Alice's eyes slowly fluttered open as confusion hit her. When she realized she wasn't in a familiar place, her eyes darted around the room. She anxiously tried to figure out where she was. To no avail, she attempted to calm herself by remaining focused on her breathing. She examined her surroundings, hoping she'd recognize something that could hint at her location.
The room was dim. The only light source came from the flames that would flicker inside the fireplace on the far wall. The floors were dark hardwood that appeared brand new, without a stain in sight. The walls were a deep; crimson red wallpaper with a faint floral pattern and decorated with old-fashioned paintings. It was a small room but warm and cozy. It had a single large window that allowed the moon to peer through and shine enough light for the paintings to be visible. The corners remained dark. There was something peculiar about the paintings. While they looked old, there was something eerie about them. As if they told a story of some kind. Alice tilted her head as she looked at one that showed an older gentleman that held a small girl, around the age of six. She had big blue eyes and long, dark hair. Her features were soft and pale but she had a warm smile. She felt these features resembled herself. Alice stood and approached the paintings to get a closer look. They lined the same wall as the fireplace, but many of them were nothing but empty frames. Alice squinted her eyes to see if she had missed something, but she hadn't. Paintings were missing.
"You're awake." she heard a deep but scratchy voice behind her and glanced over her right shoulder.
There stood a rather tall, masculine-built silhouette. She couldn't make out any immediate features, as he was in a dark corner of the room. His face became more visible as he slowly approached. The mysterious man appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He had worn a wrinkled black suit with a matching tattered tie. He was slender and towered over her. His eyes were dark and hooded. They also had dark circles beneath them. He looked like he hadn't slept in a few weeks. His hair appeared greasy and his face was littered with unshaved stubble. He was pale, but to the point, he looked ill. His posture was horrendous; he had been hunched over.
He extended his right hand, which revealed overgrown fingernails, and Alice shook it reluctantly. She felt disgusted by his appearance. Before she could question who he was, he cleared his throat and answered quickly, as if he read her mind.
"I'm Charlie."He gave her a friendly nod before he continued, "I'm the courtier. You're free to address me as Charlie." His tone was gleeful, but he spoke between wheezes and minor coughs.
He walked over to Alice and put his left arm around her shoulder, which caused her to stiffen up. She felt her heart about to explode, as she was uncomfortable with a stranger being so close to her. He led her over to the fireplace, where there was a small wooden desk with a chair on either side.
He gestured for her to take a seat as he made himself comfortable in the big brown leather armchair.
Alice adjusted herself uncomfortably and asked, "Where am I?"
Charlie's expression shifted to a more thoughtful one. He was silent for a few moments before he answered, "You're on what you folks would call the other side." He made air quotations when he said the other side.
This answer did the opposite of clearing things up for Alice. She felt more confused than before.
She looked down and thought for a moment before she realized what he had just claimed - "I'm dead?" she exclaimed in a panic when that was the conclusion she came to.
"No, no, no!" Charlie chuckled while he made gestures with his hands. "Well, not yet at least." he smirked.
It seemed he had gotten an extent of entertainment out of Alice's disoriented expression. The more time that went by, the more she became desperate for answers.
"Basically," he continued, "I assign you a task and if you complete it in time, you get to go home and live happily ever after."
Alice nodded to show she had been listening, but then had the urge to ask, "What happens if I don't?"
Charlie chuckled again. "Everyone who ends up here seems to enjoy asking the same old questions, so I'm surprised the master hasn't written an FAQ yet." He brought his tone down to a whisper "If you fail, you stay here forever. Surely, you don't want to end up like those braindead flesh-eaters. Master calls them the lost souls."
Her thoughts raced, and she ignored him. She couldn't be dead. She had only been nineteen years old. Her life had barely begun. Her thoughts overwhelmed her and all of this felt like a bad dream she'd wake up from soon.
"Anyway, what's your name?" Charlie had asked which snapped Alice out of her thoughts.
"Why do you want to know?" She was hesitant.
Charlie shook his head with a humorous expression on his face. "I already know your name. I know everything there is to know about you. I just want to know if you know your name."
Alice thought for a moment before she realized her memory had been cloudy. She had no recollection of who she was, where she was from, or anything about her family. The last thing she remembered was waking up in this strange room and being greeted by this man.
The lack of response told Charlie all he needed to know, and he answered for her, "You're Alice." he declared. She kept quiet as he continued with this orientation to get an idea of who she was. "Would you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist?"
Alice didn't know how to answer his question. She was a stranger to herself. She twiddled with her thumbs and tapped her foot as she attempted to remember something about herself.
He noticed her struggle and engaged in eye contact. "Alice." This caught her attention, and she looked at him. "Who you are in here is not the person you were when you were alive. You're thinking too hard. I want you to answer these questions how you would now, not as the person you were before."
Alice looked down and quietly uttered, "I feel pessimistic. I don't know where I am and I don't know if I'll get out of here." Her voice croaked as she fought back the urge to cry. She felt pain in her throat and chest and took a deep breath to continue with the orientation.
He nodded in acknowledgment of her answer, "If you were alive right now, what type of person would you be?"
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She felt this was a stupid question. She didn't have a clue who she was, and he knew everything. What even was the point?
"Caring... compassionate I guess..." she shrugged.
His expression changed and he laughed as if he knew something she didn't. She frowned at him which caused him to stop. He cleared his throat before he continued. "What are you willing to do to get your life back?" This question confused Alice as she wasn't quite sure what he meant by that. Before she could answer, he followed up with another question. "Would you kill?"
Her eyes widened, and she quickly stood up. She turned and headed for the door. She turned the knob and pulled. Locked. She tried with both hands but knew there was no point. She screamed and cried and wanted nothing more than to escape this nightmare.
She gave up on getting the door open and slowly slid down with her back against it. She hugged her knees and buried her face in them to muffle her sobs for help. Even if it meant not going home, she wanted this to end. Several moments later, the room fell quiet. Alice had not moved and all she could hear was the sound of her shaken breath.
"Alice," she heard the man calling for her again. This made it all real to her. It wasn't a dream. This was real, and she needed to do what she could to survive. "Come sit back down, will you?" Charlie asked softly as he motioned towards the chair in front of the desk.
Alice stood up off the floor and sat back down. She had wiped her eyes from all her tears with her jacket sleeve.
"I need you to listen carefully as I assign you your task."
Alice looked up at him and listened intently as she sniffled. She was unsure how to feel. Scared about putting herself at risk? Guilty about the possibility of hurting others? Relieved she had a shot at getting out of this?
"You need to find your killer and show them no mercy."
Alice felt a sense of relief. She wouldn't be required to harm innocent people to earn her life back. She then realized she was nothing more than a soul and can't leave this plane unless it was granted by the deity. That would mean-
"My killer is here too? They're dead too?!" she exclaimed before another realization hit her. "Someone killed me? How? Why?"
Charlie smirked as she started to piece things together. "Those are questions you'll need to figure out yourself. I can't be giving you any hints now."
She leaned back in her chair and sighed in defeat. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of other souls on this plane competing to have their life back. She felt lost. The brief feeling of relief faded away as her heart sank. She wasn't going to get out. She was going to become a lost soul for eternity. The little hope she had was lost.
"You have 30 days to find out who your killer is," Charlie spoke up, "and don't be shy to shed a little blood along the way." he chuckled.
Alice felt disgusted about how gleefully he could talk about killing someone. It seemed it didn't matter to him and part of him was entertained by it. On second thought, this plane has existed for who knows how many centuries and he might just be numb to it.
Alice heard a loud creak and turned to see the door she had struggled to open before slowly opening on its own. She turned back to the desk and noticed Charlie wasn't there anymore. The fire had also been put out as if a gust of wind blew on it. She took this as her cue to leave and stood up. She made her way to the now-opened door and stepped outside. She was immediately hit with a cold breeze which caused her shoulder-length wavy black hair to appear messy. It was freezing and felt as cold as death. She pulled up her hood and hugged herself.
She stepped outside into this dark limbo world for the first time and could immediately see her breath. It had been dark, the streets only lit by dim streetlights and the big moon in the sky. Something felt familiar about where she was but couldn't quite put her finger on it. The streets were empty, there weren't any active cars. There hadn't been any life in sight. Any building she passed looked worn down and as if it had been abandoned for a few decades. She had nothing besides the clothes on her back which had been black jeans and a black leather jacket with a hood, just enough to keep her from freezing. She shoved her hands in her pockets. Empty. She continued to walk down the street, having no idea where she was headed or what her first move would be. She had no plans. All she knew was this place felt so familiar. It bothered her, similar to a fly that just won't go away no matter how many times you try to swat it.
Alice was brought back to reality when she heard distant screams that came from behind her. Her ears perked up like a dog that could listen to a car from miles away. She turned but couldn't make out what went on. Her first instinct was to put as much distance between herself and that noise but something nagged her to go see what it was and that's what she chose to do. She sprinted down the street in the direction of the screams. She passed several rundown buildings before the screams grew louder. As she got closer she ducked down behind a nearby tree, she had her back to it and slowly peeked over her shoulder.
She was just outside of what looked to be someone's backyard. It had a white picket fence which had paint chipping off of it. There was a swing set that seemed rusty as if it had been neglected. The wind would cause the broken swing to sway and make a harsh screeching sound.
"Please don't kill me, I want to get out as much as you do!" a panicked woman's voice cried. She had been violently shaking and on her knees with her hands up. She appeared to be in her forties and she was dressed in business attire. Although she seemed to be a sophisticated woman, she was covered in dirt. Her bun which held her silky blonde hair was loose and her oval-shaped glasses appeared broken.
A man stood over her, he must have been around five foot nine. Alice couldn't see his face as he wore a gray hoodie with the hood covering him. He had dark blue jeans and sneakers. He had a gun pointed straight at her frontal lobe. He pressed it against her forehead which caused her to shake more.
"If you wanted to get out of here just as badly, you'd do anything. No matter the cost." he cocked the gun and the woman closed her eyes.
She prepared herself for what was about to happen. Alice didn't want to get involved, she had to prioritize her survivability. But she couldn't walk away from this. Her conscience nagged at her and she couldn't allow this poor woman to die and she sure as hell couldn't live with herself if she watched on standby. She needed to act fast and scanned her surroundings. A rock. It was nothing compared to a gun but it was something. She quickly grabbed it and aimed at the man's head. Before he could hurt anyone, she threw the rock and the man stumbled, dropped the gun, and grabbed his face. 'Fuck!' he yelled. A stream of warm, thick blood started to slowly trickle down the side of his face. Alice took the opportunity to jump the fence and help the poor woman up.
"Run!" she yelled.
She took one look at the now injured man and grabbed the gun that rested at his feet. She shakingly aimed at him as he groaned in pain.
He glared at her, "Go ahead." He dared her in a husky voice between breaths.
Alice took a shot at him and hit him in the thigh. He grabbed his leg and cried in pain. She took this opportunity to run. She didn't want to finish him off. She didn't want to kill anyone. That wasn't who she was. She feared she had just made an enemy and her chance of survival went down. Who was that woman? Why did he want to kill her? Alice had so many unanswered questions but knew she wouldn't get answers anytime soon.
She felt exhausted, she needed to find a safe place to stay and rest. But is there anywhere safe? She decided to take a chance and walked up to a small, one-story house. Anywhere would be better than staying on the streets. It had been a baby blue house with chipped paint. There were overgrown vines that embraced the porch columns. The yard had been littered with several brown, dead plants that would likely crumble if they were touched. She walked down the gravel path and up the porch stairs. She slowly turned the knob and pushed open the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her. She made sure to check around. It was a petite house. The living room and kitchen were practically one room, the only difference was the flooring. While the kitchen was tiled, the living room was carpeted. The walls lacked decorations, anything that remotely resembled a frame was on the floor. Once she was positive she was alone, she made her way to the bedroom. It was empty besides a small twin-sized bed and a narrow closet. She took off her jacket and tossed it on the floor, which left her in a navy blue shirt. She also took off her boots and crashed back onto the bed. Regardless of her paranoia, exhaustion took over and she fell into a deep sleep.
Alice got knocked down and fell to her knees, she turned to look at the man who stood over her. She was powerless, she closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. She shook as the man put his hand over her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at him, his face nothing more than a silhouette, she couldn't identify any features, it was as if he had no face.
"I'm sorry, I am. But I have to do this. It will be quick, I promise." His voice... sounded distorted, it sounded like static from a radio station.
It was the last thing she heard before the gunshot. Her body fell limp to the ground. The blood from her head trailed down and left a bloody puddle on the black pavement beneath her.
Alice quickly sat up and grabbed her chest which had been moving rapidly from her heavy breathing. She quickly looked around and noticed she was in the same room she had fallen asleep in. She began to calm her breathing as she reassured herself it had been just a dream. She turned and glared at the window, it had still been night. She had no idea how long she had been asleep for, hard to tell when it was always night around here. After the dream, she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. She decided to get up and put her jacket and boots back on. She left the room and approached the front door, she steadily opened it and was wary of anyone outside. Once it was clear, she took the chance to swiftly leave. At least she tried before she heard a husky voice behind her.