Chapter 76: Ring 1
{ TWO DAYS AFTER}
A cold winter breeze blew past her face and she woke with a soft gasp.
Lightning and thunder echoed all around her, jolting her awake and dragging her back to reality.
Corrine’s dark green gaze flickered about, her eyes widening at the swirling walls of dark stormy clouds closing in around her.
She felt trapped in a place without a beginning or an end.
It stretched endlessly in every direction, yet somehow she still felt trapped inside a massive cylinder.
She shivered from the cold, wrapping her arms around herself. Frostbite slowly crept over the lips of her fingers, while blisters formes across her lips.
The environment was harsh and unfamiliar to her and for a moment she wondered where she was.
She stared down at her fingers again, noticing the dry blood on them.
Didn’t I just...die a few moments ago?
How am I still...?
The storm hissed loudly in her ears as she tried to make sense of her current circumstance.
She observed every structure, every layout, every phenomenon of this world and noticed how it looked nothing like heaven.
Or hell.
Was this the afterlife?
The underworld?
The void?
The in between?
A place she was going to be staying forever and ever after death?
Corrine tried not to think too much about it and moved in search of an exit.
Each step felt like the beginning of a journey that would take thousand miles. Every stop she made, felt like the end was near.
What bothered her the most was the dark, ominous wall closing in on her from behind. It was so dark, it made the raging clouds surrounding her so bright.
Am I in hell?
If so, where are the demons?
The everlasting burning flame?
The endless scream of the tortured souls suffering in the abyss.
She took another laborious step forward, her heavy breath slipping out of her trembling lips like cold vapor.
She had no idea the reason it was difficult to take each step was because of the invisible hands that held her back, clawing on her leg as they fought to hold her in place.
If this was indeed hell...
Why was she the only sinner here?
Ring...Ring...Ring...
Corrine froze on a spot and turned around slowly at the dark wall trailing behind her. The wall created a small gap in the center and a swirling vortex of dark grey clouds filled the opening.
From the opening, a familiar phone materialized and gave off a haunting tune.
One that was too similar to be ignored. One that made her heart race and beat heavily against her chest. Corrine felt the familiar pain and anxiety that ringing gave her. Her eyes teary as she stared at her phone.
Her phone?
How did it find her in such a place?
What was she even doing here instead of resting in peace like she wanted?
Ring...Ring...Ring...
She swallowed, feeling the weight on her feet lifting with every step she took towards the phone. The clouds around her grew silent...as if this world was conscious enough to notice her every move.
It felt like a thousand malicious eyes were glaring daggers at her and hiding in the storm.
She paused before the dark wall that pulsed with this subtle weighing force. One that made it even difficult to swallow or be at peace.
She couldn’t tell what was going on but at the same time she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue whatever this was until she answered the call.
She slowly raised her hands, watching her fingers tremble from the horrible cold and the lingering feeling of uncertainty on what was going to happen to her if she picked.
Anything could happen as long as she was back where she wanted to be.
Lying dead cold in a pool of broken glass and rainwater, drowning peacefully in her own blood as she felt every bit of her senses die one after the other.
And what happened next...remained unknown.
Just an empty long feeling of calm and nothingness.
No pain.
Nothing to gain.
Corrine picked up the phone and stared at the nameless caller. There wasn’t even a single number to identify who it was. Just a blank, grey screen that rang endlessly.
She slowly brought the phone close to her right ear and the incessant ringing died.
Corrine blinked and found herself standing all alone in the middle of her inner office. She stared wildly at every single piece and detail that matched how her inner office should look.
Even the colors and furniture were perfectly matched.
She gaped, feeling afraid at what was happening. A tense silence, loud enough to be felt lingered and for a moment...nothing felt real.
She removed her hands placed close to her right ear in disbelief.
Not even the phone was real.
Corrine flinched, stepping back quickly and hitting a wall behind her.
Beside her the windows revealed a perfect reflection of herself. She moved closer to stare at her face and touched her lips. There was no blood on her dress and body...there were no frostbites biting every inch of her skin.
She looked perfectly dressed and calm. Like the morning she prepared herself to die.
Corrine felt goosebumps erupt on every inch of her body, the hair at the back of her neck standing erect as the familiar wall clock by a corner operated without the numbers to tell the time. The hands of the seconds and minutes moved slowly and for a moment she felt lost.
Wondering whether she was dead or alive and if she was alive...she turned to the windows again.
Why was the world outside covered completely in grey thunder storms?
Where was the world she remembered growing up in and enduring so much pain?
She stumbled outside of the door of her office, feeling hot, drained and uncomfortable. She groaned at the sharp pain that seized her up at the back of her head. Like a sharp double edged sword had been swung behind her.
It was terrible but the nightmare began when she moved one of her hands to touch the back of her head and felt the fresh blood dripping down the back of her skull. The blood stains on her hand terrified her but it only became worse without a reason.
She leaned against the nearest wall, gasping and breathing heavily in-between sharp cries of anguish as it felt like a million shards of glass lit up with fire pierced her body all at once.
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