Walls Between My Life and Death

Prologue

I stand alone in the dark night. This is the way it would be for me. Forever. At least, in this world.

It was the lake. I left my simple village house in the night to drink from the Sacred Lake. I was told that anyone who drank from the Sacred Lake would be blessed.

But it wasn’t that easy.

I wasn’t good enough. I had evil in my heart. The evil could be spreading throughout me because of one simple thing.

Her name was Aura. She rested in the lake, being the spirit of it. She sensed the evil in my heart. She came and took me to the depths, where I drowned.

When I awoke what seemed like moments later, the sky that surrounded me was dark with neither stars nor moon. I didn’t ask for a death like this. The Gods above shoved it into my senseless hands.

I am Arabella Hope Willow, though the hope I held in my heart is now gone.

I can’t see a thing. The forest around me is dead. There are no leaves, though the stars and moon are vacant. I begin to walk forward into the dark night. I walk for miles, tripping over the dead roots. This is my hell. In darkness that I am so afraid of, I must push on. There must be some escape.

I am only a young woman of the age of nineteen. No one ever loved me. No one cared about me. I was completely alone. My afterlife resides here, in my own personal hell.

There is only one problem. I’m not dead. I’m cursed.

My vision suddenly fades from the vast colourless forest that I had accepted as my afterlife. I awake in a lake that can only be identified as one thing: The River of Passing.

The spirits of the river take the dead into their grasp. We are bound to the river’s ground by invisible chains, though any body that is laid to rest in this sacred place is one whose soul has been released. Mine had been, but it found it’s way back.

I move my gaze to the shining surface, though I can only see water around me in every direction.

My head snaps towards the sound of a splash. The pale figure moves forwards to me. My mouth opens to an empty scream for help. I can’t breathe. He could save me, though by then I would be in another world.

His hands touch my shoulders. I don’t get a look at his face before I die a second death.

My eyes close only to see the forest again. Though I am dead, I will come back, hoping to have a breath. Everything here now is suffocating. Nothing is right. My white hair stands out all too much in the darkness, my reddish eyes shining in the despair. The forest is lifeless and silent around me, engulfing me in its death. The blackened wood screams out for help, thought I can’t do anything, even if I am a wood elf. This is my hell.

I awaken into a colourful view. The water brushes against the white dress that covers my body. Warmth holds me tightly. Wet hair sticks to my face. I spit water out of my mouth and take a deep breath. The fresh air fills my lungs. Everything here is right, though every time I die I will return to a lifeless torture. I am truly cursed. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong; that is, unless, I find a path from the life after my unplanned death.

I roll over, away from the water, spreading across soft green grass. My dress sticks to my wet body.

“And they didn’t believe me when I told them you were alive.”

My eyes snap open. I pull myself up slowly into a sitting position and bury my hands into the grass.

“That’s because I wasn’t,” I tell the boy sitting next to me. He’s soaked, but I can still tell who he is. He’s the Prince. Damien Nolan. He stands up and offers me his hand. I take it, pulling myself up. He hands me his jacket, which I draw over my shoulders.

“I don’t understand what you mean?”

I turn my head to him and brush my hair off my face. “I was dead. I’m cursed. Stuck in the walls between life and death, and I still have contact to the outside. Any minute now, I’ll pass out again, I’ll be dead. Then I’ll be pushed out through the windows again. I drowned in the Sacred Lake of my village simply because I wasn’t good enough to be blessed.”

He seems speechless. His mouth hangs open as if he wants to say something, but no sound comes out.

“What is it?” I ask him simply.

“I don’t know,” He replies after a long pause, “All I know is that I can’t help you get out of that without you letting go of your life.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The legend says when you fulfill all the regrets you had in your life, you are able to rest in peace and possibly be re-incarnated.”

I say nothing. I just stare at the ground. How can I fulfill my regrets if my life is not yet finished?

Chapter 1

Damien takes me by the wrist and leads me through the trees, away from the river. We emerge into a large clearing. The back entrance to the mansion stands out clearly through the trees.

He stops and turns to me with a smile on his face, though it soon fades.

“I’m sorry,” He begins, “I’ve forgotten to introduce myself to you.”

I giggle quietly to myself; it’s not like I don’t know who you are.

“I am Prince Damien Nolan, at your service.”

“Oh,” I utter, surprised, “At my service? My name is Arabella Willow.”

Damien bows in front of me and kisses my hand. I am flustered.

“Miss Willow-“

“Arabella,” I correct him.

“Arabella, there is a vacant room in the mansion. I’ve realized that many people may believe you died. Also, because of the curse that was bestowed upon you, you’d be better off near someone who understands. Would you be pleased to occupy the chamber?”

Why not? I think, everyone already thinks I’m dead. No one ever loved me and a prince has asked me to live in the same mansion as him?

“I would be honored.” I nod my head to him.

I feel queasy. My head doesn’t feel quite right. I know what’s coming. My third death.

“Damien, don’t panic, but I’m dying,” I cough a few times and fall to my knees. “Take me inside. I’ll wake up eventually. Trust me.”

Before he can reply, I’m gone.

The forest floor imbeds my face with leaves.

“She’s not dead, you idiot, this is the afterlife. She can’t die here. She’s just sleeping.”

I roll over and look up at the people standing over me.

“See, I told you,” Says the same voice.

There are two of them. One a pale skinned girl with jet-black hair and golden eyes, the other a slightly darker skinned boy with dark hair that is styled to look like it doesn’t matter. His eyes are a deep blue, though he looks rather familiar.

The girl closes her open mouth and wipes surprised tears from her eyes. “Well good,” She replies.

He glances at her then back at me. “You’re dead, by the way,” He states bluntly.

“Yeah, but I’m not. Well, I am now, but I won’t be.”

They glance at each other, a confused look on each of their faces.

The boy looks down at me again. “No, this is the afterlife. There is no way out.”

I stand up slowly and point my finger towards him. “Trust me,” I tell him harshly, “I won’t be dead.”

“Explain.”

“I tried to drink from the Sacred Lake in my village. The spirit decided I wasn’t good enough to be blessed and dragged me down to the depths where I drowned. I woke up here, in the forest, and I walked aimlessly for hours. Then, I woke up again in the River of Passing where I drowned again. I woke up here. Then I passed out right there,” I point to the ground where I had been before continuing, “And woke up by the side of the river because Prince Damien saved me. About ten minutes later I got dizzy and I woke up here again. Understand?”

“Ah,” He replies, “Yes, that. I heard about those places. But I wouldn’t know, since we lived in the Night Realm. In the forests. Where we didn’t have any of the blessing crap.”

The girl looks at him with a disgusted look. “How would you know? You lost your memory when you died. I only told you about it because I was friends with you and we were killed within the same week. No one knew how you died. You ran off and never came back.”

“So, anyway, now that that is mostly understood, what are your names?”

The girl replies first. “I’m Reita,” She says. Her personality seems much different to the boy’s.

The boy smiles and the annoyance disappears. “Zane, you?”

“Arabella.”

He turns around and looks into the darkness. “So it was that way, right?” Zane points into the distance and glances at Reita before moving his gaze to the direction he faces.

I take a few steps ahead of them before she answers.

“Are you guys lost?” I ask them slowly without turning around.

“Yeah,” Zane replies. “We haven’t really been here that long. We both died about a month ago.”

“Ah...” I pause and squint into the blackness. “It’s this way.”

They don’t argue. We walk forwards together into the dark. After a while I trip over my own feet and fall down onto my knees. I can’t find the strength to get up again. “Um,” I mutter, “One of you will have to carry me. I’ll probably be unconscious for a while.”

I can’t see anything anymore. Everything is pitch black for minutes. I can’t feel anything, heat nor cold.

Also, I meant to post this before, but if you haven't figured it out:

This is about a wood elf named Arabella. She goes to drink from the Sacred Lake in her village but instead of being blessed she is cursed. Arabella will now spontaneously die and come back to life. She will die for any amount of time before she comes to life again, but when she is dead she wakes up in the afterlife, where to release her soul she has to fulfil her regrets. She doesn't want to do this because she will also loose her life, where she meets Prince Damien(a high elf) who she falls in love with, and also in the afterlife she meets Zane, a dark elf, who she falls in love with as well.

Comment if u like.