Afterlife

Death: it was like falling into a vast emptiness. No beginning and no end. Just a soul wrenching void to which you could not escape from. Who knows how many minutes ticked by? Hours? Years? Time was rendered irrelevant. Idle thought slipped away until a voice whispered softly within that darkness. Bringing with it old memories of a life that seemed so far away. The acrid taste of blood in her mouth was jarring as she re-lived her final moments. The searing pain as the bullet pierced her heart and of course the final moment as she hit the ground, her little sister’s name still on her lips. ‘Luna.’ Emotions flooded from the very depth of her soul. Luna, her dearest little sister, left alone once more as death claims another family member. She had to see her at least once more. Tell her how much she meant to her and hold her once again. Mya wouldn’t accept her death anymore; she needed to live…

Blood spattered from her lips, each new breath sending her body into little spasms. Everything ached, burned as she surged with new life. Fresh air was drawn deep into her lungs; soothing the fire that burned in her chest. She was alive. A shiver ran down her spine, Mya spent a few minutes testing each limb. Moving one by one to see if they really still did work; lifting herself up with a wet squish from the rain sodden ground. It must of rained while she was out but how long was she gone? Nothing around her would give her an answer. The sky above, mottled with thick grey clouds, said it was starting to get late as the sky changed to a deep purplish bruise. ‘Five hours…’ It was all she was given. Five whole hours to set everything as right as one could, you know after death and all. Steeling herself, she started the long trek back into town. She had made it about half a mile down the road before a siren went off behind her. The police’s car ringing loudly in her eardrums as the rotating lights blinded her eyes. Stopping Mya wrapped her arms around her lithe frame as the car pulled up next to her.

“Miss, are you OK?”

It was all she could do not to start laughing; what a silly question it seemed. Here she was covered in mud, most of the blood had been washed away from the rain but some parts seemed to be saturated in the stuff. She knew he was waiting for her to answer, but what was she going to say, “Yes, I was dead but after making a deal with some weird stranger I’ve come back to life and only have five hours to spend with my family?” Yeah; that’d go over real well.

“I was out with some friends….at a party. Things got a little out of hand and there was a fight between two of the guys. I tried to break it up but you know guys….I’m not hurt or anything just a little dirty.”

It was a terrible lie, she knew that but she stood her ground as the officer looked at her for a few moments. “Get in; I’ll give you a lift back to town.” Was all he said. Mya knew he didn’t buy her story but there was nowhere to run plus it would get her back to town faster than if she was walking. Nodding, the woman climbed into the passenger car. It wasn’t the first time in a cop car but the first time she was ever in the front seat.

“So, what’s your name kid?”

“Alyssa Evetts.” Mya lied quickly; Alyssa was some girl she used to go to school with once upon a time.

“Uh huh and how did you get out here exactly?”

“Like a said; we were at a party and two of my guy friends got into a fight. The girl holding the party threw us out and of course they just were not going to let it go. One guy got in his car and sped off and I just wanted to go home at that point. But my ride decided to chase down the other guy instead. They pulled over not too far from here…began to throw blows. Like I said, I tried to break it up but they just shoved me into the dirt. So I figured I had enough and started to walk home….”

She could tell he knew she was lying but didn’t say another word. The rest of the time was spent in silence, every now and then a voice would crackle out of the radio system. A female’s voice rattling off numbers and gibberish it seemed. Lights peppered the sky line as they drew closer to town; “You know I’m going to have to take you into the station.” Mya cringed, of course…. Chewing on her lower lip she just nodded her agreement. Inside her mind was racing; they’d never let her go in time to get everything done. She needed to escape.

It was a full thirty minutes before they reached the inside of town and as the two pulled up to the first red light Mya took the time to bail out of the car. The police officer yelled at her to come back; his voice betraying a sense of shock at the woman’s behavior but he quickly got over it. Sirens lit up as she took off; her feet pounding on the pavement. She could hear him calling for backup as she rounded a building; Mya had to ditch them and ditch them fast. Winding around alleyways and hoping over fences as she made her way to a more familiar side of town. Legs burning from the exercise, breathing heavy, she doubled over trying to calm herself. She didn’t know if she had made it far enough from the police officer but didn’t want to wait around to find out but first…she needed to clean up.

Ducking into a small convenient store; Mya casually strolled an aisle. Picking up a random t-shirt as she made her way into the bathroom in her younger days she used to come and lift things from here all the time. It was a small business owned by a foreign family. They had no cameras, at least none she had ever seen, and the register was often left unmanned. Inside the bathroom she tried not to look at herself too closely, the dirt and blood that was matted in her hair. It took some time and a lot of paper towels to make herself seem decent; though one couldn’t say the same about the bathroom. The old off white scheme was now an array of dirty handprints and bloody smudges. Quickly darting out she snagged a Sox’s cap; tucking her long hair up within it she was sure no one would recognize her now.