all. Itâs some sort of shiny black surface that feels squishy under my sneakers. At first I thought it was quicksand, but since Iâm still standing and not sinking into some gooey substance I guess that assumption was wrong.
Anyway, this is a different place than the cold dark den where I was before. A reaper grabbed me without saying a word, and dropped me off here just as casually as he did when heâd snatched me. Of course his people skills sucked!
Iâm not going to move from this spot, because I donât know where I am or what Iâm doing here. Logic says this is not earth, but my fear and heart palpitations say maybe I shouldnât be standing still but running instead. But running where? Iâm not sure.
You are here
Those three words, like the red arrow on the shopping mall directory that tells you where you are in the maze of department stores and food courts, keep resonating in my head. Well, I donât see a red arrow anywhere, but I feel like I am here .
But where is here? Thatâs the million-dollar question Iâm waiting for an answer to.
âYou are not dead, if that is what you mean,â says a deep voice from out of nowhere.
I turn around slowly, but Iâm not prepared for what I see. If I thought the reaper was freakinâ weird, this thing is totally off the charts. Itâs just a huge black cloak that hovers above the ground. No hands, no feet, no face, just the cloak. Behind the cloak is a big plume of black smoke that makes my bladder weak. The cloak moves and floats kind of like it has a body, a physical form, but it has no features, like ears, eyes, a nose or a mouth, that would make me think itâs a living, breathing thing.
What did I do to end up in this nightmare?
âWhere am I?â I ask, since that seems like the most reasonable question.
âYou are in Trance,â says the voice.
âIâm guessing thatâs not in Connecticut, huh.â
âIt is the realm where you await your final fate,â he continues. âSome are sent to Hadesâthe land of the dead.â
âWhoa, did you say Hades?
âHades is for the dead,â the disembodied voice says. âTrance is where you wait until your destiny is decided.â
I nod. âI get it,â I say, trying to mask my fear. âIâm, like, in between worlds.â Of course I donât get it. What the hell? Why am I here? I think to myself.
âSo why am I here in Trance?â
âYou have been chosen to help me in my quest to fulfill my destiny,â is the ominous reply from the cloaked specter.
Is this thingâ¦serious? No, none of this is serious. Itâs gotta be a dream, and my alarm clock is going to ring and wake me up in a few secondsâhopefully.
âLet me get this straight, you chose me to come here,â I ask, using my arms to indicate the large expanse of nothing that surrounds me, âto help you find your destiny?â
Do I sound incredulous? Probably, since I cannot believe this is really happening to me.
The cloaked figure, bounded by smoke, moves and reaches out, I guess, to avoid enveloping me in its darkness? Is this for real?
âI chose you because you can help and you are connected.â
âConnected to what? And just who are you?â
âI am Charon,â he says, just before extending his arm as if heâs reaching for me. His gesture makes the cloak billow like a sheet, as the ground below shifts from the shiny blackness to an imageâa mirage of some sort.
Thereâs sunlight and asphalt, cars parked on a street and a school. Itâs Settlemanâs High. Kids are streaming from the doors like insects let loose on an ant farm. One tiny spec grabs my attention. Itâs Krystal Bentley.
Sheâs wearing a white skirt that floats around her thighs like