Memoirs Of The Afterlife: The Awakening

Chapter I: Blaire

My name is Blaire Adeline Sinclaire, or at least that is who I am for now. All was well for me. I had the life that any 20 year old could possibly hope for. I graduated high school with honors and I was attending Johns Hopkins as a pre-med student and excelling. I thought I was a pretty decent looking person when I was still alive. I had waist length auburn hair and brown eyes complimented with clear mocha colored skin. I was tall, too. That part was on the lesser of the favorites list, but it was all good because I had learned to deal with it by that point. My life was going fluently and I was maintaining my purpose while I was here…Until my mission was short lived the day my life was taken from me.

It was a foggy, very muggy Saturday afternoon and I was riding home with my best friend, Becky McAllister. She is like the top of our class at JHU and man she was brilliant, but when it came to common sense things that girl didn’t even reach half way up her tree if you catch my drift. She was texting her boyfriend, Patrick, and they have been dating for about 6 years now and he popped the question not too long ago, so I was guessing that is what they were texting about.

“Becky you really don’t need to be texting. I mean seriously, look how foggy it is. You can’t see three inches in front of your face, let alone text Patrick about wedding plans. Just tell him you’ll text him when we get back to my apartment.”

“Would you chill out already, Blaire. I have it all under control.”

I rolled my eyes and said,” Put it away dude. You’re going to get us killed.” Little did I know, that within the next few seconds, my words were going to be taken a little too literally for my liking.

It all happened in a span of about three seconds. Because of the fog, Becky didn’t see the 18 wheeler until it was too late. Somehow she had managed to swerve into the oncoming lane and we hit it dead on. I can still hear the terrible noises of the metal scraping together, warping on immediate impact. Deafening and shrill.

The cars catching on fire, the entire scene of the wreck set ablaze in an inferno that seemed infinite.

My own blood-curdling screams.

Becky had got out of the car, as large as her Cadillac escalade was, it seemed overwhelmingly cramped in all the panic. She had tried to pull me out, but I was stuck. I could feel the skin melting off of my arms and legs, sloughing off onto the leather interior of the escalade, becoming one with its stitches. The pain was horrific, a mix between a searing heat and an icy abyss. The only thing I can remember is becky screaming to me.

“Blaire!!! Blaire!! I’m getting help please hang on!! Blaire!! NO!!”

The pain lulled me into a welcomed unconsciousness.

The next thing that happened was a blur. I must have died. It was the only option for the incredibly bright light then nonexistent pain. When I went to sit up, a very fleeting, but sharp pain struck my temples and caused me to wince. I think those doctors doped me up a little too much. At that moment, I felt so many emotions.

Anger.

Hate.

Jealousy.

Sadness.

I broke down crying. I don’t think I have ever cried that much in my life. I cried until my heart was content. I wasn't ready to die, and to sit here and tell myself that I was dreaming would be such a bold faced lie. Something in me knew I was dead. I just knew it. I had to slow my breathing to help control my heart rate, and as I began to take deep breaths, I began to really tune in to my surroundings. That is when I heard it.

A river?

I turned 180 degrees to look directly behind me and was shocked at how I didn't notice it sooner. This river was very wide and stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. The water was crystalline, lying delicately somewhere between hues of seafoam and sapphire, with a bottom that seemed endless, and as clear as a pane of glass. I crawled over to the edge of the water to rinse off my face, and as I reached my hand in the water; I looked down at my reflection. The first thing I saw when I looked into the beautiful, crystal clear water was me. Except it wasn’t me. The gorgeous, angelic creature staring back at me was far too beautiful to be me.

She bore not one horrible scar of the fatal accident that took her life. Her skin was now not just a mocha color, but now radiated a gorgeous chestnut glow, and with eyes that were no longer brown, but had the essence of warm honey. And my hair. Long, beautiful, and flowing freely like the river beside me down the back of the gorgeous robe I am now wearing (which is weird cause I never remember having it on in the first place… little creepy.) I turned away from the reflection of the stranger staring back at me because something a little further down the bank of the river caught my attention, out of the corner of my eye.

As I slowly pulled myself to my feet, I felt gravity working vigorously against me, feeling like I had a 1000 pound load on my shoulders, which promptly caused me to lose my balance and fall back to the ground. As I shook off the imbalance, Attention was drawn to the space between my shoulder blades, now occupied by a foreign bulbous object, the cause of my fall. I slowly touched them, and when my hands made contact with them, the slightest touch sent a painful jolt of electricity down my spine that was anything but pleasant.

Cool, note to self, don't touch weird bumps on my back. my brain went into overdrive as i tried to understand what this was. My brain screamed wings, but the other half of my brain said no way. I already feel like I did a whole bunch of drugs and I’m on one hell of a trip, so anything makes sense right about now.

I regained my composure and redirected my attention toward my original target. The lumpy mass just over the horizon laying on the embankment of the river. I stood up, and began slowly walking towards it and the closer I got, the more the lumpy figure became more apparent. It was another girl! I bent down to get a good look at her. She had dark, creamy complected skin, flawless. Her hair was very long, the color of coffee creamer, the ends of them teasing the small of her back. she couldn't have been much bigger that 5’2” or 5’3”, very petite, but athletic. Her lashes were long and she had lips the color of knockout roses.

I went to put my hand on her shoulder to see if I could wake her up, and when I did, my hand went right through her!

“What in the hell?” I tried again, but got the same response. It was like the girl was a ghost or a hologram. Every failed attempt to wake her ended with my hand passing right through her.

“What on earth is going on here?” I was starting to get a little freaked out because her physical appearance made her seem as solid as a brick wall.

“Oh don't worry, she is fine. She will be here soon enough.” I heard a male voice say. I jumped out of surprise and turned around to see the source.

Standing pretty much directly behind me was an older gentleman, looked to be in his late 40’s, He wore the age on his face well, a silver fox. His hair was silver and slicked back to his head, his eyes a deep emerald green with a smile that was incredibly inviting. He stood tall, about five foot nine, but with the confidence of a man that stood six eight. He held out a hand to assist me up. I got back on my feet and looked back down at the motionless girl, then back to the mysterious man.

“why is sh-”

“Its normal. She is in the process of the transition. According to the looks of her she is about 48 hours short of arrival. Only part of her is here. That is why you couldn't touch her.”

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just nodded and turned my attention back to the man.

“Who are you? Something tells me I don't have to ask where I am…” I trailed off as I looked at my surroundings. Heaven. I was in heaven. Thank you god, there were WAYYY too many jokes about the things me and my friends were going to hell for that this was a relief.

“My name Is Aksal, and yes you are in Heaven. Welcome Blaire. Now if you don't mind follow me. There are a few people that I would like to introduce you to.”

“Um, sure. Hey real quick, these lumpy things on my back, isn't this where like wings are supposed to be or something?”

“That is correct but you haven't earned yours yet, so you still have buds.”

“How do i earn them?”

“Quick with the questions I see. All of that will be explained to you. We have quite a long journey and truth be told, I find peace in silence.”

“Shut up, got it” I said.

Aksal let out a soft chuckle as he motioned for me to follow him, so like a baby duck to her mother, I stayed close by his side to go meet whoever it was he was taking me to see. Right before she was out of my line of sight, I took one more look at the mystery girl. Will I ever see her again? I guess only time will tell.

As we began to walk along a gorgeous gold stone path, I began to really take in the area around me. There were angels everywhere! All ages, shapes, and sizes and another small detail I seemed to notice were certain angels had different wing colors. I imagine that carried some significance. As I continued to look, I noticed all the buildings seemed to be made out of what appeared to be, and I kid you not, diamond. The buildings had stone accents of numerous types, sapphire, emerald, Peridot, amethyst, and many more. It did have the stereotypical gold paved roads, but it was different than described in books. It was ancient and rustic looking, which gave it a look that appeared aged and wise. The trees were the lushest green I had ever seen, and were tall and full with trunks that seemed to be a mile wide. It was crazy how simple the peoples’ lives seemed to be. Going about their business without a care in the world.

Aksal began to slow down, then came to an abrupt halt, two fingers on both of his temples. He stood still for a moment before he spoke.

“So I just got word from the boss that the new arrival that you saw is actually gonna be here sooner than expected and I have been informed to take you to your room until she arrives and the two of you will meet your other teachers together. Does that sound Okay?”

“I mean sure, it's not like I have any other option, right?”

“Well, for the time being, technically no. Not until you have been debriefed.”

“Well okay then,” I said, “I’m following you.”

“Wonderful, then we are not far from where we are going then.”

Aksal smiled and began to pick up his pace, only to stop shortly again in front of a marble building.

“This is where you will be staying.” He said.

He led me into the building. The inside matched the outside. The ceiling was open, exposing the gorgeous blue, cloudy sky. There were moss and vines growing up the side of the walls, thriving and green, twisting and winding to create a cabana over our heads and radiant beams of the sunlight flowed freely through their cracks, also accenting the royal purple infused marble that lined the inside of the foyer. the ground looked as if it was true stone, sleek and uneven in texture, a mix of gunmetal gray and smokey silver, but still gorgeous nonetheless. Aksal led me down a hallway and stopped right in front of the third door on the right.

“This is your room. Go ahead, open it.” I looked down and noticed there was no door knob.

“uhhhh…” I had no idea how to open this door,”How do I-”

“Put your palm on the door, it will open.” Aksal said surely.

“Well okay then.” As if he thought I was going to know that off the top of my head.

I proceeded to touch the door with my palm, and the door dissolved on the spot, exposing the inside of the room. Woah.

“Don't worry. It will reform once you have fully stepped into the room. Get yourself acclimated with your room, get some rest, freshen up, or whatever else it is that you want to do until I return for you.” Aksal said

“Sounds like a plan.” With that Aksal turned his back, and disappeared.

“Woah!” He was gone in thin air. That was pretty cool. I turned around and entered my room, my door reforming behind me. And then it hit me. Everything in this room was incredibly modern. California king size bed with a white comforter, Emerald green trim. Cherry wood colored dresser and nightstand, Flat screen television, and a mini fridge. I felt like I was in college again. I went to open the mini fridge and lo and behold, it was empty.

“Well that is some pretty shitty hospitality.” At this point I was truly exhausted so I decided to ball up in this huge bed that I now got to call mine. I shimmied in, thanks to my nubs, very quickly realized that I couldn't lay on my back, so I turned to my side and found comfort in sleep much quicker than I expected.