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"Are you alright?"

I never knew the answer to that question.  Can you be alright if you're dead?  

"Alex?"

I shook my head and looked at the person who spoke.  It was Zack.  "Yeah, I'm fine," I said.  Zack didn't seem to believe me.  "Your breathing quickened and got deeper," Zack said.  "I'm fine," I said.

That was a lie.  I would never be fine again.

Look, when you die, you realize that death means nothing.  You no longer fear it.  But murder, that was a gruesome way to die.  Especially as a kid.

I sort of wanted to go home after that, but I knew I couldn't.  Not because I wouldn't get paid, dead people don't get paid, (Honestly, what are we gonna use it for anyway?  Flowers for our tombstone?) but because I had to.  Helping the community, that's what the Afterlife was all about.  So I closed my eyes.

I suddenly got an idea.  What if I tried to see the girl, Jordan Pensie's dreams?  Maybe I could find out why the man would want to kill her.  It would be difficult.  Choosing someone's dreams to change was not an easy task.  But I needed to know. 

I thought long and hard about what I knew about the girl, which was nothing except she was an actress, and opened my eyes.  

When I opened them, I was in a bedroom.  Jordan was sitting on her bed.  I looked around the room.  On the walls were movie posters.  Most were superhero movies.  Other than that, her room was pretty normal.  It was underwhelming.  Maybe it's because I expected a big modern room with robot waiters rolling around.

Jordan got up and looked in the mirror.  Why are you here?"

That gave me a heart attack.  She couldn't know I was here, it was impossible.  Right?

"You betrayed me.  You left me when I needed you, Charles," she said.

*Charles?*

Oh, she was acting.  I almost slapped my forehead because of my stupidity.  The dream then shifted.  I was in a crowded room.  Light flashed everywhere.  The noise was unbearably loud.  I looked at the people and realized what they were.  Paparazzi.

I pushed past the paparazzi and found Jordan.  She was crouched on the floor, holding her ears tightly.  She was whispering "Quiet, please," but I barely heard her.  I went up to her.  I had to change this.  This was no longer a dream.  It was a nightmare.

"Excuse me," I said.  She looked up at me and screamed.  "Leave me alone!"  "I'm not here to take pictures of you.  I'm getting you out of here," I said.  I grabbed Jordan's hand and began to run.

I used all my might to keep from fading out.  When in a dream, your not exactly solid there.  It's like you're a ghost (Ha, ironic).  To change the dream you got to use your head, not your body.  But my head wasn't working properly.  It was going thousands of miles per hour.

Finally, we lost the paparazzi.  I tried to catch my breath.  "Who are you," Jordan asked.  She wasn't out of breath.  "I'm Alex," I said.  "And I need to warn you about,,,"

Then the weirdest thing happened.  I was pulled out of the dream.  I saw Zack shake my shoulder.  "Zack!  You pulled me out of the dream," I shouted.  

"Alex, it's 11:30.  Everyone left.  We need to go home," Zack said.  I thought he was joking until I looked around.  The lights were off.  No one was here but me and Zack.  How was that possible?

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"You're up early."

Lena walked into the kitchen as I took a sip of pepsi-cola.  "Couldn't sleep," I said.  Lena started to go through the cabinets to make breakfast.  I guessed she would make quiche's (it's like this pie with eggs and cream and meat), but instead she reached for the fruity pebbles.  

"No work today," Lena said.  That never happened.  Lena saw my puzzled look.  "Zek's kid's birthday," she explained.

Zek was the ruler of the Afterlife.  He was like our king.  About 3 years ago, him and his wife, Fria, had a kid named Xander.  It felt weird that it had been a year since then.  Not that I ever saw the kid.  It just came to show time was weird.

I started to think of Jordan.  She was a famous actress, but she didn't seem to enjoy it much in her nightmare.  And now she was going to die.  That just didn't seem fair to me.  Sure, people died every day.  Maybe she could even see dead relatives here.  

Many of us kind of hoped our family would die so we would be together again.  I know Nick did.  That's when I got another idea.  Nick was a grim reaper.  That meant he knew when every person would die.  Maybe he could help me find out if Jordan was meant to die yet.

I got dressed and decided to walk today.  Our world was very similar to the alive one.  Except the animals were skeletons.  And all homes looked either like gothic manors or haunted houses.  And there was always mist everywhere.  

Okay, that last part still creeped me out, even after all this time.  Purple mist seemed to follow most of us.  Zek had said it meant people were mourning us.  I had mist.  But after all these years, it faded away.  Probably because the people that knew me were also down here.  My parents were down here somewhere.

Many looked for their families.  I didn't.  To be honest, it didn't matter to me much.  I made a life for myself.  I wasn't a kid anymore.  I had to take care of myself.  And my parents couldn't be very worried.  I never saw missing kid posters.  At least none with my face on them.

I finally found Nick.  He looked absolutely bored.  He was playing around with his goose.

You see, when you die you get to meet your spirit animal.  Nick's was a goose he named Goose.  Mine was a snake named Sakari.  Sakari didn't like confinement.  So I let her go where she pleased.

"Hey Nick," I said, waving.  He looked at me.  "Hey Alex."  "Can I ask you a favor," I said, getting straight to the point.

"What kind of favor," Nick asked, giving me his full attention.  "I need to know if someone's going to die soon," I said.  "Jordan Pensie."  Nick nodded and got up.  "I'll look for her name in the files," he said.  Then he thought of something.  "Do you know her?"

I didn't know what to say.  I mean, technically, no.  But I had been inside her head and seen her nightmares.  Did that count?  Nick sighed.  "I won't pressure you.  See you later," he said.  He gave me a smile and walked away, Goose on his tail.

I sat down and began to wonder.  What if her name was in the files?  What then?  

I didn't know the answer to my own questions.  I couldn't stop her from dying if it was her fate.  Well, not here in the Afterlife anyway.  Wait, what if I-

"*No.*"

I turned and saw Sakari.  she slithered next to me and onto my leg.  She looked at me with her cold black eyes.

"*Going into the Alive world is dangerous, Alex.  Even king Zek barely escaped there with his life."*

"That's because his soul is attached to this place.  I could go there.  I can save a life."

"*Even if you could, it's a law.  One shall not go into the Alive World.*"

I sighed.  "Sakari, think about it.  If she's not meant to die, I'm letting an innocent life be destroyed for no reason."  Sakari shook her head in defeat.  "*Nick will not like that.*"  I rolled my eyes.  "I don't care what he likes.  I need to do this."  

Sakari gave me a smile.  She began to slither away.  Then she turned her head back to me.  She didn't speak, but I knew what she wanted me to do, and I instantly did as she asked.  What she asked of me?
  
***Follow her.***

*I'm so glad people read the last chapter!  I'm liking how the story is coming out so far.  I hope you keep reading!*