PROLOGUE
It was about Thursday morning the police of Orange County received shocking calls from four different houses; the Jewish McMahon’s residence, the single mother Chang’s residence, the car trailer family, Killigan and, the Boston African-American family who owned a car workshop, the Sheane.
As the cops gather in four locations, they found that each of these dead carcasses went to the same school, the Orange County High School, twelfth grader students. Devin McMahon died of overly physical attack by a baseball hat; Natalie Shang died of hanging herself with a flag rope; Thompson Killigan died by being drown in his own family bathtub and; Raymod Sheane died of severe burning, probably accidental.
There were burst of tears and screaming as each of the parents found their children’s dead bodies. The police were suspecting that they joined a cult or something due to the same death date and possible time. Meanwhile the principal and the counseling department had nothing to say but feeling terribly lost for these four young students. And as for The Pussies and The Stingers, their lives were, the same as always. They still have more others to play with.
As for those poor bullied fellows, as they stepped into death, they had opened their own path of justice and glory. They were soon to discovered that their death linked in the afterlife and that there was actually someone who pitied them, cared for them and wanted to help them as best as he could but, his… limitation forbid him so but now, the children had crossed the line, this man would be thrilled to help them… finally.
The mysterious white haired man sat on his onyx colored marble seat. He closed his light blue eyes and fixed his priest-like suit as if he was waiting for someone important. His thin lips smirk as he made a small voice of sighing, he said to the four figures slowly walking cautiously to him across the wide black cathedral hall.
“Come in, oh poor souls. Let me help you with your pain.”
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CHAPTER 01
Damned Your God!
Devin, Natalie, Thompson and Raymond were shocked to see each other walking the same path as they each had woken up in a dark room. The path led to a half bright door, the passage walls were filled with strange carvings of eagles flying above mountainous areas. As the dead teenagers walked across the passage, they realized the red carpet they stepped on led to another room that emitted a soft echoing voice, “Come in, oh poor souls. Let me help you with your pain.”
Devin was amazed, “So is this afterlife? I am dead, I am sure of it. Are you guys, too?”
At first Natalie had not any taste whatsoever to reply the question but as he looked at the terrified skinny Thompson she then said, “I guess, I mean, I hung myself to dead, Gosh… I can still feel the rope in my neck.”
“You still have it actually, girl.” Raymond held the rope which still attached on Natalie’s neck.
Natalie was shocked, she just realized it now. The rope was there, embracing her thin yellowish neck, but it was clean and a little loose. “Ah, I see…” as soon as she realized that she saw something strange with Raymond’s body. “Are you… I mean… fire arson?”
Raymond realized his doing and looked at his hands; they were all burnt up, “I guess. Well, I don’t need a fucking mirror but I guess my face pretty messed up, huh?” he tried to laughed but the face he made caused Natalie to feel sorry for him.
“It was okay, I know you. You are Sheane’s boy right? My mom once fixed her car at your dad’s. Your name is… uhm… Raymond?” Natalie smiled a bit doubting herself. Her neck gave a sight of a reddish strangling mark.
“Yes, I am. Thank you…Raymond walked again and then titled his head a bit, “Strangely though, I couldn’t feel any pain. As if I am numb all over, which is good though.”
“I-I guess that’s the feeling of being d-dead… I mean…” skinny Thompson walked closer to Devin who is a bit taller than him as if trying to get to know his name.
“I guess.” Raymond unleashed a burnt face smirk he couldn’t seen with his two black eyes but, the other three did and all they did was smiling as they move along the passage, getting closer to the door.
Devin led the path as they drew nearer and nearer to the bright light.
“So your name is Natalie right?” Raymond asked.
Natalie nodded and then pointed at Devin at front, “And that our captain today is Spiller or Devin Mc-something.”
“…mahon… McMahon.” Skinny Thompson spoke a bit as he stopped to cough, there was water coming out from his mouth. “Ugh. Cough…”
“You okay, dude? What happened to you? Drown?” asked Raymond.
“Yes, I… drown myself, silly isn’t it?” Thompson looked at Natalie and then talked softly, “So, Natalie… you hang yourself and…” he swayed his head to Raymond, “you burned yourself,” and then he walked again, closer to Devin. “So, Mr.McMahon, why dead now?”
“Who’s asking?” Devin stopped as he was showing his bloody face, no bruises, just marks of blood.
“I am Tommy Boy, well, Thompson Killigan, you know the priest’s son?” Thompson felt a surge of pride when mentioning his father’s Sunday job as the county priest. Thompson was not a good Catholic though. He hated church, and he hated his father deep inside.
“Not like you, I didn’t kill myself but… someone killed me. Maybe three…but judging by the fact that I would rather be dead than to be alive and facing those bastards. Yeah… I think I killed myself, a bit.”
Curiously, the girl known as Yellowitch asked softly, “You were…bullied?”
Devin turned his steady back, hiding his blonde curly hair and nodded.
Natalie, Thompson and Raymond were shocked. As they tried to say, “We too.” They stopped as they realized that they had the same fate. It was like finding best friends suddenly. The feeling of secure and feeling not alone.
“Ah! Great! This is the hell for the bullied souls.” Devin sighed and continued to walk again.
The rest of the gang followed behind with still the feeling of having new trusted friends who had the same situation was like finding million bucks stashing in your backyard or when you found a cute stray puppy in your way back home from school. Those feeling was unimaginable, until now. Until the four of them met in this… place of afterlife.
+ + +
Their feet walked in rhythm, each of the thumping echoed through the small passage, the tunnel seemed smaller on their back and the door was getting bigger, yet the light it shone was getting weaker. Step by step they walked, the standing white rectangle started to show a vast room, mostly black with reddish window and golden framed. There were wore ivory colored curtains on each of those windows, floating like a banshee hair.
“Come closer, my dearest innocents.” The soft voice was getting clearer and clearer.
-to be continued-