by Cordelia Riordan

Created on: January 19, 2009

I gasped, my body twisting and convulsing on the soft surface of my bed. Pain stabbed through every organ, every nerve sent jolts of screaming agony through me. Oxygen seemed lacking, my lungs attempting and failing to pull any spare in through my nose and mouth. All it succeeded in was more jolts of torture flowing and stabbing. Strange thoughts filtered through my mind, ones that made me want to laugh. I would have laughed, but that was cut short by the icy grip surrounding me.

I belatedly heard people shouting my name. I didn't care to focus on them; holding on to this body only taxed me, hurting me more than it should. I'm dying, I realized.
Let go, a voice not belonging to me whispered into my mind, the pain will stop.

I felt my body take a few more choking breaths of air in, chest heaving with effort, before I let go and felt myself slip away.
I found myself standing next to the vacant body that I had recently been inside. I felt no compassion for the people frantically attempting to bring me back and rescue it. It won't work,
I wanted to scream, stop wasting your time!
I couldn't, however, nor could I care any longer. I wondered if I should feel the desire to be brought back into that useless shell, but the thought floated away like a leaf in the breeze.

"That was then," a woman spoke behind me, "this is now."

I turned to face her, unafraid. Long, black hair flowed down her back and her chest, each strand meeting at the indent of her waist. Her dress was black, elegant and simple an evening gown that hugged an hourglass figure.

"Who are you?" I asked, tilting my head.

She smiled, sweet secrecy camouflaging something in her smile. I caught it, however; I wrote, and because of that, I observed. She hid something.

"My name this time is Alia, though I've been known by many others before," she answered simply.

"Why should I believe you? You're hiding something," I accused. Just after I said it, I wondered if it was a bad idea.

Her smiled turned to arrogant approval, only slightly alleviating my worry. "Observant, I see. In this case, I may as well tell you everything you need to know from the beginning, and hope that you remember when you wake up."
"Wake up?" I echoed. "I'm not waking up. In case you missed it, I'm dead!" Shock and grief hit me suddenly; the late emotions nearly sent me to the floor. Tears pooled in my eyes, to my surprise and horror. How can I cry? I'm dead.
I remembered that only an hour ago, I'd thrived with life, until my body simply shut

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