LOLA IS DEAD [COMPLETED]

Chapter Five

I woke up in a small room with a single bed and a squared window covered with thin fabric. Darkness flooded the small corners and I didn't know what time it was. I must have lost consciousness because I didn't know how I got here and worst, I didn't know where I was. The last thing I remember was the sight of clouds covering the top of the giant citadel and that was it. I sat up and let my feet touched the concrete floor. It was cold beneath my bare skin but manageable. I stood up slowly, planting the sole of my feet calculating my strength. I was bracing for the odd feeling of dizziness, but it didn't come. I must have slept soundlessly for hours for it had cured the exhaustion that I had been feeling since the first time I got here. I didn't know dying would take so much of my strength in the afterlife. But I was feeling better now, not a hundred percent but good enough. There was a thin light seeping through the window from the outside, so I walked slowly towards it and peeked. Cold air brushed my face the moment I put the curtain aside. But I realized that it wasn't a curtain to begin with, it's a worn-out fabric cut in half of what used to be a blanket. The cold breeze on my face refreshed me, allowing my pores to breathe and released the stress. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply to fill my lungs with air and exhaled it along with a satisfying sigh. When I opened my eyes, I saw the moon hanging closely above the sky. Myriad stars splattered across the horizon, sparkling diamond against the dark. I stepped closer to the window and leaned forward on the edge to peruse further. I found out that I was in a building, tenth or fifteenth floor, I wasn't sure. My eyes surveyed the surrounding and despite of the darkness, the moon shone closely shedding us her divine light that made me see rooftops, maze like alleyways and building structures downstairs. My gaze looked horizontally in front of me and farther ahead I saw it once again, the massive wall that enclosed this semi urban jungle, dividing the consecrated ground from the forsaken land.

"Beautiful isn't it?" I turned around to see Olga standing on the doorway holding a candelabrum with three candle lights flickering. She walked to close the gap between us and stood next to me facing the window. Her eyes took the deeper shade of green from the dim light as she gazed out into the night.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in the holy city of Iduri, consecrated by God himself to hold souls that are waiting to be judge before they travel to the next realm." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "This entire city is under the protection of the Archangel Raphael, the healer of the Lord, watcher of the East, Prince of the Cherubim." She looked at me and allowed the knowledge to sink in.

"Archangel? You mean the angels are real?" My eyes filled with amazement while my heart leaped with excitement. Olga smiled to see the surprised look on my face before she answered.

"Yes, they are real... and so is God." She said.

"And so are the demons." I murmured.

"Unfortunately, yes... so are the demons." Her lips pulled together as if she was sorry about the truth about the demons.

I looked down and stared at my hands, it looked whiter than it used to. Probably this was normal when you died - as life left you, your skin would turn white to signify the absence of the warmness of being alive.

"What is it Lola?" Olga asked. She was concerned with the sudden changes in my face.

"So, am I really dead?" I was afraid to confirm the truth to myself. It felt weird to accept the reality of being dead. I couldn't just embrace it. I wanted to be alive again, to be part of the living world and breathed the living air.

"I know this is hard for you as it always is for everyone else. But sooner you accept the truth, the sooner you can move on. I can't promise you anything. I will not tell you that it'll going to be easy because it's not. Iduri City is the Purgatory. We are in the lowest realm in the afterlife. Every soul here is waiting for a higher purpose and that alone isn't easy." She turned and paced back to the room and left me standing in front of the window. She placed the candelabrum on the only table in the room, walked a few steps and sat on the bed. I was thinking about my own predicament and when my eyes met hers, she beckoned for me to sit beside her on the bed and so I fallowed.

"How did you die? If you don't mind me asking." She asked.

"Car accident." I said outright.

She thought about it for a while before she spoke again. "You see, most of the souls who have died in tragedy, were the one who found it hard to crossover." She looked at me then looked away as she continued. "The reason for this varies. Some of them rejected the idea of being dead. They believed that they are still part of the living world and choose to linger in Idmuria or earth as you know it, for quiet sometimes. They are the rogue souls, ghosts, phantoms - they roomed Idmuria until they are consumed with madness. Some of them continue to exist while others just ceased in oblivion. Some souls didn't know that they're dead and it takes time and patience to convince them of their fate. But we can help them crossover. They are the most distraught souls that we need to send them to the Limbo Infirmary to heal." Olga's eyes flickered and the next time I met her gaze, she was smiling. "But of course, there are those who were exception to the rules." She said.

"Exception?"

"Yes, and you are the perfect example of it." She said. "After you died your soul crossover to the afterlife right away. Your physical body might still be alive when you left it, but it was as good as being dead because a body cannot survive without its soul."

I stared at her in amazement. My mind was processing all the information she told me. If Olga was telling me this to make me feel better, well, it's not working. I'm still dead and stuck in purgatory and...

"Wait. If I didn't crossover and my body was still alive like you said, could I still go back inside?" I asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because your time has come Lola." She said sympathetically.

"And I don't have a say over it?" I felt anger rising within me. "It's my life! This isn't my choice!" I could feel tears streaming down my face. Olga reached out to touch me, but I stood up immediately and paced the room. "Don't you think it's fair if I was given the choice? Or a head's up perhaps?" My emotions poured out and there was no stopping it. I cried and I no longer cared how I look. It no longer matters if I was wailing like a child. I was dead; someone should give me a break.

"Who made these rules anyway? Tell me!" My shoulders were heaving furiously as I let my sentiments out.

Olga was staring at me silently, but she didn't impede my sudden outburst. I felt sorry for her that she had to witness me looking like a drama queen. My face was soaked with tears and my heart was hurting that all I could do for the moment was cried. Olga approached and opened her arms for me and like a little sister; I accepted her kindness and melted my sorrows in her arms. Her embrace was warmed and gentle, just what I needed to ease the pain. I thought about my mother and the thought of not seeing her again and not being able to hug her crushed me. My mother wasn't here and so I had to accept whoever was available for me and I was grateful for Olga.

"There must be a reason why you're here Lola. We can't just rely on luck that you are an exception. Because I must tell you this... The last soul who bypassed the process and went straight to Purgatory after a horrible death was...me." Olga confessed. "And that was a long long time ago."

I untangled myself from her embrace. The tears subsided but my face was still damp from crying. My eyes met Olga's and I saw that she was tortured by the memories of her lost life. She missed being alive. Her eyes deepened showing the hidden pain. She turned around and walked back to the window and gazed at the stars. She was trying to conceal her agony, but it was already too late for her eyes poured like water in a stream. It flowed unstoppably. I knew that she was still haunted by the tragedy of her own death. I wondered how she died. I wanted to ask her, but I decided to shut my mouth and didn't say a word. Eventually I would learn her story but not today for it wasn't the right time.

She spun around to face me and the tortured soul I saw a while ago was no longer there. How could she conceal it completely?

"You must go back to sleep." She said. "It's still midnight and your body need rest." She paced back to where the table was located and picked up the candelabrum. She was on her way to the door but before she left, I managed to utter the words...

"Thank you." I whispered.

She looked at me; a smile coiled in her lips and gently gave me a nod to acknowledge my gratitude.

"We will talk in the morning. Now, sleep." She left the room. Taking the only light with her, leaving me in complete darkness.

I climbed back to bed and in sadness I coiled in a fetal position. Tears started to fall from my eyes again and I didn't do anything to stop it. I was grieving for my lost life. I wondered when this would end, the grieving part. My mind drifted and I thought about all the people that I cared for... My mom and dad, my brother Ram, Seb Whyte and my best friend Martin Frey. It could have been easier for me to deal all of this if Martin was here; he could bring color to this new world that I was in. I thought about home and school and Rose my car...The truck driver who was still alive and I wasn't. I thought about all of them until my mind was drowsy and tired... Then there was nothing.