and the life of an average man named Ethan wood ...ended.

or so i thought.

"aaaahhh." i woke up screaming as i struggled to catch my breath. ' what happened?' i thought clearly remembering what had happened before at the school. 'did i die?... the last thing i heard was...a gunshot?...did someone shoot me? who was it?..' thinking about the phone call, i didn't sense anyone behind me though', 'although i am just a hostage negotiator, i was also part of the police department so i know a few tricks and i am sure that if someone sneaked upon me then i would know.' i thought. then again ' maybe i didn't die, just knocked out...but i definetly heard a gunshot.' i couldn't make sense of what had happened back there.

but before that.

' where am i now? ' i tried to look around but my head didn't budge. it felt like i was stuck in a layer of wet cement, and i soon discovered that i couldn't move both set of my limbs. The only thing i could control was my eyes.

but there were not much help as where ever i saw was darkness. The darkness was not like a void with nothing in it. it was like being in a very dark room where you can't see anything in front of you.

but there was also other things. whenever i tried to move my body i bumped into something. so i concluded that i was in dark constricted place. ' hmm...did the captor caught me and put me in here...maybe he took me hostage like the others.' i thought feeling grim about my situation but soon told to myself, ' as long as i didn't die i still have a chance to escape.'

i had hope. so i decided to wait for my chance while also trying to overcome the restrictions on my body.

i don't know how much time passed as i wriggled in there, but soon i could move my fingers, hand, then my arms although it still felt unnatural it was enough. so the next thing i tried was to punch whatever was in in front of me, try to break it if possible.

bang.

'ouch' but it was hard as rock and my hand felt stinging pain, so i withdrew my assault not wanting to damage it severely. i hoped that a chance would arrive and waited.

"..."

but i didn't wait long before i heard something.

thud. thud. thud.

it was the sound of hitting something, and it only grew louder as time passed.

' what is happening?...is this the chance.' i thought hopeful.

thud. THUD. THUD!!!

finally there was something. i could see the light.

' oh almighty god...thank you!!!' i thought as i raised my hand toward the light.

BANG!!!

and now nothing obstructed my way, as i broke free from my confinement.

i went through the light.

' oh blinding light!!!...huh' it was too much.. the light was too bright enough to burn my eyes.

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"aaahhh" i winced as my eyes got stung my by the strong light. it was similar to seeing the sun with a telescope. also i have just come out of area filled with darkness so my eyes were not accustomed to the light.

i tightly closed them while also covering them with my now free hands, to prevent me from going blind.

strangely after hearing my shout the light receded.

' aah...it's gone..' i thought as i slowly opened my eyes. and the source of such blinding light became visible.

the blinding light came from from a man shaped figure, i couldn't see all the details but it was shining like a star. ' oh , is he a god.' i even thought that.

but suddenly something teared through the light as it came towards me. it was like a spear but shorter.

swirl.

the spear stopped in front of me, allowing me to clearly see it's appearance.

'...it's a shovel?'

yes, it was dirty shovel with dried mud covering it. just then the god like figure holding the other end of the shovel spoke.

" who the fuck are you?" and it was not divine words.

"..." my face turned stoic.

' ...not a god.' i concluded.

after the question the light further receded allowing me to see the appearance of the not-a-god figure.

'what!!!' and i was shocked.

if earlier the strange old driver was creepy and terrifying then the man before me was incredulous. the figure was man in mid twenties or early thirties. he was at least 6 foot and was towering over me who was only a 5'7. but the main thing was his body it was full of gold...and by that i mean that he was made of gold not wearing jewelry. it was something that happens when a sculptor decided to test his skills on a chunk of gold and made a golden statue. and whoever sculpted him made him so that everyone who sees his chiseled jaw, muscular body with a pack of abs...would want to die of insecurity.

including me. although i have a wife who love me, every man wished for something like this in his life. cough. cough. back to the gold man, what made him more imaginary than real was his eyes. he had golden eyelids but the pupils in them was not round, it was in the shape of a dollar($). ' who would believe that this man his real.' i thought.

"i asked , who are you?" the man repeated his question, clearly annoyed at me for staring at his body for too long.

the man's question broke me from my stupor.' wait..is he the captor.' i suddenly thought eyeing him suspiciously.

seeing my suspiciousness, the man seemed annoyed.

" i am the one who should be suspicious, you intruder. who are you and what are you doing in my area?" the man ordered.

hearing the the man i was more confused. ' area?...what area?...and when did i intrude anywhere.' i thought.

then i saw that the man was losing his patience as the shovel was dangerously close to neck.

"WAIT!" i shouted as i hurriedly raised my hands.

"the hostage...are you the one who took me and the others hostage." i said to him trying to find information about him as well as where i was.

" hostage?" the man seemed to wonder about what i was speaking.

after a while he seemed to have understood something as he withdrew the shovel from my neck but it was still close enough.

"what happened to you before you ended up here?" he asked.

i didn't know why this man was asking me that but i answered anyway after a while. it seemed like he was not the captor.

"......you see, i was in a coffee shop...." i started to tell my story.

"....and finally i heard a BANG! before i found myself here."

" ..." the man was silent as he listened to me.

after a while he put down the shovel, as he said with a look of pity in his dollar eyes.

' how did i know that he is pitying me by seeing his unrealistic eyes.' i thought concluded that it was just my imagination.

" you have died a strange and terrible death." he said with a somber voice.

"yes?" i asked not clearly believing him.

the man seemed to understand my disbelief as he nodded his head and said simply,

" you have died and ended up here."

"..." i was silent as i took in his words.

' ...i already thought about it. but i guess i was fooling myself before.' i thought with sadness.

"if you can't believe me, you can try to feel your heartbeat." the man said.

'hmmm.' i reluctantly did as he told and soon reality dawned upon me as i felt nothing when i touched near to where my heart was.

"....i see, i am really dead." i said somberly.

' ...now that i am gone, i wonder how my wife and daughter are doing...will my daughter have to grow up without a father, now that i have ended up in this place.' i thought with regret.

just then i looked towards the golden man.

"...hmmm.. what is this place exactly?" i asked.

at my query the man's golden lips curled up as he spoke in a almost proud voice.

" this place has many names, but the group i belonged to call it..." the man paused, raised his arms wide as he shouted dramatically.

"...THE AFTERLIFE!!!" he shouted as his words echoed in my ears.

"......" my face once again turned stoic. ' the what now?'